Hi all from the U.K

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T

The_Limey

Member
Hi all...

Excuse my apparent ignorance but as well as being a Limey and therefore at a disadvantage in terms of 'local knowledge' vis U.S outline railways, I come from a wargames modelling background, making my living painting military gaming figures.

True, I dabbled with British steam stuff as a lad, but I am by no means a hardcore railfan (yet)

Well, cutting to the chase, I decided on a layout based on Union Pacific sometime from the mid 1970's onwards... (I have a love of old National Geographic mags of the 70's and 80's and I want to add a few 'vignettes of 'Somewhere USA)

So, bear with me whilst I find my feet, so to speak... I will make sure that for the meantime I wear my 'I am a newbie - kick me!' sign :p

I'm really looking forward to exploring this hobby and hopefully displaying some of my work here.



Mark

U.K

www.conflictincolour.com
 
1970's UP is basically a big east-west X, with the east ends at Council Bluffs, IA and Kansas City, KS and the western ends at Portland, OR and Los Angeles, CA, with a line down to Denver and a lot of branch lines in Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho and Utah. Double stack business hadn't arrived, the Powder River Basin coal was not yet mined and the UP was ending its plan to merge with the now bankrupt Rock Island.
 


Welcome, Limey! My own paternal grandfather came from Walsall, and my mother's side were from Scotland, Edinburgh (Clan Gordon).

I expect you bring some pretty solid skills to the table, so when you begin to put something together, I hope you will feel comfortable posting some photos?

You should find a wealth of information here. I don't model prior to 1957, so I only have a few first generation diesels...mostly steam. And I have two UP steamers, the Challenger 4-6-6-4 and the Santa Fe type 2-10-2. But I am mostly a collector for about five different railroads, so I can't claim any expertise in the UP system. I can claim a PhD in having fun. I wrote the book.
:D

-Crandell
 
thanks for the warm welcome!

I looked at modeling an earlier period but as I said, I was brought up on NG mags and the pictures and snapshots of America really captured me... And to be honest the colors of the diesels appeal to the part of me obsessed with the pomp of military uniforms :)

I have some interesting scenery ideas, if I can get a balance between yards and working class residential areas in the 32 linear feet that I have.
 
Many thanks...

But, I believe that given the price of air fares, any redcoat invasion is highly unlikely :D

Mind you... two of us, well equipped... it maaaaay just work... lol!
 
Woohooo...

the Good Lady has just agreed to remove her sun bed from the Den...


That gives me an additional 8 linear feet...

Is 40 feet x 2 feet enough for HO?
 
The_Limey said:
Many thanks...

But, I believe that given the price of air fares, any redcoat invasion is highly unlikely :D

Mind you... two of us, well equipped... it maaaaay just work... lol!
Click to expand...

I think we'll take over the TV first.

We've already sent an advance party of Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan, Cat Deely, Gordon Ramsey and Jamie Oliver... so we're well on our way. ;)


The_Limey said:
Or am I better going with N gauge?


Says he, looking at 3 HO locos on the desk :)
Click to expand...

Now that's the $64m question that doesn't exactly have a straight forward answer.

Its perhaps all down to personal preference. I'll be honest with you, I think I'd get much more bang out of N scale, particularly in terms of use of space, but for starters I think I'd find it tricky to put things together. I struggle with the smaller parts on HO, so N would really give me a challenge.

I don't know how small your military models are, but if you're used to a really small scale then you should do fine.

Of course those 3 HO locos might just be telling you thats the way to go. You can achieve the same level of model in any scale really, it just depends on how much detail you want vs. space to use etc.
 


Cheers...

My smallest model I work on at present is 1mm to the foot or what we call 6mm scale (being the height of a man... that odd way that wargames peeps gauge their models)

Please have a look in my gallery at conflictincolour.com at the detail I get on a 6mm Sudan War figure...


I guess I kinda envisage two yards at either end, passing through either an older suburban area or a downtown section in the middle... a few sidings etc for colour and dropping stuff off.

As I say, it's those 70's and 80's magazines that 'did for me'

There does seem to be more 'presence' to HO though and I think the nitty gritty detail is more apparent.

Wargaming was never this complex a matter :D
 
Another 'idiot question'

I know that the B&B and ATSF merged into BNSF...

Would it be feasible within my 70's to 80's window to mix ATSF and B&N loco's and stock on the same layout

Now, again... the pomp of the green and white B&N livery has me by the curlies to the point that UP looks urbane... (The UP locos were cheap enough that I can eBay them at £20 each anyway)
 
Hathaway Browne said:
The British are coming! The British are coming! ;)

Welcome aboard Mark!
Click to expand...
I,ve just come back from three weeks of scouting out Pennsylvania,and I can report that the locals are friendly !!.
I,m also modelling in HO, but I,ve hitched my flag to Norfolk Southern after seeing their locos up on the Horseshoe Curve. I came back with plenty of railroad photos, plus plenty of modelling supplies that I struggle to get here in England.
"Another 'idiot question'
I know that the B&B and ATSF merged into BNSF...Would it be feasible within my 70's to 80's window to mix ATSF and B&N loco's and stock on the same layout"
I can,t see why not, if you set your layout in the very early days of the merger, before the paint shop had had time to respray the rolling stock.
Ron
 
The_Limey said:
Cheers...

My smallest model I work on at present is 1mm to the foot or what we call 6mm scale (being the height of a man... that odd way that wargames peeps gauge their models)

Please have a look in my gallery at conflictincolour.com at the detail I get on a 6mm Sudan War figure...
Click to expand...
Wow that's some detail you've done on those figures. Regardless of the scale you pick I have a feeling you'll feel right at home.

The_Limey said:
Now, again... the pomp of the green and white B&N livery has me by the curlies to the point that UP looks urbane... (The UP locos were cheap enough that I can eBay them at £20 each anyway)
Click to expand...

ATSF and B&N can happily co-exist on the same layout without any "bother", and in all honest you can easily bend the rules to have the UP units make an appearance - even if its just for show. (EDIT: see what Ronzzr11 said above about the UP livery! :) )

I model "somewhere" in Canada in the 1960's and have some Great Northern locos, but I do have a Hornby Southeastern Javelin (High Speed bullet train) which I let loose from time to time. Totally out of time and location but it sure does look good going around.

I'm in the "make it what you want" camp. Sometimes I feel that we can get to bogged down in the infinitum of specific details.

Not that I'm dismissing models/layouts that follow the details to the letter - that's all fine and well and, in all honestly they usually result in a spectacular end product, but to me its your layout and you have the power to put the detail you want in. It makes it more unique and more personal.

Besides, especially with modelling NorthAm, its easy to create a backstory of how or why a specific train is where it is.

ie. I also have a Western Pacific (back when I started out and was planning a SoCal centric layout). The WP now runs as part of the layouts local rail company who purchased it, its just that they haven't had chance to changing the livery! ;)
 
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'Appen lad!


Well the die is cast... I have decided on BN (in the 80's) with the odd private lease loco making an appearance.

Anyone has any old BN stock, LMK please :)


... The Midlands? Is that the area south of Nottingham? Kind of Yorkshire values with a funny accent? ;)
 
haha Nope the more middle Midlands... our kid. ;)

BN is a good choice. Have you chosen to model anywhere in particular or will it be a combination of locations?
 


Location location...

Nope not yet


I need the muse... I want to add, as I have said before 'the dodgy end of town' in terms of scenics...

Any suggestions?
 
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