In 30 years today will be the "golden era" to somebody. I live the myth that the world was perfect when I was a kid, before I was a kid, and now that my kids are kids, I guess the world is perfect now.
It would have been cool to see the NW J series in their prime, but we can do the next best and model it.
The Dixie D Short Line "Lux Lucet In Tenebris Nihil Igitur Mors Est Ad Nos 2001"
Chip
Building the Rock Ridge Railroad with the slowest construction crew west of the Pecos.
Yes and no. I grew up with my older cousin's hand-me-down American Flyer steamers and diesels, but I wasn't born during that era.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Short answer is no. I grew up first along the Penn Central and then the Chessie in my teenage years. I did initially model the PC but after I got stationed in Nebraska, I switched to the CB&Q even though they had longer since merged into BN. A beautiful front cover of an RMC from the 70's of a Burlinton E unit was my inspiration for the change.
Rick
http://mprailway.blogspot.com
"The first transition era - wood to steel!"
No, I grew up with the Illinois Central and Rock Island. I built a RI-based layout back in the 80s, but now I'm working in On30.
Even before that, though, my plan was to model the ACL, which was never a part of my Chicago childhood.
Yep. ... and rode on: SP Daylites, AT&SF El Cap, San Diegan, and Super. Also CMStP&P, and CNW - BUT I don't model those, (but I had a brass '36 'Hiawatha' ).
I still remember standing trackside as the 'Hiawatha' came barreling through Glenview at 90 MPH enroute to Milwaukee and Minneapolis.
When I was a kid, I thought Southern Pacific and Santa Fe were the only two railroads there were... As I got older and into serious model railroading, those were the roads I first started with. Since then I've added Western Pacific, Rio Grande and Norfolk & Western. Who knows what's yet to come...
Tracklayer
My Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/JR7582 My Flickr Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wcfan/
My Dad was in the Army so I moved around growing up in the 50's. Some places there were no trains, in Germany we had an active rail line behind our house with steam engines, in D.C. the street cars were running one block over, in Hampton, Va. I rode on the C&O on my 6th grade field trip. I am now modeling the Ma&Pa circa 1953 - a railroad I never saw growing up. It allows me to have steam engines and diesels, steel boxcars and wooden boxcars with truss rods and archbar trucks.
I guess for me the world was perfect when I was a kid. Though come to think of it I did miss the Maine Two Footers. But I do have a model of a WW&F Forney locomotive.
Enjoy
Paul
Sort of. I grew up with the SP in central Texas. I was inspired by this to model the SP in some capacity, but my layout is based on an area in west Texas. I also am modeling the Sunset Limited as it would have appeared in San Antonio in the late '50s, although this was well before my time.
I would eventually like to model the SP in San Antonio, to include the Texas Transportation Company so I can have a little street running. That is a ways off when we are finally settled down somewhere and I have the room to do it.
My great Grandfather helped build the Virginian, and I grew up spending many a Sunday afternoon on my Uncle's farm hard by the Norfolk and Western "racetrack" as it exited the Dismal Swamp on the Norfolk side. The farm is a huge container facility now. (sigh)
Love those steam engines. You're right tangerine-jack, seeing a J in revenue service at 80 plus was something. A Class A at speed with a mile of hoppers was't too shabby either.
Reality...an interesting concept with no successful applications, that should always be accompanied by a "Do not try this at home" warning.
Hundreds of years from now, it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove...But the world may be different because I did something so bafflingly crazy that my ruins become a tourist attraction.
"Oooh...ahhhh...that's how this all starts...but then there's running...and screaming..."
It was more of my father who got me onto the Milwaukee Road. I don't know why, but the railroad has always been of interest to me. That Black and orange bug bit me. So I have been hooked as long as I can remember. It surprises me every step of the way, and it's fun.
James
I model what I was exposed to. Some of you guys might think that running engines that all look alike may be boring, but I like the looks of the old WC engines. To mix it up a little I want to find as many 'special edition' engines I can find in WC paint. I just can't seem to get my hands on that elusive 'map' unit tho.
Now I am modeling mostly CB&Q because much of my childhood was in one of the Q's Chicago suburbs. In the winter (no leaves in trees blocking view) I could see the trains from my bedroom window. I recall when we move there, they still had a little steam and those locomotives would shake my bedroom door on its hinges.
Our family did a lot of train travel that included CB&Q, ATSF, SP, MILW, CNW, UP, PRR, CP, CN, NYC, B&O, SOU, ACL, IC, and ..........oh.......I don't recall all of them.......... Also, I traveled around Chicago on CA&E, CNS&M, and CSS&SB.
My layout is a ficticious division of the Burlington and includes other railroads.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Jerry SP FOREVER http://photobucket.com/albums/f317/GAPPLEG/
graphitehemi, The site below sells the "map" edition decals.
http://www.scalerailgraphics.com/31001a.htm
While I grew up in Columbus and saw PRR,NYC,B&O,C&O and N&W I prefer the late 70s,90s and 2004.
I do have C&O locomotives that can fit in the 60s or the 70s.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Virginian wrote: My great Grandfather helped build the Virginian, and I grew up spending many a Sunday afternoon on my Uncle's farm hard by the Norfolk and Western "racetrack" as it exited the Dismal Swamp on the Norfolk side. The farm is a huge container facility now. (sigh)Love those steam engines. You're right tangerine-jack, seeing a J in revenue service at 80 plus was something. A Class A at speed with a mile of hoppers was't too shabby either.
I live just a few miles from where you are speaking of. Much of the area is no longer farms but industry of some type. This is growth and it's good in its own way. I get to see many, many NS coal trains daily, and a lot of CSX freight hauling. No shortage of railfanning around here!
The Chrysler museum in Norfolk recently had a photo expo of the very last steam engine run ever; it was an N&S class A run from Baltimore to Roanoke (I believe). The photographer was a genius and specialized in night photos, and he had the presence of mind to actually record the sounds of what he was shooting at the time. It was displayed that way in the Chrysler, photos and sound. Man, what a time machine that was! It made me nostalgic for a time I never lived in. Brilliant work.
Bill
"Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig"
I started out modeling the railroad I grew up in in the era I grew up in and in the area I grew up in. While that railroad (MoPac) is still my first love and something I collect, I now model a completely different era, region, and railroad (not even a subsidiary).
Ron
Owner and superintendant of the N scale Texas Colorado & Western Railway, a protolanced representaion of the BNSF from Fort Worth, TX through Wichita Falls TX and into Colorado.
Check out the TC&WRy on at https://www.facebook.com/TCWRy
Check out my MRR How-To YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/RonsTrainsNThings
Growing up in Chicago in the 1970s, I had the El about three blocks from my house. When I saw trains (which was a LOT, as my whole family's into trains), it was either in a rickety, dingy Rock Island commuter coach, or standing trackside watching the Rock, Milwaukee, IC and C&NW sputter, cough, spark and stall their way by, hauling absolutely filthy cars that had seen better days - 25 years ago.
I model central Illinois in the 1940s.
Ray Breyer
Modeling the NKP's Peoria Division, circa 1943
potlatcher wrote:So, my question is which myth do you buy into - "The world was perfect when I was a kid" or "I missed all the cool stuff"?
I grew up with steam on SP's Roseville-Reno Donner Pass line over the spectacular California Sierra Nevada's. All those neat AC cab-forwards and those beautiful MT 4-8-2's with and without the Skyline casings. Rode on the coast line when the GS-4's were still hauling more -than-mile-a-minute-Daylights between San Francisco and LA. Fell in love with the spectacular Cascades of Northern California and Oregon on the Shasta Daylight.
Then I went to Colorado on vacation and fell in love with D&RGW--mountain railroading with a VENGEANCE! Unfortunately, it was then after 1956 when steam was gone, but the Rockies were still there, LOL!
I model both. The SP steam I remember, and the D&RGW steam I WISH I'd been there to remember. Incredibly handsome steamers, both roads. And BIG mountains--Rockies and Sierras.
I'm a happy camper.
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
Sorry, but that shoe just doesn't fit.
My 'formative years' were spent in Da Bronx - 3rd avenue L, subways, the electrified routes of the NYC and NH, all in the context of brick, concrete and incredible complexity. (I was a grade schooler before I learned that plants grew in the ground. Until then, I thought they grew in flowerpots on people's windowsills.)
I moved from Lionel to HO by way of a really strange aberration made of bits of wood and cardstock in 1:192 scale. Railroad equipment and right-of-way structures fascinated me, but not any particular railroad.
My first encounter with my ultimate prototype took place after I had voted in my first Federal election, a continent-width and an ocean away from the scenes of my childhood. So be it.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
tangerine-jack,
That photographer you speak of, that they did the exposition on, was O. Winston Link, and his pictures of the N&W are legend. They have a museum of his work in the old N&W station in Roanoke. He captured a disappearing world of steam locomotives, and a whole way of life. I have all his books and recordings. In addition to being a brilliant artisan, he was a nice guy too. He was as responsible as anyone for 611 getting preserved, and he did get to ride behind her several times. Really poetic justice that all those pictures he took out of a personal love of steam, that no one wanted much back in the '60s, grew to be worth thousands in his lifetime.
"Mainline to Panther" I believe is the recording where N&W spotted a caboose behind the auxliary water tender and an 'A' and Winston rode on the roof and narrated from Crewe, Va to Roanoke, including a stall out on Blue Ridge (Bonsack pusher Y6b to the rescue!). I think it was the day after New Years 1958 or '59, and it was a frosty ride.
Look up "Steam Steel, and Stars" or "The Last Steam Railroad in America" on Amazon and you can probably view a bunch of the photos.
Virginian wrote: That photographer you speak of, that they did the exposition on, was O. Winston Link, and his pictures of the N&W are legend. They have a museum of his work in the old N&W station in Roanoke. ...
Here's a link (no pun intended LOL) to that museum. When you get there, keep clicking on the "next" buttons and you'll see many of his nighttime shots.
http://www.linkmuseum.org/index-1.html
-Ken in Maryland (B&O modeler, former CSX modeler)
Yes, O Winston Link, that's the guy! I was totally enthralled by his work, the man was pure genius, no two ways about that. The Chrysler's display was so well done I swear you could smell coal, maybe it was my imagination or maybe they had a scent machine of some type, but anyway it was an AWESOME gallery! Well worth doing whatever it takes to see his work.
I didn't know there was a permanent museum set up for him; I'll take a drive out to Roanoke next weekend and have a look.
Mark P.
Website: http://www.thecbandqinwyoming.comVideos: https://www.youtube.com/user/mabrunton
Well, I guess mine is tied in a different knot. I grew up in the time of the SOO Line and WC. But, I was far too little to remember much about any of them, especially the SOO. But now, I model "loosely" the 1990s. Pretty much in the ball park of 1994-1998. But, the only thing that isnt quite right is some of my SD45s dont have the renumberings yet, which is the main reason im modeling the 90s. And, one thing that doesnt work with modeling the 90s, is that all of my ex Algoma Central engines are painted, which didnt happen till 99, and 2000 for most. Like I said, its a loose time frame, but most probably wouldnt pick up on it if your not familiar with the WC.
Alec
Sort of...
I model the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1956. But I was born in 1974. However, I "grew up" as a railfan in places like Strasburg, PA (home of the steam-powered Strasburg RR and the RR Museum of Pennsylvania's collection of Pennsy equipment) and the East Broad Top RR.
Moreover, I lived on Long Island, whose massive commuter network was once owned by Pennsy, so keystones, position light signals, and other PRR stylings abounded. I also rode the former PRR between Lancaster, PA and New York.
Later, when I went to Penn State University, I often traveled Route 322 between Harrisburg and State College, paralleling the PRR Middle Division (Conrail), which I now model.
So yes, sort of... Just not exactly as I remember them.
Modeling the Rio Grande Southern First District circa 1938-1946 in HOn3.
I started to model the railroads I grew up with back when I got serious about model railroading (about 1980). I had planned to model the PRR/Conrail's Columbia and Port Deposit branch. That is why I still have 3 AHM/Rivorassi GG1s (with the pizza cutter flanges) and an Atlas AEM-7.
-George
"And the sons of Pullman porters and the sons of engineers ride their father's magic carpet made of steel..."
Yes ! I grew up in the 60's living in Northern Pacific depots in North Dakota. My dad was the depot agent. It was great and I got to ride in the cabs of GP-9's end on the section cars and cabooses. So I love and model the NP. Funny thing though my Dad retired after 20 years with the NP and he thought his time with them was a complete waste.
Arden
Dave Vollmer wrote: Sort of...I model the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1956. But I was born in 1974. However, I "grew up" as a railfan in places like Strasburg, PA (home of the steam-powered Strasburg RR and the RR Museum of Pennsylvania's collection of Pennsy equipment) and the East Broad Top RR.Moreover, I lived on Long Island, whose massive commuter network was once owned by Pennsy, so keystones, position light signals, and other PRR stylings abounded. I also rode the former PRR between Lancaster, PA and New York.Later, when I went to Penn State University, I often traveled Route 322 between Harrisburg and State College, paralleling the PRR Middle Division (Conrail), which I now model.So yes, sort of... Just not exactly as I remember them.
I am in a similar boat. I model a shortline railroad that ran through my parents' small town home in Wisconsin during the transition era. The ironic part is that I never saw on train on those rails. They were embargoed when I was about 10 years old, but when we visited relatives in the area my father and I used to walk the tracks all the time. That was my first introduction to "railroads"...an unused shortline branch.
So, I model that branch during its most interesting and prosperous years, the early 1950s.
Andy
wctransfer wrote: Well, I guess mine is tied in a different knot. I grew up in the time of the SOO Line and WC. But, I was far too little to remember much about any of them, especially the SOO. But now, I model "loosely" the 1990s. Pretty much in the ball park of 1994-1998. But, the only thing that isnt quite right is some of my SD45s dont have the renumberings yet, which is the main reason im modeling the 90s. And, one thing that doesnt work with modeling the 90s, is that all of my ex Algoma Central engines are painted, which didnt happen till 99, and 2000 for most. Like I said, its a loose time frame, but most probably wouldnt pick up on it if your not familiar with the WC.Alec
Modeling the same era. But I got alot of Soo Rolling stock.
I grew up in the Detroit area, born in 75. There is nothing more mundane in railroading than that area at that time IMO. Autoracks and monster boxcars is all there was (and still is).
I went to CA when I was 3 (1979). These are my earliest childhood memories. We visited Cajon and Tehachapi and I fell in love with the ATSF. Since then I have always wanted to model the SF and every locomotive and caboose that I have ever purchased or asked for has been ATSF. Having a clear goal for 28 years has made it easier.
As far as the location (Deming, NM) there were several reasons why I picked that: desert locale, SP interchange, sparse structures, and smaller operation (no transcon double track mainlines). It was also where a long time friend and master model railroader moved after retirement. He has now passed so I like to think of my layout as a tribute to him, if you will.
Check out the Deming Sub by clicking on the pics:
Originally, I wanted to...
When I was growing up in Michigan in a suburb of Detroit in the 1960's, my dream was to model the Ford Motor Co.'s River Rouge complex (NYC, C&O, DT&I). After my family moved to Maryland in 1968, I discovered the use of rear-end helpers on the B&O and wanted to model that as well. Fast-forward to my 2nd mrr "life": I learned about proto-lancing and wanted my private pike to be as believable as I can get it.
So for now, I've chosen to model someplace I've never lived: a Lake Erie industrial town with my fictional short line reaching into the hilly areas of northwest PA. That way I can have a Great Lakes harbor-front steel mill at one end and do helper operations on the other.
CSX_road_slug wrote: Originally, I wanted to...When I was growing up in Michigan in a suburb of Detroit in the 1960's, my dream was to model the Ford Motor Co.'s River Rouge complex (NYC, C&O, DT&I).
When I was growing up in Michigan in a suburb of Detroit in the 1960's, my dream was to model the Ford Motor Co.'s River Rouge complex (NYC, C&O, DT&I).
If you are ever back this way, The Henry Ford Museum is now conducting tours of the Rouge. I have not been there yet but I heard the tour is excellent.
I used to. I still have a fleet of Conrail, CP, and Amtrak locomotives. However, after I hired with Conrail, my modeling tastes drifted backward some. Now, I model the D&H, Reading, and PC/PRR during the early 1970s.
Nick
Take a Ride on the Reading with the: Reading Company Technical & Historical Society http://www.readingrailroad.org/
YES,
Davenport RockIsland and Northwestern...the DRI Line. BN & Soo are modeled as well circa 1995. Actually the Milwaukee Road was the first railroad I remember, but I like the Soo colors better, so I picked a later year (1995).
el-capitan wrote: If you are ever back this way, The Henry Ford Museum is now conducting tours of the Rouge. I have not been there yet but I heard the tour is excellent.
Thanx for the tip. Actually, I did get a tour of the Rouge with the Railroad Industrial SIG in April 2003, and it was fantastic!
My 4th-grade class went on a field trip to the Henry Ford Museum also. I remember seeing an NYC passenger train pass by as we were eating our lunch in the picnic area. Can't remember if it was powered by Alco's or E-units though...
I remember the late 1940's around Cleveland, Ohio. We lived in Lakewood at the time and a block away from the Nickel Plate mainline. My parents did not own a car and we walked to the store for groceries. The highlight for me was waiting for one of NKP's steam engines to go rolling by.
Yes, I remember street cars and taking them downtown and going on the lower level of the Detroit/Superior bridge.
I model in G scale and model narrow gauge. My next layout will be back to HO and the Nickel Plate.
The 40's and the 50's were the days for trains. You could watch a train go by and see a lot of different railroads within that train. So many "fallen flags", they say that is progress. Today's trains get to be a bit boring.........unit trains. Back then every train was different as they were all mixed freight.
tangerine-jack wrote: In 30 years today will be the "golden era" to somebody. I live the myth that the world was perfect when I was a kid, before I was a kid, and now that my kids are kids, I guess the world is perfect now.It would have been cool to see the NW J series in their prime, but we can do the next best and model it.
You are right about this being the " golden era " to someone thirty years form now. Get your pictures and enjoy what is going on.
I want to tell you about my " golden era " It was a week in 1956 on vacation in Roanoke Virginia and I got to see and watch almost of the J's in service that week. The N&W was still 100 % steam. It was a time that almost seems like a dream now, but I have pictures and notes.
I have two of the BLI J's and enjoy them.
I model most of the eastern railroads, but I have a soft spot for B&O\Chessie and Conrail.
I remember when i would hear the horn of a freight or coal train, I'd drop everything and run to watch it, the yellow\red\black Chessie's looked so imposing when they rumbled by, the Conrail locos were impressive too, but not like the big yellow beasts. I always liked the plain blue and yellow of the later B&O units, not as flashy as some railroads, but i liked them anyway.
Those 3 are the ones I remember most, I'm sure some PRR and N&W was mixed in to, but my favs have to be the B&O\Chessie\Conrail era.
LD357 wrote: I model most of the eastern railroads, but I have a soft spot for B&O\Chessie and Conrail. I remember when i would hear the horn of a freight or coal train, I'd drop everything and run to watch it, the yellow\red\black Chessie's looked so imposing when they rumbled by, the Conrail locos were impressive too, but not like the big yellow beasts. I always liked the plain blue and yellow of the later B&O units, not as flashy as some railroads, but i liked them anyway. Those 3 are the ones I remember most, I'm sure some PRR and N&W was mixed in to, but my favs have to be the B&O\Chessie\Conrail era.
I hear you. I lived in SE PA till I was nine. All I saw was Conrail and occasionally Chessie if I got over to Gettysburg. I model 1978 rather than the late 80's which was when I was old enough to remember what I saw.
p.s. although I can remember back far enough to have seen a PC black GP35 on the local that ran through town. Although it broke down trying to leave.
Well, err, sort of. I hoboed around the country, in the summer of 1962, after I got out of the Air Force, came home, and the old crowd was gone, moved, married, etc. Totally bored. So I left Detroit on the Wabash, headed west. Jumped on the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio, in East St Louis, and headed south to Mobile. Took the L and N to New Orleans. Bummed around awhile,then moved on. Great fun if you are young, and in good shape. Wouldn't want to do it now. Got rides in locos and cabooses on many occasions. Train crews seemed genuinely concerned for our safety. Several times a friendly train crew said, "climb up in the second unit, and don't touch anything. You'll be safer there. If anybody asks, we didn't know you were there". A conductor once said, "I've got a son your age. C'mon back and ride in the caboose".
Lots of F-7s E-6s, 7s and 8s, GP 9s, etc. I was standing on the platform, in Biloxi Miss, late one night, when the L&N Pan American pulled in. I noticed a dark pullman right behind the engine, and ahead of the baggage cars. It was being deadheaded somewhere. I tried the door, and it was unlocked. I quickly climbed inside and closed the door, and hoped no one had seen me. A few minutes later the train left and quickly picked up speed. I pulled a flashlight out of my duffle bag, and folded down a bed in the car and fell asleep. I woke up the next morning, on a siding in Montgomery, Alabama, after a good nights sleep. The car was sitting there all alone. I got out of the car and started walking back to the train yard, looking for another ride. I really can't recall any bad experiences. A couple of railroad dicks, took my buddy and me to breakfast one morning, at a diner nearby the trainyard. Then they drove us back to the yard, and explained that we should stay on the edge of the yard, and the trains would still be going slow enough to get on. They showed us a place to wait for a train. They explained that we should stay away from the autos, and we would be OK. That was before all the auto racks were enclosed, and theft and vandalism was a big problem. Nice guys!
There were always several "riders" on freight trains, back in the 60s. And nobody was ever prosecuted for trespassing. Definately a by gone era. The worst experience I had, was in Montgomery,Alabama, when a railroad dick loaded me in his car and drove me out of the yard, and dropped me off on a desolate highway, at 3am, and told me to start hitchhiking. As soon as his taillights disappeared, I beat feet back to the trainyard, and jumped back in the train I had been waiting in, just as it started to move.
Back in the 60s, you could go to any catholic church, find the priest, and get some meal tickets to a nearby restaurant. Usually it was just a small business card, rubber stamped on the back, "good for one dinner special". Interesting times, the 60s.
Southbound on the GM&O, somewhere in Tennessee.
Yes and no.
I grew up in the 80's about 1/4 mile from the Chessie System (formerly C&O / Pere Marequette / Chicago & Western Michigan) mainline. My grandfather worked in what were the main shops for the Pere Marquette and still major shop facilities for the Chessie System until 1984 about 5 miles down the track.
I will be modeling that segment of track, but in 1946 when steam still ruled.
I model the railroad I watched here in Topeka in the 80's ATSF, SP and UP and one excption, the BN which was in KC. Main focus is their business fleet.
Ch
MP 53 on the BNSF Topeka Sub
No... not yet, at least. I'm still venturing out into the hobby for the first time. Right now, my focus is on generally western RR's, because I enjoy the scenery and the look of the west. I decided that when I get my basement empire going, it will be a D&RGW theme, loosely based in reality, with some UP, ATSF, and BN in the mix.
Recently, however, I have become interested in the rail operations in and around my hometown of Plant City, FL. My first exposure to trains was as a kid during the early 80's. Probably because of nostalgia, I thought it would be really neat to have a layout that included Plant City as it appeared in the early 80's. This was a time when the SCL was around - in the short time between the ACL/SAL merger and the eventual morph into CSX. Plant City itself doesn't have a whole lot of industry, but it gets a lot of traffic coming and going through it. Last time I was home, I saw some CSX engines pulling the Tropicana juice train through town, on their way from Bradenton to somewhere north. The key railroad feature in town is the train station (now museum) next to the 90-degree diamond crossing. I think that would make a really interesting modeling subject, but would also be challenging to do with 4-way traffic without taking up a lot of modeling real estate. The other main drawback of modeling something as specific and familiar as my hometown is I would feel compelled to get as much of the town as accurate as possible, and I'm not sure if I've got the patience to be that nitpicky.
Dan Stokes
My other car is a tunnel motor
I grew up in the 50's, and did my 'serious' railfanning in the late 60's/early 70's(about 30,000 slides...). What I model is in the 50's for my layout(Milwaukee Road branch lines with a 1950 date). Sometimes I think I should move up to the late 60's as I was a teenager and was 'mobile', and chasing trains. But I still remember hearing Rock Island steam climbing out of the Mississippi River valley a couple miles away when we had an east wind. And family vacations 'Up North' in Minnesota always meant seeing Missabe steam.
I did a lot of railfanning on Milwaukee in SE Minnesota and Western Wisconsin, so I have lots of photo's for research. The 1959 date is when the renumbering of the diesels took place, and I have 'streached' out the last run of steam. The layout was all diesel until the Spectrum 2-8-0's and BLI 2-8-2's arrived on the scene - They are just too tempting with sound!
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
Yes. I grew up in the San Joaquin Valley of California and lived most of my life five blocks from the SP Main Line. SP Main also ran behind my office in a neighboring city. It runs along Hwy 99 from Sacramento to Bakersfield (and more). Nothing could be finer than pacing a SP freight up or down the freeway.
Pictures of my SP rolling stock can be found on our website at http://www.heather-ridge.com
Yes, and yes. My earliest independent modeling efforts were based on early Conrail. My first fan trips were up to Enola or down to the NEC in Southwest Baltimore to watch GG-1's pulling freight... Man was that something to see.
I had a lot of exposure to Chessie, but never liked the disco-era paint scheme. I always regarded the Chessie System as the Plaid Leisure Suit of the railroads. Funny to look at in pictures, but better off left hanging in the closet. I also knew a number of B&O and Western Maryland men through my dad, who was a traffic manager. They generally didn't have kind words about the little sleepy kitty, and the morons who ran their railroads into the ground, especially the WM.
In '77, I rode the Chessie Steam Special to Harper's Ferry on a customer appreciation trip. The WM had been largely abandoned two years earlier, so WM through trains were then using the B&O main. This was the first shot of WM equipment in action, taken on that trip...
I was a member of the WMRHS since 1983, and I helped build the first N scale display layout at the museum in Union Bridge, but I never seriously modeled the WM myself until 2000, when Atlas introduced the SD-35 with DCC on board.
Back in '83, I had seen these engines still in their old paint, pretty ragged out, but running on the B&O near Shenandoah Jct.
The die was cast. I sold off all the Conrail stuff, and started prowling Ebay for RS-3's, GP35's, GP-40's and BL-2's and Life Like steel cabeese. The decals were flying, and I went through several large cans of black spray paint, and I was happy again...
Lee
Route of the Alpha Jets www.wmrywesternlines.net
I think it can be anything that catches your eye. I always liked trains and trucks. But as I get ready to restart my Ho train I am switching from the Santa Fe to the Penn Central. Which is what was going on in my area growing up in Indiana.
I guess I would have to say yes I model the railroads I grew up with. When I was little my Grandpa would take me to the Age of Steam museum at Fair park in Dallas and he'd go on an on about the Big boy there. He also took my brother and I to see the then numbered 8444 and we got to go up in the cab of the loco, pretty cool stuff. My parents had a boat shop in Mesquite near the UP mainline so I could go and watch the many freight trains that passed through town.
I now live a block off of the KCS so I get to hear the horns of the trains day and night.
Somewhat. I grew up traveling on Canadian National and Canadian Pacific while growing up in the 1950's here in Ottawa. Most of the trips we took were to visit relatives in Nova Scotia. I now model Canadian National and the Dominion Atlantic Railway as they were in Nova Scotia in August 1956 on my Atlantic Coastal Maritime Eastern (A.C.M.E.) RR. Does RR stand for RailRoad or RoadRunner?
Wow!!A Man After My Own Heart!!I Grew Up In Flatonia So I Saw Pretty Much Everything The Espee Had From 1974-96;Including RS11's;GP20's;Most UBoats;The GE B&C36/23/30-7's;Tunnel Motors;SD40&40-2's;The GE AC Units;SD60's&70's As Well As Lease Units From GE;EMD;Helm;Oakway as ell As BN and ATSF Coal Trains On The DALSA Line and The Shiner Branch;Not To Mention Run Through Units From CNW;CN;CP;CR and Even NdeM!!!
Now That Being said,Having Grown Up In Flatonia,I Also Saw The Katy In LaGrange and Smithville;Mopac in Hearne and ATSF in Brenham As Well!!But as Far as Having A Particular Texas RR That's A Favorite;Truth Be Known,I Pretty Much Loved Em'All!!
I Live In Mansfield So I See Quite A Few UP/BNSF Freights On A Daily Basis.
Every So Often,I Go To Midlothian and Watch The UP;BNSF and Texas Central Business Railroad Do Their daily Business As Well.Plus,There's A Nice Little Hobby Shop A Few Miles Outside Of Town That I Visit As Well.
Write Back Sometime!!
I had a lot of exposure to Chessie, but never liked the disco-era paint scheme. I always regarded the Chessie System as the Plaid Leisure Suit of the railroads.
Heh heh heh. I worked for Chessie, and I didn't like the paint scheme either.
Actually, yes I do model the railroads that I grew up aroud. Being from, and still living in the Louisville area, I grew up around the L&N,Southern, ICG, and K&IT.
My layout time frame is set in October of 1982, 2 months before the creation of that joke called Seaboard System/ aka CSX.
I remember when L&N had there huge South Louisville Shops not far from my house when I was a kid, and I used to ride a bicycle over to the fence lines to watch the show. Now I go there to watch UofL football games at the site, since it is now known as Papa Johns Cardinal Stadium.
K&IT was pretty cool too, espcially with thier huge Ohio River bridge to New Albany Ind. This was the switching terminal for Louisville until they were merged into Norfolk Southern in "82
Ya I do.
I grew up in Agincourt Ontario. Home of the CPR Agincourt Yard.
Lived there for 18 years. I model the CPR but I'm surprised by the fact that I've included the D&H.
I know it has to do with the fact that Canadian Pacific owns the D&H but I'm finding myself leaning towards wanting to modeling the D&H part of the CPR empire.
Maybe it has something to do with the PA's? I don't know
Gordon
Brought to you by the letters C.P.R. as well as D&H!
K1a - all the way
I do. I grew up on the beachfront south of Mukilteo, WA. and spent my summers ('50's-'60's) on the beach/water watching GN trains go by.
We always waved to engineers and conductors, and people in the Empire Builder (especially the dome cars!), and they always waved back.
Now I model the GN (in HO) going over the Cascades, but I've moved the line north to allow for some artistic license (like a car ferry.) Watching the model version of a W-1 come around a super-elevated curve is great.
My family homesteaded in that area in the 1870's, so I've got lots of pictures to work from. Given our rainy weather, a black and white picture is pretty realistic <grin>
Those days are long gone, except in memories and models. Today is just fine.
Yep. Grew up in Nashville during the 1950's and 1960's, spending a lot of time with a grandfather who worked for the L&N from 1908 to 1959. So naturally I (am beginning to) model transition era L&N. Nothing too elaborate, which is probably good, since the equipment is hard to find. Has anyone tried to buy an L&N caboose lately? I wish you luck!
Honestly, my HO efforts have gotten a bit sidetracked since last summer when I got involved with "grand scale" railroading. http://www.littletootrailroad.com/ Here's a short video of yours truly having more fun than I've had in years. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kemNkIdWnA
I guess I'm a hybrid modeler, modeling what I remember from my childhood and then what I was never exposed to a few years before I was born.....and the decision to model those places and times were not made at the beginning. At first my plan was to model the current or near-current, which at the time would have been the mid-80's and SCL/Family Lines/Seaboard System. But that begged the question, 'what scope to model of the vast system'. Then I realized I would be missing out on the equipment I really loved....passenger, with heavyweights and some streamliners, the E and F units.....and my memories of those and riding on those from the late 50's and early 60's.....and specifically, the ACL. My mind changed, and at the same time, my scope was defined.....Wilmington, NC and the diverging routes. But then came the pangs of wanting some steam, which I never experienced.....so I slid my timeline back to the transition period of the late 40's and early 50's. And why the ACL in Wilmington? Thats my home, my memories are from there, my dad worked for the ACL for 35-plus years......and then I worked for the SCL/FL/SS/CSX for a while.......that's my story.
mvh
Actually Yes! I've been in and out of model railroading several times in my life. At about 13, I built a 4x6 double oval with stub siding, mixed up road names (mostly Tyco, Mantua, Bachmann, Lifelike and IHC), a few buildings and trees, painted landscaping...pretty cheesy. Then in my early 20's I got back into it with the purchase of a single locomotive and a second subscription to Model Railroading. It was an Athearn SD9 in UP. The shop didn't have a UP powered unit, but he had a UP shell over in the corner that we swapped. After a few months of reading MR and staring at that loco, it was shelved for years. Then in my late 20's, I ventured into another hobby shop and found the Con-Cor releases of the old Atlas SD24. They had 2 numbers in Southern. I bought 2504, and went back a couple weeks later and got 2519. I'd grown up with Southern and it was rare to see ANYTHING painted for Southern. I got bit by the bug, and for a 3rd time got a subscription to MR. And found a Bev-Bel painted Southern GP9. I bought some SD9 and GP9 undecs and painted them for Southern, and later tried high hooding with 2 SD45's which were also painted for Southern. During this time I collected a number of freight cars...mostly kits (MDC, Athearn, Walthers, etc ) I collected 50 hoppers for Southern and renumbered them all to numbers I had actually seen locally. I began to build an 8x10 layout shortly after my first marriage in a spare bedroom, only to have to stop construction and eventual dismantle it after finding out a baby was on the way. I met a group that was building a large layout, with no particular theme, time period or road names, and helped them on that layout for a couple years off and on, but other obligations and eventually moving caused me to abandon that.
<>I am now married for a 2nd time, with 2 boys from my previous marriage who come to visit periodically. My youngest son got a Lifelike trainset a couple years ago from his "new" grandmother. This past Christmas he asked for more trains to go with it...so I got on the web and started price checking...and in the process found out that there were a LOT of locomotives now offered painted for Southern. I'd built and painted 7 in the past, plus bought 4 that were pre-decorated (2-SD24, 1-GP9, 1-GP18), but when I saw Athearn's GP40X's in Southern I couldn't believe such an obscure model (esp. in high hood Southern) could be offered. I got those, then got the 3 non-DCC SD35's in Southern that Atlas put out not too long ago. (Since then at train show's I've found two other SD35's, in Southern and Southern/C of G ). I also managed to find an Atlas B23-7 and 4 of the 6 numbers of GP38's they also released over the years in Southern. I was lucky to get a Southern GP30 also. I'm still on the lookout for numbers that I don't have in Southern. I'm not really all that interested in anything much prior to GP30's. I would like to find the MP15DC's that Atlas did in Southern, and I'm awaiting PCM's release of the SW1500's, as well as BLI's eventual release of SD40-2's.
I don't currently have a layout, but when I get around to building it, it will follow the same theme that my last layout would have had if it'd ever been finished. It is a fictional world where Southern never merged with N&W, and will continue on up to present day running the locomotives that Southern had without using the modern day power. Eventually I would like to add a few other road names in, but at the moment Southern is the priority, especially since they disappear off the store shelves almost immediately. I've always liked CNW's paint scheme, as well as UP's, BN's (I'm not a fan of BNSF though). I'm not crazy about CSX either, but I do like Chessie, B&O, and some of the other CSX subs. On my railroad no equipment from BNSF, NS or CSX will appear, but there may be plenty of their predecessor fallen flags.
I have lived a lot of places that had great train relationships, and my layout is a real mix of stuff from the times and places that I have experienced trains: Saskatchewan grain trains in the late 60's, southern Indiana coal in the 70's, a cross-country Amtrak trip in the 90's, etc.
JRW in OH
Yes , I currently model what I grew up with but not where I grew up at .
I model the L&N , and Southern Rwy , it is what I grew up with but in Southern Indiana , but right now I model the Gulf Coast in the early 1970's .
Before I moved recently and had to tear down my layout I modeled the LNA&C and the Southern Railway in Southeastern Indiana .
Yes and No:
In Southern California, we had ATSF, SP, and Pacific Electric (though PE was gone by the time I got there). I don't model any of them and never have.
But, my grandparents always visited from Iowa by coming on UP, and that is what interests me. Why?
It is not sentiment; rather, it is the equipment -- I love a railroad where the "small" steam power includes northerns and 2-10-2s!
I model the Wahsatch and the "great circle" extending north from Borie to Montpellier, then south again to Ogden. And I lied: There is an SP connection, though not serious. And I never have lived in any of those places or even been to some of them.
Sort of but switched eras:
I grew up in suburbia where there was nary a train to be seen, but in car trips I always liked (and sometimes still do) being stopped by a train and noting all the different RRs represented in the consist.
As a child, my family often vacationed in a small town, Southampton, on the shore of Lake Huron that featured a seldom-used branchline that my father and I would hike, and a really neat little station (depot.) There was very little action on the line at that time (early 1970s) Later in life I found a library book that featured the branch line this town was located on and saw that there was considerably more activity up til the late 1950s. At the same time my interest in model railroading was reviving, so the two sort of went together.
Also as a kid I had the opportunity to ride a fantrip pulled by ex CPR steam loco CP1057 (hence my handle.) This pretty much guaranteed modeling an era that featured steam engines.
Charles
Hillsburgh, Ont Canada
In N scale I model - very badly - the 1900 era in the West but I keep thinking about an HO switching set up of the Essex Terminal that I grew up with.
Nostalgia is not a fatal disease.... I hope.
Douglas
Yep, Frisco, early 60's, even though I haven't lived in Missouri where I grew up for over 25 years. Since I road the Frisco passenger train pulled by those magnificent E8's, how could I model anything else? I'm going to "slide" my era back a bit to the 50's, since I just have to have a steamer or two.
I plan on it once I get that far. I grew up in the 70's and 80's here in Central NY and remember going with my grandparents to watch Conrail sort cars using the 'hump' here in the DeWitt NY yard.
So, I will have some CR, CSX, FGLK, NYS&W, CN and the leased assets as well as runthrough power (UP, BNSF, NS, CP, WC, etc).
John
//signed// John Powell President / CEO CNY Transportation Corp (fictional)
http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s303/nuts4sports34/
Hunter - When we met in January of 2000, you were just a 6 week old pup who walked his way into this heart of mine as the only runt in the litter who would come over to me. And today, I sit here and tell you I am sorry we had to put you down. It was the best thing for you and also the right thing to do. May you now rest in peace and comfort. Love, Dad. 8 June 2010
I love you and miss you Mom. Say hi to everyone up there for me. Rest in peace and comfort. Love, John. 29 March 2017
I grew up in a city with 10 railroads plus a few more surrounding the city. I tried to limit myself to modeling just a couple of my favories, but has now blossomed to EL, C&O, GTW, MONON, N&W (NKP), IHB, EJ&E, and BRC, not to mention industrial owned switchers. My brother an I are modeling NW Indiana and South Chicago. We want to relive our younger days, I guess.
Mike
Grew up with the Erie and New York Central as the prevailing RRs in the area. My first cab ride was on the Central, but the Erie still has my heart. Can remember when they ran steam and when we went down town on Saturday mornings the engines would be sitting on the ready track, then one Saturday we went down and the steam was gone and in their place was Diesels. I model the Erie as if it was still in business. Also have rewritten history, made the Erie very profitable and have purchased the Lackawana (with out the name change),Lehigh Valley,Lehigh and New England, etc.. In other words no Conrail, but Erie. Have modern motive power painted in Erie livery. Am into the hobby because I enjoy it and to have fun.
Absolulely - I model the TH&B (Toronto Hamilton & Buffalo) a fallen flag from southern Ontario. I'd love to add a loop with a HSR (Hamilton Street Railway) tolley, but have not found a suitable N-Scale model of a 1950-1960's era trolly yet. Larger scales do have more options when it comes to modelling traction.
I had an Uncle who would take me train watching. In Hamilton the city is divided by the Niagra Escarpment (it is the cliff that Niagra Falls falls over). It was fun to watch the trains work their way up those grades.
We also watched trains cross the bridges, also nice memories. There were darn few steamers left when I was a kid (born '54) but when they did go by people did pay attention.
On my railroad, I model SF, Metrolink, and Amtrak, with some BNSF.
Just for fun, I also like SP, UP, Mopac, MKT, ACL, L&N, SSW, SAL, Family Lines System, B&O, C&O, and EL.
DO I model the railroad I grew up with...
.
Hmmmm... I created the STRATTON AND GILLETTE when I was 14. Does that count? The SGRR and I have been through a lot together, and many people consider the 15-24 years the "growing up" period.
In reality, I grew up in Gainesville, Florida. Not much train action there of any type. My only childhood memories I have of trains are sometimes being caught at a grade crossing while an aggregate train rolled by. Later we moved to South Florida, and need to drive to see any trains.
The STRATTON & GILLETTE exists nin a world more than 10 years before I was born, does that automatically exclude it?
What is the right answer here?
-Kevin
Living the dream.
I grew up on Long Island and rode the Pennsy to DC several times as a kid. Yet I ended up modeling the NY Central. I didn't even visit Grand Central until I was 50. Go figure. Maybe it was the classy lightning stripes!
Nope. I grew up in a rural area of Louisiana in the 1960s/70s. The nearest railroad was a single track mainline of the Kansas City Southern. The track was about a mile from my home and at night time with the windows open, I could hear the airhorns at the grade crossings.
I model the New York Central, circa 1950. I chose the NYC because sitting in my father's lap, he would open his book of North American Locomotives and go first the builder's photo of a J-class Hudson. "See here Johnny" he would say, "This locomotive is perfectly balanced, a real beauty". From then on, I was a New York Central fan.
Sort of. The line I probbaly saw the most was the Lehigh Valley's Easton and Northern branch, as it ran right past my grandparent's house. We also had the CNJ run through town, and the LNE which switched the cement plant we always passed going to my other grandparents. But seeing locos in those liverys doesn't really stir up any memories. The ones that do the most would be Reading, even though the closest they got to my home was the next city over. I do remember at around age 4, camping at Hersheypark, the Reading line from Hershey to Rutherford yard went right past the last row in the campground and every time I heard a train I would run down there to watch it.
So in a way, I do model my memories.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Somewhat. I remember seeing Cotton Belt and Southern Pacific in the Tucson yard. Not much action, their was a lot SSW locomotives than SP when I visited a few times before the merger.
My main interest is Amtrak mixed with CR, UP, BNSF, NYC. They all have different reasons why I model them.
My main focus is modeling the G.N.O. Railway and making it a reality. I made it into existence in 2002.
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
Grew up during the 90s in central Victoria Australia on what you'd call probaly a granger line with the local interesting paint job of candy colors of tangerine and grey diesels with the Words V/Line down the side the sucessor to Victorian railways or a reformed new look of the old. Would see maybe two grain trains a month with 40-50 car grain hoppers going up north to of my place and coming back fully loaded to port down south, and would see the the odd steam special. The tracks being a 100 meters from the front doorstep of my place I had a good view of all the action.
I model in the 20s & 30s in the golden years of steam and its steam that captured the mind, I model the South Australian Railways with their 500s 4-8-4s the 720s berkshires, the 520 northerns (think a 4-8-4 PRR T1) and the 600 & 620 pacific and the the 700 & 710 mikes. Not only that I had Great unlce that was a driver in the heyday of steam for the SAR and drove every class mentioned. Its alive, it breathes and it make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I'm enthralled and a diesel can't do that for me.
Well thats my worth
CAM
Digging deep for an old thread here...
But no. I grew up with the UP and BN. I base my modern era freelance modeling off of the railfanning I can do today, which is the NS CSX and their predecessors since I now live in Georgia.
- Douglas
At first I didn't notice that this thread was reserected and I thought how good it was to see some of the memebers I remembered from years ago posting again. As happy as I was to think that when I realized this wasn't a current thread I then I began wondering what happened to them.
Back to the subject. My town hosted the B&O, the PRR, and the local shortline the Winchester and Western. I have some of all of their locos as well as those that merged with the B&O, the C&O and CSX. But I prefer the Chessie because of the paint scheme.
Bob
Don't Ever Give Up
Wow, I had the same response. So many members we've lost track of.
Well, yes and no to the OPs question. I grew up on Long Island, New York. My "local" railroad was the Long Island Railroad, the "Route of the Dashing Commuter." It ran some freight, but where I lived it was a commuter line running 3rd-rail passenger trains. I guess some of the resin modelers make those now, but not back then.
On the other hand, when I got back into the hobby I found the Life-Like subway models, which were always my first RR love, anyway. So, I built a subway system beneath my "normal" railroad. Above ground, my equipment is the Milwaukee. Just like the trains I had when I was a boy.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
An old thread but a good one. Yes, I model the New York Central and the Central Indiana Railway. They are both railroads that passed through Andeson IN. One for the long haul and the other a short line. In addition, I have taken on another railroad that didn't exist, but certainly makes the railroad more interesting, the East Central Indiana. Hoo Haa!
Roger Hensley= ECI Railroad - http://madisonrails.railfan.net/eci/eci_new.html == Railroads of Madison County - http://madisonrails.railfan.net/ =
I'm always amused when these old threads get revived but since others are commenting I'll join in the fun.
The short answer is no. I grew up in Omaha, eastern terminus and HQ of the UP. The Burlington's east-west route from Chicago to Denver went through as well. Other railroads also used Union Station. All of that happened on the south end of town and our family rarely traveled there. The one rail line that went through the north side was a major branch of the MoPac. It paralleled Saddle Creek Rd. for much of its route before turning northeast and terminating somewhere in that direction. When traveling to the west side, most often when going to Peony Park, an amusement park with a huge swimming pool encircled by a man made beach, we would often get stopped at the crossing on California St. Saw mostly F unit lashups. My first two layouts were freelanced UP pikes but not because I had any memories of the UP growing up. I think I was attracted to pictures of their Armour Yellow passenger trains. Since then I have switched to a fictional eastern railroad. The one thing I've incorporated is my fondness for F units. I have lots and lots of them.
This thread was started two years before I joined this forum, but It is certainly one that deserves to be resurrected after being dormant for a decade!
My answer to the question is yes and no.
I started mxy model railroader career with a Marklin train set, which grew into a small ping pong table sized empire over the following years. The locos and cars of course followed what I saw on the tracks in my neck of the woods, which was Deutsche Bundesbahn - the Federal German Railway.
My current layout is based on the Swiss Rhaetian Railway, a mountain narrow gauge network of lines in the canton Graubünden. I have only faint memories riding a train of that railroad as a 5 year old, so I certainly cannot say I grew up with it.
I would have to say yes. Even though I'm going a little further back in the railroads history to model Great Northern instead of Burlington Northern because I really like the Steamers. It's definitely influenced from my childhood. This is a picture of The Trestle. Our kind of Tom Sawyer area where we grew up. It was the mid-seventies Burlington Northern had 3 high-speed taconite lines where there is now only one. Sorry about the picture quality it's off the Internet. If you look to the right you can see an old easement coming down from the upper track the rails are no longer there. If you look down the center of the track you can see the IDS center Minneapolis I watch that thing being built from the ground up you'd see the steel beams going up a little higher everyday.
I definitely will buy the green and black Burlington Northern Locomotives as I used to watch when I was a kid. No big deal I'll just change it up once in awhile.
NYBW-John I'm always amused when these old threads get revived but since others are commenting I'll join in the fun. The short answer is no. I grew up in Omaha, eastern terminus and HQ of the UP. The Burlington's east-west route from Chicago to Denver went through as well. Other railroads also used Union Station. All of that happened on the south end of town and our family rarely traveled there. The one rail line that went through the north side was a major branch of the MoPac. It paralleled Saddle Creek Rd. for much of its route before turning northeast and terminating somewhere in that direction. When traveling to the west side, most often when going to Peony Park, an amusement park with a huge swimming pool encircled by a man made beach, we would often get stopped at the crossing on California St. Saw mostly F unit lashups. My first two layouts were freelanced UP pikes but not because I had any memories of the UP growing up. I think I was attracted to pictures of their Armour Yellow passenger trains. Since then I have switched to a fictional eastern railroad. The one thing I've incorporated is my fondness for F units. I have lots and lots of them.
I was curious to see if I had replied to this thread ten years ago when it was created. It turns out I did although it was under the name jecorbett. I found it interesting that what I wrote then is pretty much what I just wrote this morning. Below is my original reply.
"The short answer is no. My first layout was a fictionalized UP line which ran through the Colorado Rockies as an alternate main to their Wyoming route. That became somewhat prophetic when the UP acquired the D&RGW. I grew up in Omaha and even though that was the eastern terminus of the UP, it had little to do with my choice of the UP. I remember the MoPac running north-south through Omaha and the Burlington passenger trains but can't ever remember seeing any UP trains because we didn't live near their line. I'm not sure why it was I chose the UP for my first layout but it certainly had nothing to do with boyhood memories. Now I am modeling a freelanced eastern railroad. I certainly had no exposure to eastern prototypes when I was growing up. I just became interested in them after I got into modeling by looking at pictures of those railroads, especially from the trainsition era. The settings just seemed more interesting to me than the wide open vistas of western railroads."
No absolutely no. I grew up with the disaster of Penn Central and early Conrail. No thanks. I model what I never saw...articulated steam in freight service.
PRR8259 No absolutely no. I grew up with the disaster of Penn Central and early Conrail. No thanks. I model what I never saw...articulated steam in freight service. John
I remember the Penn Central being fodder for Johnny Carson's monologues way back but I never knew what exactly their problems were. This was of course back when the Tonight Show was in New York. Was it their passenger service, freight service, or both?
I grew up along Chicago & North Western's Altoona Subdivision. I vaguely remember seeing some of the green and yellow locomotives going through town as a kid. I was 10 when the railroad was purchased by Union Pacific. When my interest was sparked to get into model railroading, I remember sitting in some of my high school classes watching the trains go past each day. It was all Union Pacific with a few Norfolk Southern or CSX as run through power. My mom is involved in the historical society in my hometown and has many items from the old C&NW days in our home.
Another railroad that interests me is the Wisconsin Central. I was too young to ever remember this railroad as it's line from the Twin Cities was a few miles north of my hometown. There are two others that have also piqued my interest lately. The Dakota, Minnesota, & Eastern was a railroad I saw a lot when I was in college. My apartment was near one of the DM&E lines. The other railroad is the former Minneapolis, Northfield, and Southern.
As I started to get more into creating my layout and going beyond just randomly laying track for fun, my plan is to incorporate the four railroads mentioned above. My ideas go back and forth constantly, but I think it's because I have no permanent layout yet. My wife and I have a house, but there is no room to create a permanent layout. At this time, I have three modular sections that are empty slates at the moment. In the future, I'd like to plan a joint Chicago & North Western and Wisconsin Central around 1994-1996. Whether it is freelanced in terms of cities and towns or follows a prototypical design is up in the air at this time. I believe this time period would allow me to have a lot of different motive power types and railroads. I could easily make it a bit more modern, too, if I decide.
I'd also like to incorporate my fictional railroad, the Erris & Spears. It'll operate as a shortline in some capacity on the layout.
I look forward to planning something for a future layout with a few railroads from my childhood, my time in college, and some that have captured my interest recently. In the meantime, I need to continue learning on the modules, collect locomotives and rolling stock, and learn as much as I can about the railroads. It's an enjoyable hobby that allows you to do anything you'd like and make it your own railroad.
I wish I could model the railroad and town that I grew up in but that's just not possible. I do however own some of the locos and cars from that period (Southern Pacific).
From above, was it PC passenger, freight, or both???
1. Idiot management at 2 bankrupt railroads each thinking the other was in better shape and could save them.
2. Idiot management caring more about their retirement than running a railroad, who raped the railroad for cash on their exit.
3. In 1947 the idiots at NYC spent over 400 million dollars on east to west long distance passenger trains when an honest accounting would already tell you passenger trains were dead and ridership was plummeting. PRR made similar mistakes but not as bad. The equipment bought, well they never got their money's worth out of it.
4. Idiots at both railroads failing to see and plan for growth along ne corridor, where they could have better spent money.
5. Vast sums wasted on postwar passenger service east to west financially crippled the railroads.
6. 20 years plus deferred track maintenance to prop up stock as ailing railroads slid.
7. PC failing to pay money owed to neighbors took down whole region into bankruptcy.
8. Alfred Perlmann, the one senior manager actually trying to save the railroad while others only wanted to line their pockets, was forced out along with his underlings. All they then did was save ailing Western Pacific in a couple years!!!
9. Two computer systems incapable of talking to each other.
10. Red team versus Green team hatred.
My uncle was a senior person at Mellon Bank...what the idiot managers did to both railroads and PC while lining their own pockets was nothing short of criminal.
PRR8259 No absolutely no. I grew up with the disaster of Penn Central and early Conrail. No thanks. John
No absolutely no. I grew up with the disaster of Penn Central and early Conrail. No thanks.
My guess is a large precentage of model railroaders do model that they grew up with, regardless of the financial health of the RR - and thats what I tend to observe as I see what others are doing.
Of course, there are always some who don't follow that trend for many reasons. A few have bad memories of the RR like John (above) sort of like a taste aversion syndrome, others like to freelance - like Navarch does with his "modern imagining of the PC, and others model things they didn't ever see or were alive for, like steam or railroads far away geographically just cause they find it appealing.
Penn Central still seems to be, despite it's historical vagaries, pretty popular to model it from my casual observations. Ive noticed some PC rolling stock selling out pretty fast too. Maybe it's a morbid fascination or maybe people just like to model what they saw and ignore the gritty realities of the RR itself, the latter is probably the most true.
I'd guess most model a RR to have fun and escape reality, and not dwell on the negatives of what the real RR was experiencing. Another example is the Rock Island, which was another sad story - a RR in financial distress and decline into bankruptcy - yet it has a fairly major big following also.
I am modeling the D&RGW and I never lived in Colorado, however I did get to see it on various occasions in the 1970's and 1980's as I visited or traveled through Colorado. I grew up in and lived in California from age 6 through 24 in the 60's thru mid-1980's so SP is really what I grew up with, and I do have a good deal of SP rolling stock including about 22 engines and 10 cabooses.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Because I have read history--and railroad history--somewhat extensively (but never read The Wreck of the Penn Central) it is difficult for me to separate or compartmentalize the history from the models or toys we play with. I tend to lose interest in the diesels that were "unreliable" in favor of those that were, yet I like steam which I never saw, and which was highly labor intensive and less efficient, so go figure.
Maybe it has something to do, also, with the boring black paint of Penn Central (and now Norfolk Southern) locomotives. I understand it saves NS millions of dollars to have that very simple paint scheme, but I can't ever like it. Passing Enola Yard several times per day for gym, baseball, work, etc. one cannot help but miss the sea of beautiful Conrail blue motive power that is long gone (but was visible when I moved here).
Me being a child of the '70's, born during 1968, a year or so prior to PC going bankrupt, I am and have always been attracted to the bold 1970's colored paint schemes, the Railbox and other IPD boxcars, the IC/ICG orange era paint schemes, the Santa Fe blue and yellow warbonnet freight era.
I have stood atop the cut at Cajon Pass Summit during 2001, and on the dirt access road to Sullivan's Curve (followed some old photographer in an actual imacculate VW bus to get back there--who was he????), and above Tehachapi Loop. I saw the remains of Santa Fe all across Arizona, at Phoenix, Williams, etc. and I just find all those places infinitely more interesting than Horseshoe Curve and other places in the east. Not that Horseshoe isn't great, I just like the west a whole lot more...
The same reason I enjoy walking the streets of Tombstone, Arizona, I guess...I like the history and geology of the region. I would like the western end of the Rio Grande in Colorado--Ruby Canyon and all the places that were so rugged and remote they were rarely photographed, especially during the steam era when roads were few.
I think Zephyrs Thru the Rockies is one of the best railroad books ever for its outstanding coverage of the scenery along the Rio Grande.
I just find the grey limestone and green forested areas of PA as not that exciting, by comparison to the Painted Desert, at least until fall comes, then it is actually amazing...
Yes, I get it. Not everyone follows the "typical" path for model railroading which is what this thread is apparently about. For most, it's partly a way to relax and forget the stresses of the real world, including the stresses of a real RR, but rather sort of "rail fan" their favorite RR, or operations too. Many do that modeling the PC or RI without re-living the bad parts.
Visual appeal definitely plays a major role into why many choose a RR. Even though I really like the paint jobs on the PC box cars, the black PC engines for me are also unappealing. As a matter of fact, the north east scenery is boring and unappealing to me, but I realize lots of people like north east scenery well enough and model their favorite NE RR. Heck, my ex-wife used to prefer all green, and preferred northeast to the dry west, but I find the west very pretty personally.
Scenery played a major role as to why I picked the D&RGW to model, and many others for the same reason. I also saw it when I made a number of trips to and through Utah and Colorado so I have a two-fold attraction to it. The engines are black too, but with the orange lettering and chevron stripes, I'm good with that.
RC Farewell published a book called "Rio Grande Secret Places: Ruby Canyon and The Desert, which I added to my colletion of Rio Grande books. Back in the 1980's, he also published a feature article in Trains magazine entitled: The Unknown Rio Grande:
https://picclick.com/Trains-Magazine-July-1985-The-Unknown-162146215151.html
I still have that copy of Trains and it's one of my favorite articles. It is one of the things back in the 1980's that inspired my ongoing desire to model that part of the D&RGW.
I bought "Zephyrs thru the Rockies" back around 1990 and brought it along with me when I road the Amtrak CZ thru the Rockies that summer. I was already familiar with many of the areas along the route from reading the book. I'm also a geologiest by training (BS and MS degrees) but it's the visual impact of the massive standstones in the area that I have chosen to model the D&RGW mainline west of Grande Junction colorado. BTW, I just destroyed 3 modules of my layout which had desert scenery going on for that area, but my wife wants to move so the layout is coming down. I'm hoping to build a somewhat bigger layout after we move.
One other book for D&RGW desert fans is Rio Grande in Color, Volume 2: Utah, by James Sandrin. It's also a favorite of mine and has lots of color photo's in the desert parts - really a must have for west end standard gauge Rio Grande fans.
Of course modeling steam era D&RGW is simply out of the question because ALL of the main steam engines run by the D&RGW are a "brass-only" proposition and I know I can't afford to buy enough brass D&RGW steam engines to properly model that period. I don't care for the freight cars of the steam era so that seals the deal for me, even if steam is sort of cool.
Thats part of the reason I have chosen the late 1970's D&RGW. I get the aforementioned scenery and I get the colorful freight cars which include a lot of fallen-flags, like PC (woo!) and ATSF, and PRR, GN, NP, BN, CB&Q, and all those colorful per diem box cars which were introduced starting around 1977 and later.
riogrande5761 ... and others model things they didn't ever see or were alive for, like steam or railroads far away geographically just cause they find it appealing.
... and others model things they didn't ever see or were alive for, like steam or railroads far away geographically just cause they find it appealing.
I had a Conrail train set that I saved up for. I was fascinated with their blue paint. Too bad that spilt during a few months later.
I never did model it fully back than. Than what I'm doing now, a nice decent roster of freight cars.
riogrande5761 Of course modeling steam era D&RGW is simply out of the question because ALL of the main steam engines run by the D&RGW are a "brass-only" proposition and I know I can't afford to buy enough brass D&RGW steam engines to properly model that period.
Of course modeling steam era D&RGW is simply out of the question because ALL of the main steam engines run by the D&RGW are a "brass-only" proposition and I know I can't afford to buy enough brass D&RGW steam engines to properly model that period.
There are two that can be had in plastic: the Proto 2000 L-107 (hard to find now) which was mainly used as a helper, and the UP version Challenger, which of course Rio Grande hated...
I like steam but later freight cars, and will just be forced to run what I like...I dont like steam era freight cars either, and will have to pretend the changeover took a lot longer...no other solution will work for me.
My Currently Paper Railroad is loosely based on the area I grew up in (Central Virginia), in the time I grew up (1990s to early 00s)That being said the location within Central Virginia is a bit farther north and freelanced at that.
Technically, I do model the era I grew up with. Before I started going to school, and maybe earlier, my parents bought those old documentaries of trains like the Super Chief, California Zephyr, and 80's Amtrak. I took a liking to those documentaries so much, I lost all of the discs (I wasn't good with remembering where I put things). Then RFDTV (for those of us that have DirectTV) started showing train documentaries, so I started watching those. Now, seeing as I have ready access to the Internet, I spend my free time looking up information on prototypes for all equipment that I plan to get in HO Scale.
Fun Fact: I was born on the 56th anniversary (September 29, 1946) of the "even-day/odd-day" service of the Super Chief and El Capitan.
Well, I have answered this before, but here goes.
I do model the model the general region of my childhood (and adult life), but I have no interest in the era of my childhood.
I model a time 3-4 years before my birth, so a decade or two before any serious train memories.
So I do model the railroads of my youth, but in a time long before I ever saw them.
My own experiance in this hobby does not suggest that most people model the trains of their youth at all.
I know a 65 year old who models present day and a dear friend who passed recently at age 70 who spent his life modeling 1910.
I'm 60 and model 1954, another friend my age models 1947.
In fact, in our local round robin, when I was active in the group, only about 5 of 25 guys modeled the era and locale of their youth......20%
Sheldon
Sort of. I model what is near me. I grew up around the UP/BN, but moved to Indiana then Georgia. So the shortline I protolance is a derivative of the NS/CSX. If I moved back to where I grew up, I would probably be compelled to make my shortline layout UP/BNSF based.
The Penn Central boondoggle sounds like the Sears-Kmart merger!