About the Name Change
There are a few reasons for this. First, I realized that in my mind, I was imagining the railroad in a different location. Second, there is another, rather well-known N scale railroad named the Mud Bay and Southern. The Mud Bay and Western name is close enough to be confused with the other railroad (in fact that happened after my first post for the MB&W). Lastly, even though it is a freelance road, I prefer to have it farther north for the fictional backstory I want to use. So, I have decided to rename the railroad while it is still easy to do so.
Regarding the location…First, I want to be clear that I am not modeling a prototype. Mine is a freelance road based on a “history that might have been”. When we started this railroad in my friend Bob’s garage, he was the primary owner and had a name for the railroad already picked out. The name was based on a location in southern Puget Sound here in Washington. The idea was to borrow the name. There was no effort to model a specific prototype.
When I first heard the name Mud Bay I liked it and spent a few days on Google maps looking up locations. While I did find Mud Bay, I had also found a few other interesting locations along the Washington coast. One that really caught my attention was located north of Seattle near the city of Anacortes. What caught my attention was a long, low trestle built across Fidalgo Bay connecting the island to the mainland by rail. This trestle was eventually used by the Great Northern Railroad. At some point I started remembering this as Mud Bay instead of Fidalgo Bay and so for a couple years I was imagining the railroad in the wrong place.
Regarding, the confusion with MB&S… there is no real issue here, I just want it to be a bit different to avoid any confusion. When I posted the first blog entry, someone initially confused the MB&W with the Mud Bay & Southern. Given that I have been imagining the railroad farther north anyway, using a different name for inspiration makes this easy.
Finally, while spending a lot of time imagining the railroad in the wrong place, I put together a history for the railroad that I really like. The name change makes sense based on the history.
Mixing Reality With Fiction
In the late 1800’s there was an actual railroad built on Fidalgo island called the Fidalgo City and Anacortes Electric Railroad. It was approximately 13 miles long and ran from Anacortes to Fidalgo City (now Dewey, WA). Local history says that it only completed one round trip and a lot of that trip was with the assistance of a horse pulling the trolley along due to a lack of power because the generators for the line we not powerful enough to support operation. The railroad only operated sporadically and never solved its power issues. It ceased operation completely and was abandoned about two years after it started.
In my history, things are a little different. Instead of being abandoned, it is purchased by a group of investors who saw an opportunity for something bigger. Also, in my history, Fidalgo Island is a little farther away from the mainland.
In reality, Fidalgo Island is an actual island separated from the mainland mostly by the Swinomish Channel. The channel is a narrow waterway that is traversed in a couple different places by highway bridges. While not associated with the Fidalgo Island RR, in the late 1800’s a wood trestle was built across Fidalgo Bay to connect the island to the mainland by rail.
In my world, the island is a couple miles away and the water depth prohibits building a trestle to get there. Also, the island is much bigger and supports a lively timber industry (similar to Vancouver Island a bit farther north). The new investors plan on starting up car ferry service to connect the island to the mainland. This will give them the opportunity to connect to the newly arrived GN. Thus, they decide to name the railroad the Fidalgo Island Rail and Steamship Company.
The company survives and grows, surviving into the early 70’s. In an effort to “modernize” the name, in the mid 60’s they rename the road to the Fidalgo Island Rail and Sea Transport Company. The new name allows them to continue to use their established motto: "F.I.R.S.T. in Freight!"
As a bonus, given this fictional history in northern Washington, I can also have some references to Al Carter’s Tabooma Country Railroad. Al Carter is solely responsible for getting me back into model railroading when I moved to Seattle back in 1988. Also, his Tabooma Country RR (located in a fictional county north of Seattle) was the first real layout I ever got to see in person. I really want an opportunity to incorporate some aspect of that in my own railroad. This will be done via the town of Eagle Falls located on the lower level of my layout. I will go into more detail on this in a later blog specifically about this town.
So, there it is. With all that in mind, I am renaming the railroad. All future posts for the project will be based on the new name. And speaking of future posts, progress has been made and I will be posting a construction update soon.
