What Era, Railroads, & Locomotives are you set on?

[RRManiac]

I know I posted earlier, but since then, this has been changed since I posted. Enjoy.

Do you have a time frame where you're set, time of year?

I operate in the modern era, defined as being just after Desert Storm, so what, that'd be probably around '91, during the winter.

Are Steam, Diesel, Electric or all/some of both?

Well, I use a GP40 for most of the work I do, but I also, because of my love of steam, and the general area that its prototype is from, I also run a 3-truck Shay engine lettered for the Blacklog Lumber Co. #5. It's a very nice engine, and it has DCC Sound installed. It was a gift, so I wanted some sort of an excuse to use it. I use it in excursion service, and also for pulling the President's private car.

What are your railroads and what's the rolling stock consist of for deliveries/industries?

There are three industries on the line, but the layout handles a LOT of bridge traffic for other industries on the railroad, but not modeled. I am running it as though it were a Class I railroad that has been around since roughly 1896, a relatively latecomer to the Class I system, but very important just the same. The line I'm modeling is a branch from South Hill, Virginia, and is "corporately" called the South Hill & Eastern Foothills RR, but it is really just a physical branch of the railroad, called the Northern & Southern. More information on it later, I don't want to get sidetracked.

The first of the three industries on the line are a GERN Ind. deep mine to mine flux out. It was recently discovered that after exposure to air for more than 50 years, bituminous and semi-bituminous coal goes through a chemical change and becomes raw flux, which allows old deep mines for bituminous and semi-bituminous coal to be reopened and actively mined.

The second industry is a cold storage facility in South Hill, Virginia.

The third industry is handled by a CSX Transportation crew in town. The industry is a small military supply center that gets inbound equipment, but also gets special passenger service for the local crews to handle. CSX and the Northern & Southern have worked out, roughly, a deal to lease the N&S's passenger coaches for commuter service to the center to move the troops.

Is it Freelance or Compressed Prototype or even exact scale replica?

The railroad is completely freelance, with the CSX tie just to help make it more believable and to help give anybody that comes over to operate more variety in what they have available to them for activity.

[Loblolly Logger]

Good questions & interesting replies! Thanks Folks!

As for my stuff...

The HO scale Trinity Sabine & Gulf (under development & construction) is a fictional 32-mile logging & lumber short line set in the Pineywoods of East Texas somewhere in the late 30's to the early 50's. Motive power is primarily small to medium steam; 0-6-0 switchers, a couple of 4-6-0's, 2-6-2's, and a 2-8-0. A couple of early diesel's may show up one day... you never know... Rolling stock is mostly steam era 40' boxes and 36' utility flats and log cars, plus the usual cabooses, logging equipment, etc.

The layout, basically an industrial switching design, will include a sawmill complex, railroad shops, several related & support industries, and some town buildings. Although freelanced, compressed, and somewhat generic, the layout is based on several historic East Texas operations of the period.

[Lester Perry]

I can't limit myself to a specific era or location. I really tried it, but it doesn't work. It only leads to abandon the current layout and starting a new one and so forth. I also found out that I have no real interest in operation, repetitve switching and such. My actual approach to build a layout may sound ridiculous to you because it is just a big loop made for (model-)railfanning rather than for operation. It is made up from segments/modules that show totally different locations and eras, subdivided by viewblockers. Its the only way I found to bring the steel industry, the lumber industry, the intermodal business, towns and harbours and rural scenes onto one single layout.

Jen it doesn't sound ridiculous to me and I feel safe in saying that it doesn't sound ridiculous to anyone here. OK sound off who thinks it is ridiculous. Actually that is great because that is the beauty of this hobby. I like all aspects of it. There are times I just start a train going and sit down and watch it run by.

[Brakie]

Les,A plan loop layout without a yard or industries doesn't do a thing for me..After 30 minutes of loop running I am bored to tears.

Is Jens layout ridiculous? Nope..To him its enjoyment and that 's what counts.

[Green_Elite_Cab]

Les,A plan loop layout without a yard or industries doesn't do a thing for me..After 30 minutes of loop running I am bored to tears.

Is Jens layout ridiculous? Nope..To him its enjoyment and that 's what counts.

What? How could you not enjoy the same thing passing in the same direction with virtually no input for 30 minutes?

You're right though, gotta do what makes you happy!

[nkp_174]

Jens, I've seen your thread in the scratchbuilding section...I suspect that your "railfanning" layout is more about seeing your fine models roll. For the time being, that's all my layout is as well. I'd originally planned to put relatively generic scenery down so that I could run a variety of equipment from different time periods so long as the equipment on the road was of the same period.

Wilkommen!

Michael

[SP1]

.I suspect that your "railfanning" layout is more about seeing your fine models roll.

Michael,
you got my point. I had difficulties finding the proper words, but that's the idea behind my "layout". Watching and taking photos.

[MountainMan]

It's all about whatever trips your trigger.

[Jim From MT]

My HO railroad empire (was) a large part of a club layout. I modeled a 1920-1930 Rocky Mountain generic logging operation as a museum exibit. Due to a change in museum management and thinking, we were forced to remove the layout and disband the club. Not a fun thing to do.
A local On30 modular group was formed, only to be disbanded about the time that I got a module partly finished, so now I find myself wondering which direction to go. I think I'll probably try to build a freelance home layout, utilizing the On30 module. In the meantime the HO stuff will gather dust on a shelf. Jim K.

[rthornton]

Our layout is a round the wall type set up which will begin being built in approximately 4 hours. YAHOO. We are basing our layout on the B&O, C&O into Chessie System era of late 60's early 70's. Will will be building the Chicago Division, Pemberville Subdivision form Walbridge Yard Toledo, Ohio down through Lemoyne, Luckey & Pemberville. Later on, we will be adding a steel mill on the north end of Walbridge yard which has never existed but come on, ya gotta have a steel mill on a layout right? We are planning everything in "phases" so as to not get lost in all the assembly and forget about why we are doing it, for the FUN! This is the culmination of 10 years of planning , promising , and relocation to the right house to make it all happen. Let the FUN begin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[FiatFan]

My layout is a generic southwestern switching railroad set in the '60s. The town bought a couple of used switchers and formed the Adobe Flats Municipal Railway Company to provide service for local industries. However when laying track, they obviously didn't know what they were doing. There are many bottlenecks requiring many extra moves to get a car from one place to another.

Example one: The yard lead has two industries which requires that any switching in the yard involves moving and re-spotting any freight cars loaded there.

Example two: The switchback from the yard to the mainline also has an industry which involves moving and re-spotting when trying to get from one end of a car to the other . The only runaround is the mainline and passing siding. Oh, and the produce distributor is located on the passing siding, further complicating moves.

The other town, Mountain Gap, is better laid out, only having one industry whose cars need to be moved in order to switch another industry (not nearly as much fun but easier for visitors to operate).

Motive power consists of a couple of EMD A40s permanently double headed, an EMD SW9, and a SWeep (cross between an SW1500 and a GP9 that I 'bashed a while back). An occasional appearance is also made by a pair of GP38-2's just because I like their looks. Road power is one GP9 or an F3 to move cars from Adobe Flat to Mountain Gap and back.

Revenue cars are mostly 40' box cars along with a few reefers, flat cars, and tank cars.

Industries include a produce distributor, Acme Company (of Road Runner fame), oil distributor, grain processing, pet food manufacturing, a public warehouse, and interchange track, a team track, a farm implement/feed store, a wholesale distributor, a furniture factory, and a few other industries.

Thus ends the saga of the AFMRy Company.

Tom

[csiguy68]

I am modeling a Steel Mill complex, with a Blast Furnace,Rolling Mill, Coke oven Continous Caster and Electric Arch Furnace. the era in which i am modeling is roughly from 1980 to the present day. the rolling stock i use is varied and is the type you would find in and around steel mills. i have a lot of the State Tool and die slab cars as well.

The Union Railroad is handling my inner plant switching assignments . and i use (depending on my mood) Conrail ,NS or Bessemer and Lake Erie doing the main line and local service. Conrail SD80 MACS and NS Dash-9's handle coal and iron ore delivery and slab trains and other main line trains. GP40's and GP 38's and SD38's are for use in for local type service


Todd

[santafewillie]

I protolance flatland Santa Fe operations from 1978 - 1993. I have seven grain elevators, plastics processing, ethanol, corn processing, printing plants, cement plants, scrapyards, various agricultural related industries, generic (for now) warehouses, and assorted other industries. I have an interchange with the Frisco (SLSF) because I like their late 70's diesel paint scheme. I run mostly SD40-2's, SD45's, GP50's, GP60's and various Dash 7 & 8's. As far as rolling stock I have over a hundred covered hoppers for grain and plastics, over a hundred boxcars, 50 tankers mostly ADM and Cargill, autoracks, container cars, flatcars, gondolas, and anything else ATSF might have run. Some are only used to run-thru and don't stop. If I get bored, I pull out all my GP35's and roofwalk boxcars and run early 60's. I prefer car card operations most, but occasionally enjoy just highballing from one end to the other.

[csiguy68]

Willie

are you using the Walthers Ethanols plants on your layout? i am just curious due to the fact they looked really interesting in the adds i have seen from Walthers.


Todd

[santafewillie]

Todd, I am freelancing with Pikestuff buildings and various Rix bins, tanks and silos that I have accumulated over the years. Piping will be made of leftover sprues. The Walthers stuff is my model to copy. I am using Athearn tankers. Another run due soon according to my man at the LHS; to round out my roster.