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Discussion Boards => HO => Topic started by: pdlethbridge on June 29, 2009, 06:19:54 AM

Title: Your town names and why
Post by: pdlethbridge on June 29, 2009, 06:19:54 AM
With all that we have covered over the last week or 2, nothing has been mentioned about town names. I think layout names have been discussed but the towns haven't.
My layout town will be called Shannon Falls after my daughter. When she was little, she would always fall so the name is appropriate. I'll even have a marker in the towns center to show where Shannon fell.
Town names that got honorable mention were Islip but it was on Long Island. But Islip and S Falls could have been near each other.  ;D ;D ;D
Another town was in upstate New York. Tupper,,,,Where????
Title: Re: Your town names and why
Post by: rustyrails on June 29, 2009, 07:46:00 AM
Although I'm basically freelancing my railroad, it's based on a real B&O branch in central WVa, so I'm using placenames from the real area.  Philippi is interesting because of the covered bridge there and a mission style (think Santa Fe) station (now a little museum).  Tygart Junction and Belington are also in the area and will be on my layout as well. 
Rusty
Title: Re: Your town names and why
Post by: jward on June 29, 2009, 10:08:05 AM
i am like rusty. i freelance, but the railroad is set in the real world so i use place names from the area modelled. sometimes, such as for junctions, i use names derived from the actual place nemes. but  i feel nothing adds to the feeling of where you are supposed to be like local names.
Title: Re: Your town names and why
Post by: ebtbob on June 29, 2009, 10:12:05 AM
Good Morning All,

       I am also a freelancer with a bent towards serious modeling.   But.....there is always room for fun,  so my main town is called Cognito where no one knows anyone else,  because when you are there you're in
Cognito.  Think about it.
Title: Re: Your town names and why
Post by: pdlethbridge on June 29, 2009, 10:35:30 AM
Very good. All most as bad as Tupper,,,,Where?
Title: Re: Your town names and why
Post by: jettrainfan on June 29, 2009, 12:19:11 PM
Mine only has 2 simple towns. I freelance but i mixed it up, Lakewood is my home town. I thought of using that and instead of rocky river i used Winterton. The reason why is because it is a snowy layout with mild snow. The whole idea is snow and trains. So i thought of alliance too, nope :) So Winterton won the battle. :)
Title: Re: Your town names and why
Post by: jward on June 29, 2009, 01:52:18 PM
there is a wintersville just west of steubenville. i often make deliveries there.
Title: Re: Your town names and why
Post by: Johnson Bar Jeff on June 29, 2009, 02:38:14 PM
I've always wanted to name a station Frostbite Falls, in honor of the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons. ...  ;D
Title: Re: Your town names and why
Post by: Stephen D. Richards on June 29, 2009, 08:07:59 PM
rustyrails,    mine will be freelance as well and I am going to model from Belington to Cass.  Maybe we could plan on connecting the two and have a bigger road!  lol   By the way,   I live in Elkins.     Stephen
Title: Re: Your town names and why
Post by: CNE Runner on June 29, 2009, 08:08:28 PM
Given the size of my layout I only have room for one town: Arthursburg, NY. Why? Arthursburg was where I grew up and my family's farm was located. Don't drag out your NY Atlas and try to find 'Arthursburg' as it was done away with when the U.S. Post Office decided to consolidate mailing addresses. Of course my Arthursburg is firmly fixed in 1889 and the Newburgh, Dutchess & Connecticut Railroad still runs across our big field.

Regarding Tupper Lake, NY: I have flown into Tupper Lake Airport and landed on Tupper Lake many times when I was active in aviation (on both floats and skis). Most of the Adirondack lakes can be safely used as landing strips, during the winter, if your ship (airplane) is equipped with skis. I just checked the Flight Guide and the old Tupper Lake Airport is no longer listed...too bad as it was a good grass strip.

Ray
Title: Re: Your town names and why
Post by: Guilford Guy on June 29, 2009, 08:36:41 PM
Innsmouth, from an H.P. Lovecraft novel.

Disclaimer: All names subject to change by the Chief Executive Officer.
Title: Re: Your town names and why
Post by: pdlethbridge on June 29, 2009, 08:56:27 PM
Ray, Where?
Title: Re: Your town names and why
Post by: OkieRick on June 29, 2009, 11:21:56 PM
Hulah, Oklahoma is located in Osage County in N.E. OK.  When local ranchers asked Santa Fe to provid a spur to load and ship cattle to KC and Chicago they were told no because there was no commerce.  Cattle could be driven 30-40 miles north or south to a rail stop.  The large cattle ranch owners settled on a central place to all, established Hulah, imported residents and moved ranch workers families there, got a post office and persuaded Santa Fe to provide rail traffic.

The original Hulah depot restored & moved to Bartlesville, OK.

(http://www.bartlesvilleparks.com/Park%20Friends.data/johnstone1/johnshulahstationsm.jpg)


Rick
Title: Re: Your town names and why
Post by: CNE Runner on June 30, 2009, 10:32:45 AM
pdlethbridge - [I am referring to a map of the Town of LaGrange, NY dated 1867 while anwsering your question.] Arthursburg is (was) located just north of the intersection of the Taconic Parkway and Route 82. The location just within the southern boundary of the Town of LaGrange (as it abuts the Town of East Fishkill) and is in Dutchess County. I would say Arthursburg is some 15 miles east of Poughkeepsie, NY - which is located on the Hudson River.

At the turn of the century, the main commerce was a cider mill, general store, lyceum, dairy farms and apple orchards. The Newburgh, Dutchess & Connecticut RR ran, along what is now Route 82, from Beacon, NY to State Line, CT. In the real world Arthursburg only had a passing siding, a flag station, and a milk shelter/platform. I have chosen to include a small town (near the tracks) , an engine house, and a totally different track plan (a straight length of track with one passing siding would get a little boring after a while).

Many of the buildings I have mentioned above are either gone; or have been converted into other uses. Growing up in Arthursburg, during the 40s and 50s, I remember many of them. My parents were Pomona Grange members and met in the old Quaker Meeting House (now a ruin). Dad took sold apples ('drops' actually) to the cider mill, and I vaguely remember the old blacksmith shop.

Check with me off line if you desire more information or pictures of a few of the structures.

Ray
Title: Re: Your town names and why
Post by: pdlethbridge on June 30, 2009, 12:07:33 PM
Ray, 'where' was refering to Tupper! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D  as in Tupper ware
Title: Re: Your town names and why
Post by: ebtnut on June 30, 2009, 03:07:12 PM
Like some of you other guys, my freelance road is located in a real area, connecting the WM with the EBT, so the town names reflect some of the names along the projected route.  I went out a few years ago and took a bunch of scenic photos of the area along the route.  I've enlarged them and printed them out on a plotter, and glued them to the blue-painted backdrop.  So when you're at the WM interchange in Pineola, PA, the scenery in the background is what it is.  I also took photos of some sample structures and pasted them on the backdrop where suitable.  A couple were mounted on black Foamcore first to give a bit of depth to them as well. 
Title: Re: Your town names and why
Post by: CNE Runner on June 30, 2009, 04:16:55 PM
'P' - I have included a Google map of upstate NY that includes Tupper Lake. This is a stunningly beautiful area...real wilderness outside of town. Please understand that I haven't actually visited Tupper Lake in years as we now reside in Alabama.

http://maps.google.com/maps?sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&oe=utf8&q=Tupper+Lake,+NY&um=1&ie=UTF-8&split=0&gl=us&ei=B3FKSuqkBIaHtge7xJW7Cw&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1

I hope this answers your question...sorry about the mix-up.

Ray
Title: Re: Your town names and why
Post by: DaveS on June 30, 2009, 09:10:36 PM
I have 2 "towns" on my layout, more of a small village really and a station with an off layout town. Anyway the names are Upper Chuffton (no such place, just made it up) and Mortimer which is a little village near Reading in England where some friends live.
Dave S
Title: Re: Your town names and why
Post by: pdlethbridge on July 01, 2009, 06:55:13 AM
There is one spot on Tupper lake I particularly like is at the beginning. If you take state road 421, it goes over a bridge that goes over some real nice falls. The type you could slide down into the lake
Title: Re: Your town names and why
Post by: Santa Fe buff on July 01, 2009, 02:51:49 PM
Well, my Museum is going to be call 'Dansburg Museum'. Named after it's so-called founder, Charles Dansburg. The town will be called St. Oakshine, after a famous painter who painted the towns first logo of an Oak Tree shining in the sun. He got that tree picture from the tree in the center of town. This was in 1866. Before that, it was nicknamed 'Guppy', by many locals and travelers after the fish trains that brought it up in 1866. Yes, it was formed in Spring 1866, and named by December 1866.

How about that for freelanced?

Joshua