05-01-2009, 01:03 AM
Which railroads are my favorites ? Guess I would have to say the various mid-western railroads in the Twin Cities during the transition/early diesel era. I like e.g. the Northern Pacific (NP), Great Northern (GN), Chicago and Northwestern (CNW), Omaha Road (CMO), Milwaukee Road (MILW), Minneapolis and St. Louis (MSTL) and the interchange/terminal railroad Minnesota Transfer Railway (MTRY).
Why ? Minnesota is "my" adopted part of the US. And I like mid-western urban railroading. Grain hauling (with interesting big elevator) was the big regional/seasonal industry, but there still was a nice mix of assorted other traffic - local manufacturing and distribution of incoming stuff. Lot of railroads interchanging traffic. Railroad cars from all over the US could be found in the mid-west. Nice (IMO) color schemes for the early diesel engines.
If I had to pick just two favorites, I guess I would pick the Minnesota Transfer Railway for sheer interchange appeal (since nine class 1 railroads interchanged with the MTRY), and the Minneapolis and St. Louis (for their very nice color schemes and for being such a presence in the milling district).
In the end, I decided to model the Omaha Road instead of the MTRY (since CMO had downtown warehouse handling, and I wanted very urban surroundings), but I also added to the pot some milling district type railroading stolen from the MSTL, and interchange visits from some of the roads that in reality interchanged with the MTRY : the CNW (parent company of CMO), MSTL, MILW, NP and GN.
Is the railroad I find most interesting my favorite ? Not sure I understand the question. I find a lot of railroads interesting. I could also e.g. have gone for e.g. the NYCH (New York Cross Harbor) or Bush Terminal RR as my prototype. Also very urban, but with a nautical flavor.
I know that e.g. Appalachian coal haulers or passenger runs from the East Coast to Chicago (which many find appealing) doesn't really appeal much to me as modeling subjects - partly because I don't have the space to do something like that justice, and partly because I find local switching of general cargo more appealing than watching longish "unit trains" (more or less) pass through the scene, take a siding, and then go on.
But if I had had a layout room about 9 times as big as I have now - say about 15 x 30 feet, and had been far better at landscaping, I probably would have enjoyed very much to run something like a semi-rural branch line with local switching in several small towns - say like like Dr Wayne's magnificent layout, or a branch line somewhere in the Pacific Northwest (say the Walla Walla Valley), or a branch line operation in the Imperial Valley of California, or somewhere in the area around White River Junction in the North-East - you get my drift.
Of course - given a lot more space, unlimited funds, a lot more energy and maybe a major crew of friends to help, one could also have gone totally wild hog in switching and tried for something like Chuck Hitchcock's Argentine Industrial District Railway - a huge urban interchange/switching layout set in Kansas City.
But I guess my main preference is urban switching for small rooms, agricultural/light manufacturing small town branch line for larger rooms.
Smile,
Stein
Why ? Minnesota is "my" adopted part of the US. And I like mid-western urban railroading. Grain hauling (with interesting big elevator) was the big regional/seasonal industry, but there still was a nice mix of assorted other traffic - local manufacturing and distribution of incoming stuff. Lot of railroads interchanging traffic. Railroad cars from all over the US could be found in the mid-west. Nice (IMO) color schemes for the early diesel engines.
If I had to pick just two favorites, I guess I would pick the Minnesota Transfer Railway for sheer interchange appeal (since nine class 1 railroads interchanged with the MTRY), and the Minneapolis and St. Louis (for their very nice color schemes and for being such a presence in the milling district).
In the end, I decided to model the Omaha Road instead of the MTRY (since CMO had downtown warehouse handling, and I wanted very urban surroundings), but I also added to the pot some milling district type railroading stolen from the MSTL, and interchange visits from some of the roads that in reality interchanged with the MTRY : the CNW (parent company of CMO), MSTL, MILW, NP and GN.
Is the railroad I find most interesting my favorite ? Not sure I understand the question. I find a lot of railroads interesting. I could also e.g. have gone for e.g. the NYCH (New York Cross Harbor) or Bush Terminal RR as my prototype. Also very urban, but with a nautical flavor.
I know that e.g. Appalachian coal haulers or passenger runs from the East Coast to Chicago (which many find appealing) doesn't really appeal much to me as modeling subjects - partly because I don't have the space to do something like that justice, and partly because I find local switching of general cargo more appealing than watching longish "unit trains" (more or less) pass through the scene, take a siding, and then go on.
But if I had had a layout room about 9 times as big as I have now - say about 15 x 30 feet, and had been far better at landscaping, I probably would have enjoyed very much to run something like a semi-rural branch line with local switching in several small towns - say like like Dr Wayne's magnificent layout, or a branch line somewhere in the Pacific Northwest (say the Walla Walla Valley), or a branch line operation in the Imperial Valley of California, or somewhere in the area around White River Junction in the North-East - you get my drift.
Of course - given a lot more space, unlimited funds, a lot more energy and maybe a major crew of friends to help, one could also have gone totally wild hog in switching and tried for something like Chuck Hitchcock's Argentine Industrial District Railway - a huge urban interchange/switching layout set in Kansas City.
But I guess my main preference is urban switching for small rooms, agricultural/light manufacturing small town branch line for larger rooms.
Smile,
Stein