Laid Back Railroading – Southern Style (Part 1)

By Brian K

The St. Tammany & Gulf (St.T&G) is not a real railroad, only a fictitious one, a short line that first took up residence in my mind about 50 years ago.  I won’t delve into all the whys and wherefores of how the name came about.  Suffice to say it reflects the locales and geography of the five states that have had the greatest impact on my life: Texas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Louisiana.

Its length has never been fully fleshed out, other than it is about ten miles long, maybe fifteen, or somewhere in between—whatever number that pops into my head at the time.  It doesn’t really matter, at least to me it doesn’t.  It’s not the distance, it’s the ambiance of a laid back railroad.

Unless your model railroad interests are satisfied by running trains around and around in a circle, which is certainly fine, a railroad—real or fictitious—doesn’t exist in a vacuum.  If it produces something to ship and sell, or if it requires products brought in—usually both—then the railroad must interchange with something, either another railroad or boat or motor vehicle.  Perhaps a pack mule if it’s really in the middle of nowhere.

The actual real world space for the St.T&G is rather small:  11’3” long by 18” deep.  The model railroad is a single town, St. Tammany.  Thriving though it may be, there’s only so much one can put in a space that is roughly 17 square feet.  Still, you want it to be believable, to have credibility.

Below is the “blank canvas” upon which the St.T&G will soon unfold.

To help achieve that credibility the railroad needs to serve businesses or industries that would be representative of that locale. With Gulf in its name, even though the railroad never quite made it there, there will be a cannery. Hot sauce is a decidedly Deep South condiment, so there will a facility for that. There is plenty of nearby timber, notably pine and cypress, and while there won’t be space for a lumber mill per se, finished lumber could still be brought in to the local distributor and shipped out again.

In addition to the cannery, there could be a wholesale grocery distributor.  Below are a couple of buildings already close to completion.

Oh, did I mention oil was discovered in the nearby swamps? 

A lot more to come. Just thought I’d share a little for now. More to come.

(Editor’s Note: RailsWest is glad to welcome a very gifted modeler to the RailsWest family of lines. Louisiana or Arkansas may not seem too western, but Brian K thoroughly embraces the RailsWest mantra of being all about “Laid back, easy railroading!”)