What I'd like to know is,How long has your free lanced railroad existed? My Grande Valley RR has been in business since 1978 This is in 3 different scales.They are N scale(best IMHO) HO,and 1/32 scale. Now this is really gonna be FUN!! ------------------ Catt!#118
The M.A.T. has been around since 1986 and has survived a move from Saskatoon to Georgetown. It was then torn down and the current M.A.T. began in 1995. Prior to 1986 I have had attempts at different no name layouts. ------------------ Robin Maberly and Tayside
The AOW really started as the Thunderbird Valley Rail System, in my Best Friend's, during grade school, basement in HO back in 1976. After high school, we went our separet ways and I inherited the Rolling Stock and Most of the Motive Power. At that point I really didn't have a layout to run on for many years, so the TVRS stayed in boxes and existed on paper in the form of many HO track plans. Jump ahead to 1998. I met my last real girlfriend who had lived in Texas for a while. She wanted to take a trip to San Antonio and Port Aransas and asked me to go along. I fell in love with the Corpus and Port-A area and suddenly the TVRS was revived, but this time as a division of my two favorite Railroads, Santa Fe and Burlington Northern. I renamed and relocated the route and came up with a new story line for it, but it still was to be a HO scale railway. In 1992, we moved to Baton Rouge, LA. I wanted to join the HO club there but found them to expensive to join and not really that friendly. At a hobby shop, which I think no longer exists, I ran into N-Trak of BatoN Rouge Model Railroad Club. A great bunch of guys that turned my on to modular railroading in N-Scale. I joined up and sold off most of my HO and turned it into N-Scale. I bought mostly Santa Fe models but had a few BN's thrown in the mix. I still was set on bringing the AOW to life. I Built my first module and called the small town, Gridley, TX., a mythical town with a mythical railroad, the AOW. Then, I moved back to Illinois. I was no longer with the girlfriend and suddenly, my roster started to grow!?! How'd a thunk it? All the sudden I hear what I thought would happen years before, the BN and ATSF were going to merge! Super! I can now run my BN and SF stuff together as one road without any guilt! I came up with my final paint scheme for the AOW and decided that three tracks was a bit much for one railway, so I included the SP as the "other" railway in town. Great! I liked them too after visiting Texas. WOOPS! UP merged them out of existance, so now it's the UP that shares Gridley with the BNSF/AOW. Now I know what you're thinking, "If you are a free-lancer, keep the SP alive and don't worry about the UP." Well, it's always today in Gridley and I'm really a Proto-Free-Lancer. The AOW doesn't exist, same for Gridley and neither does a BNSF route from Corpus to San Antonio. But my BNSF power reflects the real BNSF in practice and appearance. So, I keep it as close to today as I can but still have the luxuary of free-lancing. ------------------ BNSF RAILFAN-TO-THE-MAX! Brent Tidaback, Member #234 and a N-Scaler to boot!
My current road I started 2 years ago. The Maumee & Cuyahoga Rail System. I am currently going to start a small branch off called the Pentium & Athlon Rail System (I am a Computer Technition in training and I couldn't resist! ) ------------------ Theres no such thing as having to many coal hoppers or GP40-2 when you model Chessie System LONG LIVE THE KITTEN!!! LONG LIVE BIG BLUE!!! I looked at DCC... and stayed DC!
The HO East Central Indiana RR has been around since 1980. The name didn't come until 1983 and there has been slow expansion and upgrading ever since. The one thing that I regret tacking out was my Wye. I just have not been able to put it back in with my current arrangement. :-( Roger Roger Hensley - rhensley@anderson.cioe.com == http://cid.railfan.net/eci_new.html == == East Central Indiana (ECI) HO Scale Railroad ==
My Katy is about five years old but now under reconstruction.N-Scale modeler that I am is getting bigger.
<font color="336633">My Montana Central RR is about 7 years old now, i was 15 or 16 at the time when i started. it came about mainly as i had locos that wouldnt fit into my BN layout (set in 92, i since updated to presant day) it has had several liverys, first was relettered EL livery, second was all red with black underframe and a white nose and front of cab, next came the all blue with 2 4 inch white stripes just above walkway level with an upside down V on the nose, silver trucks and blue fuel tank. and now is Yellow (UP armor yellow) with a blue roof (Conrail blue) silver trucks. so 4 liverys in 7 years...... i must just stick to one </font> ------------------ Matthew wheres all the C636's???? stickymonk.com Matts Photo gallery
Ok.Let's add to the plot. What is your current color scheme?How many color schemes have you had over the life of "YOUR" railroad. The Grande Valley has had 3 different ones in 22 years,and there were different versions of each. The current scheme has a GVRR blue(Conrail) long hood and cab while the cab face and short hood,and long hood end are GVRR yellow(CSX).The yellow on the wide cab noses follow the CSX design. The hi-hood units will have just the ends painted yellow and possibley the cab fronts.Walkways are blue on all units though the sills may or may not be yellow. Hey! Havin' FUN!!
The Chicago, Evansville and Emporia RR (CEE Line an "N" scale empire) started about 12 yrs ago with some used motive power and rolling stock. The First layout began an existance about 7 yrs ago and was disassembled last Nov. In Dec I built a room for my CEE Line to live in. You can see pictures of the construction of the train room and the proposed layout at www.members.iquest.net/~leghome/index.html At the web site is also the CEE Line story. The colors are B&O Royal blue and Lehigh Valley (forget the name) Red, looks like maroon. ------------------ Larry E. Gilbert ASST. Superintendent Central Indiana Division MWR/NMRA [This message has been edited by leghome (edited 01 October 2000).]
OK, I'll play! We're playing anyway, right? The TVRS never had a real road color. All the power was bought second hand and was just stenciled TVRS ala SOO Bandit. Enter the AOW. It went through three color schemes. The First was ICG Organge cab and Silver hood bodies, Silver trucks and tanks with ARANSAS ODESSA & WESTERN on the long hood. Then came the Santa Fe Yellow and Blue phase. The Cabs and half the Hood was Yellow and the Upper half of the Hood was Blue. The colors were separated at an angle from upper left to lower right front to back. AOW in large letters was Half Blue and half Yellow in a "negitive" to the hood colors. The last is the current scheme. Cascade Green cab and sills, Silver hoods, Yellow nose ends with BN style white stripes on the yellow nose ends. Silver trucks and fuel tanks, although the C-40-8's have Black fuel tanks. The road numbers are White and under the cab windows. The railway name is stenciled either ARANSAS ODESSA & WESTERN or AOW on the long hood in Black. I'll get some pictures to post here of the current colors as soon as I can. ------------------ Brent Tidaback, Member #234 BNSF Railfan-to-the Max and a N-Scaler to boot! "Ship it on the Route of The Roadrunners!" The Aransas Odessa & Western, a division of the BNSF
The Missouri Pacific Lines was born in November of 1994. It has grown much, and become much more sophisticated than even I ever dreamed. As to paint schemes, The MOPAC was always subdued in order to trim costs and keep profits high. I have settled on the MOPAC scheme that only really lasted for about 1-year, the "double-Eagle". For many years the MOPAC painted large white "screaming eagles" on the sides of the long hood of turbocharged units. In 1972, they replaced the red and white Missouri Pacific Lines "buzzsaw" logo under the cab window with a red-white and blue "eagle buzzsaw". Hence the "double eagle" monicker. I also have the "transition" scheme of UP yellow/grey and Missouri Pacific red lettering, only with a MOPAC buzsaw logo on the point of the short hood, indicating transition FROM Union Pacific TO MOPAC. MOPAC 1
OK, I'll Play, and try to cover 55 years, and the colors quickly. 1935 Dad, and I built an 0-27 Lionel layout, with Yards, The Grand Teton Mountains, the Royal Gorge, and western Kansas, in the basement at Wichita, Kansas. 1937 we went into HO. We built the Super Chief, and one I designed, in another basement, that I remember as Home. That one had two yards and two loops and a crossover. My streamliner was Cordovan, Magenta, Yellow stripe, Chinese Red roof, with black trim. We moved to Texas 1945. No layout, only two 36" lengths of test track until 1950 when I married. We built a pier and beam house. My layout was under that house, 28 feet by 36 feet. Drove stakes into ground, laid sub roadbed, then truescale and spiked the rails every 1.5". I had real dirt for scenery! I hit a big beetle one night and derailed my train, but I could pull a train 100 cars long around the outside loop. Four of us put all our cars on and it took two Varney mallets, and two consolidations to pull it all. Moved to Dallas, Texas 1962. Abandoned the layout, none til now. I purchased a layout in 1998 that runs four trains, made for diesels, but wont handle my mallets. I'll sell it or scrap it out if I can't. I have finished making all the sectional open grid work and legs for the last layout I am now building. This one has a 33 stall roundhouse, a main line, a short line, and a logging road. I own the roundhouse and boiler works, and will service any railroad that needs overhaul, or paint. So that way I can run anything except electrics. Because we restore older equipment for tourist lines, we even have a 4-4-0. I'll send a photo along as I go. So I'm a FREE-LANCER!!! ------------------ Watash
My railroad was founded in 1902 hauling 1 car load of load of lumber to a chair company in south Cannonsboro, WV. The pain scheme is changing over from green with light green pin-stripes and whit lettering to the former RF&P's Blue, dark blue, and creme paintjob all of the new EMD ACs (SD70MAC, SD80MAC, and non-ac SD60Ms) ------------------ Appalachian & Atlantic Model Railroad "QUALITY at WORK with SAFTEY in MIND"
<font color="336633">Only two photos i have of my old liverys, i dont have any of the red days but the wood chip car behind the EL painted RS2m is the red and white livery ------------------ Matthew wheres all the C636's???? stickymonk.com Matts Photo gallery
That's some nice clean looking engines you got there Matthew! It looks like you been hoarding them for years too! Ha. ------------------ Watash
My Alpine pacific Railway has been around in one form or another for 22 years. Although I never have had a completed layout and I have gone through several scales (from z to g). The current version (and the one I am most farthest on building is a 3 1/2 by 6 layout tucked away in a spare room. It is HO scale. It will be DCC because I want sound in my engines. Benckwork is almost done. Then the fun begins!
The Apline Pacific has gone through 4 distinct paint schemes: blue / black, blue/black/silver, and red/yellow. I have finally decided that I will use the "old DRGW" black/yellow paint scheme and red cabooses w/ yellow lettering. This allows me to have rolling stock that is black, red, yellow, or any combination thereof and still fit into my railroads' overall paint scheme.
The FCN actually started as the Wind Lake and Wautoma. (HO, circa 1985) Kicked around a different name for a couple of years. Settled on Ford City & Northern in late 1988. Painted first cars and engines in 1989 and built first layout (4x2) near the end of the year. Present layout (2nd), started in 2000, finished (kind of) in 2004. Jerry G.
Well, it started out back in my youth, with Lionel trains. Just stuck with me, as it is a name derived from an area I loved and spent much memorable vacation time while growing up. That was at least 45 years ago now. Then about 6-7 years ago, one of the guys here on TrainBoard created a logo for me. And it has been in my signature for years now. Boxcab E50
Back in the '90s I had a small HO railroad named the Oklahoma & North Eastern, which was based on the old Northeast Oklahoma Railroad which served the lead & zinc mines in Missouri, Oklahoma & Kansas. The era depicted was the mid-1970s, after the mines had played out but the line still served shippers in Miami, Oklahoma. Main shipper was the BF Goodrich tire plant in Miami in real life, and it was represented on my layout. One other source of revenue was the tailings piles (or Chat) that was hauled out on my road in secondhand 70-ton hoppers. Motive power was Alco RS3s painted blue with yellow striping (altho I did have one S2 in blue, and a Frisco RS1 in black & yellow). Since then, I've pretty much stayed with the prototype, but if I had to do it all over again, I'd have chopnosed Geeps, CF7s and SDs on a Kansas ag line.
