I've been active as a "scale modeler" within Model Railroading for at least 19 years. In that time I had always been a freelanced modeller. Recently, I had been bitten by the prototype bug. A friend if mine who also uses Sergent couplers is modeling part of the B&O West End between Grafton and Terra Alta, WV. I grew up on the B&O Cowen Sub to the south (B&O West) of Grafton. I had never been attracted to modelling this line until I discovered numerous photos of the Cowen Sub from the 1970s in a Facebook group. I cannot adapt any part of the layout under construction into a Cowen Sub theme, so I chose to go with a generic B&O branch similar to the freelance concept I was developing prior to the B&O bug. Last weekend, I watched Pentrex's V&O Afton Division Finale. It ruined me. Now I'm torn between the B&O and a freelanced road, doing it "my way". I've been in the hobby 20 years and I've never substantially completed a layout. Now I've regressed to not knowing what to model. Tentatively, I developed a plan for a 587-mile regional set in 1974 between Charleston, WV and Cleveland, OH called the Kanawha, Youngstown & Northern. I've got a really sound, prototypical concept (I'll save details for later) and I can use what I've already started to build. I think the freelanced route will also further encourage my 4 year old son to get involved since he can have some input since there isn't a strict prototype to need to adhere to. But I've been intrigued by modeling a subdivision usually ignored in B&O circles. Freelance the KY&N now? B&O on the next layout? Who the heck knows.... Sent from my LG-UK495 using Tapatalk
Are you sure you're not overthinking it a bit? Yeah, when you model a certain road, line and era, you want to be true to it. But you aren't going to accurately model every inch of it unless your basement is a mile long. Artistic license is a complete necessity. You can't do 'selective compression' without it. That's all the excuse anyone could need to have fun with it, and make the thing your own. I was never tempted to freelance because there has been so much effort put into making real roads so interesting and appealing, how could I compete? I had enough trouble settling on just one great road and era from the real world that I was never tempted to throw all that great reality over and create my own. But even a forty mile short line can't be modeled down to the last telegraph pole. Like impressionist painters, we can capture the spirit of our subjects without feeling like they put us in a straitjacket. Modeling a real thing from where you grew up is natural. Your son may or may not find paying homage to real history confining, but when he sees an old photo or story of that thing, his eyes will light up, and the real thing combined with the layout will really make history come alive for him. And who could dream up every detail, every slogan painted on a bridge, every nuance to make a freelance as rich as the real flavor of America's First Common Carrier? Modeling a specific prototype, era and locale doesn't feel confining to me. It connects the pike in my place to the wider world. It's the tempest in a teapot nature of a road that never saw the sunlight and the real dirt of the world at large that makes a freelance seem like a small thing to my mind. Small and shallow--especially compared to the rich depth and personality of the grand B&O!
You are absolutely right, I am over thinking it. I tend to do that a lot. Thanks Sent from my LG-UK495 using Tapatalk
Hey, a model railroad is no small undertaking. Who wants to rush in, and discover they'd have been happier doing something else? Over thinking a bit is wise. Better than under thinking it. You're fine. But I don't think being true to history will make it any less personal to the boy. He can sift through one hell of a lot of the stuff before he finds that magical old photo that makes him say, 'That bit of history is the history that Dad and I preserve!'
Seems like quite a choice. Both would be quite satisfying. My thinking is the prototype might end up being slightly confining. The freelance you could try new and different ideas as time goes along.
There is no problem with freelancing. Growing up in Montana, I am a big fan of both the Northern Pacific and th Milwaukee Road but I didn't have the available space to do justice to even part of a sundivision of either railroad. When I was growing up, I had relatives working for both of these railroads and was lucky enough tohave spent a lot of time riding with them in the cabs of locomotives, as well as taking trips to Chicago on the Hiawatha and North Coast Limited. I know how you feel and I ended up feeelancing building a short line that connects to both railroads thus having power from both railroads showing up on my layout.
Of course freelancing relieves you of having to match models to real freight cars - which is very convenient to say the least. The down side is you might have to custom paint a lot of stuff!
I decided to go back to freelancing at least for this layout. Like I mentioned before, I cannot adapt the current design that is about 50% done into the prototype I would eventually like to recreate. So, may as well freelance the whole thing (except for real town names and roads and a few landmarks).
Custom painting is exactly what I did, and enjoyed it. River counters won't have anything to whine about either, but I do make sure that the locomotives for the NP and MILW are correct.
I began with a freelance idea about the layout and the road, i then changed my mind and moved to choosing a prototype road (ATSF) but in a freelance Californian setting, and then i moved finally to prototype in both the road (ATSF) and the specific area (1960s San Diego - Oceanside). It really depends on what one prefers/desires, there is no universal or correct/wrong solution to this decision. I really admire and enjoy both full-freelance great layouts such as Montanan's Logan Valley posted above, as well as prototypical ones. What i can say though, is that even if one chooses full prototype (road/area/era), he/she will have (or want) to make serious departures* from reality in order to go from prototype to layout. What i want to add is that choosing how to selectively compress / delete / alter stuff can be a very creative process. *For example even though i model a specific area, i chose to have a fictional main street with the majority of buildings being freelanced yet inspired by the "flavor" of the area. Industries inspired by real ones, etc... On the other hand i will add some key landmark buildings such as the ATSF depots, and maybe landmark backdrop buildings (Hotel El Cortez etc).
