The Name Game

I personally find it difficult, to not only name my layout but also the towns on it.  If you are modeling an existing line or location, problem solved.  With the Woodstock layout,we are at that spot.  We have a layout, no name, we have seven towns, and a branch line, no names.  There are several ways to approach this. You can name the towns in alphabetical order (Ames, Brant, Craig, etc.) that way all operators, new and old, would know what town is next and in what direction. You could name them after club members (I see all kind of problems with that, Owen and Fox would work, but Hietown and Brinkerville, don't cut it). You could name them for something unique about the town, Port, for the port, Stockton, for the town with the stock yard, Junction, for the town with a junction, oops we have two). Elsewhere for staging because if the car is not on the layout, it must be elsewhere.  The  latter gives meaning to the names chosen but lacks the ABC effect, unless we can combine both approaches.  Let's see, starting in Elsewhere (staging) we proceed to Freeport (port) then on to Gulch (the town at the end of the gulch, there's no buildings there yet, so I don't know what else to call it).  Horseshoe Bend (this is where the mainline makes a 360 degree turn and has a stock (horse/cattle) pen). Well anyway, stay tuned for more from the name game