Do you operate multiple eras?


When I am by myself I run my little steam locomotives etc. to a 1914 - 1919 era.
or my diesel locomotives etc. to 1970 - 1983 timeframe.
Sometimes I run my big LMS steam locomotives when I like.
When the grandchildren run trains then anything can happen and often does. :cool:

David
 
My layout spans 1900 - 1939, as far as buildings and cars and trucks go. Of course, buildings can be any era, except modern era architecture does not fit well when running steam, in my view

I stretch it a little with my little SW-1 Switcher, which does the very slow speeds in a commendable manner. It is my preferred locomotive, and they were first built in 1939. I also try to do some prototypical Northern Pacific trains, using road names common to this part of Minnesota.

I tend to be a little anal about getting "year built" on box cars right!

That being said, I have several transition era Diesels also cabooses and freight cars in storage. I have been tempted to bring them out but when push comes to shove, I have enough of the earlier stuff to keep me entertained.

I keep what I believe the minimum number of freight cars, and keep less than 1/2 of them on the layout at a time. I have sold 3x more cars than I now own, just to keep things simple and make the best use of my storage space.

Like Mara, most of the trains that I have now have some sort of emotional attachment that I don't want to get rid of them. My Soo Line truss rod box car is a favorite, in part because of the old photo I have with some relatives

Here is the box car I have, not exact but same logo:

a final view 015.JPG

Here is the photo I like, in front of the Hinckley MN depot, circa 1890?

Soo Line, Oxen, MStP.png


I am kind of rambling but to answer, I mostly keep to one era.

Dave LASM
 
Wow ya'll I really enjoyed reading your posts! TomO nice thread topic!

I have to say I pondered this for many years. Every time I try to limit myself to an era I get cranky lol What did it for me was when I moved to Arkansas back in 1991. Before I go into that I will indulge you into a back story of my humble beginnings into the hobby. In 1971 I received my first train set for Christmas. It was a NYC set made by Mantua/Tyco set. (Launching in 1957, Mantua pioneered HO-scale model railroad “ready-to-run” die-cast locomotives. These products, also available as assembly kits, were sold under the TYCO (for Tyler Company) name.) Anyways it was a set that didn't grow but it was just an oval with a 0-4-0 Dockside steam switcher made of diecast. It included 2 box cars, one flat car with 3 dozers, one tank car and a red caboose. Still have it and still runs. When my family moved to Wisconsin in 1974 things changed as my attention did too. I still loved trains and model trains. Going into Milwaukee, West-Allis area where my dad worked I saw a lot of RR action at the plants in the area. Milwaukee RD and SOO etc. and later WC etc. I dabbled into AFX race cars, even TCR too and then the Carrera and other 1/32 scale cars. Then all of the sudden nothing but hunting and fishing. We then moved to Florida in '85. In Florida it was chasing girls and fast cars....hunting and fishing still.

I didn't get back into the train hobby until I moved to Arkansas in '91. At that time the hobby had my full attention! (even though I still hunted and fished) Living just 20 miles south of Little Rock a block from the double mainlines running north and south of now UP but was MP/SP just lit my fire. I went nuts. The multiple mergers was full on during this time. Trains were running so heavily there it was amazing! I was going to school at night and worked by day. I wasn't one of those guys that had parents that paid for my college education. I did that on my own time and dime. Anyways I was offered an internship at the Jenks Shop that was MOPAC and of course now Union Pacific . It was at the time already UP when I interned there. Pretty much from then on I decided on modeling Union Pacific because of the diverse history of different locomotives they had over the years. I did love the cab forwards from SP and DRGW tunnel motors. So really it wasn't hard for me to change from my original NYC set to UP. I do remember however in the 70's when I was in Wisconsin I did love watching MLW, SOO, CNW, WC, WS and some of the short lines. Crazy thing was when I lived in Wisconsin I never did go to Walthers. I went to a lot of hobby shops but I was focused on the slot cars.


My dad and I went to Indianapolis 500 from '74 to '85 each year as well as the Milwaukee 200/250 following each Indy 500 race which was 2 weekends after like clock work. I have a boat load of autographs and pictures of me and the likes of Bobby & Al Unser, Danny Ongaiis, Johnny Rutherford, AJ Foyt, Tom Bigelow, Rick Mears, Roger Penske and so on....Dad and I actually went to Indy 4 more times after we left Wisconsin. Then I followed NASCAR until Dale Sr. died and then I went to drag racing. Gator Nationals and Snowbird Nationals when I competed with my '69 Camaro. It got expensive lol. Not that model railroading is not expensive.....

After Arkansas I moved back to Florida in 2000. So back to the Union Pacific, I ended up not pinning myself down to an era but I do try to run my trains that fall in the era per the locomotive and cars that I have most of the time. I just enjoy doing what makes me happy which is what everyone should do. I do admire everyone who does specific eras and stay true to prototype and style of the RR. Maybe some day I may do the same but at the moment nope. When I lived in Arkansas the job I had there after my internship I traveled a lot out west and of course whenever possible I visited every UP line I could. I have been to North Platte and Cheyenne more times than I can count. Green River and Salt Lake City UT as well. I even frequented the Durango & Silverton RR as well. I did go to Sherman Hill and Cajon pass a few times as well. All in all I just loved the heritage and the line Union Pacific had and acquired form SP, WP, CNW, RI, MOPAC, DRGW and other RRs. Gotta love it!
 
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NorthBrit said:
It does if you want them to be involved and come back time after time. :cool:


David
Click to expand...
True, kids don't care for era's, they simply want to run a train, any train, nothing wrong with that. I run different era's, scales, and countries, so what, it's my layout, my railroad, so it's my rules. :)
 
logandsawman said:
My layout spans 1900 - 1939, as far as buildings and cars and trucks go. Of course, buildings can be any era, except modern era architecture does not fit well when running steam, in my view

I stretch it a little with my little SW-1 Switcher, which does the very slow speeds in a commendable manner. It is my preferred locomotive, and they were first built in 1939. I also try to do some prototypical Northern Pacific trains, using road names common to this part of Minnesota.

I tend to be a little anal about getting "year built" on box cars right!

That being said, I have several transition era Diesels also cabooses and freight cars in storage. I have been tempted to bring them out but when push comes to shove, I have enough of the earlier stuff to keep me entertained.

I keep what I believe the minimum number of freight cars, and keep less than 1/2 of them on the layout at a time. I have sold 3x more cars than I now own, just to keep things simple and make the best use of my storage space.

Like Mara, most of the trains that I have now have some sort of emotional attachment that I don't want to get rid of them. My Soo Line truss rod box car is a favorite, in part because of the old photo I have with some relatives

Here is the box car I have, not exact but same logo:

View attachment 157392

Here is the photo I like, in front of the Hinckley MN depot, circa 1890?

View attachment 157393

I am kind of rambling but to answer, I mostly keep to one era.

Dave LASM
Click to expand...
Thanks Dave. It’s alway great to read the views and reasons for so many of us.

Maybe, a thread on what sentimental value means to us and how we show it ion the layout.
 
Alcomotive said:
Wow ya'll I really enjoyed reading your posts! TomO nice thread topic!

I have to say I pondered this for many years. Every time I try to limit myself to an era I get cranky lol What did it for me was when I moved to Arkansas back in 1991. Before I go into that I will indulge you into a back story of my humble beginnings into the hobby. In 1971 I received my first train set for Christmas. It was a NYC set made by Mantua/Tyco set. (Launching in 1957, Mantua pioneered HO-scale model railroad “ready-to-run” die-cast locomotives. These products, also available as assembly kits, were sold under the TYCO (for Tyler Company) name.) Anyways it was a set that didn't grow but it was just an oval with a 0-4-0 Dockside steam switcher made of diecast. It included 2 box cars, one flat car with 3 dozers, one tank car and a red caboose. Still have it and still runs. When my family moved to Wisconsin in 1974 things changed as my attention did too. I still loved trains and model trains. Going into Milwaukee, West-Allis area where my dad worked I saw a lot of RR action at the plants in the area. Milwaukee RD and SOO etc. and later WC etc. I dabbled into AFX race cars, even TCR too and then the Carrera and other 1/32 scale cars. Then all of the sudden nothing but hunting and fishing. We then moved to Florida in '85. In Florida it was chasing girls and fast cars....hunting and fishing still.

I didn't get back into the train hobby until I moved to Arkansas in '91. At that time the hobby had my full attention! (even though I still hunted and fished) Living just 20 miles south of Little Rock a block from the double mainlines running north and south of now UP but was MP/SP just lit my fire. I went nuts. The multiple mergers was full on during this time. Trains were running so heavily there it was amazing! I was going to school at night and worked by day. I wasn't one of those guys that had parents that paid for my college education. I did that on my own time and dime. Anyways I was offered an internship at the Jenks Shop that was MOPAC and of course now Union Pacific . It was at the time already UP when I interned there. Pretty much from then on I decided on modeling Union Pacific because of the diverse history of different locomotives they had over the years. I did love the cab forwards from SP and DRGW tunnel motors. So really it wasn't hard for me to change from my original NYC set to UP. I do remember however in the 70's when I was in Wisconsin I did love watching MLW, SOO, CNW, WC, WS and some of the short lines. Crazy thing was when I lived in Wisconsin I never did go to Walthers. I went to a lot of hobby shops but I was focused on the slot cars.


My dad and I went to Indianapolis 500 from '74 to '85 each year as well as the Milwaukee 200/250 following each Indy 500 race which was 2 weekends after like clock work. I have a boat load of autographs and pictures of me and the likes of Bobby & Al Unser, Danny Ongaiis, Johnny Rutherford, AJ Foyt, Tom Bigelow, Rick Mears, Roger Penske and so on....Dad and I actually went to Indy 4 more times after we left Wisconsin. Then I followed NASCAR until Dale Sr. died and then I went to drag racing. Gator Nationals and Snowbird Nationals when I competed with my '69 Camaro. It got expensive lol. Not that model railroading is not expensive.....

After Arkansas I moved back to Florida in 2000. So back to the Union Pacific, I ended up not pinning myself down to an era but I do try to run my trains that fall in the era per the locomotive and cars that I have most of the time. I just enjoy doing what makes me happy which is what everyone should do. I do admire everyone who does specific eras and stay true to prototype and style of the RR. Maybe some day I may do the same but at the moment nope. When I lived in Arkansas the job I had there after my internship I traveled a lot out west and of course whenever possible I visited every UP line I could. I have been to North Platte and Cheyenne more times than I can count. Green River and Salt Lake City UT as well. I even frequented the Durango & Silverton RR as well. I did go to Sherman Hill and Cajon pass a few times as well. All in all I just loved the heritage and the line Union Pacific had and acquired form SP, WP, CNW, RI, MOPAC, DRGW and other RRs. Gotta love it!
Click to expand...
Great story James!

As a kid, the local rail was Rock Island. Never was enamored with RI probably because the commuter cars really sucked. That was 3/4 of trains we would see. Even after I went to school in Milwaukee, CNW never really interested me. But Milwaukee Road and of course WC still hold a fascination even though I now model CN and Proto-free lance

Slot cars, as a family and neighborhood, we still race 1/32 cars. 3 lanes 6 people racing is really cool. I have custom built 6 of the neighborhood tracks since 2014.
 
Era's boy, story to that. Parents bought me an S scale American Flyer for Christmas about 1960 and put it on the proverbial gnip/gnop table. Missouri Pacific AA unit with assorted cars. Kept be busy for a couple of years. Reality set in as a 12 to 14yo I could not afford to any more stuff at that scale. Switched to HO and started collecting anything I could get my hands on. 1st HO was a GP9 GN of which I do not remember the manufacture; Atlas or Tyco I think. About '70 I traded the AF to a guy at American Sign and Indicator for a 'time and temp' sign. Electronics was coming into to play for me about then. Also got a full size bar bowling machine for $10 and the neighbor helped me put it in the basement. Got it working again after figuring it out. Ya should have seen Mom's face when she went downstairs to do laundry! Anyway, the 70's is turned out to be my favorite time with the BN merger. Built smaller layouts on the 9x5 that was kinda targeted to BN, GN, NP, SP&S as the main want, with UP, Milwaukee, SI still the mix for collection. In '75 or so had a spare 12x14 bedroom that got taken over and built for me and the kids. In those times, anything and everything could run as I didn't care. Went to college in '83 got my Electronics Degree in '86 and went out to deal with the world. Lived all over Western Washington with no room for layout(s) as I seemed to move about going from job to job. Still collecting anything and everything. Moved to Libby in 2004 with literally 100's of pounds of mags: MR, RMC, Trains and a few others along with boxes and boxes of collected HO stuff. Did a N scale layout along one wall in the dining room which was fun but that scale is just too small; besides I had all of the HO stuff that I didn't want to part with.

Now I have pretty much settled on the 70's era with my location in the Pacific Northwest. I have been trimming the collection; abet slowly and now keep revenue/passenger cars to that era and power up to SD40's and the like. Yes, I cheat and run big ( and little ) steam as according to Mom was my favorite thing to watch when under 10 years old ( face plant on car window at crossings to watch them go by ). In fact, being a hyper kid, and when she could not stand me, she would pile me in the car and would go down to Parkwater ( Yardley ) with a book and read while letting me just sit and watch trains of which I would come back down to Earth after a bit. Nowadays, wife Maria goes almost always when I go train chas'n and reads books with her Kindle and enjoys the out of doors for a bit.

It has been a long and wonderful journey and I would do it all over again if needed.

Later
 
I have several stations, several diorama areas, and most have weathered options,my Goathland stations runs in the 1960s as per a tv series based in the village, but also runs modern as a preservation station which is what it is, and as it has foreign visitors even those can be showcased there, other areas tend to be more static but as you go around different eras are in evidence
80D95C11-215E-4B5B-9688-331858997372.jpeg

so usually 1960s
BA5B8C30-ECFF-45DF-86DF-820BB5F32FD3.jpeg

and appropriate vehicles
4946D956-8A3D-43F5-91CE-07293E08DB8A.jpeg

but occasionally more modern options
369D130D-55ED-47D7-86D1-BF09C078F7B8.jpeg

elsewhere it is usually closer to modern day
BD701E89-E381-421D-96EF-1C28598A24C0.jpeg
72598257-CB43-499D-B606-AC1B273EA486.jpeg

C53D2BE2-1A86-4BBC-9A76-BBDFAE254272.jpeg
1E2488BB-CEC8-4694-9941-23EFEA296B08.jpeg

A18CB98D-3E54-407E-8CF0-06FF44B7BB89.jpeg
52E5F2C1-2167-438D-B37C-84E25B0CD154.jpeg
 
TLOC said:
I have not put them up for sale yet. Still thinking.

I did this afternoon put 4 weathered pulp cars up for sale on FBView attachment 157118View attachment 157119View attachment 157120View attachment 157121
Click to expand...
The excellent modelling in picture 1 and 2 concentrates you on the hi gh wagon finish to such a degree that the environment actually passes inspection to the extent where you can pass them of a reference pictures,to me this is an art worthy of praise, excellent work
 
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