Hello everyone. New member here and really enjoy the site. I finally was able to retire back in October so now have plenty of time to start working on the model railroads again. Among other things, I'm a former railroad employee having worked on the following railroads: Conductor, Frankfort & Cincinnati Railroad; Agent/Operator, Louisville & Nashville Railroad and General Freight Agent, TransKentucky Transportation Railroad. Railroad career ended in 1984, when the Frankfort & Cincinnati (FCIN) folded.
My primary interest is in short line railroads (the shorter the better) and industrial type switching operations, so I've been following doctorwayne's NW 58th Street layout construction thread with great interest. Between doctorwaynes's excellent work and that of Lance Mindheim
- I've really been fired up to start doing some modeling again. Will never have anything to match their work, but the inspiration and desire sure is there.
If anyone is interested in modeling the bourbon whiskey business - feel free to contact me. I spent many a cold night switching cars at the distilleries along the F&C!
Regards,
Ed
Welcome aboard Ed, great to have a old railroader here. We have a few others hanging around as well. Don't be bashful about posting anything, especially pics. We all love pics, and don't hesitate to ask if you need any help. As you probably already know, everyone here are considered friends, new friends, old friends, it really doesn't matter
Welcome. It's really great to have a some first hand knowledge to tap into for insight and expertise. You've found the best train modeling site on the web...no doubt about it. Here, you'll find encouragement, help, ideas, and polite critique when you ask for it. If you've been "lurking" for a while I'm sure you've realized the same.
So get started! Start formulating those layout ideas. Choose a scale and decide on a theme and get the ball rolling.
Hope you enjoy your time here at The Gauge. With your background, you will make a good addition to the forum and I look forward to learning from you. I too am interested in shortline operations and will probably be asking a bunch of questions once I get my layout in operating condition.
Congrats on your retirement.... and since you have plenty of time now, we'll be expecting lots of photos of your modeling!
to Big Blue, Ed, but to give proper credit where it's due, that excellent NW58th Street layout is the work of
Kurt. I'm working in an earlier era ('30s) and freelancing, more-or-less, albeit with influences from the prototype.
Wayne
Great to have you here. There are quite a few others here who have industrial switching layouts, so you will fit right in!
Welcome to the best there is in model railroad forums!! And the best bunch of people there are to hang out with!!
Hi and welcome Ed from Frankfort (the capatil of KY). Mom's family is from Eastern KY Knott county. Lots of family works for CSX in Willard Oh.
I have O gauge and S gauge trains, working on a "TOY" layout at the moment, but have some Ideas for a scale S modular type layout With DCC possible in the future.
Appreciate the kind comments gentlemen and sorry about the mix up on the 58th St Miami layout.
I'll be most happy to help out with any information that I can provide. Good to know that there are others interested in short lines. I'm currently starting work on two different layouts down here in my "private" world in the basement. One will be 1:29th scale switching layout - 30 inches deep by 36 feet long and the other an HO layout of undetermined dimensions, but at least 20 feet in length.
Over the years, I've started, but never completed several HO layouts, most based on short lines that I'm familiar with, but never seem to get past the point where the track is laid and I can start operating trains. Interests have varied some too, along with short lines, I've been interested in logging railroads, since we had so many in Kentucky and what lead to getting into the large scale (think Bachmann Shay and Climax). Article in MR about modeling the Claremont & Concord in 1:29th scale got me into that scale, but must admit that I'm not that wild about it now. So the HO layout will be the number one priority once I get it started. Just haven't settled on what I want to model.
As I mentioned in my initial post, I worked for the Frankfort & Cincinnati Railroad (twice actually) and also the L&N here in Frankfort and so the bourbon whiskey industry really appeals to me. Large variety of traffic in and out of them and some really interesting track arrangements at the various distilleries. Unfortunately, non of the distilleries around here are rail served these days; several having been shut down completely. But all the information is fresh in my mind and believe me, most of these facilities would be a layout in themselves!
Well back to the drawing board and once again, I appreciate the kind comments. I sure agree that this is the best site around for modeling ideas, help and just plain fun!
Ed
Ed,
I will certainly be interested in your track plans because I am moving my existing shelf layout into a larger building which will double the length of the layout. I need some ideas to steal!
Gary;
I put a schematic diagram of a "model railroad size" distillery on the "Industries Along The Rails" forum that might inspire you a little. It's under the heading "Bourbon Whiskey Distillery". Could be an end of the line type industry as some of the real ones were or an "along the line" industry as this one was. Not shown on the diagram, is the runaround track that was located near the distillery. It would be to the left in the diagram.
I'm considering modeling something like this myself - having worked these places in 1:1 scale and the variety of equipment and spotting locations for cars is very interesting. There are (much) larger operations that I can sketch out or possibly even do with some sort of CAD program, although I'm much better at sitting down with the drafting equipment and drawing things out.
Anyway, take a look and see what you think. It hasn't seemed to inspire anyone yet other than discussions about the product being produced
Ed