I am up way too late, and I cannot sleep. Spicy food is playing havoc on my internals tonight.
.
Reading through some old replies on these forums got me to thinking... I model ther most narrow date range possible. I decided to model Tuesday, August 3rd, 1954, at 2:00 in the afternoon. Give or take 30 seconds.
This is the only arrangement that will work for me. Maybe it comes from all the military dioramas I built in my 20s. These captured a moment in time, and maybe that is the only way I can think now.
My modeling is capturing a specific moment in time, in a place that never existed. It sounds really bizarre.
If you model a date range, how do you handle it? Why is your date range as long, or as short, as you have decided.
If you model the late 50s and early 60s, how many stars are on your flags? You will never convince me it is 1957 if there is a fifty star flag flying proudly in the park.
What about vehicles? If there is a 1963 Chevrolet parked somewhere... well... so much for the late 1950s.
I can let all kind of nonsense slip by me, but anchronism drives me crazy.
Please share your thoughts. I certainly do not want everyone to choose a specific day to model, that is crazy. I am not trying to bring anyone around to my way of thinking, I truly want to understand the different priorities we have as we build our miniature worlds.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Picking a specific date for a freelance railroad/layout is different than a specific date for a particular railroad/layout.
For a freelance you can include anything that was in existance on that date. So for a date in 1954, there are steam locomotives from a 4-4-0 on up plus a large number of early diesels. Same for rolling stock. Structures can be anything made up as long it is architecturally plausible for the date.
For a prototype, you include what was on the railroad on that day. Again looking at say a date in 1954, you include only the locomotives present on that day. You would only model the actual buildings that were present that day and their specific colors for that day. Same for rolling stock - only what was present on that day, home and foreign road cars. Carried into operations, you would only run trains for that day. You would include all the cars on the train that day and no others. And so on. The prime example is Jack Burgess and his Yosemite Valley - which has been covered a lot in the hobby press.
The issue I see with a date range is that you can get combinations that are not plausible if the range is great. Say you picked 1935 to 1955, well you could run freight cars from several roads with archbar trucks (outlawed in interchange in 1940) behind your F3.
Personally, I use a cutoff date which I leave vaguely as Fall 1953. Anything that was or could have been present is acceptable. Case in point for the Ma&Pa - their last 3 2-8-0's (#41, #42, #43) were essentially alike, but one (#42) was retired in 1952. Well, I have kits for all 3. So I will include #42, because it could have plausibily been used in 1953. Operationally, it's the same, I include rolling stock that was around in 1953 that could have appeared on the Ma&Pa. So trains will be different each time I run them.
What's not included with a cutoff date. Well, archbar trucks (for example) were outlawed for interchange by 1953 (in 1940) so no foreign road cars with archbar trucks. And any Ma&Pa cars with archbar trucks (and there were a few in 1953) don't get put on interchange tracks. And the Ma&Pa only had diesel switchers in 1953, so no F3's or GP7's.
And then of course you have the issue of things that didn't actually exist but still fit in. As an example for me, I have a 1937 aar boxcar decorated for the Gorre & Daphetid which I will include on my 1953 version of the Ma&Pa.
Paul
I have a freelance model railroad and for the most part it is centered arround the steam to disel transion period, with UP, SF, SP power.
Luckily, the premise of my layout allows me a wide latitude. I model the mid-2000s on a fictional short line. The CGVRR (Clinton-Golden Valley RR) is a subsidiary of the Union Pacific, but the owner is a bit of an eccentric. He rode trains in his youth and fell in love with them. As such, he has acquired a variety of older motive power and rolling stock. He uses these trains for railfanning trips. The destination for most of these trains is the old western-themed town of Sandy Flats. One older train takes family members and freight up to the coal mine, as it is only accessible by train. There is a hotel for guests and a boarding house run by a family that serves as the housing for the miners. The railroad's primary sources of revenue are coal mining and a small logging operation. Most of the vehicles are of the era, but there are a few older cars that the residents own that they show in car shows.
Most of the buildings are older, which fits the theme of the railroad. There are an older style Pizza Hut restaurant and a 50s themed burger joint.
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
SeeYou190 I model ther most narrow date range possible. I decided to model Tuesday, August 3rd, 1954, at 2:00 in the afternoon. Give or take 30 seconds.
The only problem with that Kevin, is that nothing should move, once it becomes 2 minutes and 30 seconds.
Your layout is a static display, nothing moving past that time.
My time peroid is modern, 90's to today. That's about the time period that my locos and rolling stock are. Nothing older.
It's a broad range, but it works for me.
Mike.
My You Tube
Great job, Mel!
I quite like the way things are handled in Europe, where ceetain eras of modelling were introduced already quite a few years ago.
Most of the layouts are set in era III or later.
I find shorter time spans a little to limiting, especially when it comes to vehicles and accessories for the layout.
Happy times!
Ulrich (aka The Tin Man)
"You´re never too old for a happy childhood!"
My range is between March 1970 and April 1971, which is there period in which Burlington Northern operated as on railroad and still ran their own passenger trains. But I’m really bad at keeping in that era! I have a GN doodlebug that would have been retired longs before that date, and a GN car that has a COTS stencil on it (which the real car did have, as I learned from a thread here a while back), plus some old wooden boxcars that were probably on their way out at BN time.
I like to model all the Hill lines but I actually currently lack any BN paintEd or patched engines (or cars...) I just say the guys in the roundhouse haven’t gotten around to adding patches.
You would think it would be easy to keep in an era when I have a “plywood pacific”, so lack those pesky things like automobiles and buildings! But I find I usually check out whether a car is in my era after I bring it home, and when I learn it’s out of my era I don’t part with (I do only have 20 or so cars, so they are all a bit special!) Plus almost all my fleet was given to me!
Someday I’ll probably make some redating changes to my cars, like put older cars in MOW service, add patches, and remove COTS stencils an such, but for now I just run them as they are. With the stuff I try to get though, I do get a reasonably go feeling of my date range, and that is enough for now!
Regards, Isaac
I model my railroad and you model yours! I model my way and you model yours!
I have two eras, the early 60s and then the 30s, so I can run diesels and Transition Era stuff, but then backtrack to steam and older equipment. I can also have the vehicles of the sixties, which are plentiful, and then pull them off for Jordan vehicles.
I've got a few buildings, not built yet, that will eventually take the place of later era structures.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Kevin, I can feel for you being up all night not the spicy food issues. Hope you get some good sleep today.
I model 2015 after moving it from 2001. The reason I picked a year is that when I started researching for my layout in 2013 I realized so much of my rolling stock and engines turned out to be stuff I liked but not suitable to run together because of so many different eras. Narrowing down my modeling focus has been great. It is stuff I vividly remember, have many pictures and I enjoy researching it. Basically anything I have a picture of from 2015, either my own or Railroad picture sites that is shown in Wisconsin is allowed to run on my layout. Orginnally I was just trying for Junction City to Wausau, Wi., but that was too narrow. I don't model the exact car number or locomotive number but if I have a GP40's-2 picture dated 2015 I will allow the GP40's-2w on the layout, same with rolling stock. I worry about the class of rolling stock not the number.
Tom
I planned to model the early 1940's, but given a limited budget, some almost appropriate equipment on hand, and a "good enough" approach to my hobby, that has crept a bit. It still makes me happy. That's all that really matters.
Mike
Buildings and scenery don't change much over time, so that gives good bones for swapping out players like locomotives and rolling stock.
I could focus on early 90's or late 10's and not have to change much as far as equipment.
I could also model 1962 and not have to change much other than the trains, especially since rural Georgia along the railroad ROWs hasn't changed much either. Maybe swap out a concrete grain elevator for an old wooden structure.
- Douglas
I had originally planned to be pretty specific to one year, because of where I was going to model and the fact that a new track arrangement went into operation in late 1956, changing the whole alignment of things. And At that time I didn;t have room to include both alignments. I did come up with a plan that had both, allowing be to go a little more past, as both alignments were used for a period.
Now that I'm not replicating that exact area any more, I've opened it out to about 1955-1957. So anything in there fits. In the areas I am modeling, there wouldn;t be too many new cars - so what I need are more late 40's/early 50's vehicles, and some late 30's ones thrown in as well. Rare would be a '56 or '57 anything.
I am not to the point of making sure I have very up to date reweigh stencils on all my rolling stock. Maybe after things are 'finished' and I need something to do, I might start down that kind of road, but for now that's just a detail I am ignoring.
I'm just glad that I am still not adversely affected by spicy foods. Blad food would be the death of me. I am particularly fond of Indian and Thai. I can eat the healthy stuff at home (like plain old skinless chicken breast) because I have a collection of about 40 hot sauces for taste variety. I replenish every year at one of the two hot pepper festivals they hold here locally.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Ok, a few thoughts.
For one thing, I think one can do a good job modeling a real prototype without getting so OCD that you only run trains that ran on that "day" and "place", even if you have selected a narrow time frame like Kevin has, or an absolute cutoff date.
My modeling is a freelanced road but with interchanges and trackage rights with three prototype roads, the B&O, C&O and WESTERN MARYLAND.
I do not try to model actual places, just capture the flavor of the Piedmont of the Mid Atlantic in 1954.
On my layout it is September 1954.
As previously explained in Kevin's other thread, 1954 still had some steam on the prototypes lines in question, the ACR can still have as much steam as it wants given plausablity by the N&W in this region who ran lots of steam until the early 60's. First generation diesels, and first generation PiggyBack were pretty much at their high water mark. Lastly, railroads were still trying to make a go at the passenger business.
Why September? - It covers some specific introductions and advancements in PiggyBack, it allows 1955 model autos, I like the early fall scenery here in the Mid Atlantic (green and lush mixed with the early fall change colors).
For me, 30 days is a reasonable "range" of events for the "in motion" aspect of the layout. And having an absolute cutoff is necessary in my mind. So if it did not exist on September 30th, 1954 you will not likely see it. (Except, there are few exceptions that I challenge viewers to find, or know their facts well enough to call me on them. None of which are glaring or obvious)
The newest locos on the ATLANTIC CENTRAL are EMD SD9's. SD9 production began in January 1954, September is a plausable time to see them in regular service.
Sheldon
PS - don't like spicy food, can't eat spicy food, stomach ulcer was the cause of my father's passing at only 60 years old, and he did not eat spicy food. I eat to live, I don't live to eat........
Don't ever get heart burn or indigestion........
I'm virtually everywhere when it comes to era. I can't settle on one or two single time periods. Why? Because I like the variety of equipment out there. Going through the different eras, from an 1830s locomotive like the John Bull, to a 2010s locomotive like a GEVO is very enjoyable to me. I've always found restricting myself to one thing or another to be irksome. Hope you feel better today Kevin.
Spicy food doesn;t cause ulcers, it's bacterial in origin. Thanks to an Aussie doctor who in typical Aussie fashion just 'went for it' and infected himself to prove it. Guy won a Nobel Prize for it, so maybe it was worth it.
https://www.discovermagazine.com/health/the-doctor-who-drank-infectious-broth-gave-himself-an-ulcer-and-solved-a-medical-mystery
I model up to 1947 on my standard gauge Rio Grande, that allows for Denver and Salt Lake power. I do have a couple of F7's though. I keep all the vehicles before that time period. This does create a little bit of a time warp for my Colorado and Southern Narrow gauge as the last part on the Clear Creek line ran to Idaho Springs only as late as 1941. I keep it earlier that that on the vehicles. I am considering adding a blue British police call box to explain the difference........
As far as ulcers: that's right: h. pylori bacteria are the cause. But I have no doubt certain foods can irritate them.
On to the topic at hand: I model Milwaukee in the 1950s and I cheat. That is, the Milwaukee Road transitioned completely to diesel in 1955 I believe, but I will have diesel and steam. I had originally thought I would model 1955 but the more I've researched I don't see any need to lock it down to a specific year. I'm leaning towards the first half of the 50s because the huge clock tower on the Everett Street Depot wasn't removed yet and I plan to get that Walthers model when it is back in stock in early 2020. I also like the earlier colors of the MR passenger fleet (orange and darker gray) more than the UP yellow and gray that came in from about 55-58. But if I want to include any Flexi-van trailer service I can't model earlier than 1959... so I'm just keeping it to the 1950s to include what I want without respect to time.
Andy
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Milwaukee native modeling the Milwaukee Road in 1950's Milwaukee.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/196857529@N03/
Well, I still don't want to eat anything that leaves a taste in my mouth for more than a few minutes after I am done eating it...........
Or that provides any unpleasant sensations while eating it........or to my stomach after eating it...........
I like modern steam, so on my layout that means from the time the K4s' were introduced on the Pennsy until the last fires were dropped...1960. I have several roads worth of equipment to use that way, and my terrain is all fantasyland stuff. It's all a hodgepodge, and I don't care...I enjoy it. I even run a couple of SD-75 in warbonnet livery when the mood strikes.
I'm modelling the late '30s, a time when railroads were recovering from the Depression, as was industry. Labour was still fairly cheap, so not everything was in a run-down state, and new locomotives and rolling stock was being built, too, running next to the older stuff.Since I'm freelancing, I do play a little loose with a few things: I have quite a few covered hoppers on my layout, a car type which I especially like, but one that wasn't all that common in the '30s. Mine are mostly like those which appeared in the late '40s or early '50s, and I'm not at all concerned by the discrepancy. I do try to be fairly accurate with most of my rolling stock, though, especially concerning BLT. and re-weigh dates, and if I'm modelling a particular prototype, prefer to work from photos of them.I also have a few vehicles, mostly the trucks from Mini Metals, which represent the GM trucks produced in 1941-'46, but I'm not overly bothered by them, either, as there were somewhat similar-looking vehicles built in the late '30s...to me they're simply part of the background scenery.Most of my locomotives are steam, with the homeroads represented by plausible free-lanced designs, while those representing real railroads are modified and detailed to match those in photos of their particular prototype, usually, but not always, as they would have looked in my chosen era.
Esthetics can be as important as realism on a model railroad, I think.
Wayne
doctorwayne Esthetics can be as important as realism on a model railroad, I think. Wayne
Completely agreed, overall appearance and effect means more than every automobile or box car being perfect to the prototype and the era.
I claim I'm modeling the late 70's and early 80's, but it's really more like late 60's to early 90's. I can't be bothered getting all era-specific stuff (not to mention costing more.).
Harrison
Homeschooler living In upstate NY a.k.a Northern NY.
Modeling the D&H in 1978.
Route of the famous "Montreal Limited"
My YouTube
IRONROOSTERFor a freelance you can include anything that was in existance on that date. So for a date in 1954, there are steam locomotives from a 4-4-0 on up plus a large number of early diesels.
I could, but I choose not to. I do not want anything that looks unusual even if it could be defended.
I have spent a lot of time making sure my ratio of all-steel cars, outside braced, and double sheathed cars are acceptable. I only have one 36 foot car in a fleet of 150 freight cars.
I took liberties in two areas: I have way too many PS-1 boxcars because of Kadee's wonderful model, and I have too many TOFC cars just because I like them.
mbinsewiThe only problem with that Kevin, is that nothing should move, once it becomes 2 minutes and 30 seconds.
Oh, do I know that. This is internal turmoil for me in the tenth degree. You see, nothing else on the layout moves. The train leaves Centerville for the local run at 2:00. It returns at 2:00 as well. I know that because Mrs. Smith is still walking out of the same grocery store with her purchases.
The layout is a diorama, and only the trains move, If I think about it too much my head starts to hurt.
doctorwayneSince I'm freelancing, I do play a little loose with a few things
I play loose with a lot of things, especially where the layout is. I don't specify a locale, region, or even what country it is in. I use Canadian Railroad Crossing signs and USA Stop Signs. That does not bother me at all. I can have farms in front of a desert background, no problem.
I can even add sci-fi details to buildings or monsters in the woods.
HarrisonI claim I'm modeling the late 70's and early 80's, but it's really more like late 60's to early 90's. I can't be bothered getting all era-specific stuff (not to mention costing more.).
When I was in High School I modeled everything. My Bachmann 4-8-4 could run along side any diesel. I did not care. Back then in N scale you bought whatever would run reliably. One of the best locmotives on the market was the DL-109, and you saw them in EVERY prototype paint scheme.
Narrowing these things down mnight come later... for now just enjoy!
DoughlessBuildings and scenery don't change much over time, so that gives good bones for swapping out players like locomotives and rolling stock.
I keep a fair amount of "out of period" equipment and props on hand so I can take pictures from different eras. This actually adds another layer of hobby enjoyment for me.
Oh yeah, that's the other reason for my 1956 cutoff - I can still run my steam locos. They were already retired, but a power shortage forced them out of storage for service as helpers. Proportionally sizing things, 2 steam locos and the rest all first generation diesels is a good balance. And there was one other steam loco in operation, up until 1963, as a switcher in the shops. I have that one too, but it needs some detailing to make it closer to the prototype.
I like steam, I also like diesels, so the 1950's is the only era where both ran side by side. On the B&M they bragged about being all dieselized by 1957. So make that the early 1950's for me. I like to have my RR look realistic but I don't get too rigid about it. For instance I run steamers that the B&M never owned in real life, like Mikados. On the real life B&M they went from Consolidations (2-8-0) to Berkshires (2-8-4) 'cause they needed more power than a Mikado had to make it thru the Berkshire mountains.
In actual fact, you can do well with just a cutoff date. Most rail equipment is financed and built for a 40 year service life. Even motor vehicles can last for 10 or more years, and structures can last 100 years, or forever if they are lucky and get to be "historic". So if I pick 1957 as my cutoff date I can plausibly run older rolling stock going back as far as 1917. And motor vehicles going back to 1947.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
I model my personal recollections of the Chicago & North Western "old" main line through South Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Nothing newer than 1970 because that is when I left for college. I am somewhat flexible as to an earlier cut off date, but usually put it at 1966 or '67. The motive power stayed pretty much the same; ditto the rolling stock although wood ice bunker reefers became rare. The CNW was changing its passenger schedule quite a bit during that time period however. All cabooses were red - the yellow cabooses came after 1970. Plenty of freight cars still had running boards on the roof and full height ladders, and ACI labels were not yet on every car.
A friend of mine and I took some photos in 1968 that I am using quite a bit in my modeling. If forced to go Kevin's strict route I'd say summer 1968 but that would mean not using some nice 1969-70 vehicles I have.
The key phrase in my initial sentence is "I model my personal recollections." If I remember seeing RPOs come through town, but an authoritative source tells me they were gone before 1966-67, well, then I will run RPOs. If I remember the old barn-like structure near the depot that made wooden broom handles and other wood turnings or items being there in the late 1960s (I know it was there earlier), then I will try to have that building. If I recollect tank cars at the Standard Oil facility, I will model the tanks cars even if I learn it was all trucks by 1966-67.
Memory in other words will always trump the facts.
Unfortunately even my flexible time frame means no E6 diesels even though I have an early childhood recollection of them. It also means the Twin Cities 400 was no more. And while I have early memories of an active operator at the depot who hooped up orders and used train-order semaphore signals I know for sure that was gone before 1966 so that won't be done.
Dave Nelson
I model years from the (I can say this at the end of the month) last decade- 2011-2019, since 2011 is the year I first became aware of the Wheeling and Lake Erie existence, and seeing one of their trains for the first time crossing a local bridge (I saw the same locomotive, about 6 years later, it was a nice moment-finally photographing the first unit of theirs I saw).
(My Model Railroad, My Rules)
These are the opinions of an under 35 , from the east end of, and modeling, the same section of the Wheeling and Lake Erie railway. As well as a freelanced road (Austinville and Dynamite City railroad).
I model July-September, 1930-1945, with a few anacronistic elements thrown in, like the mobile home my mother lived in after retirement until she died.
Why such a broad timeline? Because I'm trying to capture a certain flavor, not hard specifics that almost no one will recognize anyway. It's good enough for me.
Mark P.
Website: http://www.thecbandqinwyoming.comVideos: https://www.youtube.com/user/mabrunton