The year is 1954.

The setting is Southern California, about 70 miles east of Los Angeles.
 
Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra are "top of the pops". The kids are jitterbugging; rock and roll is still in its infancy.
 
Dwight Eisenhower is mid-way through his first term as US President. And a local Californian, Richard Nixon is his Vice President.
 
The Santa Fe has been winding down the use of steam locomotives. However, the pressures of the recently ended Korean War and a continuing booming economy means they haven't been able to scrap them all quite yet. It is an interesting time for other reasons as well. Piggy-back is now coming in. SP has been leading the way in California and both UP and ATSF are keen to catch up. Freight cars are getting longer with 50 footers now as plentiful as the 40 footers. The Santa Fe's long-distance streamliners are now using dome cars headed up with their gorgeous "Warbonnets".
 
What a great period for early diesel types: E's, F's, PA's, early Geeps, F-M's etc! The "San Francisco Chief" has just began running and two new hi-decked cars will be introduced on Santa Fe streamliners in July. If they are successful, the "El Capitan" will be re-equipped next year with these innovative, bold new cars.

The Santa Fe is probably at it's peak and a market leader. The "Super Chief" is the train of the stars - the Hollywood stars that is. Anybody who's anybody wouldn't consider riding on anything other than the "Super" between Chicago and L.A. Photographers and journalists hang around the L.A. Union Station in the hope of catching a rich-and-famous news scoop.
 
They are still running their pair of Budd RDC's in California. Mainly on the L.A. - San Diego service. (comment: after a fatal accident at Redondo Junction, they later get banished to the mid-west).
 
There's also plenty of freight trailing behind the road's snazzy blue and yellow F-units. New black and silver zebra-striped road switchers are becoming part of that action too. Much of California's machinery, petroleum products, livestock, aircraft parts, new autos, manufacturing, fruit and veggies are being shipped by train. Steel is also being shipped out from the new mills in nearby Fontana. Local citrus fruit, beef cattle and milk production are amongst the highest in the country.

The area modelled is the Los Angeles Division , Third District. Specifically the ten miles between Riverside & San Bernardino. This is a busy Santa Fe main line with Union Pacific leasing trackage rights over this area. The UP has in place a 99-year joint use agreement for the 100 miles between Riverside and Daggett near Barstow. So, there's plenty of UP action as well. This year the UP is also still regularly using steam. Not just the smaller stuff but the big Northerns and Challengers as well. In fact, all the transcontinental UP traffic to and from L.A. goes via this line. Unlike the Santa Fe, the UP has no alternative. There's also further operating interest with both the Pacific Electric and the SP interchanging at Riverside and Colton.

The regional "Pacific Seaboard Railway" joins up with the Santa Fe about half way along this stretch of main line at the city of "Santa Amba". From there, after using a short stretch of the Santa Fe via trackage rights through the narrow "Canyon Dublo", it leaves the main line at "Glen Lyndon" and climbs up into the mountains to "Clinton". After passing through the summit tunnel it drops down into the rich "Springfield Valley" town of "Mariesville".
 
The "PSR" has been re-organised a couple of times.

The current name "Pacific Seaboard Railway" came into being about 1945. It's previous name was "San Pedro & Riverside" and there is still some rolling stock & locomotives around lettered that way. There's also some equipment lettered for the "Tasman Coastal Railway", but that's too long a story!

Unfortunately, the muscles of the Santa Fe are just too strong and the good ol' boys hangin' out at the local barber shop reckon that in another couple of years the PSR will be gobbled up. They claim the ATSF has been quietly buying up PSR stock. Takeover may come as early as 1960.
 
In the mean time, there's enough work for the PSR to remain financial and independent; tapping the agricultural and oil rich valleys adjacent to the L.A. basin. There's so much work in fact that they have been forced to lease motive power from other railroads! Regularly seen on the PSR are UP, ATSF, SP & WP. (There's also some coal-burners, a pair of Baldwin RF-16's and a BL-2 that NOBODY can explain!).

A note to the rivet counters: Yes, modeller's licence has been used in the above story.