The Beginning

Welcome to the Fallen Flags Junction model railroad project. This freelanced, N Scale model railroad is based on railroads no longer in existence. A railroad that has either been merged into another railroad or has gone out of business is referred to as a fallen flag. 

This project will include multiple fallen flags, including but not limited to the Southern Pacific, Santa Fe, and Burlington Northern Railroads. The time period is 1970, the year the Burlington Northern railroad was formed. There are two primary locations: Los Angeles, California, and Portland, Oregon. 

Because this is a point to point railroad, there are no loops to let trains go around and around. Instead, a train is assembled in one city, then transits to the other city (and back again). The idea is that operationally, the Fallen Flags Junction will emulate some of what the real world used to be like. And because it represents junctions – where two railroads come together, it will provide a lot of variance in rolling stock, locomotives, and operations. 

The Southern Pacific will be the main backbone operator, running from L.A. to Portland. In L.A., the SP will join up with the Santa Fe. In Portland, the SP will connect with the newly formed Burlington Northern.

Step number one will be creating a table top for the layout. Utilizing a table top design is one of the requirements I set forth, as it requires some specific limitations – in space, in the radius of curves, and overall, reducing the footprint so that costs are manageable, and the impression of distance and location are highlighted. 

The table top is a blank canvas upon which the art and creativity of this project will come to life. I’m also going to introduce a unique idea that I hope will be duplicated by many other modelers… but, that little secret will need to wait for a future blog post.

It should be a fun ride. Welcome aboard.