What's the name of your railroad? Is it freelanced, prototype, or something in between? What scale are you working in? What's the era, time setting, and location of your layout? What locomotives and rolling stock are you using? What's the backstory for your railroad?
I'll start the thread going. What's the name of your railroad? Is it freelanced, prototype, or something in between? My railroad is the Port Able Railway. It’s 100% freelanced. What scale are you working in? I’m working in HO Scale. What's the era, time setting, and location of your layout? I’m modeling the summer of 1979 in southern Massachusetts during the IPD Boxcar Era. What locomotives and rolling stock are you using? I’ll be running mostly diesel switchers because of the sharp 18 inc radii on my layout. As far as rollin stock is concerned, I’m running mostly northeastern railroad boxcars and shortline IPD boxcars as well as my own home road boxcars. What's the backstory for your railroad? [FONT="]The Port Able Railroad is a shortline located on the Massachusetts shoreline that took over an abandoned branchline of the Atlantic Lines in 1937. The end of passenger service after the closure of Neptune Park amusement park in 1935 and low freight traffic spelled doom for the Port Able Branch. The line was originally 8 miles long, but it was cut back to 6 miles where the lines freight customers were located. Trains went up the branch to Port Able locomotive first and returned to East Haven caboose first. Fearing that shutting down the rail line would put them out of business in an already depressed economy, the two freight customers on the line, Whist Manufacturing & Regina Distributors, purchased the branch from the Atlantic Lines. Along with the purchase were an 0-4-0 tank engine and an old wood caboose. The railroad has 8 miles of trackage (6 route miles) and serves the original 2 customers. Carloadings are over 200 cars per year. Trains run twice a week (usually Monday and Thursday, or as needed). An interesting feature of the railroad is that it has no runaround track. Since it branched off of the mainline at East Haven and continued on into Port Able's waterfront for the Port Able Ship Yard and ending at the beach/amusement park (Neptune's Park). The layout is basically going to be a 66 inch by 45 inch loop of track with 5 turnouts, thus explaining the lack of a runaround track. Trains will be between 1 to 3 cars long plus the engine and caboose.[/FONT] [FONT="]I'm modeling the summer of 1979 because I love the shortline Incentive Per Diem box cars that were all over American rails during the 1970's. I also have a few steam switchers around (I love those Varney diecast Lil Joes), so I can switch to a steam era with very few changes. The name of the railroad explains its concept. The layout comes apart into 3 22 inch by 45 inch pieces to be (portable) and it will sit on my dining room table (por table). I've been toying with this layout design for 10 years and came to the realization that I was over designing my layout. I then decided to keep everything simple in design, concept, and cost. While it's not a groundbreaking design, it will keep me happy for many years to come.[/FONT] [FONT="]The Port Able Railway has only 2 customers, Whist Manufacturing Corp. and Regina Distributors Inc. Whist Manufacturing receives up to 4 box cars (hardware, parts, and packaging) and ships out up to 3 box cars per week. Regina Distributors receives up to 2 box cars per week (merchandise). The engine house has its fuel delivered by a local fuel company and pumped straight into the locomotive’s fuel tanks. [/FONT]
My RR has finally got past the design phase. My RR is N scale named the Cowlitz Cascade & Pacific RR. There are actually 2 RR's on my layout. The CC&P which operates a freelanced brachline in the Pac NW that specializes in lumber/timber products. It also has a fair amount of grain traffic, since it has access to a major waterway. The motive power is mainly second hand 1st & 2nd gen geeps that were aquired when they purchased the branch in 1981 from the BN (who didn't see a need for it). The RR has 2 interchange points. The first being a connection with the BN at its major yard (3 tracks is a major yard for a Class 3 RR) in the town of Cowlitz. It also has a connection via barge slip with an outside connection to the Penninsula Pacific (a RR that only exists fictiously). There is also a 2nd RR that operates on my RR, that is a Weyco subsidiary called the Chehalis Western RR. This RR actually existed up until 1992, however the rails they run on are completely freelanced. The CW only operates the log trains that come in from Weyco's other mills (hidden staging) up to the mill in the town of Cascade or to the log dump in Cowlitz (which then get log rafted to another mill off the layout). The benchwork has been drawn up and is in rough draft form, but I think it would easily keep 3-4 operators busy. 1 operator could work the yard,interchange, and barge slip in Cowlitz. Another operator could be busy switching the town of Cascade. Another could be operating the branchline between Cowlitz and Cascade, which has 4 industries located along the way. And the 4th operator......well I will play that one by ear. The layout size is an around the room 8'6" x 11'3" with 2' wide benchwork.
What's the name of your railroad? Santa Vaca and Santa Fe The Legend of Santa Vaca (scratchbuilt story...) In one of the early Spanish missions established in Texas to convert the Indians, a priest was telling his congregation they should give to the church even though they didn't have much to give. He said that God can use our gifts more than we know, and he told the story of the cow who gave up her feeding stall to make a place for the Baby Jesus to lay. He said the cow's gift-- the manger-- became more a part of the Christmas scene than even the expensive gifts of the Wise Men. But the Indians confused the cow in the priest's Christmas story with a buffalo cow who was worshipped in their pre-Christian native religion and they began to bring back the cult of the Holy Cow. The Church tried to discourage the practice but could not stop it entirely. The village near the mission took on the name Santa Vaca, and it grew into a major city served by a subsidiary of the Santa Fe Railway. At the cathedral in Santa Vaca near where the mission once stood is a stained glass window with the manger scene featuring the Baby Jesus, the Virgin Mary and the Holy Cow, each with a halo. Is it freelanced, prototype, or something in between? "loosely" based on prototype- Galveston Island on the Texas Gulf Coast, but I call it Karankawa after the Indians the Spaniards found there What scale are you working in? N What's the era, time setting, and location of your layout? 1957 just before Sputnik. Height of the streamliner. But steam is gone except for movie trains. What locomotives and rolling stock are you using? F-3, F-7s, PA, E8M, DL-109 for passenger; FTs, F-7, GPs and RS on freight. Stainless steel streamlined and green heavyweight passenger stock, less common freight cars: 50 feet superinsulated reefers for seafood, sulphur gondolas What's the backstory for your railroad? My version of the Santa Fe goes THROUGH my equivalent of Houston (not modeled), not around it. I had a grandiose master plan I will never get to do unless I get a million dollar$$$. On that master plan, I have previously modeled the town of Johnston in the Piney Woods and the Navy blimp base at Tidelands.
What's the name of your railroad? Is it freelanced, prototype, or something in between? Tillamook and Astoria Terminal Railway (TATR), which is a "coudabin" railroad connecting the prototype SP Tillamook line and the SP&S A-line. What scale are you working in? N scale is the scale. Most pieces are/will be modular. What's the era, time setting, and location of your layout? Era is mid-20th Century. The location is on the Oregon Coast. What locomotives and rolling stock are you using? Steam and diesel coexist on the Tillamook and Astoria Terminal Railway in the early 1950s. Being a connector, a lot of the equipment is inherited from the parent roads SP and SP&S, and from predecessor roads Tillamook Terminal and Astoria Harbor Belt. Log bunks are a frequent sight on the road, owing to the industry, as well as gondolas and boxcars. Passenger service is provided by heavyweight locals. What's the backstory for your railroad? The Tillamook and Astoria Terminal Railway (TATR) is the realization, in N scale, of an idea that had existed in the early 20th Century to connect the SP&S line to Astoria and Seaside with the SP line to Tillamook. The connector, in reality, was never built, but on my layout it has been built. Without the connector, coastal traffic originating in Tillamook would have to travel to Portland and then be switched to SP&S's A-line to continue to Astoria. Further, lots of coastal areas suffered without rail service, and resource extraction was more difficult for lack of rail access. During periods of poor weather with frequent landslides on one or the other lines, the TATR link proved invaluable in maintaining vital rail traffic.
My layout is currently in the planning phase awaiting final approval for funding to purchase construction materials, but here's what I'm planning on: What's the name of your railroad? Is it freelanced, prototype, or something in between? St. Louis-San Francisco Railway, Central Division, Arthur Subdivision, Paris, Texas. Applying layout design element (LDE), so yes, it's prototypical. What scale are you working in? HO What's the era, time setting, and location of your layout? Paris, Texas, 1974-1976. What locomotives and rolling stock are you using? GP7s and GP15-1s for power, whatever rolling stock existed in the mid-70s. What's the backstory for your railroad? The Paris & Red River (a Texas-based corporation, as per state law at that time) met the Frisco's main line at the Red River, which was coming down from Ft. Smith, AR over the Winding Stair Mountains through Indian Territory. It interchanged in Paris with the Texas & Pacific, Transcontinental Division, Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe (an ATSF predecessor) and the Texas Midland (later merged into the Texas & New Orleans/Espee). A fifth railroad, the Paris & Mt. Pleasant, was built in 1910 between these two northeastern Texas communities, but was abandoned in 1956. The original Frisco main line was from Monett through Ft. Smith to Paris, where it interchanged directly with the GC&SF to Dallas. By the 1970s, SP's ex-TM main had been abandined north of Commerce to Paris due to washouts, T&P had been swallowed up in Jenks Blue, anad Santa Fe blue & yellow could be seen in Paris. Both Santa Fe & Frisco swapped off yard responsibilities every few years. While at one time there was a huge cotton compress & mill and vinegar plant in town, Frisco's customers by the mid-1970s were centered around the north side, most notably the massive Campbell Soup Plant, which opened in the mid-1960s. Besides Campbell, Merico (a division of Earth Grains), Flex-o-Lite (makers of reflective lenses), Paris Packaging (unsure what it did yet) and Valley Feed Mills kept the Paris Switcher (a/k/a the Soup Job) busy. Plus, cars were swapped with Santa Fe for interchange to & from Dallas, and the MP interchange was handled by Santa Fe (the east-west MP yard being on the south side of town). A Frisco local would come down from Hugo, OK, 25 miles north, switch local customers, and return to Hugo, where cars would largely go west on Frisco train 739 to Madill and Tulsa. The layout itself concentrates on Frisco freight business on the north side of Paris.
What's the name of your railroad? Is it freelanced, prototype, or something in between? Wolf Praire RR - Protolanced What scale are you working in? HO What's the era, time setting, and location of your layout? June 1937 What locomotives and rolling stock are you using? Shays, climax, Heisler, diesel electric boxcab, 4-6-0, 0-8-0 ex Milwaukee Road ore cars, log cars, MOW, flats, boxcars What's the backstory for your railroad? My layout is based in the spring of 1937, in NW Montana, it is a representation of a fictional town named Wolf Prairie (Wolf Prairie, although not a town, is an area up the Fisher River Road, in the Flathead Tunnel area of the BNSF) The area my layout is based off of the Big Blackfoot Branch of the Milwaukee Road, the Big Blackfoot is a branch line that leaves the Milwaukee main in Bonner/Milltown Dam (see picture below) Mt, and travels up the canyon approximately 30 miles or so. It was used by the Milwaukee to bring logs down to the mill in Bonner. My little road branches off the Blackfoot, and goes up into the mountains where gold and silver has been located. There is a small town, a mine and a small sawmill to support both. The material is mined above Wolf Prairie, the loaded ore cars are brought down the mountain and set out for the daily pickup by a MILW 0-8-0 loco, who brings empties up from Bonner and takes the loaded cars back down to Bonner for pickup by the Milw Road. map of the area, Bonner MT, with it's large sawmill, is just off of present day I-90. The Milwaukee Road Mainline is south, on the other side of the Clark Fork River. A branch left the main, and went up the Blackfoot River Canyon (shown in red) The Wolf Prairie, at Clearwater MT, left the Blackfoot branch and proceeded up Blanchard Creek, the site of the gold strike.
Seek and ye shall find... :tb-wink: All of your answers can be found here: DMIR Hill City Sub: Hill City, Minnesota
What's the name of your railroad? Is it freelanced, prototype, or something in between? Overall, its Canadian National, semi-freelanced (i.e. something in between). There's a short line called the Possum Lake Railroad. That's 100% freelanced (it doesn't exist except in my warped brain... ). There's also a mining company (Mercury Creek Mining Co.) that owns an SD24. What scale are you working in? HO. What's the era, time setting, and location of your layout? Late 50s to early 70s. Rural Canada. What locomotives and rolling stock are you using? CN: EMD - GP7, GP9, GP35, GP40, SD40, F3, F7, FP9, SW1200, SW9, NW2, etc. Alco: FA1, FA2, FPA2, RS-1, RS-3, C424, C630, S-2 FM: CFA16-4, H12-44, H24-66 Possum Lake: anything goes, though currently a Baldwin RF-16 and an Alco RS-2 make up their roster. There might be a leased RSD-5 in their future, probably for the mine to help out their SD24. Rolling stock runs the gamut from boxcars to flat cars. The mine uses hoppers exclusively, and the occasional flat car to haul equipment. What's the backstory for your railroad? Anyone familiar with Red Green should know the background, but there never was any mention of a railroad in the series. It was originally set up for the mine at the end of the line, along with some passenger service from Possum Lake, through to Port Asbestos and connecting with the CN main line. Eventually the mine took over their own hauling operations (acquiring an SD24), leasing track rights over the PLRR, which has little incoming freight save for beer, auto parts, and duct tape, but that service is spotty since the RS-2 is in lamentable condition and often CN lends a hand. Outgoing freight are tank cars full of Winston's business (septic suckings) and empty beer cans. There still is a passenger service using the RF-16, mostly for excursions.
What's the name of your railroad? Is it freelanced, prototype, or something in between? My railroad is the Gulf & Ohio Midland Railroad. It is freelanced. What scale are you working in? HO Scale. What's the era, time setting, and location of your layout? I’m modeling the early spring of 1968 along the Little Kanawha River in West Virginia. What locomotives and rolling stock are you using? My locomotives and rolling stock are typical for the period. Mostly GP7's, GP9's, F3a/b's, F7a/b's, GP30's, GP35's, Brand-new GP38's and GP40's. SD45's and SD35's on heavy coal trains. What's the backstory for your railroad? The Gulf & Ohio Midland Railroad is a freelanced, Class 1 carrier that directly ties Pittsburgh, PA area and the Ohio Valley to the deep south and shipping ports in Florida. The particular setting I am modeling is set along the Little Kanawha River in West-Central West Virginia. The Little Kanawha River railroad had plans of following the river deep into the WV mountains but due to various factors didn't achieve their end goal. The Baltimore & Ohio acquired the old LKRR and by the early 1930's removed much of the 20-some mile railroad. The story starts with the G&OM buying the Right of Way from the B&O and completed the line the original LKRR started out to build. This allowed access to several coal mines and the logging industry prior to WWII. By 1968, like the rest of WV, logging was all but gone from the railroad's traffic and most of the coal mines were closing. The G&OM Gilmer Secondary was in a state of disrepair and infrastructure out dated. I will be modeling this using Code 83, Code 70 and Code 55 rail to replicate old 100 and 85 lb rail. Speeds will be restricted to 10-25 mph on this branch.
My Westport Terminal RR is freelanced H0 about 1975 ... 1985 My own WT engines, some BN, SOO mostly KATO, LifeLike, Atlas history Wolfgang
What's the name of your railroad? Is it freelanced, prototype, or something in between? ------------------------------------------------ My primary HO railroad is my freelance Columbus & Hocking Valley Ry..I also model a freelance Ohio Central branch line which serves Slate Creek Industrial Lead. My N Scale is the C&HV and Scioto Rail which is a shared access railroad operated by CSX and NS.All motive power is supplied by CSX and NS and is rotated on a 30 day bases.SR is a former CR(exNYC) 5 mile industrial branch located on the Southside of Columbus. ------------------------------------------------ What scale are you working in? ------------------------------------------------ HO and N Scale. ------------------------------------------------ What's the era, time setting, and location of your layout? ------------------------------------------------ HO is 1978-1980 and is the Jackson Sub division of the C&HV. Ohio Central is 1995 and serves the Slate Creek Industrial lead at Newark(Oh). ------------------------------------------------ The N Scale C&HV is set between '94/95 and operates between Columbus and Logan and Jackson to Logan.Track to Parkersburg and to Newark has been abandon and removed due to the lack of traffic. The SR is '95-96 and located on the Southside of Columbus ------------------------------------------------ What locomotives and rolling stock are you using? ------------------------------------------------ The HO C&HV uses,SW1000,SW1500 GP38-2s,a GP40-2 and a GP50.. I use modern cars. The N Scale C&HV uses 2 GP9s and one GP7 and uses modern cars as well. The SR motive power is NS GP38s or U23Bs while CSX assigns either a GP15s or MP15DCs.I use modern cars. --------------- What's the backstory for your railroad? ---------------------- The CDB Industries bought the Athens Sub from Chessie System along with 2 short lines which was merged into the C&HV..The mileage of the C&HV from 78-90 was 187 miles.Today its 77 miles and is operated in 2 sections the Jackson line and the Columbus-Logan line.
I really think that the difference between a train set up and a model railroad is the thought behind the railroad's existence. Planning and attention to detail are a big part of it.
What's the name of your railroad? Is it freelanced, prototype, or something in between? My layout is the West Side branch of the Tidewater Southern. What scale are you working in? It's N Scale, on a hollow core interior door. What's the era, time setting, and location of your layout? It's set between the late 60s to early 80s. I mostly model March of 1970, for the last few runs of the California Zephyr and the beginning of the Burlington Northern. What locomotives and rolling stock are you using? I'll mostly be using the Tidewater's RS1 with the occasional Western Pacific loco as a back up. Visits by WP trains (the CZ and several through freights) will occur as the mood strikes me. What's the backstory for your railroad? The Tidewater Southern built a branch from somewhere near Hatch, Ca. to the Southern Pacific's West Side line in the Central Valley. As a side note, I've started collecting Japanese prototype trains that I'll run from time to time.
What's the name of your railroad? Is it freelanced, prototype, or something in between? My layout is the Denver & Rio Grande Western subdivison 6 (Helper to Provo) and the Turtle Creek Central. What scale are you working in? It's HO Scale, in a spare bedroom for now (hoping for a land grant from the government). What's the era, time setting, and location of your layout? It's set between the late 60s to late 90s. What locomotives and rolling stock are you using? Mostly EMD D&RGW power, with an occasinal D&RGW Steamer for fun and excitement. The TCC also uses EMD power, and an occasional UP 2-8-0 (Heber Valley RR) to mix things up. There are also Utah Railway trains mixed in, as they own one of the two mainlines from Helper to Provo. What's the backstory for your railroad? My railroad is proto freelanced. The TCC being a wholely ownd subsidiary of the D&RGW operating what was known as the Plesant Valley Branch. There are D&RGW coal train to Geneva Steel (Which is still in existance on this road!), as well as Utah Railway coal trains to interchange with Uncle Pete in Provo. THe steamers haul excursions, and the RGZ still makes run though trip and whistle stops.
I Love the subtle name and logo. Um, is the "P-anchor-A" intended to read, "PIA" or am I reading too much into it? -- What's the name of your railroad? Is it freelanced, prototype, or something in between? The "Grey and Grandure" is entirely freelance. What scale are you working in? is N Scale using Kato track. What's the era, time setting, and location of your layout? The era starts tomorrow. The location is the fictional "Grandure Mountains" which are some place where the GN and CP could overlap. What locomotives and rolling stock are you using? I run whatever I think looks good from steam excursion trains to unit CP coal trains to bullet trains.. What's the backstory for your railroad? I knew that between my visual limitations, eclectic interests, and intention to run a wide variety of trains and rolling stock that I would never have a "realistic" layout. To that end I also came up with a material for the road to carry - Mysterium. The Grandure Mountains is the only place on Earth where "Mysterium" is found. I really like the color schemes of the CP, (bright red with the multi mark), and GN (Pulman Green / Orange), I have chosen to model a short-line through the Grandure Mountains / Valley to which both have running rights. In my world the UP was taken over by the GN.
What's the name of your railroad? Still working to come up with an appropriate and whitty name, any suggestions? Is it freelanced, prototype, or something in between? Concept and location completely freelanced - some ties to reality though. What scale are you working in? N due to lack of open spaces. Starting with a hollow core door that will link to t-track modules to expand and provide alternate arrangements. What's the era, time setting, and location of your layout? Current day (or an alternate reality of it) in north Georgia. What locomotives and rolling stock are you using? Anything that fits the backstory below. Current locomotive roster is: E-8/9 Southern Pacific E-8/9 Southern GP-38-2 Southern C-630 Union Pacific PA-1 Deleware & Hudson PA-1 Deleware & Hudson RDC-1 Canadian Pacific RDC-2 Alaska SD80MAC Norfolk Southern RS-1 Pennsylvania MP-15DC Southern Class J Norfolk and Western 611 What's the backstory for your railroad? This railroad represents a self-sustaing trust for the preservation of historical railroad equipment, provide for testing of developing rail technologies, and provide education and exhibition facilites for the public, schools, and the rail industry. The railroad was gifted the entire assets of a small branchline with engine facilities and a small yard suitable for major overhauls of historical rail equipment as well as providing a base for excursion operations and public and industry displays (this is the hollow core door layout). There are interchanges available with Norfolk Southern and CSX (T-track modules) on which longer excursions can be run and through which testing and demonstration of technology can be accomplished. There are long term working agreements with both NS and CSX for motive power exchange, some maintenance activites, and ongoing financial support of the railroad. Negotiations are underway with a major university to offer rail transport specific mechancal engieering degree based at the trust facilities. Further, initial steps are in progress to house a resurrected NS steam program - in fact the 611 has found a display location for an extended period of time pending return to a functioning status (real story is I love the engine, got a good deal - but my radius are too tight right now for it to run reliably - LOL). In addition, a national group dedicated to the preservation of ALCO diesel locomotives rents space at the trust in exchange for access to engine major maintenance facilities and tooling. Basically the concept is that the backstory allows me to run what I want with a reasonable chance that it will fit into the story and have some fun with it. The ALCO bit goes back to my first job out of college where I was responsible for a pair of ALCO 251H engines in stationary service - got to know a few of the ALCO corporate guys pretty well and have a special place in my heart for their locomotives, especially the C-630 - and love the look of the PA-1/PB-1.
The Missouri & Arkansas Railway Freelance HO 1960's Post WWII to 1969 Motive Power & Rolling Stock I model a freelance bridge RR The Missouri & Arkansas Railway used by theCB&Q & MKT. The location is in Eastern Missouri. The line starts out at Old Monroe Mo. on the Cuivre River at MO. State Highway 79, then goes west to Hawk Point Mo. From Hawk Point the line swings south along MO. State Highway 47 where it crosses the old Wabash / Norfolk & Western RR line near Warrenton Mo. The line continues south thru Missouri Wine Country to connect with MKT near Marthasville Mo. near State Highway 94. Since this is "My" railroad most places will have the "flavor" of this area but may not be perfect to the prototype. Time is pre Burlington Northern (1970). The location & time frame gives me a lot of room of the type of motive power I can use plus pre-merger freight cars from so many different Railroads from all over the country. As with many railroads built in the 1800’s they never reached all the way as planned. So they never made it all the way to Arkansas. #1 This will be a point to point RR built on Hollow-core doors (about $24 ea) along two walls, so it will be in sections. #2 It's going to be less track, no large yards, no switch machines, open staging, & simple engine service area. #3 Just a few small towns with one or two sidings. #4 More open scenery between towns. #5 Interchange with the MKT on the West end & the CB&Q on the East end.
-What's the name of your railroad? The Santa Fe Shed Division. A small branchline in Texas. -Is it freelanced, prototype, or something in between? Something in between. Theres no such thing as the shed division, but it follows the concept of the texas style branch lines. Photo Courtesy of http://www.railpixs.com -What scale are you working in? HO, Its the scale I started in and I have no intentions of changing, just the right size for me. -What's the era, time setting, and location of your layout? I model the 70's in general. I can run -2 equipment alongside cars that wouldn't be allowed in interchange after 72' as well as at the club, run the El Cap and Super Chief alongside the -2's and other more modern equipment for the 70's. No Exact location, but northern Texas is your best bet. -What locomotives and rolling stock are you using? Depends, at the club (where I base my area off Cajon pass) I run large 6 axle GE and EMD units as well as GP30's and GP35's. At home on the Shed Branch I run GP7's, GP9's, old F units, an occasional GP38, and CF7's. All light 4 axle Motive power. On a VERY rare occasion I might bring out the 2-8-0 and use it on the branch. -What's the backstory for your railroad? The Shed branch was originally contracted by the Farmers of several small towns in Northern Texas in the 1890's to haul out their crops and to connect them to the outside world. Construction began under private ownership of the towns on June 20th, 1891 and they managed to lay about 14 miles of track by September of 1891. Construction halted as of then because of lack of funding. On October 4th, 1891, the Santa Fe purchased the right of way from the towns and continued construction towards the Santa Fe Division at Wa¤¤¤¤a. Construction was completed February 30th, 1892. The Santa Fe continued to operate the Shed Branch for 90 years, before it was finally shut down in March of 1983. The line serves several grain elevators, a fertilizer distributor, a Case tractor factory, a pots-n-pans manufacture, a small oil field, and a farmers supply company. Passenger service on the line continued past 71' when Amtrak took over passenger operations, because the towns along the line purchased an Ex-Santa Fe doodlebug and continued between the towns and a small regional airport until 1977 when the towns discontinued service. No town names yet, but I'll get around to them!
What's the name of your railroad? Chicago, Denver & Central Pacific Is it freelanced, prototype, or something in between? Protolance, but the actual railroad I built was more lance than proto if you will. In other words, the backstory is a whatif, but when I actually build the railroad, it isn't any specific real locations. What scale are you working in? HO, I spent the better part of a decade in N, but HO is where my heart always was. What's the era, time setting, and location of your layout? Modern, Roughly mid 90s to present. I like to think of it as any time post ditchlight requirement. Generally I keep the backstory up to present, but I am not picky. Rollingstock may be stuff that is no longer completely current. And, despite the ditchlight requirement, I do have a few units that are more accurate for the 70s and 80s. I use these on the club layout. Location, well, I don't have a layout currently, but my backstory railroad is a western transcon. My previous layout was set nominally in Oregon. My dream layout would have 2 distinct sections. One representing the midwest and the other representing the west coast. Again, I don't mean to model specific real places, just capture the feel. What locomotives and rolling stock are you using? Modern GE and EMD along with 2nd gen EMD and GE. EMD heavy. My Railroad's operating rules could be said to come from the ATSF of the 80s and the WP of...their entire Diesel history. So, still 4 axle heavy. And my railroad will be using the EMD ECO program far more than any real railroad has and will also do their own modifications and 3rd party repowers just as the real railroads have, so there will be a lot of modified older power running around that isn't prototype. Rollingstock is anything that could reasonably be expected in the time though I am willing to widen that as long as it looks plausible. For instance, on my railroad, Santa Fe Fuel Foilers are still in revenue service, because I have them, they're cheap on the used market and they look close enough. What's the backstory for your railroad? I'm in to roleplaying as a hobby, so writing an expansive backstory is in my nature. The short version is the following: 1) The Rock Island tracks to Denver were never pulled up, but remained in various shortline hands. 2) The Iowa Interstate along with various other properties are owned by my fictional shortline holding company (think RailAmerica/ G&W) 3) The UP Purchase of the SP went the way Conrail did and the property was split. Basically, the CD&CP is Iowa Interstate + Rock Island that was fictionally not dismantled + Majority of Rio Grande + the Original Central Pacific Transcon, the SP coast line and the Siskyous line. THere are other pickups here and there like P&W in Oregon, but the core of the backstory is modern 3rd western Transcon utilizing Rock Island, Rio Grande and CP. The backstory of the ownership is my mythical Holding company with CP and KCS having minority stakes.
