Do you have a made up RR company?

[dharmon]

Maritime Rail, or it's original name New England Maritime Railway and Steam Ship Co. Ltd. Started as a coastal line in Maine back in the late 1850's when the company was trading its clipper ships and coastal freighters for new fangled steamships. The railway originally worked the docks of Portland and up the coast bringing fresh fish from the little fishing villages down south and provisions and passengers to the north. During WWII all of the company's large ships ended up making artificial reefs on the bottom of the Atlantic courtesy of U581 and her sisters, and the coastals got old and couldn't compete with trains and trucks by 1946.

The railroad continued to operate with little change or profit until the 70s when B&M and MEC started having financial troubles. Maritime bought up branch lines and property from both. Now they run from Canada to Boston and over to Vermont as competitors with Guilford. Some tracks are original (up the coast), some were purchased from B&M / MEC / BAR, and some are operated with rights over Guilford rails (Portsmouth, NH to Boston).

The railroad brings paper and wood products , potatos, and cement south. Northbounds include petrolium & paper making chemicals, metal shapes for Bath Iron Works, general mechandise to LLBean and others and through intermodal service from Canada to Boston both ways, something they have been really pushing. Passenger service is provided under Maine DOT contract (the Amtrak Downeaster didn't get approved in this world) from Boston to Portland daily and Bangor / Orono on Weekends. The daily to Boston also has MHCs dedicated to UPS/USPS service and a reefer bringing fresh seafood.

All of the motive power is second hand EMD, except for the F59PHIs, which were new and paid for as a part of the MDOT contract (and an insurance settlement involving a wreck) to replace the F40PHs which were already 20 years old when put into service. (My old LifeLike F40PH really did get wrecked, so it makes a plausible reason).

Its your basic regional. No threat to the class 1's and living on a shoestring. Now I just got to lay track...but first I need a house that I'm going to live in for more than 3 years.

[trainfan1221]

Mine is called Eastern Central Railway. Its a regional line that connects NS and Conrail (now CSX) with Some western roads, notably BNSF. We also have a fairly good traffic base. I like the regional idea because you can have fairly good traffic and train size, but don`t have to go overboard. I have two freight yards and a small yard to represent various local traffic. My RR was conceived in about 1993. The name is a holdover from my long gone HO railroad, but the concept is not. The roads colors are not firmly established, but so far I am doing a bluish black deal with a gray stripe. I am trying (somewhat badly) to honor the former Erie Lackawanna NJDOT scheme used on the U34 locomotives. While not directly copying anything. My layout is way past the beginning stages but not nearly done. You do what you can with n-scale on a 6X3 board!
I have a few general merchandise trains I run plus a full intermodal and coal train.
The intermodal is my favorite, when it doesn`t derail or uncouple at really inconvenient times. Like there is actually a convenient time for any of this.

[PistolPete]

Yes, The PAD line, A shortline connecting areas named after family members, Petersborough,(a small mountain city), A Junction, (an interchange with the BN) and Diane #1(a mining complex). The planned colors are dark blue with yellow trim.

[Anonymous]

AVRR (Aughwick Valley Railroad) A short line that services CSX . Its roster consists of:

GP-30
GP-7
SW1500 & calf
8x 100ton hoppers
3x 40ft covered hoppers


The colors are black and silver With a white logo

[Anonymous]

Yes, the Allentown Scranton & Northern Railroad Company based in modern times.

[Anonymous]

The Musquodoboit, Eastern Shore and Sydney runs it's main line from Sheet Harbour through Musquodoboit to Tatagamouche with track rights to Sydney on the Canadian National's Truro to Sydney Line as well as the CN line formerly the Inter Colonial RR line between Tatagamouche and Malagash. Tatagamouche having the only Prairie style grain elevator in Eastern Canada (still standing) and Malagash having the first salt mine in North America (all that still stands is the union hall, which is the salt mine mueseum). All goods will funnel through Sheet Harbour which is the Home port to the Flying F Line.

The time period is @1960, Colour Scheme will be Black Engines or in colours rec'd from the original owners, All Boxcars will be painted Forest Green with Gold Leaf Lettering, Cattle Cars will be Burgandy, Flat Cars/Gondolas/ore cars black, Referigerated cargoes Silver with black lettering. The company logo will be a Compass Rose with the arrow pointing in a NE direction, Logos will be several.

[vsmith]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Maureen

We have 3 of them on our Middle Earth layout, all using small steam; most colors aren't finalised yet, we've just begun painting equipment:

Gray Havens, Lorien & Gondor RR (also with stops in Hobbiton and Bree) uses American equipment. Lorien Express colours are blue, yellow and gray. Regular passenger cars will be different. Freight gray and blue; but reefers in the two schemes matching the passenger colours.

Old Forest Ry. (linking the GHL&G and the Ered -- from Hobbiton to Esgaroth, via Rivendell and Mirkwood) uses British equipment. Will likely have different shades of green for passenger and freight.

The Ered Line, slogan : "Moving the Mountains" (connecting Mordor, The Iron Hills and Esgaroth) freight basic oxide brown, passenger tba.

--Mo

Maureen, Wouldnt the trains running thru Hobbiton need to be narrow gauge???[:D][;)][8D]

[Hawks05]

i probably already posted but anyways. its changed since then.

my new railroad is the Baldwin Rail Service. i don't think i'll paint any locomotives but i have painted a useless caboose and will try and put the logo and lettering on there. i've also repainted the road numbers on a useless boxcar. it now reads BRS 8605. its an ex-Erie Lackawanna boxcar.

forgot the colors. Dark Blue and Silver are the main colors. still coming up with the designs for it.

[Anonymous]

Yes, the Prairie Belt Railway is a fictional shortline interchanging with the Santa Fe (or BNSF) and in the same general area (but not actually interchanging with) the Kansas and Oklahoma RR. It was started in 1990 by a competitor of the Watco Companies of which the K&O is a part. It runs in Central Kansas on a 27 mile branch of Ex- Santa Fe rail through the (fictional) Towns of Weston and Iona and points North. The area modelled is through Weston and just past Iona. Industires served are a refinery, a Salt Mine, a grain elevator, a manufacturer, and a private rail car and engine repair and rebuild shop. (This where I can put any car or engine on the layout that I want.) All of this is still in its conception stages.

The engines (all six) have recently been painted. A GP50 and a SW1500 are painted a royal blue and lettered for the Prairie Belt in Gold Script. These two represent the first "real" paintjob for the railroad back in 1992. A SW1500 SP style loco is painted a sand color and lettered in White Script. This represents the owners "new" paint scheme in 1996. In 1999 the owners decided to do away with the script style lettering and started using a large black Helvetica font but kept the sand color. They also gave these new locos ( a GP40-2 w/o dynamic brakes, a GP60 and a SW1000) a new logo that is a Sunflower with the Letters "PB" in the middle. The sunflower is centered in front of two crossed bundles of wheat. (The logo has not been applied yet. I have no decal paper right now.)

It is fun to model a fictional RR that interchanges with a real one. You get the satisfaction of making up your world AND you can be prototypically correct, too.

[Anonymous]

My 1945 Union Pacific layout (still on the drawing boards) will have a made up RR called the Mountain Valley RR. It will have it's own locos (such as 4-6-0's, 4-8-4, 0-6-0, and a first generation yard switcher) and rolling stock. I think i'm going for a blue and grey paint sceme.

[krump]

thought I'd responded previously... guess not
CCAST-AWAY RR (initials of the family) began in a box when I was 20 yrs younger... since then I've collected a large number of discarded, tossed, worn out pieces (buildings, rolling stock, engines etc) from all over - I've added a few new items in the past two years. When I get around to updating the rollingstock, the colours will be maroon/burgandy and gold (or silver ?).
Since the local club has club shirts - I think a CCAST-AWAY R/R logo would also look good on a golf shirt...
as a matter of fact, I DO OWN THE (rail) ROAD - kiddin'


9/04 - colour change to blue and green, the simple logo is still in the works but the C is doubled and thicker than the other letters (CASTAWAY Railroad now)

[Anonymous]

The line I own is the Gnome Garden Railway. I employee 5 gnomes who live in my backyard. I couldn't tell you what they do besides work on the railway. They always seem to be in good humor and attitude so I don't meddle in there affairs. I think they are friendly with the skunks and squirrels. I have seen birds close to them so I assume they are friends with them too! I never see any cats hanging around my yard, so I am sure that cats are affraid of gnomes. Maybe they eat cats because they never ask me for food and I never see cats in my yard. The cat in my house always runs away when the gnomes come in. Maybe they will reveal there mysterious lives to me someday. Time will only tell. They speak in a very low tone and only communicate with my daughter, who translates everything they tell her to me. Which isn't much anyway. They usually only tell her about weeding the garden and cleaning the track. They also have a keen eye on the ballasting situation. I in turn do most of the manual labor on the railway. They are around, leaning on their tools and try to look busy, they can stand still and not move for hours, truly spectacular little guys. At any rate, the line is featured in this website. http://www.trainweb.org/gnomegardenrw please stop by and take a look. Thanks.
pfd586

[GDRMCo]

I have just made a new railroad called Canada Rail. It serves Vancouver, Alberta, Whitehorse and Dawson City and interchanges with the Alaska Railroad.

[Robert Langford]

I had to dismantle my Sandy Southers R.R. some years age. Having a heart attact last December, brought me back to model railroading. I grew up in Park City, Utah, and I worked in the mines there. My new R.R. will be called the Park City Miners R.R. , or the PCMRR. I have just finished two RoundHouse Shayes, a two truck and a three truck. I have also put 16 Tichy Train Group wood ore cars together. Some years ago, Model Railroader Magazine had an artical on Park City, by Jack White. It had pictures of Park City. I grew up a block from the U.P. depot. The artical also had a picture of the tram that ran from the King Mine to the loading station. As a kid we would climb the tram towers and watch the buckets go by. I am now 69 years young, and I have many great memories of Park City. If any one is interested in Park, I would be glad to give information. When the mines were still oprating, (before the ski people moved in) There were two trains a day in Park. The D&RG came from Salt Lake and the U.P. came from Ogden. Interstate 80 did away with the D&RG, Too bad, It would have been a great tourist run.
Any one interested, my E-mail address is--- [e-mail]. I'd be glad to hear from someone.

[vsmith]

The best made-up RR I ever saw was the Grizzly Flats RR by Ward Kimball in San Gabriel. It was an outdoor layout with a 900 foot mainline on which Kimball ran a 2-6-0 steamer and a 0-4-2 sugercane steamer.

Oh, did I mention that it was FULL SIZE!!!!
Yep, Ward Kimball during the 30's, 40's, and 50's bought and restored two narrow gauge steamers back to working order, restored a caboose, a full size passenger car, built a full size engine house, water tower, and converted a station from a movie prop into a full fledged building, all this while being Walt Disneys #1 animator for most of his most famous movies. On weekends he'd run his trains out into the wilds of the orange groves and back. Kimball passed away recently, the 2-6-0 and cars were moved to the Orange Empire RR museum in Perris,Ca. and the sugercane loco has yet to be found a home (I'd take it in a heartbeat!). I wish I had 1/10 the energy he had shown for his trains.

[Anonymous]

T&R - I got Tired of working so I Retired.

Dave

[Anonymous]

We have 3 of them on our Middle Earth layout, all using small steam; most colors aren't finalised yet, we've just begun painting equipment:

Gray Havens, Lorien & Gondor RR (also with stops in Hobbiton and Bree) uses American equipment. Lorien Express colours are blue, yellow and gray. Regular passenger cars will be different. Freight gray and blue; but reefers in the two schemes matching the passenger colours.

Old Forest Ry. (linking the GHL&G and the Ered -- from Hobbiton to Esgaroth, via Rivendell and Mirkwood) uses British equipment. Will likely have different shades of green for passenger and freight.

The Ered Line, slogan : "Moving the Mountains" (connecting Mordor, The Iron Hills and Esgaroth) freight basic oxide brown, passenger tba.

--Mo

[auburnrails]

Hi,

Mine is currently called the Pacific Coast Railroad, and is based to a degree on the current Puget Sound & Pacific RR. I am using local place names for flavor, but will use modeler's license when necessary.

I plan to paint the motive power red/black (like BN, only Red, not green), with a couple ex-Conrail units simply sublettered. I also plan to model it as having been acquired by a larger entity, such as RailAmerica or Genesse & Wyoming (whatever comes out in N scale factory painted first) to add color and interest. If neither is available, then I also like the name WestRail for a shorltine holding company.

Motive power is currently 4 B23-7's (two still in Conrail blue, two in primer) and 3 soon-to-be-delivered GP38's in primer. Eventually I have to find a way to get a couple of UP SD70M Flared/Flagged units onto my layout. Hopefully (I know, I'm wierd) no one makes 'em until I'm out of N scale debt :-)

It's in a 10' x 10' bedroom with a 2' x 5' closet area also. Construction is mostly completed, but it's taking years (two young kids, wife, you understand). Hope to finally be able to run a train around the room this fall. It's a twice-around-the-room style with one lap also going around a peninsula. Someday ... someday....

Operations will include some of the PSAP stuff, like a weekly doublestack garbage train, the upcoming soy bean trains off of BNSF/UP (think SD70M), and some healthy port/timber/paper business from the area. I also plan to possibly have a short line come out of a hidden track to interchange. I like the name Puget Sound & Columbia River Railroad for it, but it will probably represent either a fictional connection to Raymond/South Bend, WA, or Olympia, WA.

It's interesting reading everyone's approaches. There is definately no lack of creativity and resourcefulness out there.

Walt Huston: Your work is very inspiring - keep it up!

Have fun everyone!

Dave Riffle
Auburn, WA

[Anonymous]

Yeah sure do It is called The Norfolk & Southern Inland Valley Junction RailRoad. Its A throwback to the years prior to merging with the Southern .2nd generation diesels will be the motive power.Company colors will be tan & green,engine fleet will be the old N&S grey & black paint .General merchandise will be the norm .also wood products will be a major producer far as revenue.

[Catt]

Yup,it is the Grande Valley RR.The name comes from living in the Grand River valley and the city of Grand Rapids,Mich.

The railroad has existed since 1978 (really). It theoretically (SP) runs north from South Bend,Ind. to Petosky,Mi. with branches off toward PortHuron/Sarnia to the east and Ludington to the west.

My colours are Conrail blue and CSX yellow both of which are Poly-Scale brand.The GVR is a general freight hauling railroad.

[Anonymous]

MAZE

Montana, Arizona & Eastern
I have never built a single loco for the road as it is outside my modeled region.
I just like the name and continue to create a car for it now and then when I need a "lark" just for the joy of it in my modeling.

[Anonymous]

My current layout has three lines running and the are called: "Millwood Mountain Logging Railroad" and "Three Rivers Mining & Ore Company." Also a city line that serves the local cities and it is called "Visalia Electric Railroad" which is a passenger road and also hauls the local produce (oranges) cars to the main Southern Pacific Line. All are named for local towns and a past local logging road. [8)] The colors are oxide brown with white stripe on the mining and ore cars (Three Rivers Mining) and the logging buggies and crew cars on the logging line (Millwood Mountain) are the bumblebee colors that Rio Grande used, as I like the colors and they stand out while running in the mountains and betwen the large growth trees. The electric railroad is blue with either white or yellow stripes (yellow for passenger and white for produce cars).

[Anonymous]

I am in the process of painting and decaling a GP38 for an imaginary Chicago shortline - the Norfolk and Goode - black with white letters, as per NS. there will be another GP38 for my Alabama layout - the Suffolk and Goode.

[Anonymous]

I freelance a small freight/passenger line, The Washburn & Clinch Mountain Railroad. It serves the smaller towns of East Tennessee and connects with the Southern Railroad and the Louisville & Nashville in Knoxville.Motive power is all steam

[Anonymous]

Mine is the Denver and Northwestern.

I runs bascially northwest/ southeast from Denver with a branch that goes northeast.

Colors are dark blue (think N&W) for freight diesels and dark blue/light blue for passenger diesels.

Heavyweight passenger cars are dark blue, light weight are two tone dark/light blue.

Howard

[Anonymous]

Well, it's like this... The "Keyser Creek" went into bankruptcy back about 1979. It's presently re-organizing and will be an around the room (11.5 by 11.5) point to point with an interchange with the DL&W. Major points of interest will be the logging operation, quarry, coal mine and Back Valley Car Shops. It is hoped that the design, incorporating elements from pre-bankruptcy, will lend itself to both pre-1950 and modern-day as a working steam short line. This will enable occasional operation of tourist and rail fan excursions over its simulated 30+-mile length.

[Anonymous]

The connecticut river railway. The ccr has lines going through conn, Mass, and vt. The colors are blue white and grey.

[IRONROOSTER]

Virginia and Lake Erie, the VALE route. Runs from Norfolk, Va. to Erie Pa. with an extension to Chicago. Colors are planned to be deep blue and crystal white.
Enjoy
Paul

[fuzzybroken]

My last railroad was the ALLIS SOUTHERN (ASO). Colors were Maroon/Dark Red, with black frame and white lettering. Most locos were in "prior owner" colors, and came from previous made-up RRs, but I painted up a Model Power industrial switcher for my yard -- very cool!! I built a lift-out to get into the room, and wired it with "safety sections" so the train wouldn't go crashing to the floor without the bridge in place.

Previously, I also had a "South Fork", with red and black CGW-style. I used Norfolk Southern decals for the lettering. I've had several made-up RRs! But they are too numerous to name (or remember, for that matter).

-Mark
See my website! http://www.geocities.com/fuzzybroken

[Anonymous]

Mine is the Great Central. It's been solvent since it's inception in 1975. it's primary color is Terra Cotta and striping/accent is Depot Buff. Very drab and very nuetral to say the least. It used to run all the way from Winnipeg to Galveston and was a true Class 1 Railroad, but now I have a new layout under construction (Great Northrn) and the GC will simply interchange. It's a great way to bring in lots of traffic, but the main reason to keep it alive is to run those engines the GN never owned (but I do)