For some
reason, I seem to get most of my model railroading done in the
middle of the night. It's not intentional. I just feel more
productive when building benchwork or scenery or laying track at 2
AM than I do at 2 PM.
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Me,
with Rio Grande Southern caboose 0404, a narrow gauge
cab built in 1902 and used until 1951. |
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Now, my job allows for
different hours than many other model railroaders. I happen to have
weekday afternoons free, which does make it easier to get to hobby
shops while they're open. And I'm off on weekends, so train shows
and railfanning are no problem, either.
But even so, I like to
work on the railroad at night, which is where the name of this
website came from.
I've been building
model trains, riding real ones, and generally been interested in the
industry for about 35 years now, and this site is my attempt to help
promote the model railroad hobby.
My train-watching has
taken place around the country, as I have lived in the railroad
Mecca of Chicago, Phoenix and Tucson, upstate New York, Montana, the
Carolinas, and now, Denver. Living in those diverse places has
afforded me the opportunity to see a lot of different kinds of
railroading. I wish I'd documented them more thoroughly.
While a childhood in
Chicago hooked me on railroading, I'm currently building an On30
empire based on a freelanced (imaginary) railroad that might have
run along the Barrier Islands of North Carolina in the 1950s. I'm calling it the
Outer Banks Railway.
(See the Model Railroading page
for a full explanation.)
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The herald
for my new freelanced railroad. |
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I want to
create the whole history (that never was) for this railroad (that
doesn't exist). It's an interesting challenge. Those people who tell
you that freelancing is the easy way out are wrong, at least in my
view. If you model a prototype, all the basics are laid out for you:
track plan, scenery, operations, roster, and so on.
When you make everything
up yourself, things get a lot harder. You don't want to make up
details that will conflict with each other later, for example. (Think of
long-running TV shows that write themselves into a corner after a
few years.) I'm finding it easiest to steal elements of several
narrow gauge railroads, mix 'em up, and combine
them.
On this site, I'll
chronicle the construction of that layout, plus some side projects.
I'll also write about subjects that interest me in both the model
train arena and the prototype. And I'll explore some long-gone
trains, hobby shops, and displays that influenced my modeling style.
Finally, I'll see if I can't explain some techniques and offer help
to new modelers looking to avoid "re-inventing the wheel."
You'll also find some
articles on various experiences in 1:1 railroading, as I take
advantage of the fact that Colorado has a great railroading
heritage, which--these days-- means quite a few tourist railroads
and museums. We're lucky to have so many right in one state.
And I am pretty
opinionated, as you'll see in my article
on why I no longer subscribe to Model Railroader magazine after
30 years.
Come on along, and let me
know what you think. Even if you don't like to stay up all night.
-Scott Orr, Denver, Colorado
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