The Grande Valley runs north from South Bend Indiana to Petoski Michigan,but don't look for either city on my layout.They ain't there. Come to think of it Kalamazoo Plainwell,Wayland,Grand Rapids, Rockford,Cedar Springs,Caddilac ain't there either. <marquee> NARA ROCKS!!</marquee>
My folks used to live in Kalamazoo, and when I lived in Minnesota, I ended up doing a lot of work in Grand Rapids !! This is exactly the thing. My layout will have hidden trackage with one end headed to "Albuquerque", the other to "San Diego", neither of which are on the layout. Further, if you look for the towns of "Coyote" and "Carbonera" in the Atlas, you won't find then anywhere near the ATSF mainline. Nor will you see the San Christobol Pueblo if you go the visit New Mexico. But I guess this is Freelance...building the ESSENCE of the place we model. Yes, The Santa Fe Chief will scream through the layout, and it will be as accurate as I can make it, along with other famous name trains . But I want the essence of New Mexico to overpower even the trains. I am building from my memory of many places I lived and worked in in New Mexico. No one will be able to say "oh look, we got ice cream at that gas station when drove Route 66" but maybe it will remind them of the time they stopped at a similar place along their route. It is the mix of fantasy and reality that really turns me on about Freelance. I can rivet count when I want to, and be totally off the wall when I wnat to...and as has been said it is MY railroad, so who is going to stop me ??? Heck, I even plan on burning juniper incense in the railroad room to give it the smell of New Mexico!! Happy Modeling!! John
NY&W Industries. As a follow up to my earlier post the current 2001 NY&Atlantic (proto line leased from the LIRR) customers at:http://www.nyandw.com/freighttable.htm. The basis for the proto-freelanced NY&Western (www.NYandW.com) actual industries from LIRR maps 1966 are at: http://www.nyandw.com/freightsidings.htm The rational for the mid 1950s industries using the 1966 info is that any siding that required a turnout/siding and had a need to spot cars was/is in place for a while. It holds true for almost all LIRR sidings: Nabisco, Ideal Toys, Grumman, Aurora Plastics, A&P, Rheingold Beer, Sunshine,etc. as new track was not put down. In fact most of the sidings left in the 60's received little action (especially) the coal and feeds, team tracks, and the lumber companys in every town that went to trucks. When the LIRR and raised the tracks in the 1960s for commuter safety and later put in welded rail , most sidings disappeared from NYCity to about 30+ miles east. Steve Lynch
Steve, Now THAT is the kind of research that interests me!! With that kind of info, you can choose to include sidings or not, depending on space and what you are trying to accomplish. Excellent!! Happy Modeling!! John
The Federal Furnace Lines was takeover by my wife in a hostile takeover. Now I need to get enough capital to see if I can buy it back from her. This is going to be difficult as she has encroached upon my real estate, meaning my workshop is now a rail road. The table saw, band saw, planer, and the rest are sitting over in a corner and they are in despair. This must be due to the fact the Federal Furnace was used during the Revolutionary War to make cannon balls for the good guys, meaning the Colonial Troops. She has taken this to far as now I'm regulated to running a double loop G Scale layout while she has the big layout. Please send in the troops in defense of my right to a rail road. Art PS Catt you are the one that started all of this so I shall now declare war on the state of Michigan.
Sorry Art...hostile take-over's happen. The troops must remain in reserve until she starts pulling rail and converting real estate to the weekly sewing circle !! As long as she is running the road at a profit, there is nothing that can be done. Start buying shares, and hope for shared trackage rights!! Happy Modeling!! John
Wow, I'm new to the board, but you guys have some really neat ideas. I've based the Alabama Gulf on a combination of abondoned lines and some lines that (I've) had rahabilitated !, and trackage rights with the Proto's. So I can model the AGLF and my favorites.
Gull, Welcome to Trainboard!! I think the idea of rehabilitating abandoned lines is great!! Tell us a little bit more about yourself, and your layout. What scale are you in?? And, as always, if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask!! Happy Modeling!! John
Model Railroaders, My layout is 8X16/8X14, it makes an "L" shape in my basement and I model the B&O from Cumberland, MD to Connelsvile, PA and its almost all proto-type except for a few parts of the line that is long stretches of track and noting their but track and land scaping, so I freelanced those parts to take up alot of the "open track" that the real proto-type had. My towns in between Cumberland and Connelsville are even smaller to make it all fit and look good. I model the era of 1942 to 1965 so I can run late steam and early diesel. And not only is the B&O modeled but so is the Western Maryland. My newest project in modeling for one my layout is yet another Mallet locomotive the M-2's by Western Maryland. For those who aren't sure of what type loco the M-2's were, they were the 4-6-6-4 "Challengers" 1200 series locomotives for the WM. Let me know if anyone has anything interesting to talk about for the area i model or the railroads.... The B&O is the "Best And Oldest" to me and chat or talk about it and the WM is always welcome and appreciated. And by the way Watash I got the pictures of the B&O EE-2, And THANKS! I've already started the the work.... -John.
Mr Jcater, I have had a history of "generic" modeling for quite a while. It seems that the ONE railroad I really liked was the one with wheels! So my layouts reflected just that. I was lucky enough to finally find an area of the country that "spoke" to me. I find myself copying the real thing trackagewise, but only as far as my layout space will allow. I seem to find myself "faking" prototype structures however. This is due to my lack of scratchbuilding skills and time constraints. I do enjoy the effect however. Like Brent, the locals seems to recognize my efforts so far! So there we are. Prototypical track plan/"close enough" structures.But it sure is fun to see how close you can come to the real thing! Perhaps, like me, you will find that once you visit the region you are "sorta" modeling, it may "speak" to you as well. You may find you want to try to capture it just a little bit better. I do believe in the "whatever works for you" theory however! More power to you and the other freelancers. I have no bias to any form of model railroading - as long it has trains! My sad story can be found at: http://billselleck.net Click on the part that says "A 1/160th Salute to Galesburg". Yours, Bill Selleck
