@Mark Boyce posted:Andre, another great Ozark Rail Tale! The #300 looks great!
Oh, no tar and feathers, nor did I get run outta town on a rail either! Neither will you!!
Thanks, Mark.
I'm glad you got a kick out of it.
I've enjoyed creating fiction for my modeling for decades.
In fact, I have a list of names that I add to occasionally for use in my "yarns" (Rail Tales). Many are based on real railroaders I've known, or know about, as well as those purely fictional. Example: "Pig Iron" Matthews in the above Rail Tale was an actual railroader with that nickname that worked for the Rock Island in my region.
I even have used the names from my list to assign to the various operational "jobs" that are on my layout. For example, the Ozarka Switcher is held (seniority, remember?) by "Red" Baughman (BOFF man), Conductor, and "Coondog" Bivens, Engineer. There are also "crews" assigned to other jobs that work the layout: The Piney Turn, the Sweetgum Turn, the Branson Day Switch Job, the Clarksville Day Switch Job, and the Mountain Springs Switcher. The road crews utilize names from my "Names" list for Rail Tale purposes as needed.
I like to incorporate into my "Rail Tales" prototype experiences I've had in my railroading, or railroading friends had, or experiences I know of, or read about. That's a lot of fun, too.
What can I say? I enjoy creative writing! (Plus, it helps to bring my layout to "life" for me personally.)
Andre
