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Hmmm! Any suggestions on the following, and the ease or difficulty of each?
1. Modern type layout with a fallen flag (L&N of course). In this set up the L&N will still be alive and kickin. Here are some plusses in my mind. Can model what I see around me, no need to rely on old photos. Can completely develope a paint scheme on the diesels that I think would look cool. Can use any of the many modern rolling stock, in stead of searching for the right era.
2. Golden/Transition era. Of course there are many of the old style vehicles and trains for sale at the local hobby shops. Plusses can be that everything back then just looked better. All sleek and stylish lines. Minusses are sqinting to see the built dates to keep the stock in "era".
Let's here some experienced opinions or pointers here, as I do need them.
Well I've seen some old fallen flag railroads that people have revived to a modern ear. Even with modern paint jobs, and equipment. It's your world, your railroad, and your money. As long as your happy, that's the important part. I don't want to get flamed too bad, but some of the prototypical guys might not agree with reviving a fallen flag.
What do like better? Is is it big, modern power and intermodal trains or is it things like F-unit, older Geeps, and minority builder like Alco and Baldwin? Answer that question and you'll know the era you should model. As has been pointed out, a number of guys are already doing fallen flags in modern power and paint schemes so that shouldn't be a deciding factor. It should be what you like to see best running on your railroad.
One disadvantage to the "modern era" modeler is old freight cars. You still have to see if that car would still be in service today.......unless we have a..."fallen flag" freight car cult started up.
Since I do model the present day as well, I have to be careful of 'obsolescence creep'. That is, what cars will expire as their years of service come up.
Generally, I make it simple and take whatever Built Date is stamped on the car as the guiding date. More problematical is whether the cars actually get rebuilt into something else. For example, these days, the 48' well car isn't as common; they're being converted down to 40' cars. That will be a problem eventually....
For my normal, older period modelling the GN (and the Hill Lines), history (for me) ends on 1 Mar 70. That's when the BN came into existence. Though for about a year after that, I can still run a mishmash of power in their old schemes. If I do that, I have to look closely at the Build Dates of the cars I want to use; anything older than 1931 is pretty much off-limits....
One reason why the freight car fleet is so large.....
Thanks guys. I think I'll start with a transition era set up first. Gotta love those old F units in that sharp paint scheme. And I can get a modern diesel and make up a fantasy L&N scheme, just for kicks. I like the diesels best, old to modern. I even like CSX.
One disadvantage to the "modern era" modeler is old freight cars. You still have to see if that car would still be in service today.......unless we have a..."fallen flag" freight car cult started up.
We do! Zephyr and I are painting new delivery cars for the Rock Island. I've got the first four of 10 ACF covered hoppers in the "new" RI paint scheme. Boxcar red with a 36" black and white herald. Build date will be somewhere in the late 1990's.
well with the amount of old HO stuff I just sold on ebay i might be able to pickup a new fleet of sd70m's off ebay. If I do i might do a modern day ERIE, maybe CNJ or just start my fleet of NYSW sd70m's.
