Why did you choose what you model?

I voted for option 1, although to be honest the reason I got into modeling and operating what I do started out with a childhood love for streamliners. And my favorite has always been New York Central's Dreyfus Hudsons. Growing up and learning more and more about the Central is what solidified my interest in that time and era (late steam/early diesel).

 

I model Premillenial CSX. That is CSX from the start in 1986 to the Conrail merger around 2000.
That means I stop at Bright Future. No Dark Future on my road.

The reason I model this is the VAST number of paint schemes. I count up to about 100 paint schemes counting all variations.

 

The first RR I worked for was the Milwaukee road , I worked in the same buildings (sometimes) they built the Hiawatha fleet in.

 

For me I like the Utah Railway and when my dad passed away in 95 I inherited all his stuff. He freelanced one called the Dorado and Silver mountain based in the 30's. He loved steam. Since I am doing the Utah modern with diesel I had to come up with a new plan. My idea is that the Dorado and Silver Mountain was purchased by the Utah and was revitalized. So I am free lancing the Utah. I had to come up with all new track plan to fit my house and DCC since his was all DC. I kept same place names and industry names and added to it adding more towns and insustries. Since all his locomotives are old from the 70's I figure not to convert them to DCC and put a few out in areas on display such as near stations and a museum to keep his memory alive.

 

I know this is a little off topic, but in regards to the "100 paint schemes", I remember quite sometime ago, Ron Beardon contacted me about getting some roster shots of some BN U30C's or C30-7's that he was working on at the time. In some of our correspondence he mentioned that he wanted to model every locomotive that the newly merged CSX had or had owned. This also included to paint each of those models in every paint scheme that they ever wore! At least this is what I remember.

I always thought to myself, "Man that might take a lifetime to accomplish, but it would be a unique and prized possession to own"! Good thing it was going to be in N scale since the amount of room it would take up to display it! LOL

Not sure if this was just a pipe dream or an actual project that he planned to do, but I have never seen anything more about this in any magazines.

Hey Ron, if your reading this, did you ever get this done?

Allen...

 

That is fairly accurate. Pretty close. And yes, it is an actual project.

It's not that I want to model EVERY locomotive (that would be about 5-7000)...
But every KIND of locomotive in all phases if possible.
Also, among all those locos, one of every paint variation represented.

I don't have an exact count, but that is about 100 locomotives.

And yes, that is still my lifetime goal... and no, not finished. Have a long way to go.

And as for articles, I've already published two in N-Scale Mag.

"CSX Paint Schemes", January 2006 covers the main CSX schemes (8 schemes- and they now have one more). That article had a chart of every high quality CSX locomotive made up to that date. After that article, Atlas made the CSX Transportation scheme. The only CSX that has never been done so far is the true and accurate Transition Scheme- which is different from just slapping yellow ends on a CSX blue and gray loco. There was also a chart of all the locomotives that COULD be made by manufacturers with existing models.

"A CSX Family Portrait", July 2009 covers all of the family roads that had heritage schemes show up on the CSX (14 schemes).

The next article (not finished) will cover railroads that are not directly part of the CSX family- like NS, D&H, etc (11 schemes). This article is hard because have a LOT of kitbashing to do for this one out of those 11 locos. I'm not even halfway through.

And I haven't even started on all the variations within any of those 34 schemes (did you know there are six variations in the stealth scheme? I've already finished writing that article).

I've only published one editorial and no articles in almost 3 years. But I just submitted 3 articles to Pam and I'm trying to get back into the swing of things.

 

Wow, you are going to be busy painting! And painting, and painting, ......... Fun!!

My chosen area and era is due to my enjoyment of both the NP and CNW's steam rosters. Add a little Milw in there now and then too.
And the area of southeast MT and the SD Black Hills brings them together!

So, the choice was driven by RR, era and locale! NP, CNW and Milw steam in the part of the country I like to be in!!!

 

None of the answers fit my situation perfectly so I picked "golden age".

I model a time 20 years before I was born in the place I live currently. I fell in love with the B&O Cincinnatian first, then found out that it traveled the rails less than a mile from my house. I decided to model the time (1947-1950) that the loco passed through the town I live in. Everything comes second to that goal.

 

I think I and my son (Chessiefan) just might pass out with joy if Kato made the B&O Cincinnatian one day.

That's one of our all-time favorite trains.

 

My family rode the San Francisco Chief from Stockton, CA to Chicago in 1954. 'Nuff said.

 

Well, the primary road I model is C&O. I used to model PRR when I was into HO because I was taken with engines such as the T-1 and GG1 as well as others. I also liked the scheme. Didn't hurt they ran not too far away. Along the way I got to see the Allegheny at the Henry Ford Museum and discovered the beauty of the M1 turbine. So, when I decided to get back into model railroading, I looked at C&O a lot closer. I enjoyed the muscular build of their steam power.

To add to that, when I was growing up Chessie System was what I saw. Considering that, I felt comfortable enough that I could have steam and diesel that I wanted while having it blend in together and have good overlap on rolling stock as I knew I'd want Chessie System engines as well.

That being said I also have some CB&Q, B&O and PRR but all of those are diesel or rolling stock.

 

I grew up near the Salauda grade. My first railroad experiences where getting stuck at the railroad crossing on the way to school while high hood Southern SD40-2s lugged 100 car coal trains up the hill! I've always been partial to those high hoods in tuxedos, but even more so to mountains and coal! I started in HO scale building prototype models to run at the local club. Still to this day building/detailing motive power is my favorite aspect of the hobby! Years later, life took me to D.C. and I realized that as an apartment dweller, to stay active in the hobby I would have to switch to n scale. With my space limitations, huge 6 axle power, and 60ft freight cars weren't an option. So by backdating to the mid 50's and using first generation 4 axle power and 40/50ft height cars I could put a lot more railroad in the same amount of space, plus it would look a bit more realistic to boot! While living in D.C. I started exploring the Western Maryland, and it ended up being the perfect railroad for me - mountains, coal, 4 axle motive power, and oceans of 34' 55 ton hoppers! One day when I'm a home owner, there will be long mountain grade WITH helper districts in my basement! I can't wait!

 

Even though I grew up when steam was still going in the Bay Area,
and some of my first train memories are of steam switchers at the South San Francisco SP yard.
I never got into steam for modeling.
I rode on some passenger trains as a youth, but when I saw my first diesel set, that was what engines were supposed to be.
Round and round with a few stops, what's up with the passenger train thing?

When in SF in the early 1990's, we had a view out of our second story window of a SP secondary yard off of the 3rd street yard. Lots of switching and moving cars from the many businesses in the area. Saw much of this even before when I would go up to SF from the peninsula.

 

I'm from Ohio with relatives in Baltimore that we would visit regularly. I remember as a 6 year old going to the B&O museum. I've been in love ever since.

The era I've chosen - late 50's - always me to model minor league baseball, which though declining from its peak popularity, was still very well attended, and the late 50's allows me to sneak some Steam into the scene.

 

I run / model whatever I want because I know I'll never be a master model builder.
Yes, I'd love to have an accurate modern Canadian Pacific based layout with hyper detailed smooth running locomotives and 80 car coal drags but:
1) Someone here has already done that
2) I don't have the finances
3) I don't have the skills / follow through - that is the main issue

 

I model what I model because I really like it. It just happens that the U.P. mainline from Ogden, UT to Evanston WY is in a 40 mile radius of where I live and some of the trackage through Weber and Echo Canyons is very spectacular indeed. There's the added bonus of the Park City Branchline diverging from UP's double-tracked mainlines at Echo Junction, so I am able to model both double-tracked ABS (non-CTC) signaled trackage, AND totally dark branchline singletrack operations.

I finally settled on early Summer 1951 as the time period for my structures, topography simply since the SP roundhouse in Ogden was functional that year (it was gone in 1952) and I eventually am going to model Ogden with its UP and SP engine facilities, Ogden Union Station (with 40 or more passenger trains coming through every day!) and the D&RGW turntable and mini-roundhouse, along with Wahsatch (the siding and wye there to turn my 3700 class Challenger helpers for their 60 mile return to Ogden)

Trains and vehicles have a longer time period...up to and including 1956, but NOTHING past December 31st 1965...which means only a few Streamliners with snow shields on top, no Baby or Veranda turbines with tenders (got attached in 1957) or GTEL Super Turbines at all (I sold all three of 'em last year). But, I'll be able to run Big Boys, Challengers (coal and oil), FEF's, F3's and F7's, GP7's and a few GP9's (and the ubiquitous GP9 "B" units!), E's PA's, FA's, two daily locals pulled by either a Consolidated or a MacArthur, light Mikes, Erie-Builts and more. FUN!!

Can't wait for the UP 9000's and the 2-10-2's when I have time to make some UP "big" steam.

SP has operating rights on my layout (my son "CasteelG" is a Rabid SP Fanatic) and any friends or guest operators (when I get some guest operators) can run whatever they want unless it's a Historically Correct Union Pacific Operating Session on that day.

UP is famous for several things, but especially their "Super Engines" and the spectacular scenery through Weber and Echo Canyons.

That's why I model only prototype scenes with prototype width track plans and all the turnouts and sidings (well...ALMOST all!). I can operate each 12' (or longer) LDE just like the prototype was operated, and I can (and do) use "sacred dirt" in my scenes to get the texture and color just like the real thing.

I'm having one hell of a good time!

So, why do I model what I model? Once again...because I really like it.....really.

Cheers!
Bob Gilmore

 

This was any easy choice for me as I think that I have related previously. I grew up in Lima Ohio, Lima Locomotive Works, and my grandfather had a 40+ year career as a conductor with the Nickel Plate Road - actually started the the Lake Erie and Western before it was taken over by the NKP, my father had 43 year career with the NKP as the Chief Clerk to the Trainmaster in Lima, my mother had a 25 year career as a stenographer in the train master's office and I worked 3 summers in the mid 60's as a fireman during college. So the NKP has lots of cinders in my shoes. I thought about modeling Lima to Frankfurt, Indiana but realized 146 miles plus lots of towns would be a big challenge to compress, so I am modeling Lima to Bellevue Ohio. There are lots of interchanges with many railroads and in Lima alone there was the Pennsy, the B&O, The Erie and the Detroit, Toledo and Ironton in addition to the NKP. It is lifetime project and has been fun.

Jack

 

I grew up two blocks from the Lehigh Valley..And uh,1/2 mile from the LV.Within 4 miles of my homestead,I had: LV,D&H,CNJ,NYO&W,Erie,Lackawanna,Erie Lackawanna,Wilkes Barre & Eastern,Lackawanna & Wyoming Valley,PRR,and PC,and that's cutting off at 1970.You can't even immagine the pool power,BN,B&O,C&O,BAR,NKP,L&HR,N&W,the list is just too long..One little town,a dozen railroads,and so many coal mines/breakers,I lost count.The Knox mine disaster was less than 1/2 mile from me.Just HAD to grow up interested in trains/coal mines..