I began researching the B&O not long after I moved to the Baltimore area and immediately got sucked into the railroading history of the area. Of the three dominant railroads of the city (Western Maryland, Pennsy, B&O) the local landmarks of the B&O really have drawn me in and inspired my modelling. As the B&O stretched across a pretty vast territory, Im curious as to what people in what far flung corners of the track map are specifically modelling... and what scenes/towns/trackage have inspired them. Would love to hear from you guys!
I'm modeling the town I live in on the Ohio Division in the era that the Cincinnatian came through town. I have a friend that is modeling the whole Ohio division, Cincinnati to Chillicothe including all towns, branches and sidings.
Toledo Sub from Toledo south 'til I run out of room. I call it "all around here but no place in particular".
I was born and raised around Huntington, WV but most operations were gone by the time I could walk! Most of the line west of Huntington was torn up, all the way to Kenova, around 1965 even thought the roadbed was still visible for many years afterwards. The old passenger depot is still extant and last time I was there, it was used as a very nice restaurant. There wasn't much local business, especially after '65, but you could count on a mix of boxcars, tank cars (couple of chemical plants north of Huntington), coal hoppers, and covered hoppers (AC&F had a large plant until a few years ago which made these). There were other types of cars, too, but trains were always powered by a pair, at least, of either Geeps or F units. We had some guests, such as an occasional Reading GP30 or 35 and I _think_ there was a Southern Pacific unit or two. So if I had my druthers, ah druther model this part of the system! Lots of switching, storage, operation, and best of all, single track most of the way with hardly any opposing traffic!
I was the son of a B&O operating official. My family followed his various transfers - from Baltimore where I was born, to Newark, OH to Auburn, IN to Pittsburgh, PA to Baltimore to Garrett, IN to Akron, OH to Washington, IN - where I hired out as a Train Order Operator on the St. Louis Division. During my pre-teen and teen years I did model in HO but not any specific territories. Once I hired out I continued to work for the B&O and its successors in a variety of jobs and positions for the next 51+ years. I worked most of the Operator positions on the St.Louis Division from HN Cabin in E.St.Louis to 8th Street switchtender and most all locations between the two. I transferred to the Pittsburgh Division and worked all the operator positions between FY Tower and Eidenau on the P&W Subdivision and subsequently transferred to the Akron-Chicago Division and worked most all Operator positions on the Akron portion of the division between UN Tower at New Castle and a Temporary Train Order Station just East of Willard at Boughtonville, all the while attending college full time to earn my degree. Upon graduation I was promoted to be a operating official and worked a variety of locations around the Akron/Cleveland area before getting transferred to Baltimore where I worked a number of supervisory positions in Baltimore Terminal, Jessup, Wilsmere and Philadelphia before getting getting involved in the Baltimore Terminal Services Center and its computerized handling of the yard and agency affairs for the entire terminal. Subsequently a tech pogrom caught up with me and I had to exercise Train Dispatcher seniority I had earned on the Akron-Chicago Division to a Asst. Chief Dispatcher's position on the then existing Tampa Division in Jacksonville. Later the Tampa Division was reorganized out of existence causing me to exercise seniority to the Atlanta Division. Subsequently a desirable vacancy on the Mobile Division. The Mobile Division was reorganized out of existence and I exercised seniority back to the Atlanta Division that had a different configuration that it had when I previously worked it. After experiencing time off account battling colon cancer I came back to work and bid in a vacancy on the Baltimore Division 1996. In 2008 Dispatching on CSX was decentralized and I followed my job to Baltimore where I ultimately retired in 2016. With that history I have had first hand experiences with a large are of the B&O and also CSX.
