What Non-Favorite Railroad Would You Choose?

I grew up being near the SantaFe and watched its transition to BNSF so those are the RRs I model. But in my current location I see CSX, FEC and NS so those would probably be my second choice.

Santa Fe and Union Pacific are my main roads.

I would like C & O or CSX. and all because of the

yellow in their paint schemes.

MoPac, I think

I model the PRR but there are three others that I admire,

 

Milwaukee Road

Southern Pacific

Norfolk and Western

My favorites are the PRR, the NYC and the RDG, and I have at least one locomotive from each of those roads.

 

If I had to choose others...well, let's see...  DL&W, D&H or Erie, I guess.  My interests are in northeastern roads.

 

Southern Pacific, since it is the local railroad in Tucson, where I now live. My fictional railroad, the Chicago, Milwaukee, and Southwestern, is a joint venture between the Milwaukee and the SP. Beyond that, one of these days I'm going to reletter a Harriman Consolidation for the San Diego & Arizona Eastern, a long-defunct SP subsidiary. I go to San Diego every now and then to visit an XGF and see the trains at Balboa park. 

Out of the past, a small narrow gauge, in Colorado and Utah called the Uintah Railway.

The Fiddletown and Copperopolis

Providence and Worcester RR hands down. A neat RR serving New England with a long history but not much respect....   

Arizona and California, California Northern, Pacific Harbor Line or some other branch line/interchange road.

I would choose Alaska RR.  Florida East Coast would be a possibility too...I love the red-white-blue diesels.

Most of my model roster is comprised of the Boston and Maine, Maine Central, and some New Haven.

 

I also like the anthracite roads, particularly Lackawanna, O&W, and Lehigh and New England.

Paul:  I'm with you as a die-hard Milwaukee Road fan, but I still enjoy the C&NW and also the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee.  I have a decent representation of models of both roads, including Streamlined Steam engines, older diesel models plus passenger and freight car representations.  For the North Shore trains, I have two sets of 3rd Rail interurban trains plus the great 3rd Rail Electroliner.

 

But when I look at my operating characteristics, I find that 90% or more of the time, I'm running Milwaukee Road passenger and freight consists, rather than the other roads.  Once in a while, I may put a C&NW train on the track for a few weeks, but pretty soon it finds it's way back into storage under the layout.

 

Guess I'm stuck in a rut!

 

Paul Fischer

Hmmm.  I model the PRR and Weirton Steel's own in-house railroad, but if I couldn't do those....

 

Santa Fe - I must confess to a unhealthy attraction to those warbonnets.   Well, at least they had an interchange with the Pennsy.

 

Union Pacific might also get some attention.

 

George

Except for my post war War Bonnets my motive power is 90% PRR and if not the Standard it would have to be the N&W which is what my remaining power is.. Just have to love the "J" and all the retreat great steam the N&W had.

I enjoy getting their calendars when they send them out.  My grandfather had stock in them.

 

But for me, I don't model any railroad.  I just collect trains and run them, so I guess I model TPS, the Train Preservation Society.  If I were to change it up, I guess I'd model TC&OG, the Train Collectors and Operators Group.

I generally favor roads that came into Chicago, which ain't narrowing it down much. But the Soo Line, B&O, CB&Q, CGW, MILW are the real faves.

Choose a road that currently is a non-fave?

I don't know.

Always liked Northern Pacific. Southern, N&W, out east. UP, SP out west.

Pick one? Okay Northern Pacific. There, I said it.

Interesting that somebody picked the Unintah.....I stood along the D&RGW tracks at

its junction, where the Unintah once met it, but there was no evidence of it, some

years ago.  I did not go off into the boonies to track it to its destination or make any

other effort to view its remains.  I assume there is more to the Fiddletown and

Copperopolis than I am familiar with.  I model non-favorites, combined into a fictitious

road...with things borrowed from the Great Western and Colorado Midland.  Another

short line well liked by me is the Little River RR that preceded the Smoky Mtn. Nat. Park in Tennessee.  America once was full of interesting little shortlines.  Just open up "Mixed Train Daily", by Beebe and Clegg, and throw a dart. So many roads,

so little time.

C&O, I like their tri-color paint jobs....

I would think that most run engines and equipment for their favorite road on a free style layout that does not try to capture road specific characteristics much the same as I do with the Rock Island..Having said that, short lines have always been appealing to me and if I had to go there, it would have to be the Illinois Terminal in it's "transition era" where diesels on road freights mixed with interurban passenger runs under wire as well as conducting electrified yard movements. Dual power engines on non electrified spurs. The central Illinois landscape would be easy..its as flat as a table top. Single track with a lot of using cinder ballast..street running through small towns, coal mines ( yes, in Illinois) grain elevators..I would have to learn how to model corn..LOL The landscape is plain vanilla but the road is as far from a Class One and as diversified as one could get..as far as I know. 

I would model the Northwestern Pacific, which ran all thru the area I grew up in.  Matt

I like Santa Fe and Union Pacific.  If they did not exist there would always be Southern Pacific and Denver and Rio Grande as fall backs.

I got into model railroading (first HO, then O) building layouts and running trains with my father-in-law.  His railroad was the Pennsylvania RR; he loved to tell stories of his travels on the PRR during and after WWII.  So, I inherited his trains and now I model the PRR.

 

However, I grew up in central California were the Southern Pacific was king.  I would model the SP if it were not for my connection with the PRR through my father-in-law. 

I wouldn't purposely model a railroad I didn't like, to me that would be a complete waste of time and money.

 

If I couldn't get any accurate models painted/lettered in my railroad of choice, I would probably get engines and cars that I like and paint/letter them for a free-style RR, something that would have a nice logo and good looking paint scheme.  I'd keep the engines small (no articulateds) and rolling stock no bigger than 40 feet, except passenger cars.

 

Not sure what is meant by non-favorite but if I couldn't model the Western Maryland I'd model the Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad . The "Ma and Pa" was a short-line railroad between York & Hanover PA, formerly operating passenger and freight trains on its original line between York and Baltimore, MD, from 1901 until the 1950s.

I would like to model all of them. Not enough room or money.

I would like to model all of them. Not enough room or money.

wild mary:  If you're in that area (Eastern Pa./Md.) you're probably familiar with this

location, but for others who may get to York, there is a Ma. and Pa. location I like to

visit east of Shrewsbury, Pa. and I-83 on the Pa./Md. line (it doesn't show on the map

in front of me), when the Timonium show has been timed to bookend York week.  You pass another Ma. and Pa. station and some parked rolling stock on the way.  There is

an interesting country store/post office/RR station structure that has been/is? a destination for a tourist train ride.  This building and the feed mill across the road are

model material, and the old Ma. and Pa. track abuts each.  It sits in an idyllic valley

you drive down into.  There is/was a lot of parked rolling stock around the feed mill, too.

When I was in HO I modeled the B&O, but with 3rail O I became a little more whimsical. The bulk of my equipment is still Baltimore & Ohio with a good measure of New York Central. I admire northeast and Appellation coal haulers like the Lehigh Valley, Ontario & Western, Lackawanna and Shawmut. I also find the Milwaukee Road very interesting.

Most of my collection is C&O and New Haven. If I had to go a different way... Boston & Maine and Milwaukee Rd.

My locomotive fleet is all Nickel Plate, and 1 Pennsy diesel. Those roads were central to my hometown though I model a period some 20 years prior to me being born. Anyway, If I were going to model something outside of that it would likely be one of these 3: 

 

The Wabash - Simply because I find it very interesting, it's competition with the NKP as a bridge carrier, and it's connection to my current city of Kansas City. 

 

The Milwaukee Road - Because I've admired it from a distance, The Hiawatha has always been one of my favorite steam streamliners, and a healthy amount of insight on its greatness from "MUEagle" 

 

Modern Wheeling & Lake Erie - Because it's what runs now in my hometown, and while I've never really considered running modern stuff - this would be my choice. 

Probably the AC&Y.  I live a few blocks from milepost 0.  They had quite a yard and engine service facility just north of our place...All gone now.

 

Tom

OMG, What about the best? Atlantic coast line or Virginian? One has a great color scheme and the other has wonderful history and great locomotives....