Andre, I'm using your invite for the transfer ticket from over at the 3R board...
I've never met Mike, but his website is my favorite for anything railroad or old Memphis related. The history there alone is priceless. And, one of these days, I'm thinking of donating a couple rare historical documents, one Cotton Belt, the other Rock Island.
My interest in railroading goes way back too and is built around the roadnames of the Mid-South. I've discussed it here before. I also once lived in Pine Bluff and you can probably guess what I was close to there.
For layouts, I had one as a child, a little 027. The second and more recent occupies of spare bedroom and is 10 x 11. I call that medium size. One like that has its limits, as you found out. Basically it's three loops with 088 on the outside and some stub yards (including a Ross four-way) and a one-way reversing loop (I really wanted a double reverse but no room for it on a medium layout that I could see). So, it's mainly a matter of straight ahead running and just showing off what trains I have.
The rest of the layout is a few MTH and old Lionel buildings and a few scratchbuilds, including a radio tower. In lighting, the star of the show is a Miller IC illuminated sign. And I have more than once suggested they do a Frisco sign. There's one on Mike's website. Maybe you know it too. It would be rather nice, and although I remember seeing it, I can't recall the colors or how it changed colors.
Anyway, in model railroading, I went and collected a lot of Lionel big steam including the articulateds. But, what has happened, is that I found I have tired of those and have gravitated to liking only the local roadnames. So I'm selling off the big "national" interest items. And believe it or not, I won't really miss them (Challenger, Veranda Turbine, Class A, Allegheny, Mohawk, Berk etc etc). They're beautiful, but they don't really fit in with what I've learned I care for more.
So, at the moment I'm running three freights, led by Rock Island GP35s, Cotton Belt GP60s and an IC GP9. I'm also looking at an Atlas Frisco switcher which has recently been hard at work. These are more or less what I used to see downtown crossing the IC Junction on Broadway.
For me, it's all about the local roadnames and their history...
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