Be careful Nick.  Prototype

Be careful Nick.  Prototype modeling is a slippery slope!

Jim

That’s actually the direction I am going too.

My freelance railroad is the dream a real railroad was built on. The Lancaster & Reading Narrow Gauge Railroad. It was poorly financed in real life and came under the Readings control upon opening. Then sometime either during the 1893 bankruptcy of the Reading  or during the 1901 bankruptcy of the L&RNG it became a PRR branch, ending the dream. The railroad had a lot of potential but consistently fell short. It could have been influenced and built into a bigger railroad by a wealthy businessman. I am amazed how little capital it took to build it. 

The Pennsylvania railroad mainline ended up skirting the city of Lancaster and the L&RNG line went through the heart of the city N/S to reach West Willow and Quarryville. The line accessed a number of industries that were a good distance from the Pennsylvania Mainline. I have found the fire insurance maps and taken a list of industries and which line they are located on to set up operations on my layout. 

My version of history veers off when a new owner takes over and builds the railroad into a bridge line. Sending PA and Maryland railroad history on a slightly different course. The LC is basically a southwestern extension of the Reading and it breaks the Pennsylvania railroads monopoly on this area. Creating the ‘5th system ‘ ( alphabet route) ten years earlier than it was. 

Researching History

I was going to blame Jim Six for getting to look at the “One Town” concept but I had been gravitating toward modeling a portion of the prototype for some time as well. What put me over the top was a visit to the area and meeting some folks who remembered the railroad and area I was interested in modeling. While a lot has changed in 100 years and research is challenging, it is also hugely rewarding to find tidbits that preserve the memory of these locations. 

Following along!

Nick, Lancaster, and Neil,

Nick, Lancaster, and Neil,

Modeling the prototype can be a rewarding experience. But like much in life, it has its pitfalls too. Most of the really "serious" prototype modelers I have known are model builders and not really layout folks. However, this has been changing more and more over the years as layout builders are modeling specific prototype locations.

Modeling individual grab irons and other prototype specific detail does not make you a prototype modeler. The level of detail is not what matters. The act of modeling a specific piece of prototype commitment to any level of detail can make you a prototype modeler. The same is true about modeling a specific prototype location with your layout. The level of detail is not the key here.

Jim

I enjoy prototype modeling

Personally, I think with the research and the striving to model a specific prototype, it adds a lot to the hobby for me.  

A favorite railroad

can make prototype modeling seem the most attractive . If one doesn't have a favorite road then it might be harder to decide on a prototype so free lance might be the easier path? It seems that the more one knows about a prototype road the more likely they are to model a prototype scene on their layout.....DaveB

I found a prototype railroad

I found a prototype railroad remarkably similar to my freelance line which has concepts and a scope that have been developed and refined over many years of different pikes in different scales. It's helped me with a lot of things and I have enjoyed researching it but I don't think I'll ever actually become a prototype modeler as the term is used today. I'm just way to attached to the creative freedom that comes with freelance.

My railroad isn’t real but

My railroad isn’t real but the industries are real except one. It’s a limestone quarry that is a composite of the quarry industry in this area and provides the reason for the railroad to be a financial success. 

Slippery Slope

Jim,

That is it.  And if I didn't already have lot of Penn Lake rolling stock, I might go completely prototypical.

Whimsy to Proto-Lance

Michael,

That is pretty much what I did.  I pretty much just started with a name and no firm idea.  Eventually I refined the concept to replace the CNJ and LNE in Pennsylvania's Anthracite region.

I started out prototypical.

In modern era Nscale. The thing was that even with two major railroads in town , NS and Amtrak, the traffic level is sporadic. Freight trains about 3 per day and 100-120 cars apiece. An unknown number run at night because Amtrak owns the mainline. Amtrak trains are approximately 1 hour headway between trains and the train is moving between 80-125 mph. Literally a long blink and you missed the train.

So you see miles and miles of high speed track. Occasionally you catch a local freight working one of the branches.

normally you don’t see any trains at all.

The only trains running normal daylight schedule is the Strasburg Railroad.  

The water is fine!

I've been following specific prototypes for nearly 20 years. Let the prototype be your guide. There are challenges but when you complete a project and it reflects the data you found, the satisfaction is amazing. I learn something with every project that helps the next one move along easier. 

Jump on in!

Eric

I believe its all your doing

Hey Nick,

  I remember you introduced me to MRH how many years ago now?  I would have to go look at my blog to find out. Well I just looked 2010 is when you introduced me to this site.  In 2013 I was done with the old layout and for 7 years up till that point had just been building resin kits, purchasing locomotives, and building those crazy D&H steam locomotives.  Studying the books as you are doing now and for a long time I know, helped me decide to go prototype.  The postings on MRH caught the attention of some prototype modelers in New England  that I now call freinds, that I had curiously watched for many years in the print magazines.  So I have to say, Nick this was your doing!  Thank You!

Starting out it seems like a daunting task but with a plan of what you want to model the areas you want to model I feel, keeps one from hitting the what do I do next  "analysis paralisys"  incorporating your Penn Lake into a proto setting will make it truly believable.  Always remember, its your layout do what you like. Even the seemingly hard core proto guys that I feared having visit the layout had lots of great input and suggestions to help.  Yes they did joke about watch out for the prototype police.  It was all good because I was hoping to learn from the vast eperience of each of them.  They had me attend my first Prototype Modelers Meet in Valley Forge PA.  Lots of great stuff to learn about and I would encourage you to attend.  I gaurentee you would find a lot of usefull info on the region your planning on modeling. 

I remember a long while back when we both discussed how dumb multideck layouts with helixis were.  We vowed never to build one of those.  Then we realized later on how much more railroad except that large space the helix took up would help.  You built a tripple deck and that caught my attention.  I then got to visit a few multi deck layouts that changed my mind.  Well that was you again.  You started it.  I now plan on building a multi deck in the future for further expansion.  

So if I have inspired you into what we joke about as the dark side the circle is complete.  Might just be your own doing without even knowing it.  

I was excited when you showed me the first item you were thinking about creating.  It was the first structure that I built that led me to prototype modeling.  If that is still part of the plan perhaps you can share it and we can make it happen.    Don't worry I don't count rivets unless they are truly in your face.  I did count bricks once but that is worse than rivets.  

Greg

Form vs. Function

One thing you have to decide when "prototype modeling" is whether in a particular case, you want form or function.  They are not mutually exclusive, but because of our limited space they often get in each other's way.

Form is making it look like the prototype.  That may involve to physical arrangement of the track and buildings and the area around it.  

Function is making it work like the prototype.  That usually involves the track arrangement.

For example several areas I have modeled are reversed from the prototype.  For example, a situation where there is an E-W main track and to make things fit, all the stuff on the north side of the track is moved to the south side and all the stuff on the south side is moved to the north side of the tracks.  Visually its backwards, functionally (unless its multiple main track) it will work the same.

On the other hand swapping something left for right, where all the trailing point switches for an EWD train become facing point switches for an EWD train can have consequences on how things operate.

The other thing is will the difference bother you?  In many cases, unless you are modeling a very well known location, they chances of anybody else knowing the details is relatively small.  In most cases if the scene feels "right" and operates "right" people will accept it, even if the details are condensed or flipped..

My Doing?

You might be right.  Hoisted by my own petard.   It's probably a feedback loop...I give you an idea...you give me an idea...I give you another idea...and so on.

The gianormous coaling tower?  

Form or Function

Very true.  I am already ciphering how to fit some of the largish scenes onto a layout.

Research!

I like research, which is part of the reason I'm drifting toward prototype modeling.  I probably really am responsible for Greg's first jump into prototype modeling, because in doing research for one of my project, I found a bunch of stuff related to his efforts.

Same Technique

I've used this technique in the past for developing my freelance railroad's back story.  It can make things easier.

Big

I keep on slippin, slippin, slippin, into the prototype...

I believe sliding into prototype modeling is a natural progression as hobbyists mature or get into trains more and more over time.  Many start out buying whatever is "shiny" but as time goes by they may decide following a real RR is more interesting and satisfying.

As a teen growing up in northern California, I naturally enjoyed watching the SP trains and wanted to have models of them.  Modeling the SP was always a desire of mine from my teens onward, but some trips to Colorado changed that to wanting to model the RIo Grande Zephyr and the D&RGW railroad.  

Not always

I've been doing this hobby for 41 years and except for  my flirtation with my aforementioned "after the fact" prototype I have been a freelancer the whole time and don't see that changing. My modeling skills and general knowledge of railroading have had that "natural progression" but not to the point of picking a specific prototype. Some things,like research, are fun for some people but not for others and the great thing about the hobby is that all sorts of folks find all sorts of fun in different ways. We "mature" in different ways.

RE;

Thou art cursed

"I've been doing this hobby

   Hi Michael,  I think one is more likely to be a prototype modeler if they already have a favorite railroad, then their purpose becomes to represent their favorite prototype scenes or operations and not to just build a model railroad. Being a rail fan first and a modeler second results in a different focus than being  a modeler with no specific real railroad interest. Some folks just want to build certain scenic features or track configurations with no care about a prototype, and some folks even want to build layouts that are toy train oriented so prototype features are a negative to them. Luckily there's plenty of product available for everyone to build something they like,be it Athearn blue box, Kohs brass, or MTH 3 rail.....DaveB  

I actually have a favorite

I actually have a favorite prototype or prototypes, as the case may be, although I've never actually seen anything but pictures of them and never rail fanned them. The Santa Fe, SP and D&RGW have long been of interest to me and for the many years I was in N-scale, I bought only those road names in motive power but just never tried modeling specific places. I've always been especially enamored with "Kodachromes" and the closest I've ever come to prototype modeling is consideration of a pike based around them over Tennessee Pass. I've mentioned before that it's a funny thing that the NS runs around here and I've observed it since my days as a teenager but have never once had any inkling of interest in modeling it.