Like many others in the comments on this video, I also have created a freelanced railroad, along with three freelanced subsidiaries for it. My railroad, the Cateye & Southwestern RR, hauls through freight from Denver, CO to Tucson, AZ, and also serves the local mining, agricultural, manufacturing, and refining interests in both Colorado and Arizona. Known for its route through the majestic and rugged Rocky Mountains of Colorado and dry, arid desert terrain of Arizona, the C&SW was also well-known for operating mainline steam in various capacities until early 1980, and for its sizeable fleet of ALCo diesels. The railroad still survives today, transporting many of the same commodities it has moved over the last 137 years, albeit with SD9043MACs, SD80MACs, rebuilt AC6000s, and C44-9Ws.

It's great fun to invent your own railroad, I created a freelance railroad named the Sioux City & St. Louis, I call it The Sioux Line. One of the events I came up with for its historic background is a lawsuit from the Minneapolis St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie railroad over brand image disputes, the trade press covering the issue ran with the headline "Soo sues Sioux."

@InterurbanEra

9 ай бұрын

I love that! Adding historic moments to the railroad's history really bring it to life in such a convincing way. I can already see Sioux Line boxcars rolling across the prairie!

Look for the "Famous Model Pikes" version of the Alturas & Lone Pine box car. It should come with dry transfers you can use to customize the numbers and other markings. Famous Model Pikes also made a "Texas and Rio Grande Western" car as well. I believe Whit felt the Famous Model Pikes version was too modern for his steam-era road, but I can't recall where I saw that so don't quote me. Not sure my 1920's era Ocali Creek survives past WW2 but maybe. I took inspiration from the VGN lettering and it survived until being absorbed into the N&W in 1959, so maybe it could work.

G&W intensifies I see... All shall become Orange and Black. All shall enter into the holding company.

@InterurbanEra

9 ай бұрын

I can see the séance now: G&W execs in hooded robes with a pentagram made from railroad spikes on the floor, hahaha

I certainly hope we’ll see an Alta pass, in that great model railroading / specialty fine printing crossover tradition!

@InterurbanEra

9 ай бұрын

I 100% guarantee we'll have an authentic railroad pass, with a place to put your name, done on a vintage letterpress. It's already in the R&D phase.

8:04 James succeeded in asking a question I asked on Twitter a while back but phrased poorly. It's cool to hear that you're going to run other fictional lines on the Alta, it's a fun way to honor the old masters of this hobby. Maybe someday I will actually build my railroad so I add an Alta boxcar to the fleet.

@InterurbanEra

9 ай бұрын

So pleased you got your question answered! Feel free to plop any more questions up on the Patreon, and I'll include them in the Winter edition of Ask Me Anything!

The G&W is exactly what I was thinking when I asked that question lol! 🤣 The wiki is an superb idea and from that little teaser you've given us, there's some superb lore to explore.

A wiki style is the right format but I've done a 12 page history on my freelance road California Pacific and Western. I've also done timetables, locomotive and passenger car roster and more for 1964. While I've got a map that I can adjust based on ranges of years. Its a northern California based road that runs between Boise, Klamath falls to Sacramento and Vallejo before expanding rapidly in the 80s as SP and other roads sell of track extending the line to Oregon and Minnesota. In general it competes directly with SP and entirely replaces SP on some routes

@InterurbanEra

9 ай бұрын

Glad to see I'm not the only one doing this kind of work. Most of the wiki stuff needs to be re-written from the ground up, as the pre-1968 history has been completely hashed out down to the smallest detail. I also have an all-time roster of motive power from when the SPC was standard gauged in 1906-1968. Looking forward to seeing your CP&W come to life. Do you have a paint scheme for your locomotives?

@gdrriley420

9 ай бұрын

@@InterurbanEra I have gone pretty detailed but I’ve spent more time refining my map and planning expansions. My history also definitely has some interesting twists recommended by some friends. I’ve worked on a few paint schemes but it the entire system hasn’t left the drawing board.

@InterurbanEra

9 ай бұрын

@@gdrriley420 That's great to hear. Good prototype freelanced concepts take time to do well. I first developed the ALTA in 2015 and only this year (8 years later) got a model finished in correct paint/lettering. It's a fun journey.

@gdrriley420

9 ай бұрын

@@InterurbanEra yes they absolutely do. I just hope when it’s time I can get some of the weird rolling stock I like. For whatever reason I quite like alt histories where one little change starts a cascade of changes

I got a free lanced railroad as well the DV&S modeled in 2018

@InterurbanEra

9 ай бұрын

Glad to hear another freelancer watches my videos! Where does the DV&S run?

@thedesigner00

9 ай бұрын

@@InterurbanEra the Waukesha area to Gary Indiana

dang, I missed this one, guess I'll have to check patreon more often

@InterurbanEra

9 ай бұрын

Always try to check in twice a month. I usually post articles I write there at least twice a month along with sneak previews and a variety of other art & modeling photographs.

Could there be a t-shirt though? Like maybe an Alta "Citrus" t-shirt? 😉

@InterurbanEra

9 ай бұрын

Absolutely! Now that we have the logos complete, regular merch is entirely possible too. I'll definitely set aside one just for you especially.

I have a couple N scale sd9s I had custom painted as Southern Pacific SD9e’s that I would love to have super detailed and weathered, is that something I could hire you to do? I absolutely adore the work you do.

@InterurbanEra

9 ай бұрын

I've actually done some beautiful N scale SD9s before, so I'd be glad to. What's the best way to contact me? DM Me on instagram if possible, or I can furnish email

Rip the alta California railroad March 29 1876-??????????

@InterurbanEra

9 ай бұрын

Can't have it survive into this messy world of mega-mergers. The secret rule is that it cannot outlive the Burlington Northern / Santa Fe merger by too many years.