I have been a lifelong model railroad enthusiast since the middle 1950s beginning with a clockwork Marx 0-4-0 steam train as a Christmas gift. A couple years later, a Lionel 2-4-2 made an appearance under the tree. My Dad set up a 4 X 8 with a long shelf to a turn-back loop. A lot of scale miles were run on that layout. In the earlier 60s, I changed to HO. A small layout was started and then a larger one based on the Ohio River and Wabash featured in Model Trains magazine. College time came and the railroad was dismantled. I did stay in touch with Model Railroader magazine on and off. In the mid-70s, I started up again with reading the magazines and working on kits from time-to-time. A 5 X 9 layout went up to develop scenery skills and seeing trains run. I had always enjoyed seeing and reading about urban/industrial model railroading and i built an ell-shaped 8 X 10 to enjoy this type of modeling. It was a this time that my model railroad name, "Chicago Yellowstone and Pacific" came into being, also known as the Yellowstone Road.
The name "Yellowstone Road" came to me from a local newspaper article about a network of very early roads running east-west through our state for automobile travelers. The name had a pleasing ring to me so I used it along with the full name Chicago Yellowstone and Pacific.
Very early in the 2000s, I started a large half-basement layout about 16 X 28. A double track main for when I wanted to see trains run, and a stand-alone single track out of Chicago south to Blue island and Riverdale with industrial and transfer traffic that appeals to me.
I realized that this was entirely too much to work on and maintain for real enjoyment. A few years ago I down-sized to just the Chicago to Riverdale line as a point-to-point operation. This was a lot of fun, but I did miss having a continuous run when I just wanted to see trains run. Another big change and the latest iteration in a 12 X 16 area gave me terminals at Riverdale and Brighton Park with continuous run available. I have yet to construct the commercial/industrial area as there is a much finishing work to do with background buildings and detailing before moving on to that.
In this blog, I want to publish my activities on-going and in the past with my model railroading hobby. I hope all can enjoy what I am doing.
This is all for now, thanks for viewing and until the next time,
Bob
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