Model Railroading > Changing Roads

Looking for opinions please. I am thinking of changing roads from SP to Santa Fe. I would keep some SP but I have always liked the Santa Fe blue and yellow war bonnet paint scheme. My biggest question is the new layout is based on a forested area, think Washington or Oregon. I only know Santa Fe running in the Southwest. Your thoughts?

Trans con east of Flagstaff

Good choice, nothing wrong but maybe more different types of locos to buy and have on your layout...

Steve H...

Do both. (If it feels good, do it)

Rick

After a few trips railfanning the ATSF in the Southwest I came home and completely rebuilt my 1955 Appalachian coal road (B&O, C&O, WM). I moved it to 1995 in the desert southwest. It took a few years to make the transition, but I'm glad I made the switch. Gave away a lot of trees to my fellow modelers.

Santa Fe also ran across Illinois and Missouri. I doubt there were any heavily forested areas, but if it's green you're seeking, there would be more in the Midwest.

As you also like the Southern Pacific you may also want to consider the modeling the Santa Fe in the San Francisco Bay Area where the SP also was present.

Santa Fe and Southern Pacific ran next to each other in many areas of Southern and Central California.
Not to mention Tehachapi Pass where Santa Fe ran on Southern Pacific tracks via trackage rights.

I solved that dilemma years ago - I model both plus the UP!
I also don't worry that much about scenery.

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

Chad Wrote:
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> Looking for opinions please. I am thinking of
> changing roads from SP to Santa Fe. I would keep
> some SP but I have always liked the Santa Fe blue
> and yellow war bonnet paint scheme. My biggest
> question is the new layout is based on a forested
> area, think Washington or Oregon. I only know
> Santa Fe running in the Southwest. Your thoughts?

Any particular time range?

That could have a bearing on where you might see SP power on the ATSF (e.g. after the Southern Pacific took over the Rio Grande).

Are you looking to model just one or a few locations, or do you have the room to model a division size location?

Are you interested in having any Amtrak passenger trains? I believe the "yellow war bonnet" scheme originated right after the formation of Amtrak.

What about red and silver Superfleet engines of the 1990s?

I would say do both. Just pick a stretch of track where the SP and ATSF shared trackage or had trackage rights.. or be like some of my friends and just freelance it and pretend that one had trackage rights or other methods of shared access in a locale that fits your interest. Just have fun. Never mind the rest. It's your railroad and your interpretation of the hobby. If that really bugs you, then by all means switch. Just be aware that the selection of ATSF-specifc rolling stock is smaller than the large variety available to SP modelers in HO scale. A minor nit, but for me, that would be a bit painful not to have 1970s era SFRD reefers, etc..

Cheers,
Harry

i have mostly at&sf, sp, up, bn, bnsf, and amtrak with a LOT of pool power for variety. i just run whatever i am in the mood for in southwest scenery.......

66

ATSF97 Wrote:
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> Trans con east of Flagstaff

Just west of flagstaff has more pine forest I think...but certainly coniferous trees aplenty round there!
Have a look on 'railpictures' website and search on 'Flagstaff', or search on a photographer called 'David Carballido Jeans'.

west of flagstaff to Williams is in a heavy forest. is this layout going to be a 2 track main?

66

exhaustED Wrote:
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> Just west of flagstaff has more pine forest I
> think...but certainly coniferous trees aplenty
> round there!
> Have a look on 'railpictures' website and search
> on 'Flagstaff', or search on a photographer called
> 'David Carballido Jeans'.

Wouldn't the north part of the Peavine (Phoenix District) have a lot of trees, too? If I was modeling the Santa Fe, that would be one area that I might be attracted to.

If one does not want double track, but wants to run just about all of the types of diesels the Santa Fe had in later years, plus a variety of traffic, the Peavine would be a good choice. Plus the number of trains run daily would not overwhelm an operating session. You would have to model all the way to Phoenix to pick up some SP though (I can't recall how close the ATSF and SP mains in Phoenix come).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/25/17 07:41 by ts1457.

the bnsf phoenix line between Williams jct. through ash fork to the drake area has a LOT of trees but they are not tall pine trees. I don't know what type of trees they are but they mostly have a "round" appearance. they are "juniper trees" and LOTS of them......

66



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/25/17 13:42 by goneon66.

How about East Texas? I was amazed at the forests when I moved down here. It's like being in Oregon or the Sierras!

wpdude Wrote:
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> How about East Texas? I was amazed at the forests
> when I moved down here. It's like being in Oregon
> or the Sierras!

.... and you have places served both by Santa Fe and Southern Pacific. No mountain ranges though.

How's this for a curveball? Make a fictional theme depicting if the SPSF merger had gone through... Then you'd have an excuse to run ATSF power in Oregon scenery while still keeping some SP stuff on hand...

Did they ever gain trackage rights on the old WP or NP in Northern California after the BN and UP mergers?

Northern California and the Bay Area also has rolling green hills, Eucalyptus groves and oaks -- not exactly forest, but the Santa Fe and SP mainlines were adjacent in terrain like this near the Pinole area. Also, Port Chicago is flatter and near water, but the two railroads also run parallel there, with a crossover for the Amtrak San Joaquin.

~ BZ