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  • Famous BNSF "places"

  • Discussion related to BNSF operations. Official site: BNSF.COM
Discussion related to BNSF operations. Official site: BNSF.COM

Moderator: Komachi

 #703348  by RailRoader93
 
I am looking for a good place to model on my HO scale layout. I was originally thinking horseshoe curve, but most of my equimpent is BNSF related. Are there any famous scenic places that would be interesting to model?
 #703379  by scharnhorst
 
RailRoader93 wrote:I am looking for a good place to model on my HO scale layout. I was originally thinking horseshoe curve, but most of my equimpent is BNSF related. Are there any famous scenic places that would be interesting to model?

Tehachapi Loop comes to mind
 #704742  by Buffalobillho
 
You might consider some of the Eastern BNSF Midwest Cities- Chicago- specifically the Cicero- Berwyn area or the Aurora- Eola area or The Twin Cities- Hoffman Ave in St Paul by the Bluffs, or University Ave in Minneapolis. You get a chance to run UP, CP, and Eastern run throughs, or go back to the 1990's- even the CN haulage rights trains. Not as scenic as the Western Passes, but more do-able in a reasonable ammount of space in HO or N.
 #704940  by Otto Vondrak
 
You might want to pick up a book and learn about places you might like... BNSF is big railroad system...

http://www.motorbooks.com/Store/Product ... _31803.ncm
 #705143  by mtuandrew
 
How big will your model be, and what sort of equipment? If it's large sized and you have a big mix, I'd be partial to a roughly pentagonal model with six main interest areas.

-Pacific Northwest - Seattle and environs (Balmer Yard, Stampede Pass, the Cascades line to Vancouver, bits of the old MILW, and the former SP&S.)
-Upper Midwest - Minneapolis and environs (Northtown Yard, iron ore trains, UP/CP/CN/shortline action, grain elevators, and the former CB&Q River sub)
-Chicago (interchange with everyone east plus shortlines, Metra-contract passenger ops, the Aurora Speedway, Galesburg Yard)
-Gulf Region - Texas and Louisiana (El Paso interchange into Mexico, Fort Worth headquarters and global dispatch, the Houston/Galveston area and New Orleans)
-Southwest - primarily California (Tehachapi Loop and Cajon Pass, the intermodal trade through Alameda, and fresh produce shipment from the Central Valley)
-in the middle: Western Midwest - Nebraska, Kansas and Wyoming (the Powder River coal and gas fields, fast intermodals and the Alliance, Nebraska shops)

If you only have specific equipment, pick one area specifically. (Heavy on GE B40-8s? Best to go with the Southwest/Western Midwest, where they are primarily used. Got a whole fleet of grain cars? Center it around Minnesota.) Otherwise, good luck, have fun, and take Otto's advice about the book! :-D
 #705160  by GWoodle
 
Most famous on CB&Q/BN/BNSF is the Chicago-Aurora Racetrack. Triple track & heavy traffic + commuter service. Most famous passenger trains are the Empire Builder or California Zephyr. Your choice of what era to model.
A close second would be GN/NP from St Paul west to Seattle. Good selection of equipment in a variety of schemes.

Most famous ATSF is the Super Chief with the red warbonnets. Most scenic may be in the West from Raton Pass & further West. You may like some big river crossings. Location depends if you like Midwest cities, Kansas , or California.

THe ATSF /BNSF may be easy to model since it is so popular. Depending on era, you could assemble a sizable fleet from the family of railroads.

A lot of information in books & video covers all of the above.
 #706345  by TB Diamond
 
You may wish to look at the Crawford Hill area in the Nebraska Panhandle between Crawford and Marsland. Helper district, abandoned tunnel on the crest of the hill at Belmont, two sweeping curves (One was a full horseshoe prior to a massive realignment project in the early 1980s) and a deep cut that bypasses the abandoned tunnel. Worked this area back in the late 1970s and it is impressive.
 #706637  by Hawko
 
Consider looking through back issues of the different model railroading magazines. Over the years I have noticed that there have been several really nice layouts based on the BNSF and it predecessors.
 #707091  by Otto Vondrak
 
RailRoader93 wrote:I am looking for a good place to model on my HO scale layout. I was originally thinking horseshoe curve, but most of my equimpent is BNSF related. Are there any famous scenic places that would be interesting to model?
Is this your first model railroad project?
 #707174  by atsf sp
 
There is Sullivan's Curve in Cajon pass. ATSF and BN books will help more.