I am just wondering what people consider free-lance. My motive power is not freelance, but close to prototypical by using power from my two favorite roads. The line itself is freelanced! It is bridge-line jointly owned by my favorite roads, sort of like an eastern version of the Calamas Prarie line. I picked the location of the line by getting out my Delorme Gazetter of the state of WVA. I then traced a logical line for rail line, where none existed. This bridge line made connections to the real class ones. Anyway, I am just wondering how other people came about doing their lines and why? I am a fan of Conrail and the N&W and have liked their motive power and coal hauling. This freelance line gives me a chance to keep the "rail historians/rivet counters/pita's at bay. If you want to learn more about my line. Just paste the GRR model rr url into your browser. Thanks [ 13 July 2001: Message edited by: ajy6b ]</p>
Freelance means different things to different people. In my case, the ECI purchased an ex-NYC RoW that was about to be abandoned by PennCentral and some ex-Pennsy property as well and continued to deliver services to small factories and grain elevators along the route. The motive power is all second hand with the exception of a GP38-2 purchased new at a time when business was very good. This has allowed the ECI to operate several museum pieces and a diner train excursion. In other words, I can justify what the railroad does as long as it remembers that it IS a railroad that needs to make money. The ECI runs from a city in Central Indiana down the east side of Indiana to the southern Indiana town of Westport servicing the small industries in between making connections with NS and Con… er ah, CSX. It also provides yard interchange with the Central Indiana & Western shortline. You think that you can keep the nitpickers at bay? I don’t think so. Not if you run anything that matches a prototype such as your locomotives. I have two freight cars that a friend painted to match photos taken here in South Anderson Yard. I had two gentlemen on a layout tour that gave me to understand that the particular company NEVER painted ANY freight cars in that scheme. Even with the photos, it was hard to convince them. No, you’ll not keep them at bay. Roger Roger Hensley - rhensley@anderson.cioe.com == http://cid.railfan.net/eci_new.html == == East Central Indiana HO Scale Railroad ==
Roger,There is a sign on my trainroom door that says "This is MY layout."Most of the nitpickers get the hint. My railroadThe Grande Valley RRis a totally freelanced opperation existing in Michigan right now.It runs from South Bend Indiana up through Grand Rapids where the home offices are north to Petoski where the line terminates. <marquee>North American Rail Alliance</marquee>
Well aj, my railroad runs primarily thru the mountains of NE Arizona, and is based on what could have happened if the numerous small railroads that are almost all gone now had banded together to serve the copper, coal, cattle, and timber industries. My primary motive power are 10 GG-1Ds-GG-1s bought from the old Pennsy and converted to diesel for heavy hauling in the mountains. Thus, the RR itself is based on real areas and places that now have little or no RR access-simply put, we do it right and make a revenue efficient operation-freelance. Motive power is converted from a real locomotive, so semi-freelance, shall i say? I personally get tired of hearing about the heyday of railroading being the 40s and 50s, so i'm making the heyday today on my RR-crack freight and passenger service that the long haul trucking companies can't compete with. Make sense? Curt
I like what I have been reading. Yeah I know you can't keep the rivet counters at bay, but maybe you can do good job of confusing them. My layout is coming along nicely. Just rethinking some trackwork here to give me some better options for routing my trains. I have one undec GP40 hi-hood which I may paint in my club's proto-freelance scheme, but subletter it for the N&W. Sort of like what happened to some SDP-45's that N&W bought for EL and then got turned over to Conrail and then finally back to the N&W. As someone else said. If you don't like your rr history, change it.
<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by ajy6b: As someone else said. If you don't like your rr history, change it. <hr></blockquote> Gee, sounds like someone else visits the PFMSIG list at Yahoo ! We've been over this ground before, but it's still good reading. My Oklahoma & North Eastern is a freelance model RR with roots in the prototype- in this case, the Northeastern Oklahoma RR, which was built to serve the lead & zinc mines in Oklahoma & Kansas. The line was bought by the St. Louis-San Francisco in 1964, and in RH (real history) became the Frisco's Miami Branch. In IH (imagined history) it was sold in 1973 to a local group of shippers and reincarnated as the O&NE. Also in the sale was the Frisco's Carthage Branch from N. Baxter (Kansas) to Joplin, MO. The beauty of my railroad is that if I want, I can operate it as the Frisco's Miami Branch, complete with SLSF locomotives & caboose. Mostly, I run it as the O&NE. UNCLE BOB'S RULES FOR MODEL RAILROADING: 1. This is my railroad. 2. Comments about operations, car types, locomotives used, etc. are welcome, but in case of disputes or differences of opinion, please refer to Rule #1.
I have had so much lip slobber from nit picking rivit counters, that now days, I just shoot them when they suck in air to criticize! You can't please everyone, so selfishly I am the one to be pleased! I operate prototypically freelanced! To that end, and because my main interest is around the yards and roundhouse area, I have a large roundhouse, and the rest of the railroad runs up out of the canyon to the rest of the world. My roundhouse is privately owned, so I can have any engine, crane, snow plow or rolling stock I please. I don't have to repaint or decal, and weathering is no problem since all equipment we work on is washed like new when we send it out. I kept it simple. Minimum radius is 30" and turnouts are #10 on the main line, 28" and #8 on the short line, and 18" with #6 on the high country logging line. It works for me.
<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by watash: I have had so much lip slobber from nit picking rivit counters, that now days, I just shoot them when they suck in air to criticize! <hr></blockquote> I love it!
Hi A.J. I have taken a similar approach to Freelancing as yourself. My Alabama Gulf [ http://alabamagulf.homestead.com/Welcome.html] serves as an extension of the KCS, eastward to an Atlantic Seaport in the Southeast. So I can run my three favorite roads, NS, SBD/CSX and KCS - all over my freelanced Alabama Gulf Railway. The AGLF, of course, rosters my favorite motive power and rolling stock and give me an "artistic" outlet. I PRefer the Proto-freelance form. but hey - It's All Good !
I agree with Watash, So much time and enegry is wasted over what is right!Please your self!THIS is not a life threating or dibilatiting action, have fun ,build ,dismantal,reconstruct and rebuild ,that's what it's about! HAVE FUN! It's only modeling and our own preceptions of our own worlds ,again HAVE FUN!!!
Free-Lance: (verb,adj,n,etc) Doing whatever you want to, however you want to, whenever you want to. ---2001 Pat's unabridged dictionary, ABC press.
I am really glad to see this question come up again, because even for those of us who have been around a while it is nice to get new perspectives and hear how old perspectives have changed . I liken myself to a prototype freelancer like some of you guys out there. My Santa Fe and Southwestern runs prototypical trains through a fantasy portion of New Mexico in the early 1950s. I like what I am seeing on my road, and if folks don't like it well...they can leave my layout room !! Thanks for the question AJ and keep posting!! Happy Modeling!! John
<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by DJ: I agree with Watash, So much time and enegry is wasted over what is right!Please your self!THIS is not a life threating or dibilatiting action, have fun ,build ,dismantal,reconstruct and rebuild ,that's what it's about! HAVE FUN! It's only modeling and our own preceptions of our own worlds ,again HAVE FUN!!! <hr></blockquote> I too will follow with Watash and DJ.. Its your world your building.. WHY NOT have fun in your own little world!? Thats what its all about!!! Nicely said Watash, I know I couldn't have said it any better.. But its exactly how I feel.. Prtotipically Freelanced Prototype loco's and rolling stock and buildings in a close to Freelanced landscape....
