What's your point?

[acsoosub]

I don't really have anything myself right now, being in a tiny basement apartment right now. Someday...

At my model club, it's all of the above. Mainline through trains, lots of locals, the main yard can keep two crews busy and there's some passenger ops. (although we're not running the main passenger train yet due to lack of equipment, and shortness of the mainline, and currently minimal staging at the west end. (Expansion construction is under way to lengthen the run and add a staging yard to the west end of the line.) Local psgr ops are Budd RDCs, 1-2 car trains.

 

[lester perry]

Thank you good ol Mr Wilson.In case you are younger than me good ol Mr Wilson is a famous line from Dennis the menas. I have heard of these cards being used but didn't know how. Now I need to figure out how to make it work with my railroad.
Les

 

[sumpter250]

Railroad museum with special excursion runs working in cooperation with a small branchline road. No other way to justify the large number of near immaculate steam

Branchline railroad, purchased by a local shipyard, and converted to a museum, which has grown, and expanded into a "less than carload-subcontractor", operating in the northeastern U.S. running, with trackage rights provisions, vintage to modern power and rolling stock, with short "connectors" from one major RR to another, where no other connection previously existed. On the connectors, a thriving "railfan business", providing, for a small fee, safely accessed photo locations, in spectacular scenic spots(bridges and trestles,mainly) where steam, and early diesel freights can be photographed.

It may not be "prototype", but I have "the history" to back it all up! :mrgreen:
The "history"?.......as in stories like the finding of a NYC hudson, buried beneath the remains of a defunct scrapyard that went out of business before the loco could be cut up.....as in the story of the shipyard owner who wanted to preserve, and operate steam locos, who decided to convert an old 3' gauge consolidation, to an articulated, for the shipyard's use.....etc., etc. .

 

[MadHatter]

Thank you good ol Mr Wilson.In case you are younger than me good ol Mr Wilson is a famous line from Dennis the menas. I have heard of these cards being used but didn't know how. Now I need to figure out how to make it work with my railroad.
Les

There is a guy at work called Dennis- older than me actually and not as naughty!sign1

 

[MadHatter]

Just look for a place on your layout that looks empty and use the HB detection system as a small filler.

 

[nkp174]

My current layout is essentially just for mainline running/test track. I'll be adding a station in the near future...the scenery will wait until I decide to build the permanent framing.

My future layout:
DSP&P: Gunnison to Hancock, featuring Pitkin and the Alpine Tunnel district. Hidden staging will provide trains coming from Como and Buena Vista, as well as the Baldwin Branch and D&RG traffic coming into Gunnison.

The railroad will have switching at Gunnison and helper service between Pitkin and Hancock (per prototype practice in 1884). (need (2) 2-8-0s for this). The interchange at Gunnison will primarily for a D&RG 2-4-0, the Fairlie, and 4-wheel cars to be appear on the layout.

It will also feature a daily passenger train with Pullman service, a night time mixed train, daily coal drags which will utilize (3-4) 2-8-0s over Alpine Pass, and general freight. The passenger service will stop at all three stations. All trains will stop at each telegraph office, per the practice of the railroad, to report their positions...to ensure a safe operation. Local service is a must...as well as periodic non-revenue trains with the office car, pay train, supply train, and work trains.

Each end will be connected up...perhaps through the staging yard...for continuous operation. I estimate that I'll need at least (3) Cooke 2-6-0s, (6) 2-8-0s, (1) mason bogie and (1) D&B 4-4-0. The South Park mainline was primarily powered by the Cooke locomotives from 1884 onwards...hence the lack of Brooks 2-6-0s, Mason Bogies, and D&B 2-6-0s.

In summary: I want to recreate the South Park's Alpine Tunnel and Gunnison operations as closely as possible...but not lose the ability to sit back and watch a Cooke Mogul pull 4 passenger cars of the line repeatedly.