Boring locomotive consists

When looking or watching a layout how come the cowled locomotives are always with the cowled locomotives and the hood units with hood units? Spicing up the consists would be nice. For example you could have a F (E) unit leading 2 GP7's a F (E) B unit and a SD9. Something more modern could be a SD60, 1 F40PH*, 3 C40-8's and a SD70M.
* F40PH's rebuilt for freight duty

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I think the question you may be asking is more like "why are layout photos, or layouts shown at club shows or open houses, so boring?" There are numerous answers, of course, but you're completely correct that much of what we see could benefit from some imagination. However, in many cases, putting together the kind of consist you suggest would require re-motoring or advanced DCC, not to mention perhaps the need for serious coupler surgery, detail work, painting, etc., which many modelers aren't up to. I was at a club show recently where many of the trains were boring -- they'd come up with credible BNSF consists of warbonnets, safety cabs, old SD40-2, etc., as you suggest, but all those units were still just out of the box, and you could tell. (They had sloppy work in some cases, too). The trains themselves were boring. It's a great benefit in these RTR days that you can just take a car out of the box and put it on the track and run it, but all the cars were shiny new, with shiny wheels, for instance -- no weathering, no graffiti. But this takes extra effort and craftsmanship. So I think you may be asking why there isn't as much craftsmanship and artistry in layout photos and visits.

On our club layout, I regularly run mixed consists representing a typical "get it over the road" NYC or PC lashup from the 1960s... A GP40, an Alco FB, and a U25B. Interesting enough?

Sometimes "boring" is the norm, especially on today's modern layouts. Today's Class 1 railroads have standardized fleets with much of the same engines... railroads dont want to maintain fourteen different classes of locomotive from three different manufacturers. It's all EMD and GE, and all pretty much the same. The oldest loco you'll see on the road in regular service is usually a GP38 or something similar from the late 1970s or early 1980s. That's 25 years ago... which is pretty old. Those lashups of second and third generation diesels chugging and belching in three paint schemes and four different modes of operability are long gone (except on museums and the occasional industrial railroad or shortline).

-otto-

Terry,

How's the Old Harbour Central System fleet looking these days, and what "interesting consists" are you lashing up during operating sessions?

When the real railroads started to dieselize like manufacturers were kept together because of MUing problems and that carried over even after they solved that. On the NYC through pictures and videos I noticed it didn't to start to change until the early sixties. Crews seemed to like F units in the lead so I see alot of GP7/9's spliced in between F's. Then by the mid sixties it seemed to be whatever was available was put in the consist. So there was a mix.

This is how I model it, depending the year I am running I tend to keep the consists similar to that year. I do run alot of whatever was available consists just to add flavor once in awhile

I know what you mean by always seeing the same like model consists, variety is the spice of life.

The earlier posts are right, the railroads do tend to keep similar units together. NS is prime example. BNSF keeps the MAC on coal, and -9 on pigs. These are the flashy trains that people model. When I worked there the M series merchandise trains often had some strange combinations. I once had a GP9 with SD40-2. One other time I had a -9 with a GP30, a -9 with a GP38. One time I fired on a train with a ex Frisco GP15 leading 2 SD40-2's.

I used to run some "interesting" lashups on a club layout... 3 Conrail F-unit, one still in full PC colors, a B&M GP-38-2and at least one more hood unit B&M or PC, running on a coal drag. No factory perfect paint jobs here...the F-units were some of my first attempts at custom painting, and the imperfections actually contributed to their appearance as high mileage road units. Most of my fleet now is all factory painted, but given the state of the art graphics these days,its better than anything I can currently do, so I don't really mind. The other problem, is that railroads have so standardized their rosters these days, purging "oddball" units accquired through mergers and the like, that theyll DO tend to look the same, save for lease fleet units and run through power.

I try to run both ways, but I have (DCC) consists already set up for operating sessions and so the same consist may stay together for several sessions so I don't have to break them up and change my paper trail of consist numbers and units.

Bob

Got a photo of the Rock Island running a GP38-2, a GP40 and a U25B together, all pushing a tender snowplow - how is that?

Not unusual for the RI - one photo of three GP38-2s together was called "unusual" by the booklets author !!!

It helps to have DCC if you model the Rock !!!!