Obviously strictly fictitious. First letter of first name of each family member, in chronological order (Carl, Diane, Wes, James, Virginia). Having lived in Albuquerque, I was familiar with Chama and the Jemez mountain areas, so I made them fit the initials. The roadrunner is the New Mexico state bird, so it just had to be. I good friend and excellent artist created the logo for me. Carl
Yeah, I love the encouragement you get when you really think you've nailed it. I guess nit pickers don't have to deal with this, or they would be in the corner crying. My first rule, if it looks good, have her look at it. After 20+ years and countless train shows, she can spot crap half a mile away. And she does nit pick on weathering.
My layout is a combination of fiction and truth. The Shenango Valley Railroad is based in the actual locale of the Shenango Valley in western Pennsylvania, formerly railroad rich territory as the trackage not only served several mainlines in the area, but were also used for transports from the Northeast to the Midwest as the valley was smack dab in the middle of the "bend" around Lake Erie toward Chicago and points west. As a kid I used to watch PRR, Erie, B&O, and many other railnames barrel on through, some on the way to deliver ore and coal to Sharon Steel, while others made deliveries for Westinghouse. Nearby Greenvile, PA hosted the Bessemer and Lake Erie RR, of which a lot of my uncles and grandparents worked. Needless to say, this fictitious RR is a local based railline that transports raw materials and finished products all around the local area. The best compliment my son ever paid was back in 2004 when the family visited relatives in the area, he commented the entire place looked like my train layout. wowser Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman
I got lucky, and it was done for me. I picked up a few different locomotives and some cars for a couple fantasy railroads that other people had created, and then I just had to worry about creating the back story for them: the difficult part of choosing a name was already done.
It's great to see what everyone's come up with. I've decided on my own shortline being the Texas Farm Link. I'm using the colors of the Montana Rail Link but modified a bit. I've also modified their logo a little replacing the red "Montana" with a white "Texas" and using their older white logo replacing "Rail" with "Farm". It's a connecting short line between small towns moving mostly covered hoppers and agricultural products. Just a small switching layout, but works for me.
