The one big question in my mind at the early stages of planning a model railroad is which railroad or railroads to model in my next layout. The answer to that question depends on the answers to three other questions.
- What locations to model
- What time period to model
- What industries to model
In order to create a model of a time and place that is historically accurate, or at least plausible to a degree that I’m happy with, I have to select a combination of location, time period, industries, and railroad(s) that are at least historically plausible.
Locations
This question, for me, comes down to choosing between modeling the Northeast (PA, MD, WV, NY) or the Pacific Northwest (WA, OR, ID, MT). After spending my first 27 years in Pittsburgh, and the rest so far (14 and counting) in Seattle, I have an affinity for and familiarity with the scenery in those those two regions.
Time Period
Without question, there will be steam on my next layout. So, that ends the time period at about 1950-1956, depending on the railroad. I like the look of the early diesels, particularly F units, so I’m open to modeling the transition era.
Industries
For this question, I think about industries that I like the look of in a model, and what I could model realistically in a small space. Given the regions of the PNW and the NE, there’s a lot of opportunity for lumber, coal and agriculture.