things to ponder I am trying to choose a prototype and having a difficult time of it. Because I like so many different prototypes. Just wondering how or why people choose theirs? 1. is it the colors? 2. is it the area this railroad operates in? 3. is it the era ? I know this may be a no-brainer but am courious? How did you choose yours?
I started in HO in 1961 witha an old Varney train set that came with a Southern Pacific eng, thus all my future engs were SP, liked the Espee and back then you didn't see much mixed power on railroads. However, since I live in Michigan I didn't have much first hand knowledge on the SP - and it was a very large railroad. While I living in Ann Arbor (in the mid 70's) I came into contact with the Ann Arbor Railroad, here was a railroad I could have 1st hand contact with, only had 15 locomotives, and was small eniugh for me to really get into, it is now 30 years later and my HO layout is still based on the Annie. To answer your question, for me it was the size & location of the railroad that interested me.
August- My favorite RR is from childhood memories. I was raised in a family associated (employees of) with that company. I knew some of the other people involved, and grew up around a fair number of those railroaders. Interesting to note, that we lived near to a busy branch of another RR. So I enjoy following that one as well. And include it to a lesser extent in my modeling. Budget restrictions. The money only goes so far... Both the time frame, and area chosen, is from what I remember with the most warmth. And that is the mid-late 1960's in the area where I grew up. Boxcab E50
August Area: First let me say I choose my prototypes because they ran were I live or lived. I chose the N&W because I grew up in southern Ohio. I chose Conrail as they used to be the predominate railroad where I live now. I also like to run coal trains and liked the rugged terrain of WVA. I chose an era of 1982, as that is right before the N&W and Southern merged. However, I can cheat a little and go to present era or back to the mid sixties. Some people like the steam to diesel transistion era. So they can run both steam and diesel. You will also notice if you go to a trainshow, that there are more 50's era automobiles than any other era. That may or may not influence your decision, but personally I have a hard time justifying a lot of 50's era cars on a early 80's layout. Color: Conrail and the N&W had their basic "dip" color scheme. No imagination. If you have ever seen locomotives that work hard in the coal fields, then maybe you can understand the reasoning behind the color scheme. I also find it easy to paint a locomotive for either of these railroads. Things you should consider: 1. It is YOUR railroad. Do what you want with it. It is what makes you happy that counts. 2. How much room do you have? If you have a small space for a layout, say 4x12 and like to run long trains with lots of locomotives on the front end, you may want to go for N-scale. However, if you like short branch line operations with some switching involved and one or two locomotives on the front end, then you may want to go with HO scale. If you have plenty of room like a whole basement, you may want to stay with HO or go larger. I wouldn't go with a big layout at first because it may seem overwhelming. This leads to another question. 3. How good is you eyesight. Larger scales like 0 and S are easier on the eyes but you may fill compelled to add more detail. I deal with HO and there are plenty of times when I use a magnifier when dealing with the small parts. N scale historically has had less details on the locomotives and rolling stock, but that is changing. Also, how much of an area do you want to scenic and detail in N scale. Just things to consider. The decision is ultimately up to you. But I am going to give you one piece of advice which I think everyone here will agree upon: IT IS IMPORTANT TO GET THAT FIRST TRAIN ROLLING AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!! If you keep planning and building a huge layout, you may never get a train rolling because you may loose interest. Get some track down and start that first train operating. If you have to work in small sections, that is fine too. Be advised you will make mistakes, but learn from them. Also don't be afraid to tear it up and start over. I once tore up two days worth of work, because even though it worked right, I didn't like it. I replaced it with something better. Also if you can, set aside a set time period per week that you work on your layout. Always work on it during this time, whether it be putting together a model kit, or just running trains, just do it. This will prevent your layout from collecting dust. Cost: You may go to a train store and see how expensive an O scale piece of rolling stock cost and they decided to go smaller. So instead they bought 4 HO scale locomotives. The point is, if you measure cost on a per square foot basis including the rolling stock, you are going to spend the same amount of money no matter what. This is just my observation and I also read about this somewhere. One other thing. Congratulations in joining this hobby. It is fun, diverse and you will get a lot of enjoyment and meet many friends. If you have any questions, well that is what this board is for.
My first concern was location. I wanted to model the PNW, which is my home region and a place I love. Once the region was picked, I needed to land on a prototype. I had a bunch of the big boys, like UP, NP, GN, MILW, SP, etc... but at the time this was gelling, three of those were still around, as UP, SP & BN.. Milwaukee I did not know enought about yet. And with all the supermerger stuff, I was kinda bored with the class ones. So, true to my regional focus, I looked for a home road, and found it: the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Ry. Added to this was an interesting yellow & green paint scheme; affiliation with the norther lines; unusual power -- steam included 4-6-6-4 Z6 challengers, diesel was heavily Alco, including C424, 425, and 636 -- and a cool slogan: "The Northwest's Own Railway"! So #2, the region, was chief. The paint is cool but even if it was red and orange I'd still model it. It was the region that was the seller. For era it was an easy pic. I chose 1969. Why? SP&S went under the Jolly Green Giant in 1970, so 69 is the last year of ops. It's the closest to what I am familiar with too, a transition era when big covered hoppers and 50 foot boxcars were plentiful, but so, too, were the 1950s cars like 40 foot boxes. And I can run the newest power that the RR owned. But what should you do? I'd start with the region, which ground the scenery & looks of the layou, and the traffic base, and associated ops. No coal movements up here, for example. If that's your thing, do Virginia. Once you settle the region, look for the railroad you like most. Do research, get a feel for their various personalities. Eventually you'll find you like some roads better than others. You might want to consider availability of models too. Then era I would consider last, as being reflective of what interests you about the road you like. But that's just my formula!
As luck would have it, I'm the other rabid SP&S fan on the board. When I first started I was all over the map. It didn't help that shortly after I got started I was able to buy out the model train inventory of a hobby shop that was going out of business, which gave me a huge variety of power to play with. Not long after I started working for a Canadian company that made model trains and so I ended up getting a lot of Canadian prototype stuff as well. During this time I had a freelanced railroad, the Port of Tillamook Bay, which kept me busy as well. One day at work we got in a shipment of Atlas RS3s in SP&S and as soon as I saw them I was hooked. I bought all of them and any other SP&S stuff I could get my hands on. It wasn't until later I really started learning about the road, but the more I did, the more excited about modelling it I became. Part of that was reigon, it was nearby and I was fairly familiar with the aea. Another part was topography, the railroad only climbed 600 feet or so in it's first 400 miles and I'm a fan of flat layouts. As for era, I also chose the 68-70 timeframe, though in this case it was because I wanted to model the GN's Big Sky Blue on the passenger trains. I don't claim it makes much sense, but thats how I came to model the SP&S!
I have to admit I have not chosen, I just like too much stuff that is too widely split to justify together! I'd guess I have three main "themes": The first is Central Illinois in the late 1970's, with ICG, BN, N&W, Illinois Terminal and various other roads appearing. Another is slightly more focused, BN in the pacific northwest circa 1970-72, kept early to get the "rainbow era" of the pre-merger paint schemes, and also to allow me to run BN's Alco FA units. I discover that I also have a bunch of fairly modern (early 90's) equipment as well, with a predominantly south western US theme, (Mucho Santa Fe) this stuff mainly gets used on our group's Rock Springs layout. I'd guess these three concepts just captured my imagination. Why does the 70's figure strongly? Well really because of a reason that's already been given, the mix of rolling stock, anchient F units mixing with freshly built F45's and SD40-2's, old 40' boxcars with classic railroad slogans alongside open & semi-open autoracks, 100t grain hoppers and piggyback flats. It was quite a cool mix.
Thanks guys you have given me alot to think about. I know I like the west.(Canada, USA) Now I have to narrow it down as to which part of the west. It will probably be some where in the Pacific Northwest (US) or Pacific Southwest (Canada)
There are a couple of places you could do both. THe GN and later BN (and now BNSF) ran into Vancouver BC and interchanged with the CN at Thorton Yard. Along the way they interchanged with the old BC Hydro (now Southern Railway of BC) and crossed under the CP. Another option is the MILW-CP interchange at Sumas WA (Now also BNSF). I live near the Vancouver-Everett WA main and we see a decent bit of CN traffic and UP once in a very great while. If you ever wander out west I'd be happy to give you the tour of all these lines so you could see if any excite you.
Further inland is the border are surrounding Sandpoint & Bonner's Ferry. BN, ex GN, (I think -- or was it NP?) lines connecting to the CP. Spokane International, now a UP line, connecting CP to UP at Spokane. Matter-of-fact, you may want to think about Spokane in the 70s, before the 74 expo changes. This would allow you to run: Great Northern Northern Pacific Spokane, Portland & Seattle Milwaukee Road Union Pacific Canadian Pacific Talk about a mix! And before 74, Spokane was a rat's nest of viaducts and raised yards, plus over and under city bridges accross a rocky Spokane River, and a major waterfall in the center of it all. Plus three stations: NP, GN on Havermale Island, and Union Depot for UP & Milwaukee. It was probably the hotest action spot in the PNW other than Portland.
There seems to be plenty of possibilities. As suggested, the Spokane area, pre-BN merger. Or Sumas-Huntingdon area where you had Milw, BCH&PA, CP and BN/NP. Another interesting thought in BC is doing the Pacific Great Eastern...... Boxcab E50
cthippo and abcraghead, You've forgotten that there's another SP&S afficianado in the forum! I became interested in the SP&S because it ran near my home in Central Oregon, and because my parents gave me a book on the railroad as a young boy. Currently, I'm modeling the SP&S in 1969, mostly because it gives me a chance to model just about every loco they had, but before Black Tuesday (March 3, 1970. If you've ever seen the SP&S Ry. HS calendar, you'd notice that date every year! Another interesting railroad in the PNW is the Camas Prairie, which operated west of Lewiston, ID to the UP in Riparia, WA, and east and south into the hill country of Idaho. Formerly jointly owned by NP and UP, now it's an independent short line, with some of the most stunning scenery in the West, primarily the line to Grangeville. Pat
And lest it not be mentioned, Vancouver itself might be interesting. BCOL, CN, CP, GN/BN/BNSF all in one location, plus VIA and Amtrak. I know a guy fitting Portland into a small bedroom... so it can be done in a relatively small place!
thanks again guys. You have gave me alot to think about. I might try freelancing my own railroad with interchange with all my favorite railroads some place in pacific south western canada.
