Timbob said:
Fred
I am new to this forum but I note your byline reads "...where it's always 1900..." Do I take it to mean that you model turn of the (past) century? The reason I ask is that I am just re-starting after a 25 year pause and have chosen Western Canada (specifically Saskatchewan) in 1915 as my loaction/era. Any advice/commnets on motive/rolling stock would be appreciated.
Tim
Tim
You are correct. I model free-lance HO and HOn3 short lines set in Oregon in 1900. The fictional history for the Picture Gorge and Western bears a remarkable, but totally coincidental, similarity to the plans for the one time Oregon Pacific.
The narrow gauge Tillamook Head and Bethel is intended to be similar to many of the Northern California logging company railroads that serviced the logging camps, saw mill, and a "dog hole schooner" port. The difference for the TH&B is that it saw an opportunity to expand and reach an interchange point with the the PG&W. This allowed the TH&b to become more than a logging railroad with traffic going both to the port and inland to the interchange.
1915 is a tough era to model because there were/are so many choices, depending on your prototype. Modern steam (articulated, trailing trucks, piston valves) was under development and being introduced on the major Class I railways quite rapidly. Freight cars were growing to a standard 40ft with the introduction of steel underframes and even some steel sides. At the same time, there were still plenty of short lines that had done next to no modernization except for the required safety items - air brakes and knuckle couplers. These would still be running a lot of equipment from the 1890s - wood cars with truss rods, and 4-4-0s, 2-6-0s, 4-6-0s, and 2-8-0s.
Best suggestion is to research your particular prototype. Look for books on your prototypes, and pictures of trains and track from your era.
just my thoughts, your choices