What Railroad Do You Model.......

Model railroading in all scales and gauges. HO talk welcome :)
ogauge47
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Re: What Railroad Do You Model.......

Unread post by ogauge47 »

I model DT&I and Ann Arbor operations in the Detroit and Flat Rock area from the 60's to the mid 80's.

GAP
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Re: What Railroad Do You Model.......

Unread post by GAP »

Picture the Pennsy (GR&I) running north to Mackinaw City. I model it further north after the ferry crossing, running from St Ignace to Sault Ste Marie, via Cedarville and the quarry. The era is 1961 with early diesels, all of which have been seen or photographed in Grand Rapids so they could have made it to the U.P. Eventually a staging yard will represent Sault Ontario so Algoma Central engines will also appear.

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Y@
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Re: What Railroad Do You Model.......

Unread post by Y@ »

Planning on operating a fictional early CSX (1992) former B&O line across Indiana in the future.
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Ben Higdon
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Re: What Railroad Do You Model.......

Unread post by Ben Higdon »

Conrail (former Penn Central, PRR, GR&I) Muskegon Secondary in 1978, HO scale.

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Old Hogger
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Re: What Railroad Do You Model.......

Unread post by Old Hogger »

Proto-freelanced loosely based on the Clinchfield, August 8, 1980 HO scale.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/52481330@N05/

http://s527.photobucket.com/albums/cc354/ClinchValley/

TrainWatcher
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Re: What Railroad Do You Model.......

Unread post by TrainWatcher »

Old Hogger wrote:Proto-freelanced loosely based on the Clinchfield, August 8, 1980 HO scale.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/52481330@N05/

http://s527.photobucket.com/albums/cc354/ClinchValley/
If ANY of you guys ever get a chance... operate this layout! I HIGHLY recommend it.

AveryRdhouse
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Re: What Railroad Do You Model.......

Unread post by AveryRdhouse »

Still doing the Milwaukee Road in 1974 in Montana and Idaho. Little Joes and SD40's rule the roost. Working on boxes of trees in my spare time in Baldwin. Some day I might have a moment at home and plant them. Until that time, the layout awaits my return. At least I hope it duz. Haven't seen it in a month or so.
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stfdbeeker
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Re: What Railroad Do You Model.......

Unread post by stfdbeeker »

C&O Saginaw to Ludington Main line from 1950 till now.

http://coludingtondivision-brandonbeaud ... gspot.com/

Brandon

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Gov. Crappo
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Re: What Railroad Do You Model.......

Unread post by Gov. Crappo »

i model a fictional line between Kalamazoo and Lansing MI called the Kalamazoo and Lansing set in 1940 in nscale. Major industry is the Gates Block Co which as 2 plants on the layout. Main reason for the railroads exsistance is to "bridge" PRR traffic to Lansing to give an excuss to cameo PRR equipment
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David Collins
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Re: What Railroad Do You Model.......

Unread post by David Collins »

I’m trying to do a freelanced-equipment version of the NS Portland Secondary, so far it hasn’t worked for me considering only the bottom level of my layout is operational and the upper level isn’t
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AARR
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Re: What Railroad Do You Model.......

Unread post by AARR »

Modeling a fictional short line called Richmond, Romeo & Rochester (RR&R) that operates what's left of the GTW Romeo sub from a connection with CN at Lenox Jct. (Richmond) to end of line just past Auburn Hills west of I-75 (approximately 32 miles). From that point into Pontiac was abandoned when I-75 was expanded/widened. Service started in the late 1990's when CN abandoned the line.

Started out with former GTW SW1200 (7017) and GP9 (4428). Later added an ex-GTW GP38ac (5808) and painted it in heritage GTW 1776.

Major customers are the Ford Engine plant in Romeo (inbound chemicals and outbound engines and scrap aluminum) and Theut (inbound aggregates) also in Romeo. There are a handful of other smaller customers including Star of the West in Richmond (inbound fertilizer), Allwood Building Components in Romeo (inbound lumber), Washington Elevator/Capitol Fertilizer in Washington (inbound fertilizer and salt), Pfizer in Rochester (inbound chemicals), Barry Plastics/Letica in Rochester (inbound plastics), ACME Building Materials in Rochester (inbound roofing shingles), Church's Lumber in Auburn Hills (inbound lumber) and Peninsula Plastics in Auburn Hills (inbound plastics).

Service between Romeo and Richmond is M-F. From Romeo to Auburn Hills is once a week usually on Saturday with an occasional 2nd trip to service Letica when they are busy.

I'm also modeling the CN Mt. Clemens Sub from Richmond to Mt. Clemens so both railroads are represented on my layout. CN's represented customers include a Carter Lumber in Macomb, and in Mt. Clemens the Chrysler Warehouse (former Metro Aluminum) and L&C Landscaping.

A staging yard represents Detroit and Port Huron.

I will start a thread (eventually) and post pictures/updates.
PatC created a monster, 'cause nobody wants to see Don Simon no more they want AARR I'm chopped liver, well if you want AARR this is what I'll give ya, bad humor mixed with irrelevant info that'll make you roll your eyes quicker than a ~Z~ banhammer...

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KVERBERK
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Re: What Railroad Do You Model.......

Unread post by KVERBERK »

AARR,
I'm anxiously awaiting some pictures and thread on your layout...
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Re: What Railroad Do You Model.......

Unread post by Conrail Quality »

I hope to start on my railroad this year. Plan is to build a HO scale Proto/Freelance of the Conrail line from Grand Rapids to Elkhart. Obviously not the entire line but I want to incorporate a scaled down Hughart Yd, my childhood home town of Three Rivers and a scaled down Elkhart Yd. Maybe the GM/American Axle plant, the Paper Mill and my childhood home (grew up with the line right behind my home) in Three Rivers. A couple of industries representing GR. Elkhart will be staging. Also thinking of an Amphitheatre somewhere on the layout with a KISS playing. That way I can incorporate two things I geek out on, KISS and Trains, into one thing. 😉

In my world, Conrail still exists as a Class 1 railroad. No split up between CSX and NS. Have not put to much thought into the time frame yet but could be anywhere from mid 80s to current time frame. I realize what I want and what I can fit in the large room are two different things.

Chip
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Re: What Railroad Do You Model.......

Unread post by Chip »

I eventually want to build a large scale freelance layout with my own fictional railroad and keep it as modern as possible, even buying new and retiring old power as time goes on. Think Eric Brooman's Utah Belt RR if you’re familiar with that. Location set loosely on a mix of Appalachian coal hauling and what I grew up seeing around here downriver with various industries, mostly automotive based. I haven't come up with a name yet since I'm going to have to wait until we buy a new house to even start designing a track plan. In a perfect world it will be a 2 tier layout and because I'm a masochist I plan on hand laying as much of the track as possible. I'm not even sure if this is possible with current technology but I would like to use a signaling system I can connect to a computer and have the computer take over running main line trains so I can operate the layout by myself (or 2-3 people minimum) which leaves me to run locals and/or yard work, likely in certain areas one at a time which is fine with me, and if this isn't feasible with existing prototype class 1 signal systems I plan on trying to come up with my own system that can do so. I know a good code monkey (his words, not mine lol) who might be able to help me with this.

In the meantime since I don't have a ton of room I might build a small non-powered diorama just for S&Gs to give me something to do at some point. I was given the idea of building a 4x8 layout attached to a wall I can tilt up for storage when not in use and I might do this, but I'm not dead set on it because I don't know how much longer we will be living here.

GreatLakesRailfan
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Re: What Railroad Do You Model.......

Unread post by GreatLakesRailfan »

It's kind of a toss-up for me. I'm primarily in N scale, although we have some HO guys in our modeler's group and several of us dabble a little in HO scale.

On one hand, I have a certain attachment to the Port Huron & Detroit Railroad. It was local and I prefer the character of the shortlines over the uniformity of the Class 1s. I've attempted to model parts of the line before and have a number of models of their equipment. My past involvement with the PH&D RRHS allowed me to collect quite a bit of information on the railroad, primarily for the purpose of modeling. The main limitation to building a PH&D layout is space and doing the road justice in the space I have (which would probably be easier in HO scale than N has allowed, so far).

Our (traveling) club layout is big enough to allow for running long trains, and I enjoy pushing the limits on train length on the club layout. One of the things I really want to do on my home layout is to have the ability to run long trains of autoracks and covered hopper unit trains. Neither of which are hallmarks of the PH&D.

I have several Ntrak modules in my basement, some that I've built and some that were built by past (deceased) members of our local club. To reduce the clutter as much as possible, my plan is to string together as many of the Ntrak modules as I can, with balloon modules at either end, to utilize what I already have, and increase the space available below the modules for storage. Each module (or small group of modules) has a theme, and when complete, will be operation-intensive enough to keep a one or two person crew busy for a certain amount of time. Themes include a refinery (or ethanol plant), a shortline (run a certain number of times around a small oval, switch a couple industries at the end/inside of the loop, then run a certain number of times around the oval to return to the interchange and either swap cars with a local freight job, or run on the mainline to the main yard for interchange), an auto assembly plant or automobile mixing yard (with just the railroad end of the facility being modeled), a large grain elevator (a crew would be assigned to take a unit train from the yard to the elevator, load or unload the train, and return to the yard), and, of course, the yard. The yard will include staging for incoming/outgoing trains, room to break down incoming manifest freight trains into trains to be delivered to customers on the layout or outbound cars into outgoing trains. There will be a number of industries surrounding the yard to keep a local freight crew busy during an operating session as well.

I don't have a prototype in mind, and plan to put down track where it makes sense, if the track I ordered last year actually shows up. The entire thing will likely be proto-freelanced, as I don't have the attention span to stick to an actual prototype. The hard part has been developing a workable concept, given the constraints of my basement and what I have to work with. The other hard part has been figuring out how to build the balloon modules. The nice thing is, when complete this will give us much needed long-term storage space, so there's some motivation to get the modules built and operational sooner rather than later.

Long term, several members of our local modelers group hope to do round robin operating sessions, so the layout has to be able to keep up to a dozen people busy for a couple hours. Ideally, each element of the layout will be able to be operated individually as well, which would allow me to run a train on my own or run a scaled down operating session with a small group of friends as time and opportunity allow.
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Derektrainman03
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Re: What Railroad Do You Model.......

Unread post by Derektrainman03 »

I model a fictional railroad called the Moxie Corp Railroad. I model the railroad’s Hudson Branch in the Massachusetts Division. The scale is HO, it was originally going to be a point to point but me and my dad both agreed that it would be a loop for running trains if no switching is needed on the layout. The operations I do for loading or unloading a car is one real day. Basically once a freight car goes to an industry, on Monday for example, that car will not be moved until Tuesday in real life. I use a Car Card system on my railroad and is powered by NCE DCC. Let me know if you guys want some photos.

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AARR
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Re: What Railroad Do You Model.......

Unread post by AARR »

Yes on photos and layout diagram too if you have one you can post.
Derektrainman03 wrote:
Wed Mar 02, 2022 8:43 pm
Let me know if you guys want some photos.
PatC created a monster, 'cause nobody wants to see Don Simon no more they want AARR I'm chopped liver, well if you want AARR this is what I'll give ya, bad humor mixed with irrelevant info that'll make you roll your eyes quicker than a ~Z~ banhammer...

Derektrainman03
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Re: What Railroad Do You Model.......

Unread post by Derektrainman03 »

AARR wrote:
Thu Mar 03, 2022 6:48 am
Yes on photos and layout diagram too if you have one you can post.
Derektrainman03 wrote:
Wed Mar 02, 2022 8:43 pm
Let me know if you guys want some photos.
I’ll send you some photos via email if that’s ok with you, I’m just worried that the image size would be too big on this website. But I will send you the photos. My email is MOXXRailwayModelRailroad53@gmail.com

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GrandTrunkFan
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Re: What Railroad Do You Model.......

Unread post by GrandTrunkFan »

Currently working on a larger layout, modeling the Conrail Lansing Secondary from Jackson to Lansing. I'm setting it between 1990-1995. I have been working on tons of custom structures including the Jackson station and much of the GM plants around Lansing. Only focusing on the larger customers but it will be point to point from Jackson to Saginaw yard in Lansing with a hidden connection to make a complete loop if I just feel like running trains in a circle. Don't have a official track plan yet, been kind of working as I go
Nick

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WPARR_35
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Re: What Railroad Do You Model.......

Unread post by WPARR_35 »

I model a proto-freelance fictional shortline called the Laurel Highland Valley Railroad. The 1988-Present shortline is modeled after the real CSX S&C Subdivision between Rockwood, PA and Johnstown, PA (Only modeled from Rockwood to Fridens Jct.) Here's the entire backstory:
The Somerset & Mineral Point Railroad connected Somerset to what was then the Pittsburgh & Connellsville Railroad as it passed through Rockwood (formerly known as Mineral Point), in the early 1870s. The Johnstown & Somerset Railroad followed the Stonycreek Valley northeast from Somerset to Johnstown in the 1880s. The Somerset & Mineral Point Railroad and the Johnstown & Somerset Railroad were combined and reorganized as the Somerset and Cambria Branch Railroad. Through leases and mergers, the line became a part of the Baltimore & Ohio, Chessie System, and then CSX.
In 1988, the line fell into disrepair after the Coxes Creek flooded, and CSX was considering abandoning the line between Rockwood and Somerset, with only a small limestone/sand plant and a lumber yard being the only customers. When CSX looked for any buyers, a few local businessmen, headed by James B. Mack, bought the line for $500,000 (a little over one million dollars today). The men decided to name the little 18 mile railroad the Laurel Highland Valley Railroad, named after the mountain ranges the railroad runs through, the Laurel Highlands.
The railroad's first locomotive was an old Baltimore & Ohio F7, no. 704, which was retired in the early 1970s when C&O’s Chessie System took over the railroad. Luckily, a new industry opened along the line: a coal tipple in the outskirts of Rockwood, The Rockwood Industrial Track (RIT) was re-erected from the old passing siding that was abandoned. The tipple was built, and the line started seeing coal hoppers after almost 35 years. The increase of traffic meant the LHVR needed more power. For auction were a GP7 from the Grand Trunk Railroad and a GP35 from CSX, and they were purchased for heavy freight only. The railroad finally started to grow.
Christmas of 1990 brought two gifts to the railroad. A man named Jamison Thompson generously gave the railroad two ex-NYC Niagara’s, refurbished and renamed to Conemaugh’s. These two locomotives pulled coal trains until 1999. The original dreams of J.B. Mack was not only to keep the railroad in operation for industry between Rockwood and Somerset, but to bring tourism back to the small towns, with Somerset being an exit for the Pennsylvania Turnpike. In 1991, his dream became a reality. Amtrak was modernizing its fleet to new Amfleet coaches, so the LHVR bought five ex-AMTK/ATSF passenger cars; a visa-dome car, a modified snack car/coach, and three standard coaches plus the ex-B&O heavyweight diner, the Molly Pitcher from CSX. The B&O F7 (now in LHVR’s, B&O royal blue, gray and black heritage livery) was decided to be used for passenger operations only, considering the engine was reaching almost 45 years of service. The Allegheny and Bigfoot Country were the railroad’s two passenger trains. They saw annual service up until 2014.
In 1993, Conrail re-erected the connection to the LHVR near the village of Friedens. The interchange was decided to be the three track yard in Somerset, and Conrail would run trackage right from Somerset to Friedens, then north to Johnstown and eventually, to the Pittsburgh Division. Trains of gondolas, boxcars, bulkhead flatcars, and coil cars now could run from the CSX yards in Cumberland and Connellsville, north to the steel mills of Flood City.
October of 1995 was a great time for the railroad and railfans. After taking inspiration from the Readings “Reading Rambles” excursions, J.B. Mack oranginzed “Fall in the Laurel Highlands”, three weekends of photo excursions in mid-late October with Conrail and the LHVR’s 4-8-4’s. The Conemaugh’s went through an external makeover and were repainted and officially lettered for the LHVR. No. 1507 and no. 8107 were in charge of running the bi-daily excursions from Rockwood to Johnstown and back. For the last run of the season, a freight photoshoot and run-by’s was done with the Conemaugh’s, pulling 50 car coal trains and mixed freights while F7, no. 704 pulled the passengers. The charter was a huge success but after the city of Johnstown denied the LHVR the rights to run these massive steam locomotives through the heart of the city, and where the only turntable was located in Johnstown, the railroad decided to stop the excursions the following year.
In 1999, a major industry came into the picture: one that went from three trains a week, to two trains a day. On the outskirts of the tiny town of Shanksville, Pennsylvania, Corsa Mining found a large coal deposit under the fields of Shanksville, and the board of the LHVR saw a profitable opportunity to build a eight mile branch up to the Cambria Mine Loadout and bring coal trains to Conrail, (now Norfolk Southern) in Somerset and CSX in Rockwood. With this huge influx of traffic, the line was upgraded to 110-pound rail and three more locomotives were also purchased; 2 GP30’s from the Illinois Central, formerly Gulf, Mobile & Ohio, another GP30 from Conrail, formerly Reading, and an SD40 from the Santa Fe. With the use of F.R.E.D, the ATSF threw in a wide-vision caboose to sweeten up the deal. With the 3 new GP30’s, the Conemaugh’s were retired and donated to the New York Central Railroad Historical Society in Elkhart, Indiana and the National Transportation Museum in St. Louis, Missouri. To make things better, a small transload facility was being built near the limestone plant, so that meant more tankers and covered hoppers would be interchanged with CSX.
On September 11, 2001, a tragedy hit America. Three planes were hijacked by terrorists. Two were flown into the World Trade Center towers in New York City, and Flight 93 was brought down by a few brave American heroes in a field less than 2 miles from the Cambria Mine loadout. A few LHVR employees volunteered to join the recovery mission. The railroad shut down for over a week, but started operations again on September 19th. Passenger trains were shunted for almost 3 months, but when the Flight 93 Memorial was built in September 2002, the railroad saw more passengers than ever before.
With all the recent coal trains, the Pennsylvania Power and Light Company (PPLX) decided to build a small powerplant, and on April 10, 2005, the PPLX Somerset Generating Station was completed. PPLX unit coal trains came from South Fork, Pennsylvania, off the NS interchange, and brought to the plant.
As mentioned before, passenger train operations ceased right after the Fourth of July weekend of 2013. There weren’t enough passengers to operate these seasonal trains, so the passenger cars were sold off to the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad in Cumberland, Maryland. The F7 was retired after reaching 67 years of service. Because the locomotive was the railroad’s first, it wasn’t scrapped, but it got shoved behind the engine house and sat there until 2018.
In late 2017, J.B. Mack was at the age of 95 when he was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. He ended up dying on March 13, 2018. James came from a line of railroaders; his grandfather was an engineer for the B&O, and his aunt was a stewardess on the B&O Capitol Limited. With his family fueling his hunger to run a railroad, Mack’s fellow businessmen that helped start the railroad all passed away years prior, considering the fact Mack was 15+ years younger than the rest of them. Mack’s children had no interest in taking over the railroad, and Mack’s 19-year old great-grandson, the only family member interested in the railroad, had no real idea how to run such a big company. So, the Mack family decided to sell the railroad. The final train under the Mack family ownership ran on July 8, 2018.
A man named Mark Rosner, owner of Carload Express, took interest in the line and bought it for $45 million on July 25, 2018. Between those few weeks, CSX operated the coal trains to the loadout and serviced the PPLX powerplant. The F7 and GP7 were sold off to LTEX, the SD40 was sold to RJ Corman, and the GP30’s were rebuilt to Dash 3 specifications, repainted and transferred to another railroad on the Carload Express system. Carload Express decided to keep the name, and the letters ‘LHV’ are now on the back of every locomotive on the roster. As of January 2021, two CCLX SD60M’s have been brought in to haul coal drags, Two GP40’s and the GP35 now run locals and two MP15's are used as the yard switchers and run mine switching, usually trailing as helpers when coming back from the Cambria Mine loadout.
Carload Express has big plans for the railroad. It is very profitable. They are interested in buying the rest of the line from Norfolk Southern to Johnstown’s Hornerstown Yard, where they’ll interchange with the Conemaugh & Black Lick Railroad that services the rolling mills of Johnstown.

Railroad Roster:
LHVR F7 no.704 (B&O heritage)
LHVR GP7 no.705 (B&O heritage)
LHVR GP35 no. 3500 (Mountain Laurel Purple[MLP])
LHVR GP30 no. 1977 (MLP)
LHVR GP30 no. 1978 (MLP)
LHVR GP30 no. 1979 (MLP)
LHVR SD40 no. 1980 (MLP)
__________________________________________________________________________________
LHVR 4-8-4 no. 1507 (Former NYC Niagara, ex-Conemaugh & Chestnut Ridge Conemaugh)
LHVR 4-8-4 no. 8107 ((Former NYC Niagara, ex-Conemaugh & Chestnut Ridge Conemaugh)
__________________________________________________________________________________
Carload Express LHV:
LHV SD60M no. 6010 (CCLX Red)(Former Conrail)
LHV SD60M no. 6011 (CCLX Red)(Former Conrail)
LHV GP35 no. 3500 (CCLX Red)
LHV GP40 no. 4010 (CCLX Red)
LHV GP40 no. 4011 (CCLX Red)
LHV MP15DC no. 1500 (CCLX Red)
LHV MP15DC no. 1505 (CCLX Red)
Laurel Highland Valley Railroad

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