Shortline Inspiration

Eastside Freight Rail, Near Seattle, WA.

There is something to be said for shortlines.

Despite tight budgets and second-hand power, they are increasingly becoming the front-line face of American railroading. The big boys have unit trains and double-stacks, but shortlines offer something different - with creative thinking, customer service, and can-do attitude.

More importantly for a modeler - they offer several current examples of loose-car railroading on a scale a modeler can build a layout around.

The two videos offer two such examples, and many more can be found on Youtube.

So now you know what's been rattling around in my head. Now, to give these ideas some fleshing out... well, stay tuned.



Tulsa-Sapulpa Union Railway - Tulsa, OK. Love that paint scheme.

Street Car Appeal

Oooohhh, Tyler likes.

The new F-line PCC streetcar from Bowser, seen here in San Francisco Municipal Railway paint.

Looks good, looks good. Models like this come out and that interurban railroad I've been thinking about sounds better all the time. (The Bachman "Peter Witt" streetcar is another. If someone will make a good ready-to-run steeple-cab freight motor, I might make the jump.)

When it comes to modeling, interurban and streetcar lines have the following assets and liabilities:

Assets:

• Compact track arrangements (such as Sacramento Northern's 40th & Shafter terminal)
• Short trains
• High frequency of trains (it's a streetcar line, after all!)

Liabilities:

• Lack of ready-to-run models (for some, this is a plus)
• Catenary or overhead wires (a real modeling challenge)
• Era (1900-1950, with some exceptions; heyday of the interurbans was the 1910s and 1920s. Unless you model it as a de-electrified switching road, like the modern day Southern Railway of British Columbia.)

Geez, It's Dusty In Here

Nope, not dead; just not modeling.

The layout bug is itching something fierce, though. It's going to have to be more of a switching layout - I don't have a lot of room for broad curves. This is okay; I recently purchased two Athearn Genesis Milwaukee Road MP-15ACs with sound, and they haven't run yet.

Of course, I don't have a DCC system yet, either.

Anybody know of a good way to get rid of a bunch of excess HO scale stuff?