Well, being a model railroader, and not a railroad modeler, I have a very diverse railroad. Right now, my trains are "homeless". The space I was in was very bountiful, however, it didn't take to the seasons very well - too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter. I abandoned my layout, which was a "around the walls" layout 2 feet wide on each side with 60" radius curves. In order to have an acceptable appearance for proto operations, anything under a 50" radius curve appears to tight to be realisitc for mainline operations, especially double track mainlines. My layout was 7' x 46'. The room was only 7' wide, even with two feet on each side, it still allowed 3 feet to traverse in the middle. This was a very good room, however, it was the climate that made it impossible - not heated.
Anyways, to the question.
I mainly model the DMIR (I have roughly 240 ore cars in HO Scale and recently added 36 difco cars). The DMIR is an awesome railroad, however, being absorbed by the CN sponge has changed the railroad. The personality that was just Missabe is gone.
I also model the BNSF, CN (mainly DMIR), and the CP. Pretty much the northern Minnesota mix.
Right now, my layout is a simple 4x8' table top with a 1x8' yard off the main layout. While the 22.5 inch radius curves are tight, I can still run my bigger locomotives (the 70MACs and the DMIR SD40-3s). I think my layout is the only one that has a grain elevator from the plains and an ore dock within a scale mile. Again, that is why I am a model railroader, and not a railroad modeler.
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