How do you name the towns/cities and other points of interest on your layout? Friend's names, Proto names, silly names. freelance (made up) names?????
Saturday 9-16 Town Names???
- Thread starter N Gauger
- Start date
I make up names that are similar sounding to actual places. Kings Port for Kingston, NY for example.
Ralph
Ralph
I don't have but one town, but that and most businesses and points of interest are all named for those people and things that mean a lot to us. The unfinished half of my layout, I'm going to have to start getting a bit creative there, since I'm modeling no specific place or era, It'll have names to go along those lines.... fantesy
C
Catt
I look for names that make the location quite obvious it's in California.
Like Arguello, the real POINT Arguello has a beautiful lighthouse along the rocky central california coast, exactly where I model!
Orange, was my birth town, and to me, to makes sense that orange would be surrounded by orange groves!
Industries are named from two of three peoples names, like J.M. Stewart Scrap& salvage, named for my gandfather, J.M. andStewart is my best friend's Middle name!
ops: 
Like Arguello, the real POINT Arguello has a beautiful lighthouse along the rocky central california coast, exactly where I model!
Orange, was my birth town, and to me, to makes sense that orange would be surrounded by orange groves!
Industries are named from two of three peoples names, like J.M. Stewart Scrap& salvage, named for my gandfather, J.M. andStewart is my best friend's Middle name!
ops: I use the names of family and friends...Clayton (my father), Bethel Forge (run in of my sister's first and middle names), Albertsonville (my father's firehouse nickname referencing me as his son to obtain a town name that sounded like one with a Civil War history). The rest'll find homes on businesses.
I do a mix of freelanced names and names of people that I know.
I had a friend once who had named everything on his fictional branchline of the Detroit, Toledo and Ironton after things related to the Detroit Tigers. The towns and big industries were things like Cobb's Hill, Corktown (the neighborhood where old Tiger stadium was), and my personal favorite, the Alkaline Chemical Company. Business were named after members of the '84 world series team (I specifically remember there was a leather goods producer named after Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell). It was subtle enough that most people who saw his layout never "got" it.
I had a friend once who had named everything on his fictional branchline of the Detroit, Toledo and Ironton after things related to the Detroit Tigers. The towns and big industries were things like Cobb's Hill, Corktown (the neighborhood where old Tiger stadium was), and my personal favorite, the Alkaline Chemical Company. Business were named after members of the '84 world series team (I specifically remember there was a leather goods producer named after Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell). It was subtle enough that most people who saw his layout never "got" it.
AndyWS
New Member
Everything is named for my kids...the lake, businesses (if not already named by some billboard), hills and turns. If they help me build it - they get their name on it. But I'm thinking about naming the whole layout after the town I live in thereby creating a ficticious branch off Norfolk Southern's Charlotte, NC main line...it will/might be called the "Ballantyne Branch". Not exactly a catchy ring to it...maybe I'll keep thinking.
Tombstone was taken so after coming up with the theme for the BAD Western, I needed towns beginning with B and D. Mrs. Doc's maiden name is Bovee so that was easy. After application of a little alcohol, Defiance poped out of my brain as appropriate for a wild west cowtown.
Doc
Doc
Real town names. But I try to get comical with business names or other references(Sienfeld fans....Cramerica...Costanza Architecture), Fullards Oil, and other play on words that I can't use here..
I use real names but I am not making any replicas of place.
My passenger station is called Castle Rock which is named after an amusement park that used to exist along the Philadelphia & West Chester Traction Company's West Chester Line. The park is long gone.
My passenger station is called Castle Rock which is named after an amusement park that used to exist along the Philadelphia & West Chester Traction Company's West Chester Line. The park is long gone.
My wife named the layout after the two towns we grew up in -- the also defines a British layout. The middle station (St Mary Ax) is a street in East London mentioned in Gilbert and Sullivan.
Some family names on locations, some model rr friends for industries... And some plans are to model actual places, so I'll have to use the real name 
'Marlpost' is the name of my main town, which is named after the house my grandfather lived in for most of his life, and where my father grew up. It is now a subdivision...
Andrew
'Marlpost' is the name of my main town, which is named after the house my grandfather lived in for most of his life, and where my father grew up. It is now a subdivision...
Andrew
I model a specific prototype so my layout uses real place-names. Because they are all in the same town I use the names of neighborhoods or streets: Haggin Yard, 17th & D, 31st Street, X Street.