York1For those of you who created a logo for your railroad's name, did you design it yourself?
I designed the STRATTON AND GILLETTE herald that is my avatar, and used on many of my freight cars.
For the first thirty years of the SGRR existence, there was no herald, just the roadname and the "Fast Freight Service" slogan.
The older forty foot boxcars have a different lettering scheme, and just have "Fast Freight" for a slogan in a larger size.
The "Comet Freight" decals were made about 10 years ago. Ron at Rail Graphics worked from my sketches to create a lettering scheme that was perfect for a 40 foot boxcar.
The herald artwork was designed by me, but the artwork was prepared by Ron at Rail Graphics. The Kadee PS-1 models received the multicolor herald as in my avatar.
Of course, there were a couple Kadee PS-1s that I painted before I had the herald made. These had a big S&G on the left.
Some freight cars, like this automobile boxcar have a modified version of the paint and lettering scheme.
Then there are other variations, like this insulated boxcar with a safety slogan, and a ribald vesion of the herald.
Ron really went all-out with helpful suggestions so that I could have all the variety I needed.
BRAKIEMy Huron River was made with Champ decal's private name decals.
I used Champ's "One Word At A Time" custom roadname decals for a few of my freight cars. I preferred the O scale decals because they were easier to read.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
SeeYou190You need four things to successfully build a freelance railroad:
SeeYou1901) Custom decals or lettering.
I just do the old "One letter at a time" routine..... yea... it kinda suck's the fun out of it .But I get EXACTLY what I want.
SeeYou1902) Undecorated models.
You can find all kind's of stuff at a swap meet. And, I have been known to just buy a pre-painted kit, and just re-paint it.
SeeYou1903) Appropriate paint.
Now there's a GOOD point ! With the way manufacture's keep "dropping" their product's it's getting harder to get the exact match of paint. ( I got use to Floquill Tuscon Red, now it's hard to get anything just like it without mixing paint myself.)
So I settled on Black with Red and White stripes for my Demon's Hollow locomotive's ( easy to reproduce ) and French Blue with Silver stripes for my Wylers Gulch locomotives ( I find I can mix French Blue quite easily.)
SeeYou1904) An open mind towards fantasy.
I got that in Spade's !!!
Rust...... It's a good thing !
Little TimmyI just do the old "One letter at a time" routine..... yea... it kinda suck's the fun out of it .But I get EXACTLY what I want.
I do the "One Letter At A Time" method to get what I want from time to time. I have always admired your work, I love the style of your modeling, your work is loaded with character and personality.
I use one letter at a time on most of my outside braced equipment.
sandjam Freelance has always been “a mere fraction of the hobby”. My question stands, how are you measuring a fraction of a fraction, and seeing that in decline without seeing the hobby as a whole in decline, merely “changing?” Yes, the hobby is changing, mostly because there are less consumer participants, and the manufacturers have found their selective niches to stay profitable to their limited consumers. If in fact, the whole of the hobby is “changing” then wouldn’t that in turn imply that the freelanced portion of the hobby is “changing” as well? Adapting to the availability of decals, kits, paints, etc., is nothing new. It has been that way since the beginning of the hobby, and I would suspect it will remain so. We will carry on. Your reality is your perception. Not all see it your way. That doesn’t make any of us right or wrong, it just makes us different in our views. I don’t perceive an issue, unless you are trying to create one, and still not an issue to us freelancers. We are going to do what we always have. Would I do it again? **** yes. Still unsure of the point of the thread. Seinfeld show?
Please present some factual evidence that there are fewer "consumer participants".
Maybe true as a percentage of the population, but nobody knows for sure.
Nearly the entire model train industry is small privately held companies, production numbers and sales numbers are pretty closely guarded information.
But two things are for sure.
First, with each passing decade there are more prototypes for people to be interested in and for manufacturers to make models of. Even with growth that is proportional to the population, the market for any one model is likely shrinking.
Then factor in the improved quality and selection in the last 20-25 years and the market for each individual item shrinks even more.
Then factor in the RTR vs kit building, quality RTR is a relatively new thing, and has dramatically changed the face of the hobby.
So even if the hobby is growing, the demand for any one specific model is still shrinking.
By the way, I am both a freelance modeler, and prototype modeler, using kits and RTR.
Sheldon
SeeYou190I use one letter at a time on most of my outside braced equipment.
Yea, anything with outside braceing, or rib's ( like gondola's ) you kinda have to go one or two letter's at a time.
SeeYou190 I love the style of your modeling, your work is loaded with character and personality.
Ah , .... you mean "weathered" and " abused". LOL
Believe it or not, I can build a "shiny" new car/locomotive..... from time to time ...
But Rusty/Crusty is just waaaayyyyy more fun.
You should PM me and see about arranging a "hostage" swap.
So, regarding Kevin's opening post, freelancing did seem more popular years ago. But I think the reasons varied as much as the individuals.
For some it was likely a way to overcome the lack specific models, but for others I think it was just like today, a creative outlet rather than being completely restricted by history.
Personally, I am a protolance guy. I want very much for you to believe the ATLANTIC CENTRAL, and its connections to the B&O, C&O and WESTERN MARYLAND.
But I fully appreciate what Kevin does as well. In fact I am very proud to have some STRATON AND GILLETTE equipment on the ATLANTIC CENTRAL as well as equipment from a number of other well known freelanced layouts past and present.
I've been at this hobby since 1968, several times I considered a prototype only approach, and I have to say, the closest I could ever get was freelanced locations with trains that said B&O.
I think more people go the prototype route today because they can. The wider selection of reasonably accurate well detailed RTR models makes that more possible.
But I model the WESTERN MARYLAND, I still don't see any WESTERN MARYLAND passenger cars on the RTR market, or a reasonably correct Pacific to pull them from a non brass manufacturer.
I guess you still have to be a paint and lettering modeler to model the WM. About the same as being a freelancer....
Would I do it all over? Based on product availability concerns, I'm not sure I would even get into this hobby if I had to start over, let alone freelance.
But I already have a lifetime supply of stuff to build, stuff already built, etc.
Sure, I will buy more as my new layout gets underway, but unlike some, I have no interest in "upgrading" 50 years worth of collecting and building with new expensive models built by someone else.
To be clear, I do buy my share of RTR, but I also still build and run kits that are as old as I am, or older.
Happily stuck in a fantasy version of the Mid Atlantic in September 1954.
I did the one-letter-at-a-time for all 93 of my home-road passenger and head-end cars, mostly using dry transfers...
...and likewise, using either decals or dry transfers for most of my 78 locomotives, both diesels and steam...
...a few, however, got more simplified versions...
Wayne
I mean for me the first question with Freelancing is, why do it now? Maybe in an era when undecorated kits were more common it made more sense. I don't really know if paint or decals is as big of an issue as OP suggested though; somebody with moderate digital skills and a proper printer can make all the decals they need at home these days. First I should clarify that for this post, I refer to freelancing mostly in the "create an original and fabricated railroad" and not the other variant of "generic location but with prototype trains."But now... with so many ready to run high detail prototype products on shelves, I just don't see the appeal of freelancing myself. The few times freelancing has intrigued me, it usually gets shot down when after a bit of research I find a real railroad in the location I wanted the freelanced railroad to go that I was previously unaware of.However... with that said; I have a few friends who are very much into freelancing. What they get out of it is worth mentioning, since I think it perhaps explains best to somebody like me what the appeal of it is. They certainly seem to enjoy the challange of desiging graphics, plotting routes where there were none in real life, finding potential online customers, building locomotive rosters. I have one friend who has used Google to map out a hundred mile system of railroad lines for his freelanced route. I can't deny, there is a satisfaction they are getting with that kind of freedom and chance to blend historical research and creative liberty. Really the closest I ever came to freelancing was when I first discovered OO9 gauge. I sketched a railway that had a pseudo-Ffestiniog influence on a piece of paper and thought how neat it would be to import from Britain some Bachmann OO9 pieces someday for the railroad, besides since Bachmann lacked a lot of the Ffestiniog prototypes it made sense to freelance based on the limited market availability. The thought was that with a few Quarry Hunslets and WW1 Trench Surplus locomotives I could create something reasonably similar in spirit, but not an exact replica, especially considering the downsides to any project that requires shipping rolling stock from the UK to where I live in the US. Problem I ran into though was shortly afterwards discovering Peco/Kato's Double Fairlie project... In an instant the idea of freelancing went out the window as soon as I realized plastic mass manufactured Double Fairlie's would be available in a few years, so why create a "Ffestiniog-like" railroad when the rolling stock was now available to just do the Ffestiniog from the get go? My rough sketch was the Ffestiniog already, with a harbor like station in a place similar to Porthmadog, a "Cob" across the bay to the engine sheds, then a sharp climb up over a helix and into a slate quarry town higher up the mountain; really the only limitation to doing the prototype was the lack of Double Fairlies... until I discovered exactly those being manufactured. Of course freelancing has had a huge affect on our hobby. For example the Railway Series and the Thomas and Friends TV series both have their roots in what is essential Rev. Awdry's freelanced "North Western Railway." That is millions of dollars of merchandise generated from what is obstensibly at its core a freelanced railroad. But I guess in my case... I just feel like I have half a dozen real prototype railroads and locations bouncing in my head as potential "must do someday" projects to really do freelancing. I am sure Freelancing is more rewarding for the creative modeler or those who want to make a "what if?" scenario... but I just have to many prototypes on my list for now. I guess if I ever Freelanced... it would be a pure fiction scenario. I.E. a sci-fi experiment to see if I could model a futuristic looking train or something like that.
Travis, to follow forward some of your points, you mentioned that you have multiple "choices" of locale and Rairoad that interest you.
My response to "why freelance" is simple.
In my 50 years at this I never had any desire to build one layout of one prototype, then tear it down and build a different layout of a different prototype, etc.
In fact, only once in all these 50 years have I dismantled a layout just to change it, and even then I did not change the roads modeled, or theme, just the layout design.
So freelancing let's me mix stuff, within reason, that might not work as well following a prototype.
Hi all
Well Model Railroading is a very broad church with a pew for everyone Toy Trains is a very seperate denomination as demonstrated by the seperate forum.
freelancing and protolancing are in my book two names for the same thing as the railroads don't exsist except as a prototype in a basment or attic somewhere.
The same rules apply to propper model railroads and freelance ones end of story.
You only need point 1 and point 3 on your list any other car kit can be suitably spray painted to your livery and extra detail as apropriate added.
point 4 is irelevant unless building the Hobbiton & Isengaurd Central
Everything you need to build a freelance model railroad is avalable one way or another so no problem.
You can wallet permiting also get some very nice 3D prints something not avalable back in the day.
Anything not easy to get can squarely be laid at the feet of model railroaders for demanding ever better more detailed product ready to run in their favorite railroad colours also the I want it now mentality of many not wanting to assemble kits or scratch build or even just paint and decal models.
Manufacturers are in it for profit not our benefit so will only make what sells and this changes over time, so it was and so it shall always be.
I too have the veretable mountain of train supplies but there are as there will always be things that would be nice to have.
I don't know would I build freelance again, I think mine is more mish mash central than freelance but yes I will continue with what I like and having fun.
It is all easily sumed up thus "if you are not having fun then you have the wrong hobby"
When it comes to model trains every one is going to do it their way and rule one always applies.
And if no one makes it a work around will be found somewhere somehow.
regards John
Sorta...I used a rubbing of the Indian's head on an American nickel, but reversed the image before re-defining the features in solid black. I also liked the medallion shape for displaying the railroad's name in a border around the silhouette.The first ones were made in dry transfers, with the large herald in white and a separate black background. The smaller versions were white only, with no black background...
...although I later used painted-on black backgounds with the small heralds used for reefers...
...but later, when I backdated my layout to a late '30s era, I chose to forego both the large heralds and the "Way of the Warriors" slogan.
Since my freelanced railroad was supposedly in the area around Ontario's Grand River (it flows through the real Elora Gorge, on its way to Lake Erie), I made the slogan a tribute to the indigenous population of this area, as there's a large Six Nations reservation nearby. So,e of my passenger cars got either tribal names or names of renowned members of those tribes, again in tribute. The profile from the nickel is more well-suited to the local styles, than would be, f'rinstance, those from the plains tribes, with their full headdress.
While I still have the large herald on the tender of one locomotive, almost all EG&E rolling stock uses smaller heralds, suited to each particular car...
...although a couple of recently re-built reefers have received larger heralds, as the '40s approach....
xboxtravis7992I mean for me the first question with Freelancing is, why do it now?
For me that answer is simple enough.. I started being a short line fan when MR ran a "A Railroad You Can Model" The Abedeen & Rockfish article. This gave birth to my love of freelancing short lines or terminal switching roads. Then MR's A Railroad You Can Model "Progressive Rail's Airlake Industrial Park Operation article give birth to my still borned Deer Creek Railroad.
However, the thought of PR's Airlake operation stayed fresh in my mind. The first Slate Creek Industrial Park was in N Scale and was a C&HV operation then came Bachmann's GE 70T and Huron River RR was born to switch Slate Creek, then came the Summerset Ry SW1500 that took over Slate Creek operation.. A LL P2K SW8 was painted in SCR and used for some time but, Summerset Ry would not fade away. Today SS Ry is my main road with SCR second.
The HR GE70T is history due to crack gears and me dropping the shell that broke several pieces off. A BB SW7 stands ready as a replacement when I decide to decal it. I might even abandon the HR since I've been toying with a new terminal switching road the Sandusky Terminal Ry set in 1964. Time will tell how far this idea gets.
I do have several CR,NS and CR locomotives that can be used to switch Slate Creek when I get the urge to use one of those roads.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
There have been some very impressive free lanced roads over the years. Gorre & Daphetid, V&O, Allegheny Midland, Utah Belt, and others come to mind. One attraction of free lancing; the name on the locomotive and cars is yours and yours alone. Pride of ownership does good things toward motivating the model railroader to do some modeling and railroading. The other nice thing about free lancing is that you can pick locomotives and rolling stock as you please. For instance, I love Alco hood units, ever since receiving a Lionel AA set for Christmas many years ago. My Boston & Maine prototype never owned any. B&M had a fair crop of Alco road switchers, but no hood units. I occasionally run my Missouri Pacific painted Alco hood units just 'cause I like them but they ain't very prototypical. Hey, it's a hobby.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
dstarrThere have been some very impressive free lanced roads over the years. Gorre & Daphetid, V&O, Allegheny Midland, Utah Belt, and others come to mind.
One of the great things about freelancing is that I can have them all!
The Bayfield Transfer Railway is a freelance railroad based off a historical idea:What if, instead of the SOO spinning off Wisconsin Central in the 80s, the CNW had spun off some of its lines in the same area instead?So I run from Ashland, WI, where I interchange with the CNW, the Soo, and the BN -- all of which served Ashland in the mid 80s -- to Iron Mountain, MI where I interchange with the Milwaukee, the CNW, and the Escanaba and Lake Superior, again which served Iron Mountain. I get to do the Milwaukee F units swapping ore trains with CNW C-628s in Iron Mountain, but I also get to have a BL-2 because nobody gets to say what locomotives the BTR had except for me.
Disclaimer: This post may contain humor, sarcasm, and/or flatulence.
Michael Mornard
Bringing the North Woods to South Dakota!
Hi SeeYou190
You had to remind me didn't you of G&D kits that still need building and a 9' X 5' layout that never got built
John BusbyYou had to remind me didn't you of G&D kits that still need building
I recently purchased the four car set of passenger cars decorated for the GORRE AND DAPHETID that were produced by Roundhouse.
I do not know when I will get to assemble them.
SeeYou190 dstarr There have been some very impressive free lanced roads over the years. Gorre & Daphetid, V&O, Allegheny Midland, Utah Belt, and others come to mind. One of the great things about freelancing is that I can have them all!
Well if running G&D and other cars from the NMRA Heritage and Living Legends count then I guess I'm a free lancer as well, even though I'm loosely following the Ma&Pa.
Paul
IRONROOSTERWell if running G&D and other cars from the NMRA Heritage and Living Legends count then I guess I'm a free lancer as well,
Only the GD car is from the NMRA commemorative series.
The V&O car was painted and lettered by me using an original set of V&O decals I acquired in an auction lot. The NMRA V&O car was a company service tank car.
The AM car is from Fox Valley Models, and has the distinction of being the ONLY freight car I own that runs exactly as it came out of the box. FVM really did a great job on that model.
The UB car is a Yarmouth Models kit that I painted and lettered with alphabet decals, but it was easy... there are only eight letters in UTAH BELT!
I do own the entire NMRA Heritage Collection, and probably 5 or 6 of the Living Legends Collection, but the finish and detail on many of them is poor, so they are not going to see much service.
York1I'm a big 1950s science fiction fan, and I've considered trying a name that connects with that.
I have been noodling ideas around in my head for a 1950s sci-fi themed railroad name.
"GORTENBURG AND CLATTOOVILLE" comes to mind.
I know it is pretty lame, but I am trying!
SeeYou190I have been noodling ideas around in my head for a 1950s sci-fi themed railroad name. "GORTENBURG AND CLATTOOVILLE" comes to mind.
Thanks, Kevin. I'll add those to the list. I already have a store named "Gort's Lasers" in a strip mall.
I think my town may be named Altair, from "Forbidden Planet".
Nothing's done yet, and the way I work, it will be 2026 before I decide.
York1 John
York1 I already have a store named "Gort's Lasers" in a strip mall.
I saw a vehicle on an O scale layout once that was lettered "Klaatu Power Disruption Services".
I love sci-fi jokes.
Gorten & Clatoon?
Tim
Late to the model railroad party but playing catch-up.....
CapnCrunchGorten & Clatoon?
More possibilities!
Here is my storefront with Gort's Lasers. I am seriously thinking about two changes: Change from N Scale to HO, and getting a camera. I like scratchbuilding, but at my age, HO might be a better fit. My camera is an old cell phone that no longer works.
SeeYou190 I saw a vehicle on an O scale layout once that was lettered "Klaatu Power Disruption Services". I love sci-fi jokes. -Kevin
I have a loading dock door in a back corner labelled Mom's Robot Oil, and a warehouse also in that corner named Drosophila and Melanogaster Wholesale Fruit, after the Latin name for the fruit fly.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Another "Forbidden Planet" company:
I've never had much interest in science fiction or super heros, but GERN Industries, my brother's creation, dates back to the mid-'50s. It was much later when I finally got around to building a model of it...
It's a great traffic generator for the railroad, and takes-up only 6' of layout space.
doctorwayne I've never had much interest in science fiction or super heros, but GERN Industries, my brother's creation, dates back to the mid-'50s. It was much later when I finally got around to building a model of it... It's a great traffic generator for the railroad, and takes-up only 6' of layout space. Wayne
I would not want to trample upon any set standard for expanding the GERN family of industries or North American footprint, but I feel compelled to disclose to the creator (small c) my desire for establishing an expansion of GERN into northern Georgia.
There is a local oil recycler not too far from my abode that I plan on including on the layout.
Of course, in my free lanced world (maybe leaning into proto lance) that industry would be the 2010-ish Georgian site of GERN Flux Recycling.
- Douglas
Douglas, I've sent you a PM regarding GERN (always all-caps, as it's an acronym, of sorts).
MisterBeasleyI have a loading dock door in a back corner labelled Mom's Robot Oil,
I really want to work "Mom's Robot Oil" into the new layout somehow.
A "Slurm" bottling plant would also be nice to have.
Maybe even a roadside stand selling "Popplers" could be added.