Prototype Interest 4 - Type of Railroad

The fourth area of consideration in Prototype Interest is Type of Railroad. In Design Handbook of Model Railroads, Paul Mallery indicated that nothing was more important to the concept than the type of railroad to be modeled. The selection of type should be based on the form of operation and the class of equipment of greatest interest to the owner consistant with the size of layout contemplated.

Paul identified 9 types of railroads: 

• A Main Line or heavy main line -  a principal, large railroad covering great stretches of country. In the Pacific Northwest there were four major railroads - the Great Northern Railway (GN), the Northern Pacific Railway (NP), the Milwaukee Road (MILW), and the Union Pacific Railroad (UP). 

• A Branch Line - a relatively short offshoot from the main line of a principle railroad. The NP had two Divisions (Seattle and Tacoma). The Tacoma Division had 20 sub-divisions, the 16th Sub-division serving the Gray's Harbor area. The MILW's Coast Division had 8 subdivisions, one serving the Gray's Harbor area, and the UP had one branch line that also served the Gray's Harbor area..

• A Bridge Line - a small railroad that connects two or more major railroads at interchange yards. The GN and the NP jointly owned the Spokane,  Portland and Seattle Railroad (SPS) - it served as an alternate route for eastbound freight from Portland, Oregon and areas south, avoiding the congestion of the Seattle - Everest area.. 

• A Belt Line - a small line that runs around a metropolitan area and/or a crowded terminal area and expedites the exchange of freight cars between the major lines. Tacoma Washington had the
  Municipal Belt Line serving the NP, MILW and the Port of Tacoma. 

• A Terminal Line - a railroad devoted to switching cars, most often freight but some passenger  as well between a number of main line roads in a large terminal area. Portland, Oregon had the Northern Pacific Terminal Company (NPT) serving the NP, the Southern Pacific Railway (SP), the SPS, and the UP.

• A Switching Line - a terminal railroad only more so. It switches freight cars back and forth from point to point, typically between docks, piers shipyards and associated warehouse and other facilities.

• A Short Line - a relatively small, general purpose railroad hauling both passengers and mixed freight, usually generating and terminating its own traffic. The Pacific Coast Railroad was a freight line operating north-east of the Seattle area. Southwestern Washington had the Chehelis and Western in the 70's and the Puget Sound and Pacific was organized in the 70's as a short line utilizing the NP's 16th Subdivision after the NP abandoned the line.

• An Industrial Line - a small railroad that operates entirely within the physical confines of one industry, like a steel mill, shuffling equipment and materials around and about the plant location. The logging lines in the Gray's Harbor area could be considered industrial lines in that they shuttled logs between cutting sites and the sawmills located in Aberdeen and Hoquiam WA. The Butte Anaconda and Pacific Railroad in Wyoming served the copper mines and smelters and interchanged with the GN and the NP and I consult their operations in the development of the WWSL..

•  Specialty Line - a catch - all category that includes Interurban, street car, rapid transit,  tourist railroads, etc. 

These categories can overlap, and combinations and variations are both possible and acceptable. The intent is to define and redefine the interest of the modeler.

The decisions I've made in terms of locale, era and class so far limits, or perhaps in a more positive manner, leads me toward three possible types of railroads: Switching line, Short line or Industrial line.

I have had the privilege to operate a variety of model railroads that were Main Line, Branch Line or Bridge Line oriented. I found them interesting to operate. I built and operated a Belt Line, Terminal Line and Switching Line layouts.

This time around I find that I am most interested in modeling a Short Line operations since it has both mainline and switching components.