Enjoyment from researching a prototypical railroad

[AndyG71]

So I've found that I've been getting as much enjoyment out of researching the history of the railroad I'm modeling (the long gone Death Valley Railroad) as I am buying and actually doing the "construction" of the layout. The fact that I've been to many of the places in Death Valley that I'm modeling makes it feel so much more real, and definitely ads to the enjoyment for me.

How many of you are history nerds as well? Whether from 20 years ago or over 100 years ago?

[eric220]

You can’t make an alternate history without researching the real history! I’ve been down that rabbit hole with the PRR, D.,S.P,&P., C&S, SN, WP, and to a lesser degree a lot of others.

[Dave V]

Absolutely. I have several shelves' worth of books on the Rio Grande Southern and Denver & Rio Grande Western narrow gauge. I love being able to back up every modeling decision I make with extensive research. I've often said the same; that I enjoy the research as much as the building.

[Mark5]

How many of you are history nerds as well? Whether from 20 years ago or over 100 years ago?

I'm a sponge. 

[davefoxx]

I’ve got quite the library of books on the A&R, Amtrak, ACL, Auto-Train, B&O, C&O, CSX, ET&WNC, IC, L&N, PRR, RF&P, SAL, SBD, SCL, and WSSB, plus other books on railroading in the Carolinas and Virginia.  The vast majority of this collection was for researching my favorite subject, the pre-CSX roads, which I have accumulated over the past thirty-five years or so.

DFF

[Specter3]

When I lived in my previous house and only had NTrak modules I delved into the 1920s New Haven and earlier railroads that ran in the area of my childhood home in Hopewell Junction NY. The history and changes in the area were just so much fun to read about. My Southern layout is more from my memory and what I want it to do as well as actual history. My biggest “Its my railroad” change from reality with my current road is that in my world Southern and L&N held onto passenger service through the area as a middle link since Amtrak went with the northern and southern E-W routes. Besides that the other major differences on the modeled portion of the layout are industry sites being on a different side of the tracks for space concerns and an added spur for pulpwood loading that wasn’t there but existed in many other places across the region. I have really enjoyed lately researching the Reynolds aluminum plant and the Ford casting plant that were in Sheffield AL. Never saw them as a kid but they were a huge part of why the area grew like it did.

[Rivet Miscounter]

I think the research aspect of the hobby is easily one of my favorite things to do.   I probably spend too much time in that realm, and nothing much else gets done...but I'm at peace with that by now.  If eventually it all translates to some nice layout that's just a bonus.  Thankfully I have plenty of opportunities to run trains otherwise.

[Mark5]

My biggest “Its my railroad” change from reality with my current road is that in my world Southern and L&N held onto passenger service through the area as a middle link since Amtrak went with the northern and southern E-W routes.

That's pretty cool. I rode the Pelican as a kid, and in 1975 when I took the train to visit my grandmother in WV, I took Southern (#7?) from Alexandria to Lynchburg where I transfered to Amtrak's short lived Mountaineer.

[btrain]

Oh the dangers of being a history buff in this hobby. I have several book cases lined with NKP, NYC, CR, AC&Y, Amtrak and many other railroad subjects that have peaked my interest. The cool thing about prototype or even a little bit of freelance modeling, is that having the history of a scene or object can give you the impetus to complete a project when motivation can become thin.

Because of that, the backstories we all carry for our own little worlds, gives me enough fun fact power to make an earnest attempt to crush a Jeopardy category or rule trivia night. 

[signalmaintainer]

How many of you are history nerds as well? Whether from 20 years ago or over 100 years ago?

Count me in.