I have a couple of new guy type questions. First of all, is it taboo to model a fictional railroad or to not mirror the prototype exactly, ie different equipment or road numbers? If you choose to vary from proto how hard is it to create your own color scheme etc? Are they good stencils out there etc for doing your own lettering on locos or rolling stock? Do most manufacturers offer equipment, particularly locos in an unpainted configuration to allow a little artistic license? Thanks for all your help, I'm enjoying this board immensely. Russ
Russ, lots of people do their own thing! Scroll up a bit and take a look in the Freelance Forum, you may get some ideas on a freelance paint scheme. Some manufacturers offer undecorated models, but mainly just have decorated ones, but un-numbered. Undecorated shells are often available from the manufacturers. Otherwise shells can be stripped of the original paint before painting in your chosen scheme. Good luck Edit: Here is an example of my freelance Andersley Western Railroad scheme [ 10. January 2003, 21:02: Message edited by: Alan ]
As far as what is taboo or not is totally up to you. There are really no rules other than the ones you impose (or allow to be imposed) upon yourself. Some modelers panic over the thought of a box car appearing on their layout that is not part of the era they model. Others have no problem having their Amtrak P42 pull around a string of old wooden box-cars. There are also many modelers who make up their own roadnames. I think it would be fun to create a railroad and make up the color scheme. Some even make up "what if" road names (like what if a certain railroad still existed today - or what certain mergers could have occured). Many manufacturers make "undecorated" runs of their loco's, and there are several other companies who make detail parts so you can "super detail". The sky is the limit. But if you don't have much experince in custom modeling, start small and read up on it. I don't do custom painting myself, but may give it a try someday. eNjoy! [ 10. January 2003, 21:12: Message edited by: Bruce-in-MA ]
I agree 100% I would like to add however, that there are those in the hobby who look down their noses at non prototypical modeling. I am not one of them. It can be fun to freelance a railroad, but keep things consistant with the modeling so that the freelanced railroad is believable. Daryl
I am another free-lancer who isn't bound by having everything HAVE to exactly fit within a certain time frame. There are modelers who model a particular date and time on their layout. Then others that anything goes. Most fall in the middle. What I found worked for me. I picked a location, real but made fictitious names for certain places I wanted. I picked a general era, early to mid 80's. I decided whether my railroad was cash rich-could afford anything new, cash poor-couldn't buy anything but OLD castoffs; or in the middle-usually picked up old stuff, but might get something newer. Then my color scheme was developed. THis has changed twice since the RR was born, but so do real railroads....just ask CSX. Pick something simple to apply. If your road is struggling, it would be a Very simple scheme, maybe just one color and one color for lettering. If it's wealthy, maybe something more elaborate. But remember, you need to decorate your own stock, or pay someone to do it for you...simpler is easier. As far as decals, there are several places that make custom decals. Right now, I am dealing with Gary, who has his own company that does them http://www.sound.net/~gcollins/GMCRail1.html He has been great to work with and will help you figure out what you need, something some of the other companies won't do. Let me know if you have questions. I developed a history and map for my freelanced line. See my web page for that. Jeff Augsburg & Concord R.R. (a fictional shortline in Central Illinois) http://www.pegnsean.net/~revnjeff
I painted and decaled my free lanced railroad. The decals were letters taken from different words that one of the decal manufacturers (Champ, I think) had available at the time. Eventually, I got brave enough to attempt painting my RR logo on the side of some cars; but to start with I just painted parts that were easy to separate (like doors of boxcars, cabs of engines, and cupolas of cabooses). These are HO models, but they illustrate the point that I am trying to make. [ 11. January 2003, 03:58: Message edited by: upguy ]
Rett, That is a great scheme on the locomotives, an excellent shot as well. I also agree with the other guys, model railroading is about what makes you happy and satisfies your wishes. Although i loosely model Union Pacific my layout does not represent and prototypical area but it represents my idea of how a layout should operate and look. I am not a purist but I enjoy operating my layout and the looks on the faces of visitors to my layout. [ 11. January 2003, 11:29: Message edited by: Colonel ]
Brian, that's a sharp looking scheme. Glad I don't have to paint it though. Here is another picture from my layout. I'll try to see if I can locate a picture of one my cabooses. [ 11. January 2003, 15:31: Message edited by: upguy ]
Russ, a big NY welcome from another Russ! Model railroading is my escape from the REAL world so I pretty much do what I want on my layout. My railroad has it's own history and customers, it's own paint scheme and it's own ceo (me-lol) Remember that it is all about fun so if you have more fun modeling prototypical railroads then do so. If you would have more fun freelancing, do so! Just have fun!!!!!! Below is an example of my paint scheme. Happy Railroading!!!!!! Russ
