ferrogil

[Ralph]

I wonder if this will help. I've posted links to an assortment of locomotives of various times. In general, in the USA, steam locomotives were used until the 1940s-50s when diesel locomotives became more popular.

a steam locomotive from the 19th to early 20th century: http://www.mapleridge.org/images/tourism/industry/steam_locomotive.jpg

a steam locomotive from approximately the 1930s-50s:
http://www.frisco1522.org/sm3qtr.jpg

an early diesel locomotive (1950):
http://www.ncstl.com/cities/kennesaw/NC F unit in Kennesaw.jpg

1970s era: http://pc.smellycat.com/pics/equip/pc6266.jpg

a GG-1 (the kind Green-elite-cab mentioned):
http://64.246.11.82/images/g/GG-1__4852__Nov_24_1968.jpg.50971.jpg

modern day diesel locomotive: http://www.microsoft.com/games/trainsimulator/img/article_DieselDash9.jpg

Does this give you an idea of the sort of time period and type of trains you are most interested in?

Regards,
Ralph

 

[Jim Krause]

ferrogil: Do you like modern trains or the older steam powered equipment? A lot of people here in the US model what we call the transition era. That was the time when diesel locomotives were taking over from the steam engines. You will see both types on the same railroad. That is the time when I was growing up.

 

[ferrogil]

ferrogil: Do you like modern trains or the older steam powered equipment? A lot of people here in the US model what we call the transition era. That was the time when diesel locomotives were taking over from the steam engines. You will see both types on the same railroad. That is the time when I was growing up.

Jim, here in Spain and in Europe names Epoch the IIIrd, is the transition of the steam engines to the diesel. From my point of view it is the best poque both are mixed. It(he,she) is until the 60s more or less.

 

[Jim Krause]

As someone stated above, the transition era (Epoch) here in the US was in the 1940's-1950's timeframe. There were a few exceptions. Diesel locomotives started to be used in the 1930's but the war slowed down the diesel development. There are some very colorful passenger trains available in both HO and N scales. You would also see mixtures of old and new passenger cars on the same train. In the railroad yards you could find steam switching locomotives moving modern passenger cars and first generation diesel switching locomotives moving freight cars that were originally built in the 1920's. For a smaller layout this is a good time period to model because the cars and locomotives were shorter than todays long container cars and auto carriers. By the way, we made a point of traveling by train when we visited Spain. Everything from major routes to the meter gauge route to the Portugese border.

 

[ferrogil]

desde Madrid (Spain)

Hello Ralph.
To be exact in Europe the Epochs estan divided of the following way:
Epoch I 1835-1920
Époch II 1920-1945
Epoch the IIIrd 1945-1970
Epoch the IVth 1970-1985
Epoch V of 1985 in forward

 

[Triplex]

Well, the USA dieselized earlier than most European countries. There were early boxcab diesels in the 20s, but they were very few and far between. The first articulated diesel streamliners came in 1934 (actually, didn't the German Flying Hamburger come before them?). Switchers and streamlined passenger locomotives started coming in the later 30s. The first mass-produced road freight diesels came at the beginning of World War 2. It should be noted that many railroads still had no diesels at all. In the immediate postwar era, most railroads decided on dieselization quickly. In 1949, the main steam manufacturers stopped production for domestic use. One major railroad, the Norfolk & Western in the eastern US, kept building its own steam locomotives until 1953. But then it was over quickly. Compared to most other parts of the world, most railroads in the US had a very short time between buying their last steam and running their last steam. Any given railroad's last new steam locomotives usually didn't have lives of more than 10 years. Some roads were completely dieselized as early as 1949, and the last major roads went to all-diesel in 1960.

That's probably more than you needed to know, but it explains the transition era.