Why no FreeLance N scale models?

[wm3798]

This is an interesting topic.  Thanks for the mentions of my several feeble attempts at shameless self-promotion.





I invented this road back in the early 80s, when N scale was just entering its chrysalis phase.  ConCor PAs, Atlas-Roco GP9s and 30s, and Minitrix F units pretty much dominated the "quality" end of the offerings, and such limitations led many N scalers to abandon all hope that they'd ever be able to model any particular prototype with any degree of accuracy, leading to the invention of numerous home roads to cover for the fact that there were only about 10 different locomotive types you could count on, and half of them were Rivarossi USRA steam arrangements.  So you picked your favorite two cities and put an ampersand between the initials, took your dog's or your daughter's name and added "Valley" or "Midland" to it, (any waterman will tell you never to name your boat after your wife... you'd be repainting too often!) or you came up with some silly play on words followed by "And Pacific."

Basically, it was out of necessity.  I recall in my youth enjoying the many articles that followed this path.  There was an N scale system called the "Gondor and Rohan" or some such Tolkien-esque name that used Trix diesels with a Milwaukee flavored orange and black scheme that really made an impression on me.  So, to prevent myself from having to raise hundreds of dollars to buy custom brass, I invented the Laurel Valley.



I came up with a reasonably easy paint scheme to mask, and got some lettering printed, and I was off to the races.

An interesting bit of trivia, I've only ever built one layout (back in the late 80s-early 90s) that was themed as the Laurel Valley, and it was never that famous.  Not even in my house.  After I cut a hole through the wall to connect a branchline in the family room with the yard in the utility room, it certainly wasn't popular with my landlord.



When I produced the first batch of black coal hoppers, my thinking was "I need to pay my mortgage, where can I get a quick $900?" and I realized that you don't have to buy more than one boxcar, but hoppers almost always run in herds.  Thus the 3-pack was born, and all y'all obliged nicely, and I got to sleep indoors for at least another 30 days.  Credit to Bryan Bussey for creating the artwork, and connecting me to the production facilities of Bluford Shops.

When things got a little dicey a few years later, I reckoned I could do a repeat performance doing the same car, but in light gray, following the example of the WM's stone service hoppers.  Sadly, my cashflow was even worse on the second run, and it took me several years and a divorce to finally settle up with Craig at Bluford, and the remaining cars were finally sold.

But, for a model railroad freelance that never really got built, I think it still has some traction.  I did feature it in one of the N Scale Magazine articles I wrote as an interchange line with my Western Maryland layout, so it has seen some ink.  It's also featured as part of my Hi Rail collection, being as it's origins are rooted in those old war horses.  I continue to paint and letter engines and rolling stock of a certain vintage to maintain some of that magic.







Every once in a while I ponder doing a run of either modern "Per Diem" era 50 foot boxcars, or maybe some steam era hoppers as a custom run, but my budget is too scattered over too many other things at present.

But if you'd like to cast your vote one way or another, write it down on the back of a $20 bill, and mail it in to the address below, along with five boxtops, and we'll see how it goes.

Lee

[Ed Kapuscinski]

LRV IPD cars? SIGN ME THE F UP

[wm3798]

About like this?

[Tad_T]

About like this?

I’d definitely have one.

[fcnrwy23]

Interesting topic.

I have followed (in HO).
MR&T (Milwaukee, Racine & Troy) which is now a "Fallen Flag"
and the Utah Belt..

I too have not seen, much in Freelance stuff in "N".
Except for mine own railway.. 
Jerry

[Iain]

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Just finished this not too long ago.

[jpf94]

I was at the Colorado RPM a couple weeks ago and one of the vendors, HomeShops was displaying some of their ProtoFreelance models.  They had some neat models of some of the classic model railroads, like Virginina and Ohio locomotives and Cat Mountain and Santa Fe boxcars in HO.  But their N scale offerings were rather limited.  I asked the owner of the company about that and he said that they hadn't gotten a lot of response to their initial N scale offerings.  It's a small company so they can't do a lot of speculation, they need to be fairly confident that a project will sell before they invest a lot of resources.  One of his comments was that in the modern day railroads, with only a handful of major railroads, he sees a lot of (HO) modelers bringing in Freelance equipment for variety.  But that's not happening in the N scale world, apparently. 

I remember a bunch of years ago, I got some of Lee's Laural Valley hoppers, and I've lettered other cars for the railroads I've operated on in my local area.  But I guess I'm one of the only ones doing that.  Is anyone else here interested in this concept?

Bill Kepner
Ft Collins, CO

You got a better answer then I did.  When they first started I suggested a number of their HO offerings would be popular in N.  I would have acquired many of them, but was told there was no market for, or interest at HS to do N scale. 

[fcnrwy23]

About like this?

Nice, work!

Do YOU mine, if I make a copy for myself..?
I have a few of those Roundhouse cars... (Actually, they are about ALL I HAVE.)

What is the body color?
Font for your lettering?
Font Size for the Main Lettering..

Jerry G.

[delamaize]

I went the Boeing Model railroad club's swap meet yesterday, and sold a bunch of stuff to Paul from PnP trains. We started talking about freelance railroads, I showed him pictures of the SBL stuff I have done so far. He got excited, and handed me a modern mechanical reefer to decal up for SBL. He runs a lot of freelance stuff on his own railroad. I got a little time yesterday evening to work on it. I got one side done, gotta do the other still, pretty happy with it overall though.

This is fun doing my own stuff, just gotta get some white decals made so I can get the darker painted stuff done.

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[basementcalling]

I'd buy certain freelance decorated cars/engines regardless of the scale of the layout in question if it's made on a product that fits my era. In fact, I have, as I own an MR&T engine, along with the Fox Valley AM and V&O GE toasters they ran. I'd love to get hands on Cat Mountain & Sante Fe, Utah Belt, Ohio Southern, Utah Colorado, & Western, Allagash RR, Tenino Western, Alturas & Lone Pine, and even Gorre & Daphited rolling stock. Even just decals would be a start.

Ironic that most people say it's harder to be prototypically accurate in N scale, but we have fewer "famous" level freelanced layouts. Personally, I say the causes are a combo of N scale's popularity increasing in the 1980s when the hobby was shifting hard towards prototypical realism in the hobby press, and that the model railroad magazines usually feature fewer N scale layouts than HO ones. Easier for the HO freelancer to get media coverage if their layout was established and known within the hobby community than for a new freelanced N scale layout to break through into the hobby press. Even project railroads - from the N scale Clinchfield of the 70s to the more recent MR Beer Line or Canadian Canyons layouts - were prototypically inspired. You'd never see an N scale "Turtle Creek Central" or Jerome and Southwestern project layout from MR.

Not to mention that the biggest freelanced layouts of all are the massive NTRAK and TTRAK layouts. Many who might have wished to freelance, fed that bug with modules instead of an entire layout built around a freelance effort. While some modules like the New River Gorge Subdivision attempted prototype inspired modeling by picking prototype segments where the modular standards still allowed accurate reflections of those locations.

But as much as I'd like to see more freelance decorated models, I'm also not the company owner who has to risk scarce capital in a tightening hobby market to bring offerings to bear that may or may not sell as well as another Warbonnet unit or Big Boy.

[nkalanaga]

K4 Decals has Gorre and Daphited decals.

Someone mentioned the Oregon Joint Line.  I think that's a good example of why there aren't as many freelance layouts in N scale.  While the line is fictional, all of the trains are BN/UP.  No freelance interchange rolling stock to model.

[fcnrwy23]

Well, Freelance does not only have to be Railways...



I added a few 'Freelance" Private Stock, too...

Jerry

[u18b]

Interesting topic.

I have followed (in HO).
MR&T (Milwaukee, Racine & Troy) which is now a "Fallen Flag"
and the Utah Belt..

I too have not seen, much in Freelance stuff in "N".
Except for mine own railway.. 
Jerry

Are those locomotives   B18-8?

[fcnrwy23]

No, B23ES7s...

Got into RR, back in 1989 and at that time, GE had their "Super-7s".
Always liked that 'Toaster Look"..
Bought, B23-7s when Atlas released them in Oct. 2000.  And those have been the "Main Power" for the FCN, ever since.
The Gevo's come out in 2005.  So in 2008, I decided to upgrade my B23's.
I looked at a few options to do this.. Then, remembered that (Atlas had released their Dash8-32B's in 2002.)
I bought a few B32 Long Hood shells and found that with cutting, a quarter inch off the front. (I could save a bit of the dynamics) and some cutting to the Dash7 sill.
I had my Gevo's! 

My B23ES7s run In-Line 6 Cyl. (2300hp) Gevos.  I found a photo of this engine (it was made for Marine use) and thought the "6 Engine-doors" on the B32 would work.
Found out just recently the CSX SD23T4's (SD40-2 rebuilds) are running this same engine...



I added styrene to the Radiators (thicken them up a bit) and a few styrene extensions on the body.
By 2009, I had made four..

Just last month, (16 years later...  ). I finally got around to doing a B23ES7 "Demonstrator" unit...



A few years late...

Jerry

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I've always enjoyed your "what ifs". These are fire man.