When you are planning a layout or portion of a layout, do you look at a map of the railroad/region you are modelling and then copy/freelance it, or is your portion of line purely fictitious?? My SFSW is a purely fictional place with ties to Albuquerque and San Diego (off the layout). It is set "somehwere southwest of Albuquerque, NM." What are some advantages/drawbacks to fictional AND prototypical places?? Happy Modelling!! John
Kinda mixed. M&CRS is based on some real lines (CSX's (Chessie Systems) New Castle Sub for instance) and some made up ones to fit the story and the task.
75% freelance, 25% Prototype. The original plan was mapped out along the lower Illinois River Valley but with place names changed. I used a map I created in college as a base and went on from there. The plans for the local environment remains unchanged, but every thing else has been warped to fit my own plan.
This is really good to hear...I was afraid that my layout would be considered WAY out, if I didn't try to model a "specific" part of the ATSF line , only making up the details!! Happy Modelling!! John
If you look on a map of Texas, follow the river from San Antonio to Corpus Christi. This is were the fictional BNSF-AOW R-O-W is located. If you stop at Beeville, you've found "Gridley, TX." Here's a funny story about "Gridley"... At Galesburg Railway Days, 1998(?), my club set up our N-Trak Layout. I brought my Gridley Module with me. At the time, the corner wasn't part of my set-up. A lady with her small boy was looking at "Gridley" and started pointing out some of the buildings to her son. "Look, there's our Pizza Hut and over there is the grain elevator! It looks just like home!" Now, I had to ask..."Where are you from?" "Gridley..." "Oh, just north of Bloomington?" "No, southeast of San Antonio" "TEXAS?" "Yes, have you been there?" "Sort of, I've been to the area. Are you trying to tell me there IS a Gridley, TX.?" "Why yes, it looks just like this! You did a nice job." To this day, I'm BAFFELED! I can't find Gridley, Texas on the map ANYWHERE! But, if you look just north of Bloomington-Normal, IL. you'll find Gridley, IL. the place I took the name from! [ 02 February 2001: Message edited by: Maxwell Plant ]
John, It really depends what you are going for. Our club RR is freelanced, but it is entirely based on two prototype railroads in a specific area. Therefore, we have real locations, and we scratchbuild all our buildings from plans and make them look like they did in the 50s. It's incredible to see people walk in who lived then, and remembered everything we model. It's also cool (since we model the city my college is located in) to walk downtown and see how much (and how little) has changed in 50 years. It really boggles the mind. However, this level of prototype accuracy is hard to come by and is a lot (and I mean a LOT) of work and research. My home railroad is based on the modern UP, so I will keep my rosters accurate, but as for location, "somewhere in the foothills of the Rockies."
Brent...that is WAY too strange!! Sounds like an episode of the Twilight Zone !! Very cool though. Corey, your home layout sounds like I have planned for mine. Lots of accurate rolling stock in a fictional environment. Just seems more fun to me than prototype. As an archaeologist I spend enough time researching for my work, don't want to come home at night and do more !! Happy Modelling! John
A mix. http://www.nyandw.com/ uses the LIRR as a basis of freight and route with the proto industries available. See the links. But, it is a NYC owned line, like PL&E. The concept NY&W is based on the real geography and the actual locations. Logo, slogan, etc freelance. Regards, SL slynch@metcom.com
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by slynch: A mix. http://www.nyandw.com/ uses the LIRR as a basis of freight and route with the proto industries available. See the links. But, it is a NYC owned line, like PL&E. The concept NY&W is based on the real geography and the actual locations. Logo, slogan, etc freelance. Regards, SL slynch@metcom.com <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Man, I said it before, and I'll say it again: that is the most comprehensive website I have ever seen!! Happy Modelling!! John
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by JCater: This is really good to hear...I was afraid that my layout would be considered WAY out, if I didn't try to model a "specific" part of the ATSF line , only making up the details!! Happy Modelling!! John<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Hey JC!! You should know that its your layout, only to impress you adn your kids.. WHO CARES if that is 1in out of scale, or thats not prototype. Most people have to butcher real railroads to fit their space. If anyone complains, tell them the rails are to scale..!
Hey Bird!! Long time no post...thought you fell off the planet !! Everything is to scale on the layout (in fact I just measured the height of my freelanced roundhouse tonight to be sure...37 feet!! ). I was just concerned that if it wasn't "thus and so" place along the real Santa Fe route people who came to visit it would roll their eyes !! Yes it is my layout, and I could tell people to get lost, but if that were to happen it would bumb me out because I would start looking at the layout and thinking "well....I guess I need to do better." Anyhow, how are things on your layout?? Happy Modeling!! John
Brent, I am definately "down wit dat" as my kids like to say . And I am sure I will be as proud of this one as I have been all of my other layouts . Its just a new trick for me modeling an ACTUAL railroad, so I am just wondering about other people's approach to the subject...you know "birds of a feather" and "group support" (although the wife thinks I need group therapy for filling our garage with a layout !!). Anyhow, I am having a blast with this...just the research involved in what trains were around in the 50's and paint schemes etc. has been great!! Happy Modeling!! John
What was the question? Ah, did I look at a map or completely freelance it? Yes, I looked at a map and then tried to work from my memories of what things were and used the map and real history to tie them together. I changed the name of my major city to avoid nitpickers, but I think that I am going to change it back. I have attempted to model the flavor rather than the detail and have company names that no longer exist except on my railroad. Freelancing has allowed me to have my own short line RR, but still model what I know. I call that the best of both worlds. A couple of years ago, a young TAMR member came in before a layout tour, took one look at my main city and said, "It's Anderson!" Well, not exactly, but it is MY Anderson.
I'm modeling my area of the alternate universe by researching the real Miami, OK (I and my family lived in nearby Afton from 1973 to 1998, when Mom moved to Nine Tribes retirement center in Miami). I'm going on photos, memory, and a little truth-stretching, but overall I'm capturing what Miami, Oklahoma looked like in the 1970s, tire plant, nearby chat piles, and all. I'm not getting into rivet-counting, but I want everything to look like the 1970s as much as possible. Hey, don't be too surprised to see a Frisco caboose in Bicentennial colors (remember the Crummy, fellow mods?), or even a O&NE hack in the red, white & blue. As the song goes, "it's your thing- do what ya wanna do"
It seems to me that to be a true free lancer, then the country where the railroad is should be fictional. Then there would be no prototypical examples to confuse ones thinking. Most of us, me included, pick actual areas and try to free lance around them. Thats OK because that is the real world experience. Most of the equipment we use starts off its life from prototypes. I like Brent's thinking. It's my railroad so I do what I want. I believe it would be nothing but frustration trying to model a prototype railroad with the limits in space and lack of available equipment. That's why John Whitby was smart enough to create his Swiss railroad. He has done a marvelous job. Now, what was the name of the country I invented again? Playing too much MYST and RIVEN. Time to get real again
I agree guys!! I have always based rilroads on some mythical part of the real world. In this case "somewhere in New Mexico" is the same as on my previous layout "somewhere in Colorado." But with this layout, I am modeling prototype trains in a fictional landscape. This gives me the latitude to create the world and enjoy the research involved in getting the trains right. Happy Modeling!! John
