Lee University

JULY, 2006  (Cont.)

	It is not unusual for a set of team tracks to be located inside or near to another larger yard, even if only for the railroads' personal use.
	I realize that the diversity of motor vehicles on my layout does somewhat “blur” the time line, making it a bit impossible to actually  pinpoint an operating decade. However, that which is most OUT OF FOCUS is my running of both  Burlington Northern and CB&Q motive power at the same time. Obviously, this is an aberration to the model builders “Laws of Authentic Railroadiness Decorum” (LARD) and to be truthful, I’ve become a bit more critical concerning this contradiction in rail history. So, one of these “Burlington's” has to go.
I have such a love affair with the paint schemes of the CB&Q, that I decided to keep it on the layout and find another railroad that would be appropriate to run with the Santa Fe and the Burlington Route. (However, at the other end of the time spectrum, I wanted a railroad with a long “lifeline” that could also run with the Santa Fe,  Burlington Northern and Conrail, should I decide to “flip-flop” the layout now and then.)
	Just as a track-side point of interest, this old Tyco flatcar (as seen on Ebay 10 times a month) usually holds 3 pseudo-caterpillar-tractors, colored a drab gray, orange and blue. Hey, if you’re going to pretend they’re caterpillars, then they ought to SOMEWHAT LOOK like caterpillars. It’s not like yellow paint is that hard to come by . . .
Back to the railroad search: I didn’t have to venture far from the railroad history in my home state of Missouri and the adopted home of all my children in Texas to find inspiration for that additional rail line: The Missouri Pacific Railroad. Recent additions to the Any-Time-Any-Spring roster are this Athearn Missouri Pacific GP35, #621, and from Proto, a vintage 1993 model GP18 Highnose, #4522, and a GP38-2, #2038.
	And of course, with my abiding affection for the Mantua Brand, here is a Missouri Pacific GP-20 running on the . . . “HEY! HEY! JUST WAIT ONE COTTEN-PICKING MINUTE THERE, FAKIE-FLAKIE RAILROAD BOY!....” OK. I know what you’re about to point out. If you look at the diesel rosters of the Missouri Pacific, you will NOT find a single GP-20 on the tracks. With the coming of the diesel age, the Missouri Pacific relied on GP7s, GP9s and Geep18s for nearly a decade. The 1960s saw a modernization to GP35s and 38s. No Geep20s in that list.
It appears that once again, I have been seduced by the “Mantua Imagination Department for Gullible People and Fakie-Flakie Railroad Boys” and now am the proud owner of a Missouri Pacific “If-we-had-  actually-run-this-engine-there-is-a-proportionally-peewee-probability- that-it-would-have-looked-maybe-something-like-this-but-I-wouldn’t-bet-the-farm-on-it” GP20! Ok....I’ve been suckered again . . . I admit it. I’ll try and redeem my self-respect with my next update in the fall. But if I were you . . .I wouldn’t bet the farm on it.

Trains:  Page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34

Page 1 - Box Canyon Layout
Page 2 - Any Time, Any Spring Disclaimer
Page 3 - Starting Over, December 2003
Page 4 - March, 2004
Page 5 - June, 2004
Page 8 - Layout Design
Page 9 - August, 2004
Page 11 - January, 2005
Page 16 – January, 2005 Redux
Page 17 – First Day of Summer, 2005
Page 20 – August, 2005
Page 21 - In the Farmland, February 2006
Page 23 - Layout Potpourri, February 2006
Page 25 - In the Cornfields, 2006
Page 27 - July, 2006
Page 30 – November, 2006
Page 33 - MARCH, 2007 – A Break In The Action