... But I have to ask, what is the draw? What is it that draws a large percentage of modelers to follow a road like the Union Pacific?
Several reasons! But first, let me qualify my response by saying that I'm not happy with all the modeling attention UP gets these days. I've been modeling UP since I started in the hobby 40+ years ago, when the popular roads were Santa Fe and PRR, and to a lesser extent SP. The sea change to the interest in UP over the past 10-15 years has so far meant that nearly anything interesting produced by the N manufacturers in UP paint sells-out almost immediately, which means premium prices and limited availability. That aspect has been very annoying. Anyway...
First, UP is the
only US Class I whose name and basic paint scheme has been unchanged during the entire diesel era (we'll forget about the first switchers in black). There have been some lettering tweaks along the way and a few rivet-counter-level detail changes, but the overall image has been very consistent. So it doesn't immediately look "wrong" to park an SW9 next to an SD9043MAC or GEVO. So unless you're a specific-period modeler like me, you can impulse-buy pretty much anything in UP paint that appeals to you and put it on your layout relatively guilt-free.
Then there's the Heritage Program. The 844 (FEF-4 4-8-4), 3985 (4-6-6-4 "Challenger"), 6936 (DDA40X) and the E-units are high-visibility publicity... uh... engines ;D that make it possible to seriously run steam and classic-era diesels in post-2000 settings without apology. And you can run them without feeling like you have to weather them since UP doesn't let 'em get dirty.
Third, UP used to change its roster like underwear, and had at least a handful of most large diesel models produced. You might not be able to get, say, an Alco C420 in UP paint past the rivet counters, but thanks to the 1982 mergers and their anal preoccupation with wiping the paint schemes of the MP, WP and MKT off the map immediately, a whole bunch of miscellaneous, rag-tag models UP would've never bought on their own were suddenly in yellow and gray. IOW, variety.
Then there's the "pipeline to the West" aspect of the pre-merger UP. Local switching operations were a very small part of UP's business. Same thing went for Santa Fe, hence its popularity, as well. There were vast distances to cover with long trains and big engines, and you don't have to explain yourself when your layout is an homage to mainline-only operations where you can set the throttle(s) mid-way and sit back and watch your trains run.
"Big power" is a huge attraction, too - U50's, turbines, Centennials, Big Boys, Challengers - are a major draw. This was also the draw to the Pennsy, but since the PRR has pretty much faded from memory for all but the oldest of us here, it's not getting the love that the UP current gets.
Which brings us to the closer, most (not all -
most) focus our modeling on what we're familiar with, and then to a certain degree what we experienced in our pre-teen years or at least perceived what we would have experienced. The UP's image consistency means that you can be interested in modeling modern operations without straying too far away from the nostalgia.
Sorry to write a novel here, but, again, being the rare long-time UP modeler, in a small way I resent having my modeling "turf" invaded like this. So I have had to think through why UP is now such a draw in order to placate the aggravation of having to get in line for stuff when I didn't have to before.
