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.
- Douglas
The Penn Central boondoggle sounds like the Sears-Kmart merger!