Although my father worked for the NYC/PC/Conrail and I grew up around those roads, I model the L&N/NC&StL, generally from around 1946-1970. Don't ask me why, but a few years ago I stopped at the L&N Museum in Bowling Green KY and the blue and cream E-8 and passenger cars they have there just struck a chord in me. I also model other southeastern railroads as they interacted with L&N on passenger trains such as the Crescent. Lately I have taken to modeling Norfolk Southern as a change of pace (and as an excuse to model some contemporary equipment), but it's the fallen southeastern flags that most interest me.
I model the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines (Millville branch) in the 1950s. The PRSL was an NJ state forced merger of the Pennsylvania & Reading lines in 1931. It ceased to exist in 1976 when Conrail took over operations. Both NS & CSX now provide the power.
Not sure how one railfans a fallen flag...I mean the definition of fallen flag is a RR that no longer exist. How can one go view something that no long exist. When I railfan, yes I look out for BN cars, however I'm railfanning BNSF.
When the track and buildings are still there and you model them in a previous time period, you are railfanning the fallen flag. In Woodbury, NJ the station has been remodeled to its condition during the PRSL heydays. The Conrail, NS & CSX engines going by don't matter.
Actually in that case, if you model, you are still modeling...not railfanning it. Like its impossible to go railfan Great Northern...being its a fallen flag, technically can't railfan Burlington Northern, as it also no longer exist. Sure there are cars that are still painted in BN, however the RR does not exist, therefore you cannot railfan it.
Semantics. True the (in your case) the BN or in my case CB&Q are long gone on paper. When in Galesburg however, it is sometimes hard to believe. If we really wanted to dance on the head of a needle, I guess we would say we railfan the BNSF and Pan Am though we model the BN, CB&Q and B&M. I think the point of the OP was, do you go to areas that were owned and operated by a fallen flag railroad and do you model it. When I go to Potter Place NH, I certainly do not railfan as the rails have not seen a train since 1987, in fact the town is essentially a ghost town. That said however, it's hard to to railfan when I'm researching CB&Q items here in Illinois. Technically, most fallen flags still do exist since the railroads still own the rights to the name, logo and colors etc. BNSF is using the Great Northern name on some equipment now in fact.
Let's see.....I am building up an SP fleet based in the 1980's...when I go railfanning, I look for ANYTHING SP or from a fallen flag. I even look for lines I don't care about
Rock Island Lines!!!!! I see Rock Island Stuff daily. Also I work for the Rock Island.....welll its the Metra Rock Island District, but I do call the Rock Island Road DS lol. For me its in honor of my home town road. I have also thought of doing the RI&P and RI&MC as stand alone companies that lasted into the 70's and are doing fine. RI&MC is the Rock Island and Mercer County, which was a subsidiary of the RI&P.
Semantics, exactly. I have always considered it to be railfanning, when out in the field seeking artifacts which are historically specific to a company no longer operating. Depots, bridges, rolling stock, whatever. Those items are still real, do exist and belong to the past company as much or more than a present operation. And as Jim points out, technically those past companies in many if not most instances, may still exist. It may be on paper in a filing cabinet, it might even be a corporate shell. Soo Line is technically gone, but when last I'd asked him, a friend who works for what passes as CP now, still was receiving paychecks marked Soo Line.
I model the B&M as it exists in my youthful memory. Thus I rail-fan my creation and mental images of operating, riding, rail-walking, and gawking. I "gawked" as a youth because my reactions to passing trains were too excited and active to be considered merely "watching". Also, YouTube, photos, and books reinforce those memories.
Since PENN-CENTRAL ran right past my house,i was fortunate enough to just sit on my front steps and watch trains all day,including passenger trains from SCL & SOU.My first modelling was of the PC,since i loved their paint scheme.But on a trip to SOUTH CAROLINA,i saw SEABOARD COAST LINE up close,i was hooked! been with SCL ever since,with a smattering of PC& even CONRAIL,as i liked how CR turned things around.
I like to model/railfan any old fallen flag really. However, I have rather strong preference for the D&RGW and the Santa Fe (as it seem that most of my HO rolling stock fleet is either of those roads).
I model NYC with the occasional trackage rights for a wayward NYO&W freight consist behind FT set. B Travis
To elaborate, I grew up in Hyde Park, NY, and one of my favorite passtimes was to ride my bike down the big hill the the river and watch the Hudson Division traffic up close, and the west bank freight traffic from afar. I never saw the NYO&W in action, but I rode the Erie and the DL&W often when visiting relative on the southern tier of NY. My mother's grandfather was one of the engineers (as in construction engineer) who built the O&W. My father was the contract eye surgeon for the Hudson Division of the NYC. So the ties are there. I have to laugh. When I was quite young, my older sister would bike down to the tracks with me and she would always warn me to stay away from the third rail. I am unsure whether she knew what she was doing, but it certainly confused me until I eventually rode into the city on the NYC and then understood the terminology. But crossing the tracks at Hyde Park used to scare me. BT
Do you have memories of steam from your childhood near the NY Central? I don't model but would enjoy seeing any photos of your NY Central modeling.
Hello !!! My first time visiting this section of the site !!! I grew up across the street from the MC/NYC/PC Joliet branch in New Lenox. IL and Grandpa was an EJ&E engineer, so that's where it all started. Once I got a little older, there was N&W, CRIP, and MILW. Then I got a car !!! ATSF, GM&O, ICG, BN were all mine !!! As far as modeling, BN is my main road, but it works with CRIP, PC, Turtle Creek Central, and a bit of GT. I am building a small generic branch line layout where I can run anything that was in the Joliet/ New Lenox area. Today you might see CRIP BL2s running. Tomorrow could be BN GP20s. Next day, a MILW SD9. The only thing you can be sure of is NOTHING leaves the yard without a caboose !!! BTW, this is all in N scale.
Im starting a 4x2 n scale southern pacific layout. HELP, I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE TO BEGIN, OR A SIMPLE TRACK PLAN. PLEASE HELP!
