Note: this layout is participating in the CIRROPS 2012 Operations Weekend.
The modeled portion of the Midwest Central Railroad is located in southern Indiana, the hilly portions. I designed the railroad scenery first. Let me explain this concept. When a railroad enters an area, business tends to find a place to develope and soon becomes a town. The N-Scale January/February 2011 magazine cover shows a prototype concept I wanted which I have seen in a lot of towns over the past many years. The visual I had in mind came from a photo I took in Bedford several years ago. This scene is where the railroad runs down the middle of the street with business on both sides and vehicles and trains in the middle of the street. I wanted a railroad concept that represented small towns connected by farms and roads. There are several farms on this railroad.
Scenes that looked like they could be real is what I was seeking in the building of the Midwest Central. While I have town names that are of Hoosier origin, they have not been modeled to resemble their name sake. There is only one town in Indiana that I modeled in its entirety. Look up on you map the town of Ballstown Indiana. My modeling of this town compares favorable to the real town.
I like the trains to be seen only once in each town so I don’t see the train enter town, change it’s mind and then leave the way it entered town. I wanted the effect that the train has a place to go and may not return to the same area for awhile.
My knowledge of the prototype has occurred every time I have seen a train running ever since I was very young. I have no prototype favorite and that is good for me since I can purchase any equipment that would have been in use on June 3, 1954. If I find a locomotive that is a stellar performer but is not American in appearance, I just paint for one of my roads and create a story to explain how it came into service here.
Scenery was my most important decision. While, like many of us, I doodled place to place track, those thoughts were tempered by a lot of pondering in an attempt to visualize a town with business, hill or grade, sidewalks and places to park cars. This caused track pencil lines to often be erased and moved until I got an effect that looked like it could be a real town.
The most pleasing aspect of this hobby has been in creating scenery that is good enough to make publication in major magazines happen. To that end I have had 35 pictures published in N-Scale Magazine in two articles and also I have had 2 of my pictures on the covers of the same magazine.
The previous railroad was the Budlines and it has been published in Model Railroader, Railroad Model Craftsman, NTrak and the NMRA Bulletin. There were two cover photos of mine published by Model Railroader.
I like the look of weathered locomotives and rolling stock. I have done many but there is still a lot to be done. I also intend to weather and mud up some of the cars and trucks on the railroad but those have not recieved much priority.
