Having a start and cut off dates for your layout.

[TravisM]

As some will know, I'm modelling Sleaford East Junction in July/August of 2019, just before East Midlands trains finishes, which was the 17th August, but I'm struggling with keeping to this date.  Because most of my pictures have been taken since June 2020, and East Midlands Railway are now running the service, do I stick rigidly to my original time line or move it towards 2020/21?

 

I have Classes 153, 156 and 158 in EMT livery and recently had three of my four Class 153's renumbered and and weathered by GC Weathering, and a stunning job they have done.  I can't afford to do both EMT and EMR, so I'm conflicted at the moment because all pictures are so recent.  Has anyone else had this problem and how have they dealt with it. 

[MarkSG]

I think most people solve it by liberal application of Rule 1

 

[Ian Simpson]

Did the Junction / surrounding area change a lot between 2019 and today? 

If not, I'd suggest staying with EMT as the recent photos will still be very relevant.

If it did change significantly, other people of RMWeb may have earlier photos if you give a shout out. 

[TravisM]

56 minutes ago, Ian Simpson said:

Did the Junction / surrounding area change a lot between 2019 and today? 

If not, I'd suggest staying with EMT as the recent photos will still be very relevant.

If it did change significantly, other people of RMWeb may have earlier photos if you give a shout out. 

I’m pretty sure that there’s been no significant changes since the re-signalling and reopening of the avoiding line in 2012.  I’m probably going to stay with my original timeline but I’m seriously tempted because recently I saw a royal Class 67 and EMR Class 170 at Sleaford.

[Michael Hodgson]

Start date 1825, end date 2225 ?

[The Johnster]

I think this is one of those things where you have to achieve a balance that is suitable for your interpretation of 'period'.  In an ideal world, you know, the one where we all have exact and perfect scale models of everything, one would model operations in real time to exact scale at a specific location on a specific date, and the logical opposite to that is the 'everything and anything I fancy; it's my train set' layout where the idea of period and location becomes meaningless.  There is nothing wrong with either of these approaches if they are what you want, but clearly followers of one discipline will not be enamoured of the other.

 

For most of us, where we have fallen is somewhere between these two stools, and we each make some sort of individual compromise for ourselves that satisfies both our need to establish a period and allows us to 'legitimately' and plausibly run the models we want on our layout.  In my case, the layout represents a semi-fictional (the place exists but never had a railway or a mining village) South Wales BLT in the Tondu Valleys area between 1948 and 1958.  This period was chosen because of the large variety of locos, stock, and liveries that featured in this area at this time, but there are anomalies that I have to live with.  For example, 2761, a 2721 class pannier withdrawn in 1950, should not appear on the layout at the same time as 8497, a 94xx not built until 1952 and not transferred to Tondu until a year after that, but there are times when this happens and I don't lose sleep over it.

 

I think most of us try to do our best within our ability to represent plausible reality in general, but perfection is unachieveable.  My locomotives all represent prototypes that actually ran in the Tondu valleys in my period, except for a Rule 1 Barry BR Standard 3MT for which I have invented a Rule 1 through duty. My coaches are mostly numbered to represent actual coaches used at Tondu, but getting these 100% correct is an ongoing project; my Hornby Collett 57' suburbans never ran in South Wales but are very similar to diagrams that did, for example.  I will always seek to improve accuracy of this sort as and when I am able, but this takes time.  What I have done works for me; for others it may well be too restrictive and obsessional, or alternatively too lax and general, an approach. 

 

Extending the period to 1960 would enable the use of 64xx panniers, A38 auto trailers, and 52xx, as well as lined maroon non-gangwayed passenger stock, but is a step just a little too far in the direction of 'everything and anything' for my personal taste and capacity for disbelief suspension.  I would never say that my way of doing things is correct, or tell anybody else that they are doing it wrong, especially as I am fully aware of wrongness in my own way of doing things.  General Principle (not Rule) 1, build and operate a layout that suits you, followed by General Principle 2, set period and location limits that you are happy with, then General Principle 3, don't take any notice of what anyone else says, while at the same time following General Principle 4, be inspired by those who model and operate to higher standards.  General Principle 5, if you can't find provenanced information for a prototype at a required date, build it to your best guess and get on with your life, but be prepared to upgrade/alter/re-livery if better information comes to hand later.

Edited July 7, 2021 by The Johnster

[TravisM]

Another of the reasons I’m considering moving the timeline to the present day isn’t so much the EMT/EMR operation but the freight.  Apart from the Bescot/Toton - Boston Sleaford Sidings steel empties, there has recently been a DCR stone train with a shiny refurbished Class 60 with their nice new shiny blue JNA wagons, but I think DBC now have that contact as it’s now a grubby EWS/DBC Class 66 and their not so shiny red MMA’s.

[kevinlms]

17 hours ago, jools1959 said:

Another of the reasons I’m considering moving the timeline to the present day isn’t so much the EMT/EMR operation but the freight.  Apart from the Bescot/Toton - Boston Sleaford Sidings steel empties, there has recently been a DCR stone train with a shiny refurbished Class 60 with their nice new shiny blue JNA wagons, but I think DBC now have that contact as it’s now a grubby EWS/DBC Class 66 and their not so shiny red MMA’s.

Count Louis Zborowski ordered his locomotives to be state of the art and had the 'Green Goddess' built for his railway, along with his partner Captain Howey. It was the first of several 1/3rd size A1's for the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway.

The loco fleet, never kept up with being bang up to date - no LMS Duchess for starters! So you aren't alone.