Smaller/Simpler Railroads are more Fun?

[Hot_Box_Detector]

Small and compact

I started back before TRS2004 came out trying to model my hometown, Memphis, Tennessee. Being located on the Mississippi river, there is a funnel
effect that takes place there. The CN /IC runs north & south thru town with a major yard. The BNSF ( former Frisco) runs NW to SE thru town and just completed the most modern intermodal facility in the US. The UP comes in over the river from the west and terminates at Memphis. The NS ( formerly Southern) comes in from the east and terminates. The CSX ( former L&N)
comes in from the NE and terminates. So all 5 class one US railroads are represented. As you can imagine, lots of interchange jobs to be run and unit coal trains handed off from UP to NS, etc...
I moved from Memphis in 2004 and started modeling the area in NW Arkansas where I now live. While the Memphis area is basically flat, the place where I live now has hills up 2500 ft in elevation. We had street trolleys in this small town until 1930. We have a 2 mile long stub tourist line, http://www.esnarailway.com/ ,that runs off the now abandonded (in 1962) Missouri & Ozarks RR that once ran thru here. 40 miles to the west is the A&M RR, http://www.arkansasmissouri-rr.com/ , all ALCO commercial RR that operates about 80 miles of track. Just about 45 minutes north of here is the Branson scenic RR, http://www.bransontrain.com/ it operates on the M&NA (UP) mainline. So there is plenty to model.

I go back to the Memphis area route when time permits, and update it. The BNSF intermodal facility I mentioned has been under construction for the past 3 years. The CN just completed a new hump yard and is re-alinging the operation of it's current facility that was built in 1910. So there's always something to add/update.
I like to merge routes. Since the Memphis area is a "hub" of sorts, I would hope to merge it with other routes to provide a realistic traffic flow.
In the meantime, I will continue to model the area where I live. It is a never ending process.
Mike

 

[NIARTcar]

As a user I like short routes because they're more likely to get finished and released.

Also, it can be frustrating when somebody posts a great-looking screenshot of a work in progress only to say "I still have another 100 miles to go!" It would be nice if more people considered building modules: tiny routes usually focused on a single point of interest like a station or an industry.

If i get the time to do so, i might just steal this concept from you:hehe:

I like many others can only focus on a route for so long.... but in the time i do work on it, i can get some very impressive things made...... ive spent a week once making a terminal for amtrak trains to begin from.... by the time i finnished with the 2 baseboard route, it was so detailed it reduced my computer speed to that of a snail......