My Model Railroad Company
My work over the years has led me to the development of my own personal company operating within a historical region. In short, the benefits of the barren southwestern region become apparent when closer examination shows how a good portion of economic development occurred along rail lines. Indeed, as the railroads went in, water stops and other amenity resources required local development for the bare minimum infrastructure to cross the state. In turn, the places along the railroad were named as they became necessary, further lending to the creative element for a plausible and yet freelanced railroad in the region.
I have a great internal desire to design a railroad built upon necessity and functionality. By these rules the emphasis is not on prototype models but rather on prototype management. In short, if the locomotive could be able to run reliable and safe, and it fit on the rails, then it was run. The shop foreman on my line is capable of making any adjustments if standard equipment is missing; meanwhile, the President does not care so long as freight is moving and customers are raving about their service. The CFO does not care about doors or louvers or water glasses out of place, just so long as the unit is out generating revenue. The bottom line is the end all be all, so everything above it had better meet company policy first and prototype accuracy last!
I personally enjoy the element of speed, to a degree, and favor a railroad that runs closer to the high end of scale railroad operations. Eighties and seventy mile and hour freight drags, behind big boys, simply make a ton of sense. People like to whine and cry about how the average speed of current freight drags is still only 25 mph, but they should take into consideration that at least one third of the time the train is sitting stopped in sidings and another third the train is sitting at one end of the system waiting for crews or clearance. Furthermore, if the switching locals are also included in that average velocity, then the overall speed is even lower. The mainline freights here in Tucson, for example, like to blow into the north end of town at speeds approaching 65 and 70 mph, even though the average train speed on this route remains down near 25 mph.
So my railroad has an emphasis on getting freight moving and quickly; efficiency and accuracy further improve this goal. My railroad name is Hare Rabbit Railroad, a double emphasis on speed inspired allegories. The herald itself is quite simply a rabbit running at a very determined pace, adequately describing the company policy. And the rabbit inspired moniker really helps with slogans and route names as well.
For example, the Route of the March Hare is primarily a military railroad built as part of a government funded project to reinforce military outposts in Arizona. The herald is the same rabbit except the rabbit has a military cap, bedroll, and rifle slung on it’s back. The Briar Patch route, through some of the thorniest territory in Arizona, has a coil of brambles under the rabbit herald. And the Cottontail route has three little rabbit heralds joining the big rabbit herald; this route is the home route, the milk run, or the general mainline, where as they say, the young cut their teeth.
I have played around with other names, but this seems to be the end result. Indeed, I even went so far as to make another railroad more specifically tied to a more conventional place and location style name; the result was Arizona Sonora Railroad, The Auga Fria Railroad, the Verde River railroad, the Gila river railroad, the Jalapeno and Habanero railroad ["The ‘ot and ‘otter Route”] ,and then some merger combinations emerged; I enved up with things like the Verde and Auga Fria Railroad, and other variants like Gila River and Auga Fria Western. In the end, I like Hare Rabbit better.
Who knows; I might find a more viable road name solution just yet. I do know that the herald will remain the running rabbit logo. At this point, these later road name developments now play a role in the expansion of HRRR, as a major carrier emerges as the result of many smaller mergers. The large carriers became what they are after all through buying up smaller companies as a means of expansion. And the Jalapeno and Habanero Railroad, after all, makes a great acquisition in the Arizona bread belt!
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Benny's Index or Somewhere Chasing Rabbits
