Do any of you model places you've never been? I already model a time frame in which I never existed due to my love of steam but with the release of Intermountain's cab forwards and all the other great looking, fine running steam my interests have shifted westward. I have always loved Espee steam but with all the cool new releases I just had to model the west. My wife is from California but I've never been although we do plan on visiting her father in Palm Springs soon. Until then I just have to rely on pictures and what I can find online.
Well, I model a place I grew up in but I time in which I was not even a sparkle in my grandpa's eye! Colorado mountains 1899... John
I prefer that area between the edge of the Ozarks and the beginning of the Great Plains, where grain elevators are the biggest structures for miles around. An aea where I can cross lakes, traverse hogbacks, and roll at 60 per with high horsepower, splitting small towns like Neosho, Failand, Afton, Vinita, and Claremore apart en route to Tulsa. Leslie R5s screaming in the night, nose Gyralite moving up & down to warn weary motorists. Or even meandering down said main line, switching out the many grain elevators along the way, moving out of the way for trains with names like CTB, QLA, and numbers 31 and 34.
I'll be modeling the area I grew up in, at the time I was able to catch rides almost daily on Y's, up to RS11's - with some allowance for how it would/could have been, had I been in charge, pertaining to motive power.... Clare Yard in Mariemont (Cincinnati) was a special place to me. Dan
I was born 1984 (Ya like I have to fear a buncha train nuts online xD) I was born in Burlington Northern's Chicago division, I grew up with their tracks not that far from my house. I was captivated by those green behemoths. When I chose to model, I chose Burlington Northern's Steven Pass Locale in the Pacific Northwest. But I've never really been there. I was near their lines in Colorado but it was the Pacific Northwest I chose. So why not, Post Burlington Northern Merger 1976-1989 is my theme, (I didn't wanna repaint my BN FA-1 ^_^). The Cities of Wolf Creek and Iron Mountain were not located in the pacific northwest (Wolf Creek, MT and Iron Mountain, MI), so while the cities locations may be fictional, I figure its worth modeling.
Awesome feedback:teeth::thumbs_up:!!! I know we have quite a few modelers from places other than the U.S. on here but except for the above post it seems like most have visited the places they model at least once. It also seems that most people model from memories of their childhood (understandably so). For me my love of steam comes from the first time I saw the N&W 1218 come to Louisville. I have been hooked on big steam ever since.
I model modern U.S. rail down under and no, I haven't visted the States. The only clues I get are from photos posted on "the net" mostly here on trainboard/railimages. Heaps of fun I might add. I'm not real hung up on being exactly prototypical as no one this side of the world would tell the difference anyway:shade: (he, he, he. )
I basically model mid west railroads however I've never been to any mid west states I do hope to visit some day
I model places I have been, but as they were 50 to 80 years before I got there... Does that count? Andrew
I live in PA but model Arizona. Took a western trip via Amtrak in 1972, daylight west across northern AZ. Fell asleep in the dome just outside Winslow in the empty desert, and was awakened by heavy rocking and sharp curve movement, woke up, looked around, saw pine trees everywhere, and was so disoriented I actually thought I'd slept through to the Sierras! That was my introduction to Northern Arizona, and after I got off the train to look around in Flagstaff, I was hooked. I couldn't believe that two towns only 50 miles apart by rail could have such completely different scenery and features, and that's been the focus of the layout as soon as I got home. I also model local PA of my father's time, when he worked for Wheeler & Dusenbury lumber 1928-1941 in Endeavor, PA. That was one of the bigger geared steam shows in this region, and is the basis for my Hickory Valley Railroad. His photos, and my relatives memories, and what remains today, all contributed to that.
Steve: There are, indeed, a lot of people whose modeling choices as an adult are based on the powerful memories of their childhood. But there are also a number of us whose choices are primarily influenced by immediate factors in our adult years rather than distant childhood memories. I was 25 when I moved to Peoria Illinois in 1974. I had started in Lionel 3 rail at 6 yrs old, got into HO in high school, and sold all my trains in college. After grad school, I wanted to get back into model RRing. As I considered the limited space in my apartment, I figured N-scale would offer more action than HO and a small switching RR could be modeled more realistically than a Class I RR. Modeling the Peoria and Pekin Union Railway as a desktop sized switching layout time-located in the 1970s seemed a natural choice since I had the prototype readily available. As space became available in larger apartments and later homes (all within the Greater Peoria Area), I expanded the P&PU until its current incarnation fills a basement. As time passed, I also expanded the range of my era, keeping the 1970s elements while adding some businesses and some of the merged RRs of the subsequent decades. For me, the proximity of the prototype throughout my adult years has been more influential on my current modeling choices than childhood memories. Thanks for starting this thread! I'm enjoying the stories about factors that have inspired others' choices.
I'm kind of the same way. I grew up bouncing all over the globe but decided to model the place that I have lived for the last quarter century. The time frame is one year before I was born so I guess I was never there.
My area. I model a small town and the surrounding countryside about 18 kilometers south of the edge of reality, just before you get lost in the mists of time. Dave, (maybe).
:teeth:I feel the same way! I enjoy seeing what others have done as well as hearing the stories about how their creations came to be.
