Passenger locomotives

[Green_Elite_Cab]

A lot of us have not the space to run passenger trains at all or could do a very boring operation only. If the freight train has more than 25 cars and there is a yard where that train could be build you have a good chance to find a passenger train too. Poor man passenger trains are RDC and Doodlebug if they match the other aspects of the layout (Warning! RDC and especially Doodlebug demand awful curve radius)

Just out of curiosity, what is your idea of an interesting passenger operation? I to think its just a matter of interest. to some people, a commuter train is boring, its usually identical cars with obscure power. on the other hand, they do have visual interest. they're fast, lit up like a christmas tree, and people "connect" with them easier.

I only model a megaton of passenger trains because every electrified line is a passenger line. I wouldn't consider it a layout an accurate representation without the passenger traffic, diesel or electric. However, i recognize many lines on this continent do not feature passenger trains, or have not in the past 50 years or so.

I might even further suspect the fact that the overwhelming majority of railroad mileage in the US is freight. Amtrak only follows a few routes, and outside it's Corridors, probably only one or two every once in a while. There are some Commuter railroads out there, but they all Spider out from either the Northeast Corridor (and its population centers), Chicago, or some of the major cities in California. I know there are more, but the commuter systems get increasingly smaller.

Still passenger trains can be done in a small space, without RDCs or Doodlebugs. If you have 4 feet of staging track, you can store a three-car push-pull set with its locomotive. Even in the town of Vernon, CA (you roughly model this area, correct?), you have Metrolink, and Amtrak California. Amtrak California has it's unique Surfliners cars, as well as Horizon and Amfleet coaches, P32BWH and F59PHI locomotives, which recognizable as California power.

Metrolink has F59s (both PH and PHI), Bombardier bi-levels, as well as many former NJ transit Comet I (the original push pull coach by Pullman Standard from 1968) and Comet IB (Formerly St. Lousis car company Arrow I Electric Multiple units also from 1968), with various levels of patch jobs on them. Most of these models can be had, and they all have interesting details or interesting history to them.

I'm not saying you should model commuter trains, just that the variety is there. Heck, since your industries are switched by tracks on the street, your switching won't get in the way of some short "off peak" commuter trains that could roll by for just a moment.

Mr. Green-Elite, I'm new, but I find your layout very interesting. Is there a place I can see more?

I have a few other threads here, primarily the "GEC's Layout Progress" and "GEC's Roster Thread". This is really the best place to see what I'm up to, since i don't really post elsewhere. I noticed on the photo thread a few weeks ago that you said you were a PRR/PC/Conrail modeler, so i figured we'd have something in common!