I'm modeling a combination of roads in N scale - I have a small generic midwest-looking layout that sequentially runs engines and rolling stock for the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific circa 1960, the Chicago, St. Paul and Fond du Lac RR circa 1857 (a predecessor of the Chicago and North Western), and, for my younger son, the Sodor Island railway, complete with Thomas, James and associate British outline rolling stock. I just replace the buildings and accessories. Doug Murphy dmurphy@depaul.edu
As someone said earlier. Where you grew up determines what road you model. I believe that holds true. I'm from the Philly area, yet I really have no intrest in PRR. Wasn't around when I was young. Penn Central...nah. Most of my learning days I guess were spent behind the likes of 4501, 611 and 1218. The more I read on the N&W, the more I liked it. I also have a weird notion to want to model Steamtown from the late 70's to early 80's. I guess because I went there in 1978 and the New England country side is beautiful. But, Virginian country side is great too. So, I guess it is kind of loosely based on what you were brought up on. In the new Model railroading Planner, there is a nice article on a layout based on San Diego circa 1940. That too, holds an appeal for me on my time spent in the Marines out there. But, homebuilt steam, Blue Ridge grade and long strings of those black diamonds do it for me!
I model the Kootenay and Kettle Valley divisions of the Canadian Pacific, with my era being 1950-1969. Also, as the Great Northern connected with the CPR at Nelson and Grand Forks, I model some of that road as well. Cheers. Terry
For 15 yrs my HO layout contained ESPEE engs & stuff - didn't really model any real part although I pretended to run the Lone Pine Branch even though I had never seen any of it in person, and living in Michigan I didn't get much of a chance to see any Espee trains in person. In the mid 70's I moved to an apartment in Ann Arbor and from my 3rd level balcony I could see the Ann Arbor Railroad's mainline, it didn't take long for me to scrap the SP stuff & change over to The Annie. The Annie operated 300 miles of track and had only 15 locomotives a number I could handle- it could also be railfanned a lot easier than the Espee so 25 yrs later I am still an avid Annie fan whose HO layout is still based on this railroad.
My screen name says ALOT if you know what class and what railroad had a #"7600 EM-1" So I guess if someone doesn't know I'll say.. I model the B&O railroad preferably the Pittsburgh Division but I also use my will and right to use my "Modelers Liecence" HA! So you will find any and every B&O steam loco possible from any or all the B&O's Divisions! But I mainly model steam and so on with a WIDE range of time period. Anything from 1932 to 1956(58) and even as far in time as 1960. That way I can run any steamer (almost) and run first generation diesls including body dieselds and hood diesels.. And with the use and pratice with my "Modeler's Liecence" I have Chessie System diesels and CSX diesels so... But the plot is 1932 to 1960 on the B&O's Pittsburgh Division.... Have a blast from that with the use of history.. Steam all the way..... Lets go run some trains... HA!
"Track Plans for Sectional Track" By: Linn Westcott. In it it has 144 track plans including list of pieces needed for rug, table and custom layouts for HO, O-27, S and O gauges. It was made in 1991 by Kalmbach Publishing Co. If anyone of you has this book for track plans look up page 34, track plan 152 "A most popular plan", that's the layout I'm going to build.
I grew up in the bay area and of course love SP. When I was a kid, my father and I were in a local hobby shop and saw an AIM (?) HO Cab-Forward that had just come in. My father (who never talked much, much less revealed anything personal about himself) just stared at the big engine. I think I actually saw some nostalgia in his eyes! Next thing I knew, he had bought it for me! Those must have been the locos he had seen when he was a kid! That gesture said more to me than any words he ever spoke! ...Fast forward to the present day... It was just January of this year that I saw one of the Rivarossi Cab-Forwards and of course had to have it! To make a long story short, I was bit by the model railroad bug again, and now have built 2 small layouts, HO and N, both DCC. The SP lives and the Cab-Forwards (I have 3 now) rule the grades! I can't believe how great this hobby has become! Does anyone else have childhood memories they'd like to share? Maybe I'll start a new topic for this: Chilhood Memories. Thanks fellow trainboarders for all the great info, help, and encouragement! Pete [ 01 September 2001: Message edited by: Pete ] [ 01 September 2001: Message edited by: Pete ] [ 01 September 2001: Message edited by: Pete ]</p>
Me.... I'm all over the place. For the most part I model the modern era CSX and NS simply because I can hop in my truck and drive down to the tracks (either one) and get new ideas. I do have a rather nice replica going of the Atlantic Coast Line's "Champion" passenger train, done in the early 60's era. I have a special place in my heart for the Ontario Northland Ry. as I spent quite a bit of time up in the North Bay area in the late 70's. I always thought that the zig-zag chevron they used was cool.
Pete, That Cab Forwards you spoke of isn't an "Aim" model its a "AHM" model which is exactly as the one you bought by Rivarossi.... AHM sold Rivarossi in the USA in the 70's and early 80's so.... It is an older version of the one or 2 you recently bought.... Just the newer one is of higher grade and runs like a scared jack rabbit compared to the older one. I had 4 of them and sold them to a fellow in Florida.... Anyway, I know the feeling of the articulated and true mallet designs in steam loco's they run better then most steamers do and pull twice as much. And does the job on the grades I have 3, 2-8-8-0's and 2, 2-8-8-2's and 2 4-8-8-4's and a lonely 1, 4-6-6-4. As well as alot of small medium steamers... All in all I love the big ones better..... [ 01 September 2001: Message edited by: 7600EM_1 ]</p>
I model the true Santa Fe, ATSF, set in 1989, location Oklahoma Main Line and Enid District, in HO. The BN Avard District is also included as it paralleled the Enid District of the ATSF and they shared track in common. Bob Miller
I was born and raised in Ottawa,Il so the Rock Island is my road. My father and I used to go for car rides almost nightly in the early 70's before he became ill. Usually a round trip to Marseilles and return always looking for a headlight in the distance so we could stop and wait for the train. He passed in Nov 1973 and I was raised by my grandparents who would take me to the Ottawa station to watch the evening arrivals of #5 to Rock Island and #11 to Peoria. I got to know many of the crew members and have many special Rock Island memories. I guess it was sort of therapy. My first real job was the 2nd trick Train Order Clerk at Ottawa. I now live in NW Indiana and work for the CSS & SB as an engineer. My basememt is all HO Rock Island. AF Niederer
I model the D&RGW standard gauge in N-scale from the mid 60's to the late 80's. I grew up in Canon City, CO and made many a trek into the Royal Gorge, over Tennesee Pass, and along the Moffat Road. I was also lucky enough to ride one of the last Train #1's, The Royal Gorge, the very last Rio Grande Zephyr, and the last Silverton before the D&RGW sold it.
Hi all, kind of new to this forum. 20 years or so ago, I was agonizing over which road to model. I liked B&O EM1, Erie Berks, NYC Hudsons, and the list could go on. I realized I couln't be happy being restricted to one road, and decided to freelance. I knew I wanted 1950 era in Northern New Jersey. So I started to agonize over what to call my freelanced line. Wasn't coming up with anything I was happy with, read Atlas Shrugged and decided to use John Galt Line. Not in Colorado tho! Mine runs from Philly to Boston, with the modelled portion serving areas similat to Paterson, Passiac and Clifton. Scenes from Erie and Susquehanna. After a move, I decided to model NYC, Hudson division and 60th street yards. I have a two level railroad, the bottom is NYC, loop to loop with staging at the loops, designed to allow continuous running along the Hudson of name train passenger trains, with the junction at Spuyten Dyvil leading to 60th street yards(hidden staging beyond represents 30th street). The upper level is JGL, which interchanges with NYC at a freelanced town in the westernmost scene on the NYC prior to staging. A helix connects the two levels for interchange purposes. Having grown up in Northern NJ, I suppose it follows the previously established trend to model what you know. Gary
I model a few different roads and eras, based on a variety of interests. I have a small, generic, somewhat midwestern N scale layout. I switch buildings and accessories to change eras. I run the Rock Island on an Illinois branch line circa 1960 - basically because this was the road for the my very first engine - an old GP18 - and I like the different liveries the Rock had over the years. I also run the Elgin & State Line RR, a free-lanced version of a predecessor of the Chicago and North Western circa 1857 because I was inspired from a self published book on local rail lines I found in our town library. I have an old timetable circa 1857 for the Chicago, St. Paul and Fond du Lac (that had built out from Cary, IL into Wisc. around 1854) that I use to run short freight and passenger trains run by 4-4-0s. Lastly, I run the Sodor Island Railway of you-know-who with my young son - we've found N scale versions of Thomas, James, freight and passenger cars and hopefully soon, Henry. Doug Murphy
My road, as the name implies, is Missouri Pacific. Having grown up in the St Louis area I suppose that's a natural, but I didn't get the bug until well after the apocalypse, er, merger. I think what I like is the simplicity of the paint schemes, nothing too flashy, and the philosophy of the Jenks era (of course, I knew nothing about this until after I got interested). On the simplicity side, I'd also say that BN and NS are interesting, especially as BN connected with MoPac in a lot of places.
I forgot to mention that I model the last five years of Frisco's existence, in northeastern Oklahoma and southeastern Kansas, especially the Miami and Carthage Branches. It was something to do in HO, and it's a challenge in N (but also gives me more space than HO).
Growing up in Philadelphia, I can still remember seeing steam engines pulling army vehicles, the classic GG-1's pulling the tuscan passenger trains past our tree house and that wonderful day that I first saw switching operations in a yard from the caged walkway over the tracks. I was hooked on trains and the Pennsy. I always had a train at Christmas, an S scale American Flyer, and was so proud the day my dad taught me how to run it and throw the switches to take the inner loop around the tree. Later in life (50) I searched far and wide to purchase the exact engine that we had and discovered that it was another classic, the K-4. So with consious effort, I grew up modelling the PRR. I recently dug out all of my old N-scale sutff and upgraded to DCC. I was again hooked and started designing my latest layout, which will incorporate scenes that I remember from that great childhood my parents provided. The 4 track mainline section is laid, the harbor with my Great Granfather's tug and coal barges is under construction and that neat classification yard is the center piece of the road. You can see a couple of kids in the overhead walkway and there is a neat little tree house being built in a big oak along the mainline.
Wow. i guess i'm kind of a fish out of water. I'm trying to model The Seaboard Airline in the late 40's in HO. It has been a long strange journey to this point. I started when I was 12 with a used CB&Q Tyco/Mantua GP20 (it only cost $10) and then moved to 90's BN by the time I graduated highschool. During college I was an armchair modeler, but when I graduated and started up again I found I had lost interest in BN and the new BNSF. Since then I've considered the Southern because I remember driving to elementary school in Atlanta, GA and seeing NS high-nosed EMDs in their pre-merger scemes. I started to model post-war Pennsy because I was getting into steam and I really like some of the exotic early diesels. I was at a bookstore when I found a book on the SAL and remembered my dad talking about it. He had lived in Decatur, GA next to the SAL and has a few models in memory. The more I read, the more I got excited. The SAL was an aggressive carrier in the southeast (where I grew up and live now). They used some interesting motive power (articulateds and Baldwin babyfaces). For now it seems as if I've found an interesting road that will give me some modeling challenges. The SAL used a lot of mikes copied from the USRA 2-8-2's so I excited about kitbashing some of the new Athearn models. Who knows, maybe the new Proto 2000 0-6-0 can be turned into a SAL F7 class, which was called the most outstanding 0-6-0 ever built in the country.
I model Orange County, NY area during the EL/Conrail Transition Period. So, the Old Erie Main Line in N Scale - late 70's / early 80's. Joseph
