I think this type of thread has been run from time to time. But, I would like to start it again, and ask those that have a "Story" that goes with their layouts, whether true, or fiction. Here is MY story of what I model to start it off. The town of Sauk during the mid 1950s. A fictitious midwestern town that time forgot. The town of Sauk has an infamous past, and started out as a hideout of sorts by a gang of outcast, renegade Sauk Indians in the mid 1800s. It was perfectly hidden from the world with rolling hills surrounding the area, and fed by a river for an ample source of fresh water. In the late 1800s the white man stepped in to squash this bunch of renegades led by a man named Daniel Jackson, and settle on the land by the river. Tycoon Jackson was interested in the coal rich hills that surrounded this area. Mr. Jackson, with his wealth built the town that ended up carrying his name, “Jackson”. The town was for the most part owned by Jackson and his partners and ran it with a strong arm. Mr. Jackson was not a very nice guy, and all but completely killed off the Sauk Indians that resided in this area. It was later discovered that the so-called “renegade” Indians that Jackson claimed, were in reality a peaceful Sauk settlement. He bullied his way through them, killed the ones that fought, and for the most part, stole their land from them. After the Sauk Indians either killed, or run off, he continued with his bully ways, and shady business practices. His evil ways later became apparent as he bullied locals if they got in his way, or questioned his principals. The town eventually tired of Jackson, and pretty much rose up against him. They ran him, and his partners out of town. Soon Jackson’s few supporters also left. Jackson never tried to return mainly because the coal industry started pulling out due to the coal reserves in the area were not as large as Jackson claimed & promised. It was just after the turn of the century, when the town was re-established as well as re-named to sever all ties with its infamous founder. The remaining towns people decided to name it honoring the Indians that were killed for what was originally theirs. The town was re-named “Sauk” commemorating the area’s original inhabitants. The Rock Island Line had laid rails through this area to support the once thriving coal industry, and were still used transporting goods and supplies by rail. In the 1940’s the Rock Island started running their passenger services through to take the local young men off to war, and then back home for the few that made it back when the war was over. By the mid 1950’s Sauk became an old, dirty, lazy town that for the most part has been forgotten by all except the people that have lived there all their life. The town scared by it’s rough past, and the evidence of careless blasting, black coal dust in every crack and crevice was just a part of the charm of this sleepy town. The Rock Island still runs through the town regularly bringing goods, and every so often you will see a passenger train roll through picking up, or dropping off local travelers. The larger consists are too large and awkward to roll into the town’s small depot, but would stage outside of town on a siding while small road switchers would shuttle a couple cars to and from the depot to rendezvous with the larger consists, including the Golden State. The old coal mine is still active, but barely, and typically just to support the town’s own coal needs. There are allot of old abandoned Rock Island equipment in the area. Aging Rock Island passenger cars can be seen sitting around waiting to be picked up by the Golden Rocket on it’s way through.
LOL...sure...no prob... As you know I Freelance. I didnt want to have to wrap myself up in modeling details of a 'real' place. When I started building my layout...the grandkids where always around. They like grandpas trains. They where always asking...."What's that Grandpa?" at everything. As it worked out....THE wife and I where debating what to call our layout. I just told her " I am gonna call it all THE...cause thats all I say to the grandkids !!" "Thats THE river..." "Thats THE lake..." "Thats THE yard..." "Thats THE roundhose..." "Thats THE (fill in the blank)" ...LOL THE wife then said "We gotta come up with somethin T.H.E. stands for...other then The !!" I told her "You come up with something I like...thats what it will be." She made a list. All day and night she was scribbling stuff down. The next morning she brought me the list. There where about 20 words that THE stood for. I wasnt to fond of any of them. As it turns out...we have a small wooden set of "The Polar Express" (TPE) that the grankids just love to play with. She told me to turn the paper over. I damn near fell out of my chair! Right there in BOLD letters was the future name of our railroad... "The Horny Express" >> T.H.E. *THE wife knows me only to well... ;-) ROFLMAO !!!! *Thats my story and I'm sticking to it! .
Here's the story of the fictional Northfield & Wichita. I took the liberty of using a photo of my grandparents on their wedding day. I made up the last name but kept their first names. This is on my website also. The Northfield & Wichita was founded in 1914 by Peter Noorden (pictured above with his young bride in 1914), a very successful farm owner, businessman and entrepeneur. He had witnessed firsthand the hardships of local farmers getting their grain to the markets. Being a successful landowner and businessman, he acquired 110 miles of land and embarked on the venture of establishing a railroad that would service the farm owners in the surrounding area. He established several distribution points throughout the local farming communities with the vision of providing easier and reliable service for local farmers to get their products to market. During The Great Depression, Peter Noorden held steadfast to his vision, often sacrificing his own wealth in order that others would survive. The NFW emerged from that era as strong as ever due to the cohesive spirit of Mr. Noorden and the steadfastness of his vision of how the line should run. During the next several years, the climate of the nation was changing and being an innovator, he saw the need for changes in the operation of the NFW if he was going to remain successful. He moved the company's service away from an agricultural dependence on grain and cotton and centered its efforts on diversifying traffic and industrial development. Upon his death in 1956, the operations of the line continued under the direction of his wife, Charlotte. The NFW continued to flourish and when she passed away in 1988, the line was acquired by an asset management company. The NFW continues today and now has trackage rights over the BNSF and interchanges with the BNSF to the north and west. Customer service and personal attention to detail by NFW employees continue to be the hallmark of its founder, Peter Noorden.
The Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado Railway was the first railroad to operate in the state of Texas, the first component of what eventually became the Southern Pacific and the second railroad to build west of the Mississippi River. On February 11, 1850 a charter for the BBB&C was granted by the state. The group of investors included Gen. Sidney Sherman and Benjamin Franklin Terry, who was the organizer and first commander of the Eighth Texas Cavalry (Terry's Texas Rangers) in the Civil War. Construction began from Buffalo Bayou at Harrisburg, near Houston, in 1851; the first locomotive, which was named for Sherman, arrived in late 1852; and the first twenty miles of track, from Harrisburg to Stafford's Point, opened in August 1853. By January 1, 1856, the BBB&C had been extended an additional 12 miles through what eventually became Sugar Land to East Richmond on the bank of the Brazos River across from Richmond. Construction resumed in 1858, and in late 1860 the tracks extended eighty miles through what eventually became Rosenberg and on to Alleyton, near the east bank of the Colorado River opposite Columbus. Due to the debilitating effect of the Civil War and its aftermath on the BBB&C, the company built no new mileage after 1860. By 1868 the BBB&C was in financial difficulties and unable to pay a series of judgments rendered against the company. In 1868, the railroad was sold at auction. The new owners rehabilitated the BBB&C, replacing many crossties and acquiring the first new locomotives and cars since before the war. In 1870 the name of the road changed to Galveston, Harrisburg, and San Antonio Railway. Control was passed to the Southern Pacific and it became part of the transcontinental Sunset Route between New Orleans and Los Angeles. By 1951 the SP had consolidated all of its holdings in Texas and Louisian into the Texas & New Orleans Railroad to satify a strange Texas law that required all railroads opperating in the state to be headquarted in Texas. I model NTRAK modules that represent Stafford, Sugar Land, Richmond and Rosenberg as they were in 1951. Stafford Sugar Land Richmond Rosenberg
Danville and Rigby Junction RR The Danville and Rigby Junction Rail Road had its beginnings when Cyrus Danforth Turnbuckle began buying up smaller, lesser known Maine rail roads and merged them with his Bangor Southern mainly (no pun intended) to connect smaller Maine communities with the “big three”: The Bangor and Aroostook (B&A), Maine Central (MEC) and Boston and Maine (B&M). Relying on his faithful employees, not the least of which were the Hoehandle twin brothers, Hiram and Hubert, C.D. built his holdings into a viable enterprise which spanned the area between the city of Danville and Rigby Junction. (The places are actually fictional… there is a small community called Danville wherein Danville Junction {MEC/GT} lies and the B&M/MEC terminal in South Portland is called Rigby Yard… I just twisted them around!) The railroad enjoyed much success for many years but, as with many smaller railroads across the country, it is now but a shadow of its former self. It still provides some of the services it formerly did but has divested itself of much of its holdings and the “big three” are more in evidence at the main terminus and the D&RJRR less so. Possibly, in the future, the D&RJRR will cease to be but, only time will tell. The name has survived since its inception in the early 70's. It was difficult to model my favorites in those days because of a want of proper equipment but, as years have gone by, more and better choices have been made available. While I try to model the B&M, MeC, and B&A (with a hint of the NH), I can't completely give up the D&RJRR. One can take a "tour" of the D&RJRR here: Layout Tour: Danville Rigby Junction RR - The Whistle Post - Model Railroad Forum
I model an alternate-universe version of the Kankakee, Beaverville, and Southern (KB&S). The real KB&S is a shortline running mainly between Kankakee and Donovan in Illinois and Lafayette in Indiana. (Kankakee, Beaverville and Southern Railroad - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) However, my KB&S extends through Lafayette to Indianapolis, and is part of a larger entity. (The following is copied from a Railwire post I made back in 2007, and describes my basic premise.) In my freelance universe, I basically "dialed back" the drive to merge, allowing mid-size railroads to continue to exist. Some of the major consequences were: 1. Several small- to mid-size Midwestern railroads (a larger-than-life KB&S, Monon, TP&W, and the wholly freelanced Dayton & Western) joined together under the MidStates Transportation (MST) umbrella, operating as semi-independent railroads but in close cooperation. 2. Both the Illinois Central and Conrail still exist as independent Class 1 railroads. (Most likely the SP/UP and BNSF mergers didn't take place, either, but that's outside the scope of what I'm doing.) 3. In this more diverse environment, the railroads are more willing to experiment. For example, MST has several commuter services, including a route from Kankakee IL to Indianapolis IN (largely to serve Purdue University in Lafayette IN).
The Greenbriar Delta & Rutland (GD&R) is a totally fictional railroad and is not based on anything other then my imagination. Greenbriar Delta & Rutland are actual communities located in Kentucky. The initials have survived from a business that my wife (Diane) and I ran for 10 years. I had named the railroad Great Divide and Rivers and I was not happy with that and ask my wife for some input. She picked up the map of Kentucky and came up with a few choices. Greenbriar Delta & Rutland was the winner. As the story goes, the GD&R was formed on December 11, 1952 (my birth) by L. T. Rose (my father), and over the years as other railroads were going under or being broken up, for example the Tuscarora in Northern Michigan, the GD&R picked up what they could. By doing this, the GD&R has short lines in many locations. The GD&R obtained the Grose line (what I am modeling) when the Conrail was split up. Neither CSX nor NS wanted the short line that serviced the community of Grose and the variety of customers that the line serves. Engineer and Conductor killed in freak crash 1989 while laying track on the Tuscarora, a couple crew members, both with many years of experience with the railroad, took the railroads best running loco to checkout the new extension of the line. They went onto the new track and seemed to forget that the end of the line was not finished, and when the track stopped the loco did not. The Engineer had put the loco into emergency, but it was too late. The loco plowed on to the sub roadbed bounced a couple times and feel over. About 672 feet later the loco came to a rest in the bottom of the ravine. Both crew members where pronounced dead at the scene. The loco was recovered and rebuilt and while is still shows damage from the crash it is still in use today. Investigation into the crash showed that the crew was exceeding the speed limit of the existing track and made multiple attempts to slow the loco before and after entering the new section. The only action that made any attempt to slowing the loco was when the Engineer put the loco into emergency. The final ruling is that mechanical failure was the cause of the crash. Both the Engineer and Conductor were presented The Golden Spike, the railroads highest honor, during the funeral. Okay the above story, like my railroad, is totally fictional other then the loco falling 672 N-Scale feet and being rebuilt. Since this is a total freelance railroad I get to run what ever I want. I do have 4 loco's that are somewhat decorated for the GD&R but they lease what ever the can, so the motive power is greatly varied. GD&R Founder Master Sergeant L. T. Rose Somewhere in the South Pacific World War II May 14, 1920 - November 11, 1972 Why the Turtle? It goes along with how I seem work on the layout. Slow, Steady, and Crazy at times. Why do I "Play with my trains?" It is FUN. But it is more then playing with the trains. It is building the bench work. It is designing the track plan. It is laying the track. It is doing the wiring. It is building the scenery. Mostly buildings at this time. It is trying to operate like the prototype as much as I understand how. It is seeing the grandchildren's eyes as big as the moon when they come to visit and get to run the trains. Did I say it is FUN? I have digressed from the original question and I apologize. Gary
The line that comprises the Frisco's ArkLaTex Subdivision is loosely based on the Frisco line between Ashdown and Hope, AR, and the Graysonia, Nashville & Ashdown, a real-life shortline absorbed by KCS in the late 1990s. Since there isn't, and never was, an ArkLaTex Sub, a little AH (alternate history) is in order: In 1903 a consortium of businessmen in southwestern Arkansas, led by entreprenuer Zebediah T. Yokum, approached bankers on the East Coast to finance construction of the Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas,a railroad from Springhill, Louisiana to Hope, Little River and Nashville, Arkansas. An extension was projected from Little River to Ashdown, AR and eventually to New Boston, TX, but was never built due to lack of funds. The line was finished in 1905, and almost immediately went into recievership, not so much due to lack of traffic as the absconding of funds by Mr. Yokum, who disappeared back north into the Ozarks. The line lurched & staggered through the next ten years, serving the local poultry and forest industry with a small stable of old 4-4-0s rolling over rough track, which was hastily built by Yokum's construction crew (read- use the cheapest materials available). One single passenger train took care of moving people and mail through the Arkansas woods, while a single freight handled all business. In 1915 the decrepit line was leased to the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad, which swapped cars with the ALT at Hope via its former Choctaw & Arkansas line from Hope to Hugo. The line was eventually purchased, and little by little the track was brought up to decent shape. Later years saw the cessation of passenger service in the mid-1930s, but an increase of lumber traffic. Later on, a paper mill went into production at Little River, and the area became busy with the rise of poultry farming. That meant that feed was needed, and Frisco shipped it facilities in Nashville and Little River. Today, the ALT line is busy with one through train from Nashville to Ashdown and Hugo, with a local serving Nashville and Little River. Traffic is interchanged with the Missouri Pacific at Hope, Little River and Nashville, Kansas City Southern's ex-L&A at Springhill, and the Frisco's A&A Sub at Hope. In the diesel era, GP7s were the sole power, broken up only once in a while by Alco RS1s. Nowadays in 1977, the old Geeps have GP38AC/GP38-2s, U25Bs, and the occasional GP15-1 for company. To mix things up (or aggravate the crews, depending on who you talk to) GE diesels show up from time to time. Traffic on this line is still dominated by poultry feed, paper, lumber, and papermaking-related components. Carload levels have held steady over the years, adding to the Frisco's overall bottom line. SPeeds aren't very fast, and there are a couple of old trestles that restrict speeds to ten MPH, but the railroad stays busy, and the crews are friendly and laid-back, always willing to wave to folks trackside.
ALABAMA GULF RAILWAY Alabama Gulf Railway - History. Creation: 1983 to 1989 - The ALABAMA GULF RAILWAY was created in 1983 from a combination of abandoned rail lines and some spin off rail lines from SCL, L&N and Southern. The lines were in poor condition. A private group of investors, GULF SOUTHERN INDUSTRIES, bought the lines and with some goverment loans a track rehab project begin. The assembled track, plus some trackage rights gave the ALGF two north south Main lines, Mobile north to Reform, AL, where the line meets the east -west main running from Columbus, MS to Eufaula, AL. The other north-south main runs from Pensacola north to Birmingham, crossing the east-west main at Maplesville. Trackage agreements with the Southern and with SCL provide two routes into Jacksonville, FL and the Atlantic coast shipping port (Jaxport). During the first five years, management worked hard on track rehabilitation and establishing customers. Hard work by the sales staff and an association with a development group helped to increase car loadings and provide the ALGF with a solid base of on line customers. TOFC service was offered and had several regular shippers on the Birmingham to Jax. 'ATLANTICFLIER' route. Investors were satisfied that the young railroad was on the right track, but management felt additional capital was needed for more trackwork, so that track speeds and service times could be increased and for an infusion to the raggad power and freight car fleet. The private investors, while waiting for some return on their investments, were tapped out. A new source of funding had to be found. A Southern Belle: 1989-1999 The search for additional investors proved successful, when in 1989 KCSI Corp. expressed an interest in ownership and asked to begin talks with Alabama Gulf management on how Kansas City Southern Rwy could further their relationship with ALGF. After four months of discussions, the ALGF management and the GULF SOUTHERN IND. investors accepted an offer from KCSI to become a partner with 35% ownership in the ALGF. Along with the 35% ownership, came much experience and advice from KCS. The power fleet experienced a rebuild program and received a new Company paint scheme that kept the Red of ALGF and added the KCS yellow sill and nose stripes (received from KCS). The mid-nineties found KCS agreessively persuing expansion. KCS was pushing their Mexican connections in a effort to compete with the larger mergers happening around them. The Alabama Gulf's Atlantic coast and Gulf ports ascess was growing more important as KCS pushed to compete. Intermodal express service was established between Mobile and Kansas City and Jacksonville to Kansas City / St. Louis and found immediate success as an alternate to the crowded existing rail routes. The ALGF / KCS team had a niche. The 'Southwind' Container service route was established between Mobile and Kansas City, and the 'Atlanticflier' TOFC service had an established service lane from Jacksonville to the midwest. Business during this period increased at a steady pace. For the 'Rest of the Story' .... N scale Freelanced Alabama Gulf model Railroad
