Modelling Eras

As a new semi-convert from N, my take is that less people do this in Z. Partly from observation, and partly given that with less variety of product in Z it is just a price you pay at this point...having to fudge here and there with regards to era, or--which is almost universally the case--run whatever without regards to era. This can be by choice or by indifference.

Personally, I am trying to achieve that matchup of rolling stock and era. So far so good, but there are still compromises even now. I'm shooting for BNSF/UP/DGNO/TRE in the 2006-2007 timeframe...which is maybe among the easier eras to model in Z, but it still presents many challenges. I have been touching up here and there...nothing specifically like your A-B-B-A example, but stuff like backdating a BNSF boxcar from "swoosh" to the older circle logo...swoosh was around in 2006, but still in far fewer numbers at that point so representatively I need fewer swoosh boxcars. I guess the closest example I have is some MTL Husky's that I'm configuring as drawbarred sets...so going from MTL's "A" to A-B-C. *Technically A-C-B if anyone is keeping score. lol

I suspect I will likely renumber some locos eventually, but I still have plenty of projects on my list before that happens. I will say that part of the allure of moving to Z was that it did remove some of the "pressure" of trying to model a specific era. Yet, my old habits from N seem to die hard I guess.   At some level, that is part of the fun for me.

For ACes running solo, it can happen. Two instances come to mind for at least BNSF and UP would be as power for a business train, or in a "1+2" DPU setup. Not super common but happens. I would bet an MRL unit got into the business train action at some point too.

I chose the transition era for most of my Z scale because I model Burlington Route and have a GP7 and a Mikado. Of course, I have been picking up a few pieces of AZL BNSF rolling stock in anticipation of the Heritage II ES44 that is coming. I think with the limited selection of locos and rolling stock in Z scale makes it very difficult to model narrow time periods (there are exceptions to this statement, but not many). Don't get me wrong about Z; i am anxiously await each month's MTL and AZL releases. HO and N scales makes it much easier to choose specific time periods.

I try to get at least one loco or car in CSX scheme, and I collect mostly modern stuff. I also have Mikado and E8's to pull my excursion trains.

Comments here seem to bring up a couple more questions. How does one define the "modern" era? I've never given much thought to collecting but how does one decide what to collect? In displaying your collection, how would you group rolling stock into trains? Using David's example it seems that modeling (or collecting) the C&O and the Chessie System is actually modeling two different eras.

Matt: I can give you three instances I've seen. MRL one short (5-6 car) freight and a train of 3 mismatched streamlined passenger coaches. The UP C&NW heritage unit was being used as a road switch in Fremont CA. Used to watch it from my office window.

Mark

Good question.   I'm not really sure what is considered to be modern anymore.   I would probably just toss around the idea that modern is "past 20 years".   That of course completely ignores what I considered modern when I was in HO in the 80/early 90's and I don't know what that era would now be called?

I don't consider myself a collector.  I don't buy anything without the mindset of it becoming part of recreating a particular scene/train/rail line/rolling stock/etc during a particular timeframe.   Now, I do end up with a *collection* of rolling stock at that point, but I don't have any intention that I am collecting to display on a wall shelf or that it will appreciate in value.

Deciding what to collect for me is easy, as I tend to love the railroads I'm most familiar with and that are local to me from my younger days to now.   The AZL Trinity Railway Express equipment provided the catalyst for me to get into Z, and I build around that as BNSF and UP and DGNO and Amtrak all run on the same lines.   Ultimately if I stay in Z long term, my next layout will be the same era but a slightly different locale and without TRE, DGNO, or Amtrak.

I only model a single, fairly specific era as a mechanism to keep my hobby budget in check.   I love almost ALL trains and appreciate the variety that every model railroader has in their possession.  But I recognize that I cannot afford to "fly all of those colors" so to speak.

Yeah, "modern" era is tough to pin down. For me it's the rise of Amtrak and the demise of the caboose, but I guess for most modelers I'm talking ancient history.

My modeling era, to paraphrase my 7th grade English teacher: "model what I know." So my prime interest is N. California from the late 1950s forward. That would be WP, SP,ATSF with UP entering in the "modern" era.
That's actually quite a bit, but I only model what I know: trains I've ridden, rolling stock I've seen, places I've been. My current project, the Altamont & Western RR, models the SP and WP lines on the original route into the SF Bay area. Although SP abandoned the route and pulled up track a long time ago, much of the rural area along the line has changed little making it suitable for my modeling era.

Getting back to my original question, I'm a bit surprised that there aren't more "era" modelers and collectors comments. Considering the number of people who have asked AZL for some very specific paint schemes, I would have expected more era interest. And AZL by my current count the WP had 15 paint schemes. You've done one and MTL has done 3. I want them all!

Mark