Which season?

As I'm making decisions for models, structures, etc... an important question came to mind, which season to model?

There are four seasons in a year, Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.  Summer is by far the most modeled season, nothing new there. Fall and Spring in Montana are, for the most part, rainy, damp, and wet.  Winter here is quite cold in some places and quite mild elsewhere.

Summer is also the season most talked about in model railroad magazines, forums, scenery tutorials, etc..  Fall is probably a distant second theme, with spring coming in third and winter for fourth.

For this project, and all future projects, I always feel like I have to somehow break ground, try things that haven't been done to death, take the path less traveled.  And so, I've decided to model winter, and the unique challenges that come with that season.  For the modeler, there is the intricacy of snow drifts, types of snow, and how to make everything function well covered in white powder.  For the real railroads, there was the matter of keeping the tracks clear, locomotives protected, and keeping the railroad running.  Even a backwoods line had those problems.

From my experience with Minnesota logging outfits, most logging was in fact done during the winter, and I dare say that similar practices were used here in the Northwest.  After all, the need for timber was a constant thing in this state.  The mines didn't stop in Butte during the winter, neither could the railroads that supplied the area with materials, logging outfits included.

And so this will be my first railroad to feature snow!