At the end of my last post I was thinking of a North American standard gauge HO project again.  It would be instead of the European one I'd been edging towards since being joyfully distracted by my Roco HO OBB Taurus loco (and all that followed).

 

I previously shifted my focus stateside last November, but while I already have about forty US HO freight cars and kits, plus kits for buildings, I hadn't managed to find the inspiration to keep going when my ideas for a layout design got a bit stuck.

 

But having reached that same point of frustration, trying to fit the European mainline layout I'd like into the space I actually have, I had a thought.  Quite where the idea came from I'm not entirely sure, but there is a prototype Class II American railroad that still runs regular passenger Services, and uses the kind of Panorama coaches I like (sometimes in very short trains): the Alaska Railroad (ARR). They keep their locos and passenger cars very clean, and the line runs for several hundred miles through the kind of snow-capped mountain scenery I was drawn to with Austrian / German / Swiss railways.

 

I'm still interested in other US railroads, particularly the Santa Fe, but the ARR is that bit different.  I found some good ARR items on eBay, and that sealed it.  The OBB (and friends) have handed over the reigns of my planning mind to the ARR:

 

(This Atlas ARR GP38 was pre-owned but still brand new;  the end handrails and details are in the box, still to be fitted)

 

American Panorama Coaches can be much bigger than European ones:

 

(These Bachmann McKinley Explorer Passenger Cars come with lights - see the header photo for this blog entry)

 

I've seen videos of both one and two car Panorama Trains in these Cruise Line liveries.  As the Dining Car is on the lower floor they can be self-contained.  I understand they only run in the summer months though, not during the Alaskan winter.

 

This next photo mock-up isn't entirely prototypical, as the loco would probably be an SD70MAC in the newer livery, and I've not found any photos of an ARR depot looking like my generic Walthers' kit, but it's somewhere to start from I rather like:

 

 

Having joined a facebook group for Alaska Railroad modelers, it seems to be one of those broad churches I like belonging to, where the scarcity of available product for a particular niche mean it's understood when inconsistencies arise.  That suits me fine.  A piece of advice I often return to was shared with me by @Allegheny1600 a while back: when starting out in a new scale (or with a new RR), collect what you can to begin with, and refine it later once you've got started.

 

So I've bought a few bits to help my thinking, but not too much:

 

 

The Walthers' Trainline Geep isn't strictly correct (it's a GP9 while the ARR only ran GP7s), but it came in an unused budget set with the Caboose (Walthers 931-700).  The caboose is correctly numbered as one of three ARR mid-1970s wide-vision ones, and I'm advised the Geep does have the correct chop nose and livery.

 

The big question for me and this blog: might this become yet another example of a change of direction - instead of progress towards a layout: another case of how to not build a model railway?  Time alone will tell...

 

What's next?

 

What's next is to try out some layout design ideas.  A key thing will be how long I want my freight trains to be.  Modern ARR freights can still run to 90 or 100 freight cars, although an interesting aspect of the role this state-owned line plays is mixed freights are still very mixed.  It makes videos more interesting to watch, but long trains won't be what I can model.

 

In my current American modelling thread, I've already shared some measurements and posed some photos for short seven car, four car and even three car branch freights I can refer to.  And as I already have that project thread devoted to Re-starting in American HO model railroading, it means this can be the final post for this blog.  After all, if I can develop a plan and get started, my job here is done.

 

Just one final thing...

 

All that is left is to share one final list of resources that may be helpful, this time of North American layouts and influences.  These are some of the ones I've been reading, watching or following for a while, and will help me think through some ideas:

 

It's no secret that my current favourite all-time layout is Grant Eastman's expansive Southern Alberta Rail in N-Scale which I follow on YouTube - truly inspirational in my book when it comes to trains running through scenery: linked here.

 

The rest of the list is focused more on smaller projects:

 

I mentioned @James Hilton's Kinross in my previous blog entry (here).  I'd also recommend reading his Halifax and South Western Railway in HO planning post too, and there's a wealth more on his website / blog here.

 

For truly 'off the scale' modelling and reflections by a professional, I turn to Boomer Dioramas YouTube channel.  His two shelf layouts, River Road and Glover Road are quite stunning.

 

Another modeller based in North America I came across a while back whose wisdom and modelling inspires me is Trevor Marshall ( @tpm1ca ) and his Port Rowan in 1:64 S-scale layout (now dismantled following a house move).  His thoughts on Achievable Layouts are worth a read too.

 

Tom Johnson's Cass County Railroad on the MRH site is another shelf layout with scenery and structures I find mind-blowing (his background is in art).

 

A couple of other YouTube Channels I often turn to for a bit of relaxation are Red Dirt and Rails and SoCal Scale Models while a one-off video on Thomas Klimoski's YouTube channel I've watched over and over features Jared Harper's Santa Fe Alma Branch .  I'd say that is 10 minutes of your life well worth spending in front of a computer screen!

 

These are in addition to my traditional sources: Kalmbach books and Model Railroader magazine.

 

As with my previous blog, I should add another thank you to those modelers who inspire me, and who I've referenced here.  As I noted last time, I don't know any of them personally, so I hope it's OK.

 

Of course, it all begs the question - when I'm surrounded by soooo... much inspiration, how come I don't actually get much built (especially when it comes to layouts)?   

 

What can I say?  Have you tried condensing all that inspiration into a portable layout in part of one small, spare bedroom?

 

Once I've cracked that, I think I'll have found a way to not not build a model railway.  Isn't that the aim?   Let's see how I get on.  So, have fun, and thank you once again for your patience in reading through my latest ramblings.  Future progress will be...

 

...and will be shared in my project threads.  Until then, thanks once more.  It's time to catch my train, Keith.