Who operates their own roadname?

[tcf511]

I operate the HO Manassas Gap and Front Royal Railroad. We have our own business cards, passes, stock certificates and rolling stock. I'm the CEO but I'm also the janitor. :)

[Anonymous]

The following is on topic, I am redoing my web page and this is from the new version.....

My Cincinnati, Georgetown & Portsmouth Railroad really existed from 1880's until 1936. Financial problems delayed construction and prevented the tracks ever being built beyond Georgetown. Track right of way was purchased with promises of jobs and shares of ownership. This ultimately saved the road during the bad times during the Depression. It's tracks originated at the Carroll Street Station near the Pennsylvania Railroad tracks in eastern Cincinnati. The line was plagued by poor design and lacked the financial means to correct it. The track rising out of the Ohio River Valley was so steep that only three cars at a time could be pulled up the hill. In the first quarter of the 20th Century the line electrified and built generating plants every ten miles to power the trains. During off peak hours the generating stations sold the excess power to the surrounding towns. For over forty years eastern Hamilton, Clermont and Brown Counties grew up around the transportation provided by the railroad and it's subsidiaries. When the Great Depression hit the areas economy flopped. Passenger service fell as people lost jobs and no longer needed to commute or were able to shop in Cincinnati. Freight traffic dropped as the economy failed. With so many of the areas citizens connected to the railroad as owners, employees, shippers, consignees, and passengers there was a great effort by the community to save the railroad and by doing that save the community. Old steam locomotives were pulled out of mothballs to work the flat areas. Generating stations were sold off to raise money. An alternate route was needed for the steep hill out of Cincinnati and people needed jobs. A new route was surveyed. Land was bought and paid for with jobs. Stone for building and ballast was needed. This created jobs at Grant quarry in Georgetown. The need for ties was filled by Felicity lumber merchants no longer able to sell fine hardwoods to furniture manufacturers. The company even placed a one time order of one pair of work boots for every employee from Bethel Shoe Manufacturing. The economy beyond the interchange floundered but the economy along the CG&P survived and so did the CG&P. Smaller for a time. No longer electrified, most of the catentary had been removed and sold. As the Depression lifted and the nations economy went onto a war footing the CG&P was in a good position to prosper with the country.   
The above description of my proto-lanced model railroad is part history and part fiction. The railroad died in 1936, 21 years before I was born but I knew it from the relics I grew up around, abandoned right of ways, bridges, and an old passenger coach that was transformed into a store. There have been two books written about the CG&P The Cincinnati, Georgetown and Portsmouth Railroad by Stephen B. Smalley in 1977 published by Trolley Talk and Railroad with 3 Gauges: The Cincinnati, Georgetown and Portsmouth RR and Felicity and Bethel RR by David McNeil self published in 1986. One day I hope to have both these books. I have seen the McNeil book, it is the basis for the non-fiction part of the above history.

........Back when this thread first came around I wanted to model "those abandoned tracks across the road from the farm house" I have learned a lot since then. I have been thinking about color schemes and heralds to.......

As much as I want to model the CG&P there are road blocks to doing that. I have never seen a color photo of any locomotive or piece of rolling stock that belonged to the railroad. The black and white photos I have see seem to be a single darker color with lighter color lettering. Doesn't narrow it down much. Growing up in the area helps think of something plausible. To this day Georgetown's, the entire area's, big claim to fame is President Ulysses S. Grant. Red, white and blue is a little flashy and the photos looked like they were one solid color. General Grant led the North in the War of the Blue & the Gray. So blue it is. I decided that the passenger cars would have white roofs early on in the project. Heating the cars is easy. Cooling them is much harder but a white roof reflects the heat of the sun and is very practical. I think that white lettering will show up better on the blue then black would but I am not sure they are available. When I started building the station kit I decided the company colors should be used there to. The upper half of the walls are off white, the doors, window trim and lower walls get the blue paint. I have always liked tile roofs so the stations are ending up Red, White & Blue.  Once I had them painted it reminded me of an old Sohio gas station back before BP.    

.......I have not designed the herald but I know what I want, I just need to pick the font and find a silhouette of General Grant. I am thinking, the name in a good sized font with Grants head to the right and in smaller letters under the name "The Grant Line"

[TomDiehl]

I made up one in the 60's that I still use today. My diesels roughly follow the paint scheme of the Reading RR, but I use a lighter green. I always like the way they put the locomotive number on the long hood in BIG numerals.

I kept it ambiguous so it wouldn't restrict me to any area of the country.

Samson, Burnton, & Southern

[reklein]

I call my 10x14 around the room size layout, Collier Bluffs and Poker Flats RR.Its set in Eastern WA and western ID which was crawling with RR back in 1900. The town of Collier Bluffs serves the logging and grain business while the Port Of Poker Flats is a railhead on the Snake river. I'm torn between light steam and early diesel so I kinda hve two stables of locos depending on the mood I'm in.

[timthechef]

My railroad is the Cherry Vally and Potomac Railroad.

[ericmanke]

I have two protofreelance railroads. One in N, one in HO. I'm currently working on the one in N right now. THe un-named as of now road purchased the ex Northern Pacific branch from Superior to Ashland WI, and also has purchased a small cluster of Ex-CNW lines in Northeast Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. I was going to use the name Wisconsin Northern, but Progressive Rail beat me to it. Also thought about Superior Southern. It is set in 1983, and operates with 5 Ex N&W GP18s, a leased BN GP9, and an Ex-Chessie System GP7. We haul woodchips, pulpwood, ballast, some paper, food products, a little lumber, some flour, and manufactured goods. As a child of the 80's roads like Wisconsin Central, Fox River Valley, Iowa Interstate, and Chicago Central etc have always fasinated me. Especially hodgepodged first and early second generation power still in their former owners colors with their markings painted out. Catt, where is the road that you interchange in Wisconsin? I'm looking for a friendly connection to the south.

[tomikawaTT]

My forum moniker is my freelance road name, foreshortened. Full length, it's the Tomikawa Tani Tetsudo (Richstream Valley Railroad), and rolling stock and facilities are entirely 'imagineered' within a rural Japan setting.

There is also the Kashimoto Forest Railway, based on the prototype Kiso Forest Railway but running under my wife's maiden name to preserve peace in the family.

Nowadays, both are playing backup to the main star, the (wholly prototype, with fictional station names) Japan National Railways.

Many years ago I wrote a long essay on the fictional history of the railroads and the area they serve. Now, finally, I'm building some of it.

[trainfreek92]

Me???? My Railroad is the "Maple Leaf and Pine Tree Central RR or the ML&PTC RR" I model Northern New England. At this stage in my life thats just the name of the layout (im 13) So i run trains from the Maine Central, Boston&Maine, Guilford,CSX,Green Mountain, Bangor & Arostook,Rutland. CV, CP, CN. When I am a adult i might buy a airbrush make my own decals and paint locos MAYBE!! Tim

[GAPPLEG]

Last but not least is the Texas Mining and Industrial railroad, my ficticious shortline.[:D]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: I think that most layouts, maybe 70%, are freelanced

There was a poll "freelance or prototype" -do a search. I'm modeling a freelanced (sort of). It's illinois central, set in the exact present. The UTAH BELT from Great Model RR's 2006 inspired me to do this. I use IC's last paint scheme the DEATH STAR. There are a few things that aren't quite prototipical though. IC scrapped their U33C's on 5/18/1984 and i'm running one (soon to be 2) but it's MY railroad. Some of the loco's on the roster were purchesed from BNSF and wear Santa Fe colors. The official name is the "ILLINOIS CENTRA RAILWAY" for now it's Class 2.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I operate my own.

[nbrodar]

My Penn Lake System, The Anthracite Speedway, is a mid-1990s super regional (like Montana Rail Link or Wisconsin Central) operating in Northeast Pennsylvania's anthracite country. PLS transports coal, iron ore, steel, stone, cement, paper, building products, and beer. It interchanges with the D&H/CP and Conrail, so power from those roads are frequent visitors.

The locomotives are dark blue with red & white lighting strips:

And the cars are gray with red lettering, and the PLS diamond.

Nick

[jecorbett]

If you include modelers who run their own freelanced railroads and modelers who model fictional branches of real railroads, I think they would be in the majority. I don't know of that many modelers who try to model an actual railroad in a real place. Even those that do I'm sure have to take considerable modelers license because of space constraints.

My own layout is of a fictional line that runs from the Hudson River across the southern tier of New York to Buffalo. It is a composite of the NYOW, the Erie, and the DL&W. The modeled portion runs in the area served by the NYOW.

[SpaceMouse]

Dang. Things change. The Hogwarts Freight and Ferry has 4 engines and about 8 pieces of rolling stock, but only comes out during open house at the club.

Now I only model prototypes.

At home, the Central Pacific / Southern Pacific merger year 1885.

Just starting, sort of, 1917 California Western and Northwestern Pacific.

At the club, PRR and Buffalo and Pitttsburgh, but easing out of the PRR.

[selector]

[%-)] Somehow I have been missing this entire thread....haven't seen it yet!

I think that most layouts, maybe 70%, are freelanced due to the nature of most model trains players..they want to control much of their experience in the hobby. Anyway, mine is freelanced and I call it the Sentinel Coal Ry, even though the only loco that will eventaully be so signed is my 0-6-0.

What a hodge-podge I have, but I love every one of 'em.

Addend-dumb - okay, I just read the date of Mouse's first post. [:I]

[Anonymous]

I have my own, it is the HO scale Archer Grain, a Shortline based in Kansas.

we have 247 miles of rail, and interchange with the Santa fe at the town of Strong city, and interchange with the Kyle railroad at the town of Archer.

my roster so far is
1 Proto 2000 Gp30
1 Custom kitbashed GP19-,1 kitbashed from a p2k gp18 with a cannon dash-2 cab and a chopped nose.
1 8-40b ex LMX
and we also lease power from the santa fe currently we are leasing a couple of gp30's, and 2 b23-7's and a gp38

right now on the heavy grain traffic we have 4 trains a day running, and 2 locals a day
we have the Cottonwood Falls to Archer Turn, then it returns with empties, then we have the 110 train which hauls the most it starts at thomas and teminates at strong city.
then we have the 2 locals that switch all the elevators and a couple of industries along the system.

right now on the 110 train for power is the 8-40b in the lead, and 2 b23-7's and 1 gp30.

on the archer turn we have a gp19-1 in the lead with the gp35
then running the locals is the archer grain gp30, and the other local runs with one of the Santa fe gp30's

In the coming months we will be recieving 6 8-40b's ex LMX, so then we could return most of the santa fe power.

here are some pics of my gp30 loco, sorry i dont have pics of the other stuff yet.

[pcarrell]

The Autumns Ridge Railway & Navigation Co. is a fictional line based on the Belfast & Moosehead Lake RR in Maine.

[waltersrails]

i know its a old topic but needs to be back. I use to operate under my last name but desided just to go with class one railroads.

[trainboyH16-44]

I made the Alberta Pacific.
It's a Canadian transcon that goes through Red Deer, with heavy influence from CP and CN. It operates an all EMD roster with mostly 40 series geeps and SDs, and is buildind a fleet of SD70s. (It's sheild will be my avatar the moment I figure out how to do it)
APR4EVER

[TrainFreak409]

When I get a layout up and running, I am planning on running the Scott Squad Railroad, a fictional Class 1 railroad with multiregional locomotives and rolling stock from multiple time periods, taking place in no specific region.

The name might not stick, I am still thinking on that subject. But I know that for a first layout, I don't want prototypical facts limiting my experience. I want to go all out creative and see what happens.

~[8]~ TrainFreak409 ~[8]~

[Anonymous]

I am trying to think of the perfect name for my railroad. It is a fictional branchline of the UP with shay engines and a logging industry. It is set somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. You can have as much or even more fun with your own road name than you can with a real one.

dwfin1985 (UP fan)

[ClinchValleySD40]

Clinch Valley RR Co.

Knoxville, TN to Huntington, WV

[Anonymous]

In my little (1:160) world, the Milwuakee Road and the Northern Pacific merged to form the Chicago, Milwaukee, and Northern Pacific (or Milwaukee Road). The MOntana Rail Link was formed from the tracks the new company put up for sale as surplus. Both railroads have trackage rights over the other, so it is not uncimmin to see either line's power. Of course, the home colors are orange and black (with the "sprinting indian").

[Anonymous]

]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by SteveGrantham

In my universe and timeline of the late 60s/early 70s, the Bachmann Turner Overland is a thriving shortline around the Chicago area...

steve [:D]

Cool name, sounds like you are takin care of buisness and workin overtime .Mine is the Clarksburg Charleston & Western. A very fictional class1 that operates in the 40's thru late 50's. I have been asked many times, Pardon me boy, is that the Chattanoga Choo Choo..[:D] Terry.

[Anonymous]

In my universe and timeline of the late 60s/early 70s, the Bachmann Turner Overland is a thriving shortline around the Chicago area...

steve [:D]

[jguess733]

I operate the Brazos River Western, a fictional class 2 in Texas. And my buddy and I are building a layout in his basement the Chicago & Pacific, which is a road that was formed by the fictional merging of the Milwakee Road, and Rock Island.

[dharmon]

I do. Maritime Rail, or it's original name New England Steam Ship and Maritime Railway Co. Ltd. Eaking out a living in modern Maine...

[BRVRR]

My BRVRR is a freelanced connecting road between the NYC and the Santa Fe. I have only one piece of "house" equipment, a F7, BRVRR#1116. You can see it and a lot of the other motive power and rolling stock at the link below.

[Anonymous]

My grandpa did it was called Algonqlin and Southern
he painted all of his rolling stock and locomotives in a deep green. I have one caboose and his heavyweight passenger fleet. Everything else wen to the four winds.