Rosters

common engines

Bremmer

  I see your point, but most of us aren't as smart as class one railroads.My examples of the three railroads, they all had a variety of locos. Even Mike Confalone has a variety of motive power. I bet 90 % or more layouts have a pretty good variety, and maybe even different paint schemes forn the home road.. The Utah Belt by Eric Brooman has a variety and is very conscious of what motive power is in use on the class ones.. Our club has about 80 locos and while there are several examples of many, we have 4 and 6 Alcos GEs and EMDs as well as  a few Baldwins and even a couple of steamers for our steam excursion operation.

Tell me about it

" in the modern class 1

" in the modern class 1 railroad era, how much variety can you describe? Bill has 20 SD70MAC's and 25 GEVO's and a pair of GP40-2's for local service"

  with weathering there can be just as much variety on a modern layout as on an older era layout, it's just a different type of variety.   I imagine the reason there's not so many roster articles now is that most folks are more into layout building and operations than loco modeling. In the old days it was a lot harder to get distinct locos so more notice was taken of them, now days we have tons of stuff they could only dream of so we are not so impressed by individual locos? .DaveB

today vs yesterday

ctxmf74

  I understand, but in the "old days" there were no pre built buildings, cars or many other things we have today including decent prefab track. Many older layouts had hand laid track, which was very time consuming. Operation has been around for years and i doubt that the percentage of layouts with operations has increased that much, Although there is certainly less building of all kinds, although not dead by any means. However there are a lot more people weathering today, and there is  certainly a better variety of locos as well as all hobby supplies than there was 50 years ago At 73 I have seen the hobby change, but I think it is a mixed bag some good some bad, IMHO. I would love to see more photos and lists of layout rosters, as you and Bremner have listed, now how about a few photos.

A Huge Reason for Modeling the Transition Era - Variety

One of the main reasons I have been drawn to the transition era (other than remembrances) is the variety of engines and rolling stock which can exist on a layout. In the old SOU and L&N Knoxville yards you could see foreign locomotives from N&W, ET&WNC, Central of Georgia, Smokey Mountain Rw and more. The variety of motive power for even one Class 1 train such as the Tennessean provides great operational potential.

The Tennessean was pulled between Memphis and Bristol by beautiful EMD E6 and ALCO 109/110 AB sets. The outstanding N&W J's hauled the streamliners from Bristol to Northern VA where the streamlined SOU  PS-4 Pacific 1380 ran between Monroe, VA and Washington, DC. To get the total effect, one has to add switchers (steam and diesel) to the roster to cover the passenger and head end car switching that occurred in Memphis, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Bristol, Roanoke and DC. One train and six or more engines. Now throw in one or more SOU and maybe few L&N's passenger trains and one roster could legitimately grow to more to almost as many engines as cars. Mine has.

My roster...

My current layout roster (though the layout doesn't yet have any track) is as follows:

1 Bachmann Spectrum 0-6-0 with DCC

1 Bachmann Shay with DCC

1 Roundhouse Boxcab (in the shop) that's destined to be driven by a Bachmann 44 tonner's drive unit

On the acquisitions list:  B&M 2-6-0 Sound Value DCC

Narrow Gauge; HOn30:  1 dummy vertical boiler Climax

B-B critter, freelanced

2-6-2 Prairie, awaiting completion

On the anachronism list (All much too modern)

Pennsylvania RR Fairbanks-Morse switcher, DCC sound

Bethlehem Steel diesel switcher, DCC

2 Budd RDC's, DC--one MBTA and 1  B&M

Logger and Irish Rover   

Logger and Irish Rover 

Thanks for the reply and rosters Irish good luck with your layout. Logger my roster looks more appropriate for someone named Logger. What the story, although l know there was a lot of logging in the south. Not as far south as you  ( I think), but I have been to Cass many times although not recently. I am planning a new layout with some narrow gauge and logging. I have two Keystone 2 truck shays with NWSL power to build. So my new NRSL will have an interchange with the "Wild River RR" The WR roster will be two brass 2-8-0s a MDC 2-8-0 the two Keystone shays, a 2 truck MDC shay (maybe) I have it, but it is large for narrow gauge. Also have 3 Grandt Line diesels. All overkill for my 12 by 26 foot space. A couple more photos of my engines   

Roster variety

Interesting thread Ray.  I remember really enjoying photos in Jim Hediger's original Ohio Southern article in MR showing his entire roster on display in just a shot or two.  I haven't staged such a shot on my own layout in some time, but here are individual shots of the IAIS units that are active today.

SW1200 250 (ex-T&P):

GP9 303 (ex-C&O):

GP7M 400 (ex-RI):

GP10 403 (ex-IC/ICG):

GP16 495 (ex-Seaboard/CSX):

GP38 600 (ex-PRSL):

GP38 602 (ex-MP):

GP38 603 (ex-Southern):

GP38 604 (ex-C&O):

GP38AC 625 (ex-GM&O):

GP38AC 628 (ex-GM&O):

GP38-2s 703 and 709 (ex-Conrail):

M420R 801 (ex-P&W):

LLPX SD38-2 2802 (ex-Reserve Mining):

LLPX SD38-2 2805 (ex-Reserve Mining):

I still have more to build - ex-IC/ICG GP8s 468 and 481 and GP11 485, four more ex-Conrail GP38-2s, and ex-LLPX SD38-2s 2807 and 2809 - but hopefully this serves as an encouragement that having a roster with a lot of variety is still very much in reach for modern modelers.

Joe Now that is what :I was

Joe

Now that is what :I was looking for. Thanks for posting. Great looking roster. Do you and Jim coordinate engine numbers? 

                                                                                 Ray

. I would love to see more photos and lists of layout rosters,

 Hi Ray,  My layouts don't need a lot of locos so my roasters are pretty small.  My HO scale CCT layout has two GP7 locos, and two SW1500 locos and will eventually get a GP18 loco all in the CCT red scheme like the loco shown. 

   My N scale B&G layout has an SP GP20, an SP GP40-2,a BNSF 8 40-B,and a UPSD40-2, and might get a couple more if I ever finsh it and need more power. 

   I also have one of the new Saz model SW 9 TT scale switchers , and three S scale locos( Gp9,G35, and partially built  boxcab gas electric )  . At one time a had some O scale locos but have sold them off since I decided I didn't want to build such a large layout. .DaveB   

Coordination

Thank you Ray.  James and I each focus on the locomotives that were appropriate for our respective eras and lines, so I don't think either one of us has ever given any thought to avoiding units that the other has already rostered.  Anything on the IAIS in my 2005 era could be found on my portion of the railroad, but I think James's Grimes Line typically saw the 700-series GP38-2s during his 2008 timeframe.  When the upcoming Genesis IAIS GP38-2s arrive later this year, I'd imagine James and I will have at least one duplicate.

Another IAIS fan, Scott Thornton, is modeling the Milan Branch that was a frequent haunt of SW1200 250, so Scott and I both have models of that locomotive.  The prototype migrated from service in the Rock Island area (including on the Milan Branch) to Council Bluffs - the yard I model - in September 2003, just after Scott's era, and it lived out its remaining IAIS years in CB.

Don't have photos available right now

But here is my loco roster:

All but the dummies are DCC, the GP9 is the only 1 with sound.

Huh...

Thinking of what's currently in service, here's the roster on my layout:

Western Pacific (home road)

Union Pacific (pooled or leased)

* All Athearn "blue box" mechanisms have been remotored with can motors (Canon, Mashima or Kato) and received machined nickel silver wheelsets.  All have also received varying amounts of detail and other modification along with new paint.

Logging Roster

Ray,

I only had time for a little input while taking a break from work, so I focused on my passenger operations which I can run on club layouts. Except for N and HO test tracks, I am currently without an operational home layout or even modules (two of my former modules did make it to the NTS), and my current club only has HOn3 track in the logging sections. So except for my Large Scale units (three two truck and three three truck Shays, three Climaxes, two Heilsers and one live steam Shay) which are often run in the garden, or when I have a chance to operate on a friends HO logging layout, I have to keep my logging roster boxed up.

I have over fifteen HO geared locomotives and I think nine rod units which were similar to the standard gage roster for the Little River Railroad in Tennessee ( http://www.littleriverrailroad.org/roster.htm). Col. Townsend and his crews cut down, and I mean stripped bare, about one quarter of what is now the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. What you see when you visit the GSMNP is all new growth in since 1939. I also have a Shay painted for a small sub to the Eagle Creek Copper Mine which was near Fontana, North Carolina and is also now within the GSMNP, and one painted for New River / Brimstone Railroad Company which ran coal and lumber operations in the Cumberland Mountains near Oneida, Tennessee (Part of which are now part of the Big South Fork National River and Recreational Area).

Little River did not run any Climaxes or Heislers, but I like them and have several mixed in with the HO Shays. Little River rostered 0-4-0, 2-6-0, 2-6-2, 2-4-4-2 Mallet and 4-6-2 rod engines (110 was the smallest standard gage Pacific made by Baldwin and is still operating on a tourist line - http://www.littleriverrailroad.com). A slightly larger 2-4-4-2 was originally delivered to Little River. It would not handle the curves in the gorge, but Snookums proved very successfully in the Pacific North West. Number 148 the smaller 2-4-4-2 and other rod engines pulled lumber, log and scheduled passenger trains all the way from the Knoxville and Augusta (Southern Railway) connection at Walland, to the mill at Townsend and into the "Park" to a yard which is now the Elkmont Campground ( http://www.littleriverrailroad.org/passenger.htm). On weekends and holidays Little River used Shays to pulled or pushed excursion cars almost to ridge lines (a great operational opportunity for the modeler).

More Little River pictures at http://www.littleriverrailroad.org/.

Protofreelance roster

One of the criteria for my proto-freelance railroad was the year of operation.  I started with the steam/diesel transition period, but narrowed it down to 1960.  My railroad management's long-range business plan, after due evaluation, determined that conversion to all-diesel power was prudent, and, in that long range plan, very cost-effective.

They then looked at best values in new and used locomotives, best available performance upgrades, and limits to type of engines, because virtually all maintenance is done in-house.  The results:

4 axle, due to curvature and bridge/trestle loading.

EMD = all with 567 engines:

(3) GP9's  - 2 with the new low-hoods for visibility.

(1) GP20 - to take advantage of the new technology for increased HP.

(1) SW9 for yard duties.

ALCO:

(2) FA2, (1)FB2- for passenger service - but with the more reliable 251 engines.

(1) leased/borrowed SP RSD-5 or SD-7 for additional power on the stiffest grades.  The GP20 may take the place of them.   (What do you do with favorite locos?!!!)

Steam:  there's always the local rail historical society fan trip!

All the motive power I have that doesn't fit that profile is on the shelf or in a box.

It took a bit of research, but that's part of the fun for me in this hobby.  (Photos, sorry.  camera fix would have to come out of the railroad budget)

Rincon Pacific Rwy, 1960.

 Hey Don, You nailed the roster for the 1960 era. I remember seeing the new SP low hood GP9's and GP 20's about that time.  Where is your layout setting to connect with the SP?  There's a place called Rincon on the Santa Cruz branch. .DaveB

Rincon

Dave,

My railroad is in Ventura County.  The connection with SP is at about Carpinteria, on the coast near Rincon Point.   Rincon Point is the 90° elbow in the coastline near the Ventura/Santa Barbara County lines (and the world's best small wave winter surfing).

In my universe, Rincon Pacific railroad was developed by local businessmen to serve the agricultural and oil industries of Ventura County, so SP had to settle for connections there and in Los Angeles county, with SP through traffic running on RP lines through trackage rights and haulage rights agreements.

"The connection with SP is at

"The connection with SP is at about Carpinteria, on the coast near Rincon Point.   Rincon Point is the 90° elbow in the coastline near the Ventura/Santa Barbara County lines (and the world's best small wave winter surfing)"

    Actually I've surfed that Rincon on trips to So Cal. Probably my second favorite spot down there after Malibu         ( back in the Mickey Dora days). I recall sitting out in the lineup and watching brand new tunnel motors rumble up the coast line.  Love the warm water down there compared to the water up here at Pleasure point and Steamer lane .DaveB

Variety

I think variety depends on who is looking. Many modelers might look at my fleet and shrug and say something like what was said above, "Oh well, they're all SD70MAC's and Dash 9's, there's no variety. That said, modern diesel is what I have grown up around, worked around, and am most familiar with, so I see a lot of variety in my fleet of all the same diesels.

But get someone like me around steam locomotives, with which I admit I am highly unfamiliar, and I tend to think, "Oh, that's nice, but they're all steamers, they basically look the same."

To a steam modeler, BNSF MAC's might all look like big orange boxes, yet to a diesel modeler, all steam locomotives may look like big black barrels.

A bit of this and some of that ...

My roster is a bit confused

1 GE 44 tonner

1 GE 70 tonner

2 DASH8-40B

2 GP39M

1 PA & B

1 RSD45

3 RS-3

1 P42

1 NW2

1 GP7

1 GP18

1 F45

1 F40PH

1 SW 1200

1 SW 1500

1 U30C

1 Baldwin 4-6-0

IAS

Thanks Joe for the update. I didn't know there were three of you. I wish I had your focus. I am about to start a new layout and it will not be a slice of the real world, but one of my imagination. I admire those with more focus, but at 73 and with an eclectic collection of steamers and some narrow gauge I will have to go with my NRSL theme based roughly in the northeast. The thing I am not telling is I belong to a club and have a significant collection of diesels also. Many of them were bought under the guise of being for my son, Neil, but like you he is much more  focused and models basically B & M and CP, although he inherited a little of his father's lack of focus and has D & H , MEC, and even some Chessie units.

                                                                                                    Ray

reply to all

Thanks to all the posts and pictures.

Dave B Nice variety looks like the start of a nice shortline roster.

James E Wow that is s nice roster and pretty good focus. While the club thing , for me at least, can be a distraction, it allows one reason to buy something other than home road power.

Rob nice focus and I have done the remoter NWSL wheel sets and added detail to a few engines for the club. All Athearn bluebox also. It gives a sense of accomplishment to be able to turn a basic engine into a great model.

Ken now we are talking my type of roster. Thanks for the info on the Little River. I am aware of their 2-4-4-2  and have several friends with models of her, but was not knowledgeable on the railroad. I started out with the idea of a logging layout also and have 2 sierra 2-6-6-2s several Bachmaan shays and PFM Heisler, Climax (as seen in the roster) and 2 truck Shay. Love the romance of logging although in real terms it was hard dirty and dangerous.

Don sounds like a well thought out roster, much better than mine. Era focus is a smart thing and limiting yourself to certain prime movers would make some real railroads envious.

James O all SD70 macs would make the maintenance crew happy that is for sure. As someone else pointed out though with weathering there can be at least subtle differences and maybe even some slight paint variations.

Tonywryan You said it all, but I do like the center cab, and I can’t kid too much, as I have a diesel collection that includes NH, CP, Chessie, LV, D & H, MEC, B & M, B & O, EL, Conrail, and probably some I forgot. As I said in the opening of this post we all have too many locos, but usually narrow it a bit once we have a layout. It is all fun anyway.

Thanks again to all

Ray

Focus

Thanks Ray, but I have my times of struggle as well.  I also model my other favorite railroad, the UP, since they had trackage rights on the IAIS during my era, and the two roads share an intermodal terminal in Council Bluffs.  My UP work gives me a chance to model the newer units that ran alongside IAIS's more dated roster.

I'm also tempted at times to start over with a completely different prototype, thanks in part to your son's work.  Seeing the 1970s and early 80s reminds me of the railroading that first drew me in to this hobby.  Each time those temptations come, though, I end up riding them out and sticking with the IAIS.  Their roster is basically a throwback to that time period anyway.

Whether we're modeling a prototype or freelancing, I think it's nice to come to a point where we're content with what we have and satisfied in just staying the course rather than being tossed around by every passing whim.  That's helped my productivity a lot too.