As an excuse to run more modern equipment, I created a tenant on the line of my railroad which in the real world was ripped up in 1967. A fictitious connecting shortline eventually took over the branchline that I model. They don't receive a lot of traffic, but it's fun to have a reason for running more current rolling stock.
My fictional railroad which is still in the works is the Southeast Nebraska RailLink. It operates 700-800 miles of trackage linking Nebraska to Kansas, Missouri, and Iowa with a continuous system. They are headquartered in Wymore, NE, where they have a mini-hump and extensive engine shops. They have 2 separate main lines, Valley, NE to Wymore, NE as well as Omaha, NE to Kansas City, MO. They have several branches and secondary mainlines. The system is made up of former BNSF, UP, and MOP lines which were sold off. All the lines that make up the system are real and are either branch lines or abandoned.
Great Video. My next layout I am planning now will be freelanced, and multi era and roads so I can run a gamut of locos and rolling stock. Enjoy running a variety and this will hopefully give me the space and opportunity to do so soon!
Another person who models Victoria, Australia, in my case set in a region called West Gippsland. This is a what if, line and loosely based on the timber tramways of the area. I model in HOn30 and as some of the railways and tramways in the area were 2'6" gauge it is an appropriate scale.
My favorite coffee as usual. Nescafé Classico instant with half and half, no sugar…………I like the concept of modeling a theoretical railroad that’s based on real life variables and circumstances of other railroads. I live in the northeast, and I’m more into passenger trains. I feel like this would be a cool concept I could implement by creating a fictitious commuter rail line somewhere on the north east corridor. Maybe Scranton PA to NYC, closing the gap between Springfield MA and MBTA stations, etc.
This is a fun series! I am doing something very similar, modeling a "Freelance" rode called the Danbury and Logan. The D & L serves a small community (Danbury) and the MP Logan Industrial Park. It has a small yard, earns some revenue via car storage and repair, and has an interconnect with Norfolk Southern as well as CSX and BNSF via the Norfolk Southern siding. The inspiration is a mixture of the industrial interchanges in my area (Northern Alabama) and where I grew up (SW Michigan). The Danbury and Logan run older power purchased from N&S. Their locomotives are painted in the old Southern RR "Tuxedo" scheme. I have three locomotives, an SW-1500, an EMD SD-9 and an EMD GP-38. The main customer in the Logan Industrial Park is a small Ethanol refinery, as well as a fiber optics plant and plastics manufacturing plant, as well as a freight hub in town. Most of the cars on my layout will be box cars, hoppers and tankers. I haven't come up with a good reason to run containers ... yet. LOL For an idea of where I got my ideas, you can look up the Huntsville and Madison County Railroad Authority. ;-) If it weren't real, you might think IT was a "freelance" model railroad! he he he
I'm doing the ops, the hard way- with my room sized layout 65%ifvtrack built, I am now learning Ops and laying in the industries to work the train. Between 3 towns, 2:in layout + 1 off site, I think so far. Thank you for the many wonderful mentoring.
I now model lehigh and new england as if it would exist now, they bought out the Lehigh and hUdson River, bought the NYO&W from scranton out to old erie mainline, and took over the central rr of pa lines, growing to about 500 miles. they use all alcos, anything from c628 to c420, plus the fas, s and rs units they owned.
Good video. My small fictional railroad, ES Rail, is set in NW NJ in the summer of 2000. (The year after the Conrail split) It is a former Conrail branch serving a few smaller customers that NS didn't want to deal with. I am able to run former Conrail equipment that ES got for a song after the split. Operationally, I try to work in some of the delays and problems that the split caused here in the Northeast at the time. I am very happy with my freelanced railroad, and plan to expand it soon.
I did option 2. I created the Albany & North Eastern. Class 1 railroad running as far south as Maryland and north as Montreal and up into maine as far west as Chicago. Basically it runs along a combo of NYC PRR and D&H.
I have a Ho scale 1970-80s era class 3 in northern New Mexico running over a OLD abandoned prototype RR. The Raton & CAPULIN Eastern rwy. Gp38-2 in all their glory running mixed trains and coal unit trains. Interchange with the old Santa Fe and green Burlington northern I switched from dedicated prototypical to freelance to escape the monotony of it and I'd never change back. PS get your hands on SOLAR ROAST coffee from here in Pueblo Colorado. Excellent variety they offer and top notch quality.
I have been getting in to passager trains and it will be a fictional layout will check out a lot of the tours they do with them to get idea's for scenery. This is so much fun seeing how you get your idea's for your new layout. Thanks for sharing. GOD BLESS 🚂💖🚂💖🚂💖🚂💖
Funny thing is , my railroad ( The Sweet Hollow Shortline) is a bit of everything you mentioned! It's a ficticious branch of an existing RR on a branch that in actuality, now doesn't exist (it's now a bikepath), but once did and I'm putting the line back in service under new management! It will still be linked with the main line shared between CN, NECR, VRS and AmTrak
My N Scale (very fictional) Pine Valley Railway (15 x 7 space in a U) is a short line that services local industries, connecting to the outside world via CSX intechange trains. I also run 2 "excursion" sightseeing passenger trains pulled by RS-3's. My dispatch system involves a deck of cards and car cards. Shuffle the deck and draw out 8 cards with each matching a particular industry. Then shuffle and draw the card cards to match up suitable cars from the yard to the outbound train(s). The yard local (GP-7) handles the industrial park nearby while the other train uses a GP38. Because my layout has two tight 180 degree turns (9 3/4), my local trains are limited to 4 axle units like the GP38 and RS-3. My trains are not long (8 car max) and big locomotives do not interest me. "Old town" at one end of the line is serviced by an RS-2 and the route train is not allowed into the switchbacks, they must swap cars (union rules) on the mainline with the local switcher crew. Just another excuse to run one more locomotive in any given session. LOL And finally I have a 3 track holding yard behind the scenery where the picked up cars go outbound to and then sit out alternating sessions before coming back into play as the interchange inbound from CSX. My wiring is very simple for one person ops, DC dual cab and rapido couplers fit my budget perfectly. I can run one train around the entire "outer loop" while switching the main yard, having to clear the main through the yard each time the "through train" comes by. It takes about a minute and a half or so to complete a full circuit (60 ft main line). I finally got the layout looking finished (although everyone knows a layout is never really finished) and have over 500 trees hand planted to give the layout the rural feeling my original concept called for. I did cheat tho and you foam lovers will hate me - ha ha ha - 3/8 ply over 1x3 frame work, the layout was built in stages (non standard size "modules) and can actually unbolt and be moved if so needed. But even tho the track never climbs or descends in reality, one gets the feeling you are "climbing the mountain" coming out of the yard through Middleton, Coal Junction, across Waterfall Canyon and up through a tunnel into "old town". The escape out the backside of old town allows for continuous running behind the backdrop, popping out at the far end of the closed U and continuing around the outside to come back into the main yard.
Mine is a small mountain railroad that takes material from forests and mines to wherever. While mine is more of a continuous running layout, i do have a track to nowhere to connect it to the outer world
I'm in the process of designing a model railroad and I'm kind of halfing it. Its going to be Norfolk Southern into the merger with Conrail, but have some older and newer Santa Fe trains running through it, but its going to have a modern twist of modern day excursion trains and Amtrak running through with modern SD70ACes. A lot to it. Currently buying up locomotives and rolling stock.
Mine is the Trentville Branch Line, a fictional branch of the Illinois Central Railroad serving a few towns near the Illinois River, the town of Trentville being the terminus.
This is what i am doing with my freelance railroad, it's called the Joliet Pacific & Southern plus I have made up freelance short line as well. With mine I am using real track lines but the railroad is what's not real..
If you model an existing “short line” that has not existed in 60 years…track gone…no deep depth of information, virtually no photos etc… is it still considered Freelance?
If your doing the railroad, even if same name, but technologically the equipment is far past what the original RR used then yes your certainly doing freelance. The nice part is you have a history you can build on if your not wanting to create a while back story like many other modelers do. I ,too have my RR based on location and track of a RR that was abandoned in 1950s but I run my equipment with completely different paint scheme , different name and such in 1970-80 era.
![กี่หมื่นฟ้า | Your Sky Series EP.1 [2/4]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/qJbQs_nhjD4/mqdefault.jpg)
![ร้อยพ่อพันแม่ - WanMai [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/XY2pNYASEbg/mqdefault.jpg)
As an excuse to run more modern equipment, I created a tenant on the line of my railroad which in the real world was ripped up in 1967. A fictitious connecting shortline eventually took over the branchline that I model. They don't receive a lot of traffic, but it's fun to have a reason for running more current rolling stock.
Everything I'm planning is either freelance or proto-freelance!
Woolworths essentials instant.
You're awesome Jimmy God bless❤
I am doing both, modeling the Kansas City area of the 70’s, and adding B&L line into the mix. Mine and wife’s initials
My fictional railroad which is still in the works is the Southeast Nebraska RailLink. It operates 700-800 miles of trackage linking Nebraska to Kansas, Missouri, and Iowa with a continuous system. They are headquartered in Wymore, NE, where they have a mini-hump and extensive engine shops. They have 2 separate main lines, Valley, NE to Wymore, NE as well as Omaha, NE to Kansas City, MO. They have several branches and secondary mainlines. The system is made up of former BNSF, UP, and MOP lines which were sold off. All the lines that make up the system are real and are either branch lines or abandoned.
Great Video. My next layout I am planning now will be freelanced, and multi era and roads so I can run a gamut of locos and rolling stock. Enjoy running a variety and this will hopefully give me the space and opportunity to do so soon!
Another person who models Victoria, Australia, in my case set in a region called West Gippsland. This is a what if, line and loosely based on the timber tramways of the area. I model in HOn30 and as some of the railways and tramways in the area were 2'6" gauge it is an appropriate scale.
Loved the video! and nice coffee cup!
My favorite coffee as usual. Nescafé Classico instant with half and half, no sugar…………I like the concept of modeling a theoretical railroad that’s based on real life variables and circumstances of other railroads. I live in the northeast, and I’m more into passenger trains. I feel like this would be a cool concept I could implement by creating a fictitious commuter rail line somewhere on the north east corridor. Maybe Scranton PA to NYC, closing the gap between Springfield MA and MBTA stations, etc.
Ship Creek Railway is an entirely fictional location in Victoria, Australia 🇦🇺. Love the channel mate. 👍
This is a fun series! I am doing something very similar, modeling a "Freelance" rode called the Danbury and Logan. The D & L serves a small community (Danbury) and the MP Logan Industrial Park. It has a small yard, earns some revenue via car storage and repair, and has an interconnect with Norfolk Southern as well as CSX and BNSF via the Norfolk Southern siding. The inspiration is a mixture of the industrial interchanges in my area (Northern Alabama) and where I grew up (SW Michigan). The Danbury and Logan run older power purchased from N&S. Their locomotives are painted in the old Southern RR "Tuxedo" scheme. I have three locomotives, an SW-1500, an EMD SD-9 and an EMD GP-38. The main customer in the Logan Industrial Park is a small Ethanol refinery, as well as a fiber optics plant and plastics manufacturing plant, as well as a freight hub in town. Most of the cars on my layout will be box cars, hoppers and tankers. I haven't come up with a good reason to run containers ... yet. LOL For an idea of where I got my ideas, you can look up the Huntsville and Madison County Railroad Authority. ;-) If it weren't real, you might think IT was a "freelance" model railroad! he he he
I'm doing the ops, the hard way- with my room sized layout 65%ifvtrack built, I am now learning Ops and laying in the industries to work the train. Between 3 towns, 2:in layout + 1 off site, I think so far. Thank you for the many wonderful mentoring.
I now model lehigh and new england as if it would exist now, they bought out the Lehigh and hUdson River, bought the NYO&W from scranton out to old erie mainline, and took over the central rr of pa lines, growing to about 500 miles. they use all alcos, anything from c628 to c420, plus the fas, s and rs units they owned.
@Dan0Myte490 yes, how about you what period do you model, I am current, but use the LNE as current, live in pa.
@Dan0Myte490 I also use LV, and CN, NYS&W, NYO&W, RDG, and LHR.
Good video. My small fictional railroad, ES Rail, is set in NW NJ in the summer of 2000. (The year after the Conrail split) It is a former Conrail branch serving a few smaller customers that NS didn't want to deal with. I am able to run former Conrail equipment that ES got for a song after the split. Operationally, I try to work in some of the delays and problems that the split caused here in the Northeast at the time. I am very happy with my freelanced railroad, and plan to expand it soon.
I did option 2. I created the Albany & North Eastern. Class 1 railroad running as far south as Maryland and north as Montreal and up into maine as far west as Chicago. Basically it runs along a combo of NYC PRR and D&H.
I have a Ho scale 1970-80s era class 3 in northern New Mexico running over a OLD abandoned prototype RR. The Raton & CAPULIN Eastern rwy. Gp38-2 in all their glory running mixed trains and coal unit trains. Interchange with the old Santa Fe and green Burlington northern
I switched from dedicated prototypical to freelance to escape the monotony of it and I'd never change back.
PS get your hands on SOLAR ROAST coffee from here in Pueblo Colorado. Excellent variety they offer and top notch quality.
I have been getting in to passager trains and it will be a fictional layout will check out a lot of the tours they do with them to get idea's for scenery. This is so much fun seeing how you get your idea's for your new layout. Thanks for sharing.
GOD BLESS 🚂💖🚂💖🚂💖🚂💖
THE BLACK ROCK CENTRAL RR is totally freelanced and interchanges with the Chessie
Funny thing is , my railroad ( The Sweet Hollow Shortline) is a bit of everything you mentioned! It's a ficticious branch of an existing RR on a branch that in actuality, now doesn't exist (it's now a bikepath), but once did and I'm putting the line back in service under new management! It will still be linked with the main line shared between CN, NECR, VRS and AmTrak
My N Scale (very fictional) Pine Valley Railway (15 x 7 space in a U) is a short line that services local industries, connecting to the outside world via CSX intechange trains. I also run 2 "excursion" sightseeing passenger trains pulled by RS-3's. My dispatch system involves a deck of cards and car cards. Shuffle the deck and draw out 8 cards with each matching a particular industry. Then shuffle and draw the card cards to match up suitable cars from the yard to the outbound train(s). The yard local (GP-7) handles the industrial park nearby while the other train uses a GP38. Because my layout has two tight 180 degree turns (9 3/4), my local trains are limited to 4 axle units like the GP38 and RS-3. My trains are not long (8 car max) and big locomotives do not interest me. "Old town" at one end of the line is serviced by an RS-2 and the route train is not allowed into the switchbacks, they must swap cars (union rules) on the mainline with the local switcher crew. Just another excuse to run one more locomotive in any given session. LOL
And finally I have a 3 track holding yard behind the scenery where the picked up cars go outbound to and then sit out alternating sessions before coming back into play as the interchange inbound from CSX. My wiring is very simple for one person ops, DC dual cab and rapido couplers fit my budget perfectly. I can run one train around the entire "outer loop" while switching the main yard, having to clear the main through the yard each time the "through train" comes by. It takes about a minute and a half or so to complete a full circuit (60 ft main line).
I finally got the layout looking finished (although everyone knows a layout is never really finished) and have over 500 trees hand planted to give the layout the rural feeling my original concept called for. I did cheat tho and you foam lovers will hate me - ha ha ha - 3/8 ply over 1x3 frame work, the layout was built in stages (non standard size "modules) and can actually unbolt and be moved if so needed. But even tho the track never climbs or descends in reality, one gets the feeling you are "climbing the mountain" coming out of the yard through Middleton, Coal Junction, across Waterfall Canyon and up through a tunnel into "old town". The escape out the backside of old town allows for continuous running behind the backdrop, popping out at the far end of the closed U and continuing around the outside to come back into the main yard.
Mine is a small mountain railroad that takes material from forests and mines to wherever. While mine is more of a continuous running layout, i do have a track to nowhere to connect it to the outer world
I'm in the process of designing a model railroad and I'm kind of halfing it. Its going to be Norfolk Southern into the merger with Conrail, but have some older and newer Santa Fe trains running through it, but its going to have a modern twist of modern day excursion trains and Amtrak running through with modern SD70ACes. A lot to it. Currently buying up locomotives and rolling stock.
Mine is the Trentville Branch Line, a fictional branch of the Illinois Central Railroad serving a few towns near the Illinois River, the town of Trentville being the terminus.
Puckster’s Gap 👍😁OperateOnOperator
I'm just hoping that after you complete the railroad you get with Homeshops so we can all have your railroad in our freight car fleet
That is something that I would love to do! I just wish they did N Scale.
@@DIYDigitalRailroad I did forget that they are currently only doing HO scale
Did you say you were going to make your own decals? If so, please show how you do it.
Will you do my voice overseas? Just kidding, but I listen to the end to hear them.
This is what i am doing with my freelance railroad, it's called the Joliet Pacific & Southern plus I have made up freelance short line as well. With mine I am using real track lines but the railroad is what's not real..
Drinking Aldi brand French vanilla roast with whole milk and 4 sugars
Is that one reason why I see in ads for new locos a version without logos?
If you model an existing “short line” that has not existed in 60 years…track gone…no deep depth of information, virtually no photos etc… is it still considered Freelance?
I would say yes, as there's no current configuration you're prototyping from. You're freelancing a what-if scenario had it remained operational.
If your doing the railroad, even if same name, but technologically the equipment is far past what the original RR used then yes your certainly doing freelance. The nice part is you have a history you can build on if your not wanting to create a while back story like many other modelers do. I ,too have my RR based on location and track of a RR that was abandoned in 1950s but I run my equipment with completely different paint scheme , different name and such in 1970-80 era.