OK, so here is where you get to see the history of the RD&S Railroad. Well, there is none. Oh, I could make something up starting back in the 1800’s when the railroad was chartered, but what’s the point? It was, is and always will be the summer of 1947 on the RD&S. Hell, in the time it would take me to make up a fake history, I could build another InterMountain car. So let’s just stipulate that the Richmond, Danville & Southern exists and move on from there.

What we can see from the system map is that there are several divisions that make up the railroad.

Norfolk Division: Runs from Norfolk to Danville The Danville Division: Runs from Danville to Avalon The Raleigh Division: Runs from Danville to Raleigh The Charleston Division: Runs from Danville to Avalon via Charleston The Nashville Division: Runs from Avalon to Nashville The Memphis Division: Runs from Nashville to Memphis The Paducah Division: Runs from Nashville to Paducah

One place you can see on the route map, but will not see on a real map, is the town of Avalon. This is a large division point and what I am modeling. Being the largest division point on the railroad allows for a large yard, engine servicing, town scenes and unlimited switching possibilities as well as modeling coal facilities to the north. It also allows for a passenger train to come storming through without having to model large stations.

Ah yes, there is nothing like a hot passenger train coming through on a tight schedule to really screw up an operating session.

I was born into trains, both real and model. As with many of you, I started with Lionel, but not under the Christmas tree. My Father built a large Lionel layout in our new house in 1959. My brother, on the right in the picture, was not as enamored with trains as I was and still am. At one point we had over 1000’ of GarGraves track and mostly GarGraves turnouts. Two ZW transformers controlled the whole empire.

My pride and joy was a pair of Lionel Santa Fe No. 2383’s. After my Father finished the layout, it was play time. I don’t remember how many hours I spent in the basement, probably as many as kids today watch TV and play video games. The three most identifiable brand names in my vocabulary were Lionel, Dinky and Corgi. I also had something, that sadly one tends to loose as they get older, a great imagination. It did not matter that there was the “third rail” or that the cars were not “scale”. The Plasticville and Lionel buildings looked just fine, and most important, the damn thing worked.

So the question is, why did I switch to O Scale? Well, when you had the best of late 40’s and 50’s Lionel, I was really sick of the crap that MPC was putting out in the late 60’s and early 70’s. I honestly thought Lionel was going the way of the dodo. In 1978 I sold the Lionel and bought my first 0 Scale model, a Westside B&O Q4b and have never looked back.

As for the origins on the name Richmond, Danville & Southern? It was a play on words for our names. My brother Dick (Richard), my self, Dan and my Father, John. His idea to make the layout more personal was to incorporate our names in the railroad. Originally starting in Richmond, VA and running to Danville and ending in Johnson City, TN. He then had decals made complete with logos. Now, you Lionel fanatics may not want to read any further… OK, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Those decals were really a self-stick clear acetate with black lettering. So, that meant I had to come up with a color scheme. Yep, that beautiful Santa Fe No. 2383 was now a bright red RD&S No. 14. Those grey passenger cars, you know, Summit, Mooseheart and the rest, all were now bright red and lookin’ good. Hey, this is what a 10 year old does who is having a good time and enjoying the make believe.

Now you ask, would I do that again if I know that in 40 years this stuff would be worth big bucks? Damn right I would! There is no amount of money that could replace the fun times I had playing with those trains.