Large Scale Central

1870-80 Railroad names

Prototypes
#1

After several nights of fruitless online searching, I come to Yunz with a question.

I am repainting the candy coloured Bachmann HO old time railroad cars, and I want to letter them up for standard gauge railroads of the 1870’s and 1880’s.

I know there was the Union Pacific, Central Pacific, B&O, Pennsylvania and so on. But what are the names of some of the lesser known railroads of that era?

I am not looking for narrow gauge nor broad gauge railroads, because I am modeling HO standard gauge on my module.

Thanks

#2

Fruitless? Really? I am very surprised! I just did a search on “railroads 1870s” and got too many results to link. So many that my first inclination is to ask if there’s a specific area of the country that you would want to narrow it down a bit.

#3

A double post! The perils of me using a tablet. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-foot-in-mouth.gif)

#4

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Railway_companies_established_in_1870

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Railway_companies_by_year_of_establishment

#5

Elizabeth City & Norfolk Railroad, in operation from 1881 to 1883 when the name was changed to Norfolk Southern.

#6

Maybe search for Fallen Flags-RRs of Pa.

#7

Bruce Chandler said:

Fruitless? Really? I am very surprised! I just did a search on “railroads 1870s” and got too many results to link. So many that my first inclination is to ask if there’s a specific area of the country that you would want to narrow it down a bit.

I have done that search, among others. And if you open the links, they don’t yield much in the way of names. Yea, that search has given me a few names, but I thought somewhere there would be a list, and a list of many names has still eluded me.

#8

Dan Gilchrist said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Railway_companies_established_in_1870

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Railway_companies_by_year_of_establishment

Thanks, now there is something useful that I hadn’t found on my own.

#9

David Maynard said:

After several nights of fruitless online searching, I come to Yunz with a question.

I am repainting the candy coloured Bachmann HO old time railroad cars, and I want to letter them up for standard gauge railroads of the 1870’s and 1880’s.

I know there was the Union Pacific, Central Pacific, B&O, Pennsylvania and so on. But what are the names of some of the lesser known railroads of that era?

I am not looking for narrow gauge nor broad gauge railroads, because I am modeling HO standard gauge on my module.

Thanks

Not really a lesser know but perhaps forgotten…CUMBERLAND VALLEY, NORTHERN CENTRAL…

#10

Incredibly historic between the two

#11

Since I will be repainting over a dozen boxcars…sorry, house cars, I wanted a variety of names to put on them. I didn’t want to use the same names that every model manufacturer puts on their models. (UP, CP PRR, ATSF, and such).

**In this time-frame (1870-1880) the boxcar was typically called a “house car”.

#12

David Maynard said:

Since I will be repainting over a dozen boxcars…sorry, house cars, I wanted a variety of names to put on them. I didn’t want to use the same names that every model manufacturer puts on their models. (UP, CP PRR, ATSF, and such).

**In this time-frame (1870-1880) the boxcar was typically called a “house car”.

Of course the “Jackson & Burke” was pretty historic…but it was narrow gauge…(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-foot-in-mouth.gif)

#13

There should be a random railroad naming tool, perhaps analogous to this Shakespearean Insult Generator.

(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-foot-in-mouth.gif)

#14

There is a thing called a “Official Railway Equipment Register” published quarterly that lists ALL of the railroads that have equipment available to interchange. I have ran across a few 19th Century ORER’s but never saved any info.

#15

Thanks guys. Now that I know where to look, I can start searching some of those names, and see what railroads actually went into service, and could possibly had house cars in interchange service in the time-frame I want.

Craig, I will have to try searching for those.

#16

David, what’d you come up with?

#17

John, I will do more research later. Some of the boxcars (house cars) have been base coated, but the president of the one club has “requested” that I get some scenery on my module pair. So that is where my efforts are going right now.

That bad voice in my head wants me to do one car for the Schitt Creek Paddle Manufacturing Company…Car number 2

#18

I know that company, been to there headquarters many times.

#19

Hahaa! That’s a good one David!