Large Scale Central

Its up to us model railroaders to preserve some history and.....

General Discussion
#1

Perhaps a little integrity as well. I see history as a means to an end. We all know this country was built on the backs of various railroads and that in modern times, downsizing and buying lines is simply a way of life in the business world. Just ask Warren Buffet. LOL He knows. However, once a line disappears or is absorbed into a much larger line, (UP buying Rio Grande for example), well all we have are some pictures, a few documents and keepsakes. Yet, model railroaders (that means you and I), have an excellent opportunity to preserve some history and perhaps a little railroad integrity as well. I see stuff just being passed around sometimes that absolutely drives me nuts when it comes to actual and factual railroad history. This is why I love model railroading. It gives each one of us a chance to explore for ourselves a certain history if you will, that can come to life like no textbook can and we all know from our childhood experiences what a model train can do. I know I do, but in the grander scheme of things, we have a much greater duty to preserve our railroad history. Not only in this country, but in every country a track was ever laid down on. Generally, historians get things pretty right, but sometimes, it is not enough to talk endlessly about this line or that line and who got what and who declared bankruptcy. Seeing a now bygone railroad come to life in miniature can open doors and elicit some fairly strong feelings about that lines history. In short, I believe what we do today can greatly affect us tomorrow and model railroading is a great example of explaining and preserving our heritage.

This country is slowly being taken over in my opinion by those that seek to undermine its very foundation. Railroads helped facilitate this countries progression alright and model railroading, from my point of view, can really help explain why they were so very important.

Just an observation from the new guy up in here…

Stacy

#2

Who is John Galt?

#3

Why should anyone know ?

#4

Who is David Russell ?

#5

Who is Marvin Brown ?

#6

Who is Carl Vogel ?

#7

Who is Tate ?

#8

…for that mater, Who is Dave Goodson…?

#9

People from other sites, and new people to Large Scale Model Railroading, would do well to learn of these people…they are part of the history of LS Model Railroading, along with the old “Big Trains List”…

#10

Hi Fred. Thanks for the input. Perhaps what I posted was misunderstood. Of course knowing the history of the scale stuff is important, but I was referring to what the scale stuff represents as far as the real railroads and their history. Rio Grande does not exist anymore. It was absorbed and bought out by UP. However, when a person recreates that railroad in scale with a high attention to actual detail, it might help those that never saw that railroad in action or know of its existence to see a scaled down version.

Stacy

#11

John Galt is a character in Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged (1957). Although he is not identified by name until the last third of the novel, he is the object of its often-repeated question “Who is John Galt?” and of the quest to discover the answer.

As the plot unfolds, Galt is acknowledged to be a philosopher and inventor; he believes in the power and glory of the human mind, and the right of the individual to use his/her mind solely for him/herself. He serves as a highly individualist counterpoint to the collectivist social and economic structure depicted in the novel, in which society is based on oppressive bureaucratic functionaries and a culture that embraces mediocrity in the name of egalitarianism, which the novel interprets as the end result of socialistic idealism.

#12

Must be spring…Freds come out of hibernation…:wink:

#13

Such stirring questions! And it’s only 06:45 on a Saturday morning.

Ducks and heads to the workshop to wire one more DCC-friendly turnout.

#14

It maybe before breakfast for you HJ but it is past lunchtime and the sun is well over the yard arm here. lol

Also it is well worth remembering that there are many well known names from railroaders on the eastern side of the Atlantic.

Henry Greenly, WJ Bassett Lowke, Frank Hornby, Cyril Freezer, The Bing Brothers?, Lehmann Brothers and that is just names from the hobby aspect. HJ and others may well contribute other European names.

A larger list of railroad great in the prototype world would run to many posts I guess and revive many memories for us over 50’s.

#15

Stacy, I did set out to preserve something of the Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon railroad in miniature. But somewhere along the line I got a bit side tracked.

Anyway, when I finished my kit-bash of number 7, my mom asked why I gave it the number 7. I told her, because that’s the number that locomotive had. She was confused, so I went and got my photocopy of a picture of number 7. When she saw the picture, she said that she thought I made up the whole story of the Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Railroad. And she grew up in Shannon. So yes, Stacy, we can educate folks about history through our models.

#16

Everybody in Deer Park laughs at me when I tell them that there once was a Deer Park Northern Railway Company, until I take them to where it joined the Spokane Falls & Northern Railway Company (now BNSF) and show them the obvious grade, then take them to what passes for a museum in this little town.

It wasn’t much, as railroads go, only about 7 miles of mainline, but it was important to the development of the town.

#17

Steve, yea the P&CS wasn’t much as railroads go neither. But so many folks have ridden on its right of way and don’t even know it existed. The old trolley line, rebuilt into the new LRV line was the old P&CS right of way. In fact, when they rebuilt the trolly line to handle LRVs, the transit company donated some of the old rails to the trolley museum. The rails have lettering on them that says P&CSRR 1871.

#18

Well, here in the Olde Country, you do not have to travel far before you can visit a Heritage railway or something connected with a former railway or railway served industry.

I have the fortune, as many here will know, of having my own backyard railroad but also being able to work on a Heritage railway which is just two miles from me.

I.K. Brunel and his deputy Brereton were the engineers who got the line built. (more name dropping lol).

#19

In addition to my modeling efforts, I attempt to thoroughly research and document the history of lesser known lines. When I was doing the research for my current modeling project, the Choctaw Coal & Railway company repair shop, I uncovered a wealth of history on the tiny line that eventually became the Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf, and ultimately a part of the Rock Island system. I wrote a fairly comprehensive article on the subject, and published it on my web site. The story of the CO&G is representative of many railroad histories that shared similar boom and bust cycles. Here is a link to the article.

http://www.rhyman.org/articles/cog-railroad

Enjoy,

Bob

#20

Bob Hyman said:

In addition to my modeling efforts, I attempt to thoroughly research and document the history of lesser known lines. When I was doing the research for my current modeling project, the Choctaw Coal & Railway company repair shop, I uncovered a wealth of history on the tiny line that eventually became the Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf, and ultimately a part of the Rock Island system. I wrote a fairly comprehensive article on the subject, and published it on my web site. The story of the CO&G is representative of many railroad histories that shared similar boom and bust cycles. Here is a link to the article.

http://www.rhyman.org/articles/cog-railroad

Enjoy,

Bob

Thank you Bob for sharing this information. This was exactly what I was getting at. Model railroading and those that do it have a wonderful opportunity to preserve history as far as these old lines and even some of the more recent ones by replicating them in miniature. Through careful research and study, one could easily create an entire line very accurately. This means people that know nothing about a certain line can now share a little history and put it in a world of model trains.

Love this hobby.

Stacy