I was just wondering how many of you have a set timeline for your model railroads? Are they etched in stone for a certain period of years, i.e. mid 80’s, Aug. 21, 1979, or you just pretty much run what you like? Seems like I have picked up trains from different eras. IC/ICG about mid 70’s and 2013 to current BNSF. And some odds and ends. Over time that can lead to a lot of trains. What I’m wondering is if staying to a definite period of time and location give you more control in equipment management and contentment? Thanks, Ralph
I run what I want. That being said I try stay within the last 30 years...give or take. More simply put...I like to run stuff that is still on the rails today.
1952, between the start of Piggyback Service on the Santa Fe and the day they sent Number Two to EMD to be rebuilt into an E-8m. I like history, and I want to be true to it. And one very interesting historical fact is, there was a time when ice reefers and semi-trailers traveled over the land together, sometimes behind steam power. At least, I find it interesting. And it tickles me to put together such an unlikely combination and run it. Turning points are often the most interesting moments in history. That and I like the E-1. A realistic diorama or railroad is like a time machine. It can take you back. Someday I might even get this railroad to the point where it's realistic enough to draw one in that way.
Each of the layouts I've built have been deliberately set in what is loosely called the 'transition era', between steam and diesel power. Thus, 1930's to 1960's. This allows me to run pretty much what I want when it comes to motive power, and gives me a wide latitude in building styles, vehicles, and advertising signage. That said, it's YOUR layout and you are creating your own world. Your world, your rules! Do as you will.
At some point one comes to the realization that just because it is neat it shouldn’t come home with you. I went to a train show today. I only had one thing in mind and since it was a TCA show with 90% tinplate, 8% HO and 2% N I did not find M-T under tie magnets. Walking down an aisle of tables I realized that I would be able to fill them all with stuff I’ve accumulated since 1964….sell all of it…and still have twice what I could possibly use. Setting an era and defined home road can focus purchases so you don’t end up with cars and engines that you won’t use. I always wonder how many model Big Boys and GG1s run on models appropriate to their prototype. I also like the Transition Era. My favorite railroad is the Burlington and I have had to limit myself to 1958-ish for a cutoff so goodbye Chinese Red, GP-20s and SD24s. At the train show I thought of some T-shirts that I need to have made…. “DO NOT SELL TRAINS TO THIS MAN” and “DO NOT SELL FABRIC TO THIS WOMAN” Hobbies can become a problem….. Charlie Vlk
I do believe that selecting a particular time frame for your layout can contribute to being more focused in your rolling stock purchases. On my current layout I use 3 different time periods - 75-82, 83-88, and 89-96 and I change these periodically and swap out the locomotives and freight cars. I still have much more than I could ever run on the layout. My buying has really slowed down but I still buy a few cars occasionally when they fit a particular car time or road name needed. Yes, more focused.
Works that way for me. I'm no collector. I can even look at a 2-10-4 and say, I love it deeply but they never worked the Tulsa line.
I run what I want when I want. I do not focus on a time frame when running on Ntrak. My home layout is all based on ATSF from Barstow to Winslow. But I run whatever I want to run at the time. So I can go from 4-8-4's and Mikes through present day. I will even run large passenger trains from visiting railroads from time to time. I like to just see different things running, not the same thing time after time.
When I started building my Imperial Sugar NTRAK modules, I wanted to model it somewhere in the steam/diesel transition era. Aerial photos showed MoPac 4-6-0 Ten Wheelers in the yard at the refinery in 1951. Photos from 1952 showed Alco S2 switchers there and the steam locomotive water tower was gone. So, I decided on 1951. ATSF and SP were still running some steam through town at that time too. However, I have accumulated other eras on the side because I like them. Could not pass up the Santa Fe high level El Capitan. It did not come along until a few years later. The modern UP excursion train gets a good work out. And then there is the Civil War era train that I put together just because I like the history of it.
I model a fictional short line. To throw in another curve ball it is located on an island and interchange is by car float. I model a period just after WW2. Steam is a seldom used option because it is just to troublesome for this old codger. Ninety percent of my power is small and of a Japanese prototype slightly modified to US standards. Freight cars are a mix of two axle and four axle and all under 50 foot in length. Passenger service is by rail diesel cars. I am very happy with my current set up.
Thanks to all who responded. I found it hard to stick to just one time and place. I grew up along the IC/ICG-ex PD&E from Mattoon, IL. to Evansville, IN. and a few miles from the Big Four Evansville to Mt. Carmel, IL line and now live close to where the C&EI ran. Also we had L&N and Southern here too. When I switched from HO to N scale, I took a real liking to BNSF and I now had the opportunity to run some of the "big stuff", SD70ACe's, GEVo's, ect., but also wanted to keep my connection to my childhood favorite, the IC/ICG. And throw in some run-throughs and connecting roads and it all adds up, but I'm having fun and just wondered if others did the same or were more centered around just one railroad. It is good to read here what everyone is doing, thanks again. Ralph
When we were still running our Bend Track modules, anything was fair game, most of which I still have, and will be going on the chopping block. When I started on my current layout, I have tried to focus on the Spring of 1979, the last full year for the Rock Island. This has allowed me to keep very focused on what I buy and what I keep. Over the last four years, I think I've bought a total of three locos, all for Rock Island paint jobs. As for rolling stock, it's been less than a dozen cars. I will be keeping a few things from other roads that I can run on my interchanges on the layout or as detours. The rest will be going...I'm hoping to start listing it this fall.
Late to the party, but will agree with those that popped the spinach can and said 'I yam what I yam'. I'm trying to do close-enough on most of what I'm putting together so that it looks enough like what I want it to look like but am not too worried about exacts, and most of the time I like putting my own spin on things over the rigidity of wondering if everything is perfectly prototypical. Some people are way more into making things as precise and true-to-scale as they can get, and there definitely is a fascination with building a model railroad from that perspective. I'm always impressed by it, but that's not at all how I'm wired. As for the trains I have accumulated, my criteria has been pretty simple: "does it look cool?" If the answer is yes, I buy it Have stuff from the early 90s up through the last couple of years, and some that have even been retired for a while, but I really liked it when I saw it so it rolls. As much time and money as you'll likely sink into it all, as long as you're having fun with it, not sure the rest really matters! My $.02, at least.
The Wilmington and New York Railroad is officially set in early 1963, but my alarmingly large N Scale Accumulation is not.
