After 14 years of modeling the IAIS, last week I was thrown off course for several days when I learned about the Rock Island trustee's proposed (but eventually rejected) plans for the railroad's "core" reorganization in the late 1970s. (For those of you not familiar with the IAIS, it's a regional railroad that operates the former RI mainline from Chicago to Council Bluffs, as well as several branches.) The trustee's plan was to do away with essentially all RI lines west of Omaha and south of Kansas City, and to operate what remained with a smaller all-EMD roster, where all GEs (that I was never really a fan of), Alcos, and unrebuilt 567-engined EMDs would be sold and the proceeds used to buy more new GP38-2s, some MP15ACs, and 30-40 more SD40-2s - my favorite locomotives.
The segment of the IAIS I model was a part of that planned RI core, so the idea of backdating the layout to model a downsized RI set in about 1982, with just a few remaining examples of the soon-to-be-retired power, and with a much more SD40-2-centric roster, seemed very attractive. There would be no Rock Island west of the portion I model, so operations would actually look a lot like the IAIS's West End of my present era, plus some UP run-through traffic and coal trains off of both UP and BN to power plants on the RI. With the simplified operating scheme, the RI likely would have pulled up the same tracks the IAIS did in order to cut costs, so changes to the layout itself would be minimal. And there'd be cabooses! I've long missed caboose operations, and I've often thought that if I wasn't modeling the IAIS, I'd choose a prototype set back in the late 1970s or early 80s so cabooses would still be active.
What gave me pause regarding this plan was the thought of starting from scratch on my car and locomotive rosters...and all those sound installs! Suddenly, the idea began to lose its appeal. Then I started looking at what I'd actually gain in exchange for all that work. The core RI roster would actually have been surprisingly similar to what I have today, with the IAIS opting for GP38s instead of GP40s, and SD38-2s (ex-LLPX units in RI-like light blue and white, no less) instead of SD40-2s. Instead of UP run-throughs, the IAIS had UP detours during my era, as well as sharing an intermodal ramp with the UP, allowing me to run their SD40-2s, MP15ACs, and modern power.
When all was said and done, about the only thing the IAIS didn't have to offer was caboose operations. However, that's more than offset by the enjoyment I get from strict prototype modeling. There's a sense of satisfaction that comes from recreating scenes and operations I actually experienced that I've never been able to match with proto-freelancing.
(And if the caboose itch gets too bad, I've got a small stockpile of Bluford Shops MP short bay window cabooses that'd make great would-be IAIS cabooses when the mood strikes. When these recurring temptations toward "mission creep" hit me, I've found that just giving in and building an example of the model that's tempting me is all it takes to satisfy the urge. (Edit: I should have clarified that this only works for me if that model is an extension of my primary theme vs. a wholesale change in prototypes.) For example, after years of wanting a what-if IAIS F-unit, buying F's and then selling them again at a loss when discipline returned, I finally gave in and modeled an ex-MILW F7A that spent some time on the IAIS years ago. Now that I have it, it sits inside the enginehouse, with no temptation to run it.)
In the end, I thought this was an interesting exercise, and it only reinforced my choice of prototypes as a fit for my interests. For someone like me who used to jump around to modeling a new prototype every few years, it says something that my interest in the IAIS has held up for 14 years and can withstand an "attack" like this. There's a lot of peace and enjoyment that comes from that contentment, and deciding to stay the course has really motivated me in my work on the layout.
