What Era, Railroads, & Locomotives are you set on?

[FCIN]

I prefer to model the period between 1978 and 1980, when I worked for the L&N and the short line IPD cars were every where. Plenty of color and spray paint graffiti was in the future. More rail served industries then than now in this part of the country.

Always a big fan of short lines, but am considering modeling a "composite" of a couple of interesting towns where I worked on the L&N during this time frame. Love the layouts based on Miami Florida, but prefer to model my area of the country.

Motive power - strictly switchers (NW2/SW1200/MP15, etc.) although anything from a GP7 to a GP40 would be seen working these areas.

[Lester Perry]

I guess I am in the transition period of late 40s and early 50s. Mostly large steam Mikados are the smallest on main line service. 0-8-0 in the yard. Several GP 7 & 9, one SW900. I think it is pretty well known I model C&O. Coal & Freight both. Some where between 150 and 200 coal cars and probably around same number of freight. I have an operating layout which can keep seven operators working but so far four is the most I have had at one time. Also a short line with a 3 truck shay. I have 2 large coal mines and 3 small ones. I have a fairly large saw mill, 2 timber cutting areas to supply the mill. A lumber company, Fuel supply company, Furniture plant, large power plant that eats coal (35 car trains at a time). I have a warehouse transfer buiseness, team track. Oh yeah almost forgot the Gern facility which takes Box, tank and covered hoppers. I think that is all of it.
two 2-6-6-6, four 2-8-4, six 2-8-2, one 2-10-4.

[doctorwayne]

Do you have a time frame where you're set, time of year?

I'm modelling the mid- to late-'30s, with some more-modern rolling stock included just because I like it. It's always summer on my layout, but the exact month is variable to allow for which crops are "in season" and require shipping.

What are your railroads and what's the rolling stock consist of for deliveries/industries?

I'm modelling the Grand Valley and the Grand River & Northern Lake Erie (commonly known as the Erie Northshore), along with the Grand River Southern, a transfer operation that owns only a locomotive and caboose - all three are subsidiaries of the Elora Gorge & Eastern, which contributes most of the home-road rolling stock and, at times, a locomotive or two. These are all free-lanced roads, but I have an interchange with the TH&B (Toronto Hamilton & Buffalo - my favourite prototype and also my home-town road - I have two diesels painted and lettered for this road (both are too modern for everyday use, but have sentimental value due to being featured in Model Railroader's "Paint Shop" many years ago). I hope to one day scratchbuild one of their Gs-class Consolidations.
If I ever get around to building the second level of my layout, there'll be a modelled interchange with the CNR of my good friend Mister Nutbar. His locos often appear on my layout, although I have two CNR locos of my own and am building three or four more.

Not counting passenger and head-end cars, and MoW equipment, I have about 140 "home road" cars, all custom painted and lettered, along with about 190 "foreign" cars from prototype railroads all over North America. Most are also custom painted and lettered. CNR, TH&B, CPR, NYC AND PRR are the railroads most represented (the TH&B was jointly-owned by the CPR and NYC, so locos from those roads could also make an appearance), but cars of many roads from all over the U.S. and even Mexico can be seen.

Are Steam, Diesel, Electric or all/some of both?

Mostly steam, although the "Bee", my doodlebug, is alternately a gas-electric or diesel, as suits my whim. If I were to do another layout, I'd definitely consider an interurban as part of the interchange action.
Along with the kitbashed "Bee", the Erie Northshore uses four USRA 2-8-2s (modified Athearns), while the Grand Valley gets by with four modified Bachmann Consolidations, an IHC 2-6-0 and a brass 2-6-0 from PFM.
There are also two Bachmann Ten Wheelers under construction (I'm undecided for which of those two roads they'll be lettered), along with an old John English 4-6-2 for the Grand Valley.
The Grand River Southern's sole loco is a Bachmann USRA 2-6-6-2, currently awaiting new gears and other "rebuilding".
For the CNR, I have a brass 4-6-0 in service, along with a highly-modified Proto 0-8-0. Yet to be completed, 2 CNR 2-8-0s, a similar DW&P loco, and, possibly, a CNR Mikado.

Is it Freelance or Compressed Prototype or even exact scale replica?

The railroad is freelanced, set in southern/south western Ontario, and using real place names. Many have some personal significance, while others I just liked the sound of the name. However, their geographical relationship to one another has been "altered" and a resident of any of the real towns represented would be hard-pressed to recognise anything in my version of their home-town.
Industries are often named for family and friends, or for real industries, while others such as GERN are strictly free-lanced.
Distances are severely compressed, but I try to model most industries large enough to justify rail service.
Operations, rolling stock and locomotives, structures, and scenery are, for the most part, based on prototypical practices, although I'm not above introducing some fantasy when I feel it's appropriate. Some freight cars and locomotives are based, as closely as is practical, on photos of their prototype, while others are stand-ins that are "close-enough" for my purposes.

Wayne

[Brakie]

Do you have a time frame where you're set, time of year?
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Actually 2 of 'em..1980 and 2007.

I plan on modeling Slate creek Industrial in the summer.
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Are Steam, Diesel, Electric or all/some of both?
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All diesel.
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What are your railroads and what's the rolling stock consist of for deliveries/industries?
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My railroads is C&HV,Southern,N&W,NS and CSX..NS and CSX operates my Columbus Industrial Rail(CIR) as a shared access railroad and supplies the cars and locomotives on a monthly rotation.
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and what's the rolling stock consist of for deliveries/industries?
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Boxcars,covered hoppers,tank cars,reefers and few gons and coil cars.

Industries include:
North American Knitting

Landstar Grains

Pillsbury

General Rubber

Mid State Produce.

Honeycreek Meat Distribution

The Rodman Steel Casting Company.

Distribution track -Active customers:

Dinglemans Plastics.

Williams Manufacturing

Valintine Farm Supply-bagged fertilizer and seed.


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Is it Freelance or Compressed Prototype or even exact scale replica?
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100% freelance.

[railohio]

Do you have a time frame where you're set, time of year?

Sometime in the late 1970s; I'll pick a more specific date -- month and year -- once I refine the concept further.

Are Steam, Diesel, Electric or all/some of both?

Completely diesel.

What are your railroads and what's the rolling stock consist of for deliveries/industries?

Ironton Northern is the main road and has interchanges with major Eastern roads (Conrail, Chessie, Norfolk & Western)

For the currently modeled portion, required cars are 2-bay covered hoppers, hi-cube and insulated boxcars, and gondolas.

Is it Freelance or Compressed Prototype or even exact scale replica?

Proto-freelanced. It's based on other railroads from the era (Clinchfield and Detroit, Toledo & Ironton specifically) but never existed.

[e-paw]

I model a 1940's anthracite hauler. I try to stay between 1943 and 1953, but I'm not to ridged on it. Transition era stuff. Camelbacks, along with 2-8-2's and 4-8-2's being the largest steam on the home road. First generation diesels from a wide range of builders. There are also connections with other roads( PRR, CNJ, LV, LNE, RDG, and the D&H).
The Layout covers an aria from the Delaware to the Susquehanna river. Coal is the big commodity with cement as a close 2nd. Very little to no passenger traffic is run.

[tomustang]

Thanks for the replies so far, I would like to possibly get many more members (if not all ) to post their model railroad idea in here. This give a great detail to the friends of the gauge

[nachoman]

Thanks for the replies so far, I would like to possibly get many more members (if not all ) to post their model railroad idea in here. This give a great detail to the friends of the gauge

Not only that, but I think it is helpful to those who reply. Sometimes we have things in our head, but never type them out. The process of explaining stuff to others helps to clarify things in our own minds

[jim currie]

time is late 50's early60's

motive power is what ever the M&M can get running or procure cheep

coal , hay and livestock out consummer goods in

free lance B P &L Phillipsburge Buna Vista and Ludlow ( three mining towns in colorado the premice of the line is a once prosperus bridge line between the ATSF DRGW and CB%Q bet a earthquake caused the town of gilpin to slide into the eagfle river cannyon gausing a rock dam about 250 ft high forming gilpin lake and causing the CB&Q to abandon the line to ludlow by rerouting 50 miles south causing the line to hang on in desperation.
jim

[steinjr]

Do you have a time frame where you're set, time of year?

Are Steam, Diesel, Electric or all/some of both?

What are your railroads and what's the rolling stock consist of for deliveries/industries?

Is it Freelance or Compressed Prototype or even exact scale replica?

Protolanced, I guess - inspired by a real place and a real time, but not really attempting (any more) to model one specific location exactly (or compressed) - just trying to create a look and feel.

Fall of 1957 in the riverside Milling/Warehouse district of Minneapolis. It being the harvest season, grain is pouring into "Mill City". The Omaha Road is being merged into parent company Chicago and Northwestern. Minneapolis and St. Louis has just gone to the red and white color scheme. Still lots of rail served businesses along the river in Minneapolis. Steam is almost totally gone, but once in a while a steam engine is used for extra work. Still many builders of diesel locomotives - diesel engines do not all look the same. 40-foot cars are still in widespread use.

Engines include a 2-8-0 (I finally broke down and ordered it, after Reinhard put the idea in my head quite a while back :-), an EMD GP7, an Alco S1 and couple of RS3s, a GE 44-toner and a GE 70-toner. Not all of which will be on the layout at the same time.

Railroads - depending on my mood I probably will vary which locos are run at any time - Omaha Road, Northern Pacific, Great Northern and maybe also Minneapolis and St. Louis.

Rolling stock - mostly 40-foot boxcars, carrying grain, various manufactured goods, less than carload cargo etc, some reefers - carrying produce, dairy products and beverages, tank cars carrying various chemical and oil products, the odd gondola or flatcar of machinery and such things.

Industries - a couple of mills (one perhaps being redesignated a GERN Plant), a railroad freight house, a team track, a linseed oil plant, a barge terminal, a produce terminal/cold storage, and assorted warehouses - toiletry products (Burma Vita Co), dairy products (Land of Lakes), wine & spirits (Destiller's Distribution Co). Maybe squeeze in a power plant track into a corner.

Just got started building again this weekend after a long summer break.

Smile,
Stein

[scubadude]

Do you have a time frame where you're set, time of year?
1960 - 1975..gives me a little latitude on era appropriate cars, construction, etc.
Are Steam, Diesel, Electric or all/some of both?
Diesel. Still have decisions to make, I only have a couple of GP40s and a nice FA1/FB1 GM&O. dragging my feet on engines until I take the leap to DCC.
What are your railroads and what's the rolling stock consist of for deliveries/industries?

I am partial to Cotton Belt, KCS and Texas & Pacific. You'll find visits by Sante Fe and others eventually. I really like 'em all....
I like all rolling stock, boxcars, gondolas, hoppers, flatcar loads and especially tankers (it IS Texas for cryin' out loud)

Is it Freelance or Compressed Prototype or even exact scale replica?

Freelanced. I am not smart enough nor patient enough to be too prototypical. As long as it makes sense and is era-appropriate, I'm good with that. I have been collecting kits for the last 3 or 4 years to use on the layout, either out-of-the-box or bashed......
WS Nscale City & Town - 13 Main Street building you have all seen a million times
Blair Kits - Pizzaland - which I intend on using Pikestuff sidings to bash into a PizzaBowl bowling alley
Dairy King - gotta have the American Graffiti drive-in with the hot rods
Interstate Fuel & Oil - will be part of diesel maintenance and yard scene - centerpiece of the layout
Sanding and Refueling Station - see above
Various houses for neighborhood scene
Farm scene
Large wooden trestle kit for waterfall feature
Woods Furniture and Miller Bros Lumber Yard to be bashed together
Team Track for LCL for the small town
Yet to be determined sawmill

So what are your plans or completed plans for your Railroad/Layout/Engine/Stock?

The overall feel for the layout feature a double-ended yard/maintenance facility (courtesy of Squidbait) with lumber from sawmill coming from the east, delivery lumber to the furniture factory to the west. Loosely based on North Carolina sawmill scenes to furniture factory and oilfields in Texas.

That's the plan for now, at least until another inspirational thread shows up on THEGauge causing me to change my mind again!

[pgandw]

Do you have a time frame where you're set, time of year?

I chose coastal Oregon in 1900. Air brakes are in use, and the other 1893 safety items have been fully implemented. Knuckle couplers are in use. Time of year is approximately October, so I can use yellow aspens to offset the firs, pines, and cedars. Working sail (logging schooners) still takes the lumber to San Francisco, and occasionally Alaska and Japan. The savings of fuel costs and the premium value of the Port Orford cedar allows sail to still compete with the closer California redwood logging.

What are your railroads and what's the rolling stock consist of for deliveries/industries?

Picture Gorge & Western Railway: The PG&W is a fictional standard gauge railroad running eastward from the town of Charleston on Coos Bay to connect with the Oregon & California at Roseburg (the planned southern route to Coos Bay that was never built). In my alternate universe, the Southern Pacific had not yet absorbed the O&C. The PG&W had visions of expanding eastward across Oregon and into Idaho or Montana to tie into another railroad to form a transcontinental. With this type of rail service and the best bar crossing between San Francisco and Seattle, Charleston (Coos Bay) could become another major West Coast port. Unfortunately, the PG&W founder observed the Coos Bay bar on a rare sunny day, and never saw the usual fog banks that would effectively prevent coastal schooners from using the port. At this point (1900), Charleston remains primarily a fishing port for salmon. The cannery provides both fresh and canned salmon for shipment east and south. Ice, coal, and supplies for both the fishermen, their boats, and the cannery are imported. There is a small sawmill and some lumber production at Charleston. A blacksmith and feed is needed for the horses. The railroad has effectively put the wagon freight trade to the Willamette Valley and Roseburg out of business - only local freight goes by horse-drawn wagon.

Port Orford & Elk River Railway & Navigation Co: The PO&ER is a fictional 3ft gauge logger running from the "dog hole" harbor of Port Orford to the sawmill on the Elk River, and also eastward along the Elk to the prime stands of Port Orford Cedar, redwood, and Douglas Fir in the upper parts of the drainage. Although Port Orford offers no protection from SW winds, and Charleston is a well-protected harbor, Port Orford is favored by working sail for its ease of entry and exit. Charleston, because of frequent calms and fog, is better suited to steamships and local fisherman who are prepared to take advantage of short-lived wind and clearing. The PO&ER, sensing it could grow traffic through its harbor, extended the line through the mountains to Lebanon to an interchange with the PG&W. The Lebanon city fathers insisted that the PO&ER use city labor to transfer freight between the 2 lines as a condition of the land grant to tie to the PG&W. The agreement, until it is renegotiated, has put a kabosh on any plans to widen the PO&ER to standard gauge.

Logging is the primary business of the PO&ER. Logs are landed and loaded onto log cars in the upper part of the Elk River drainage, and transported to the saw mill. From the mill, the sawn lumber goes to Port Orford via the switchback down the cliff to the dock. Supplies for the logging camps, and supplies for the ships, and the occasional passengers form the rest of the local traffic. Bridge traffic from the interchange to Port Orford has begun to develop. The occasional logs go to the interchange, and then to the sawmill at Charleston.

So what are your plans or completed plans for your Railroad/Layout/Engine/Stock?

The PO&ER uses 2 Shays (Keystone/NWSL) to power trains up the switchback(s). A small switcher (Ken Kidder Porter) takes care of business at the Elk River Saw Mill. And a Baldwin 2-6-0 (FED) takes the freight and passengers over the main.

The PG&W uses a modernized 1870s 4-4-0 (Mantua General with Cary boiler) for passenger traffic. A Baldwin 2-8-0 (Model Power/Mantua chassis) pulls the freight. A Class A Climax (Roundhouse) or B-2 Shay (Roundhouse) are available for the steep grade on the branch to the Lebanon interchange.

Passenger cars are all open platform less than 50ft in length. All cars are wood construction with truss rods. Freight cars are typically 28ft to 34ft long. Arch bar trucks are pretty much standard.

Freight uses box cars for most everything, reefers for ice and perishable food hauling, gondolas for coal, and mostly disconnects or flats for logs. Stock cars serve the ranches.

With present space, the Port Orford dock scene, small yard and engine facilities, and switchback are on a shelf on one wall. In the corner is a log landing. The Elk River saw mill scene fits on a 5ft shelf over my modeling desk. The Charleston water front is also planned along with the Lebanon interchange. The O&C interchange at Roseburg and more of Lebanon would be the next areas to be added should I gain additional space.

Fred W
....modeling foggy coastal Oregon, where it's always 1900....

[conrailmike]

Do you have a time frame where you're set, time of year?

Well, I'm bringing elements of the 1980's forward to the 1990's. I want to model a line that CR sold off way back when but model it as though they never did. Spring/Summer will be time of the year.

Are Steam, Diesel, Electric or all/some of both?

Strictly diesel. Probably 50% 4-axle power and 50% 6-axle power. Interchange units will probably be 6-axle.

What are your railroads and what's the rolling stock consist of for deliveries/industries?

Conrail is the main railroad, interchanging with NS and ATSF and I may "invent" and interchange with the GTW. Rolling stock will consist of covered hoppers, tank cars, centerbeams, boxcars (paper, maybe auto parts), maybe some gons too.

Is it Freelance or Compressed Prototype or even exact scale replica?

Compressed prototype

[mountaingoatgreg]

Tom,

You ask some good questions....
I will answer for my current shelf layout which is also part of my long term plans.

Do you have a time frame where you're set, time of year?
I model from 1960-1970

Are Steam, Diesel, Electric or all/some of both?
Diesels 70% Alco 29% EMD 1% GE

What are your railroads and what's the rolling stock consist of for deliveries/industries?
City of Prineville, Spokane Portland & Seattle and GN. The majority of my traffic will be handled by 40' Boxcars. Ponderosa moulding will recieve empty boxcars, mostly 40's. Tum-A-Lum Lumber will recieve the occaisonal loaded boxcar and flats but most of their material will be from local mills. The Freight Warehouse will recieve boxcars and flats loaded or mty depending on the need of the customer. Frazier Feeds will recieve some loaded boxcars of bagged feeds then recieve mty boxes and hoppers for loading. I will have some refers that will serve Jefferson Potato and a few inbound loads of hanging beef for the Redmond Meat Locker. Finally I will need one tank car for my bulk plant, they also may get the random box of 55 gallon drums.

Is it Freelance or Compressed Prototype or even exact scale replica?
Prototype based but freelanced interchange with the addition of the City of Prineville. The Free-mo section will be exact scale prototype but the pieces on either side are freelanced.

If anyone cares you can check out the full story here:

http://oregontrunk.blogspot.com/

[Puddlejumper]

Do you have a time frame where you're set, time of year?

I model 2 eras. Mainly my layout will set in the vicinity of 1960, periodically changing to 1985-95 when I feel like running my Conrail stuff.

Are Steam, Diesel, Electric or all/some of both?

Primarily diesel. The Potomac Line runs EMD GP7, GP9, GP18, GP20, F3, F7, ALCo RS11, and MLW RS10, RS18. Some of these are second hand so the features are not the same on every unit. One feature all the hood units have in common is they all have high hoods. All the units have 1500-2000 HP and regardless of make and model, are rated at the same tonnage and are used interchangeably.

I also have a small fleet of Conrail diesels that I like to run once in a while.

What are your railroads and what's the rolling stock consist of for deliveries/industries?

Primarily coal with some local industries that use box cars, flats, gons, and tanks.

Is it Freelance or Compressed Prototype or even exact scale replica?

Prototype free lanced.