Location for New RR

[JMaurer1]

OK, as for a serious answer: anywhere in California. Tehachapi and Cajon are most likely the two most popular answers. Add some Western Pacific and you can add the SF Bay area (still lots of mountains and hills around there) and Sacramento over the sierras. The rolling stock doesn't matter as much as the engines do. You usually wouldn't see a consist with a Northern Pacific, a Pennsy, a Seaboard, and a Southern Pacific locomotive in it (I said usually, not that it never happened...as soon as you say something never happened, someone will post a photo of it happening). Of course, you can always go freestyle and do whatever you want. There are no rules and it's your railroad.

[DKS]

There are no rules and it's your railroad.

Shhhhh... don't let Bob Gilmore hear this...

[jnevis]

Stockton, multiple crossings with SP, SF,WP, and UP at the foothills of the Sierras.

[C855B]

Stockton, multiple crossings with SP, SF,WP, and UP at the foothills of the Sierras.

UP? Not in transition era, except the City of San Francisco run-through. Maybe perishable expediters over Donner.

[mionerr]

Stockton, multiple crossings with SP, SF,WP, and UP at the foothills of the Sierras.

Yep, that's what I'm modeling. No UP track in transition years. That came later when UP bought WP.
Tidewater Southern, Central California Traction, and Stockton Terminal and Eastern were active then. Atlas has produced a TS RS-1, a CCT GP-7, and an ST&E MP-15. Bachmann has 44 tonners and 70 tonners which ran on all three shortlines.

No mountains in or around Stockton, though. In the 50's you could see the mountains, but rarely now. Too much crud in the air. SP had a branch from Stockton into the foothills, Oakdale and interchanged with the Sierra RR that went up into the Sierras.

[Flagler]

Stockton, multiple crossings with SP, SF,WP, and UP at the foothills of the Sierras.

Maybe I can invent a little fiction in this area

[nkalanaga]

Fiction would be easy enough.  Just give UP access to the Inside Gateway, either shared track with the GN or on their own line from Bend south.  That would put them into northern California without changing too much history.

[robert3985]

...There are no rules and it's your railroad.

Shhhhh... don't let Bob Gilmore hear this...

Hahaha...The only "rule" I don't like is that damned "3 Foot Rule".  MY rule is the "As Close As I Can Focus Rule" with a special corollary for Optivisors.   

See the following post for mo' info pertinent to the OP's opening question...

[robert3985]

I had a similar wish way back when, when I started being interested in model railroading again in the middle 1980's.  I liked SP, UP, & D&RGW...but especially UP.  Luckily, there was a place really near to me which ran all three of them side by side for a while...during the transition era...which was Ogden Utah.  SP terminated there coming from the west, D&RGW terminated there coming from the south, and UP ran trains east, south and north from there, interchanging with SP, D&RGW and WP.  Both SP and UP switchers got leased to the OUR&D, which ran the Ogden Yard, and you could see a lot of engines, cabooses and passenger trains and cars from all four railroads running on the same trackage all day and all night.

However, I don't think there was anywhere that UP, SP and AT&SF ran on the same trackage.

That problem could be solved by freelancing an imaginary bridge route much like Lee Nicholas's fine HO scale model railroad, the Utah Colorado Western, where UP, SP, D&RGW, WP, BN and UCW trains and motive power run during an op session, with scenery and town names very similar to actual locations between Salt Lake City and Denver.  Lee doesn't run any steam as his year of operations is set in 1967.

Just for giggles you might want to visit his website (which needs a bit of updating) here: http://www.ucwrr.com  and see if his design and operations philosophy might assist you in developing your own imaginary, yet fact-infused bridge line which would allow you to run the trains and engines you like on the same trackage.

[Flagler]

Thanks Bob,Great help.