There has been a lot of arguing discussion lately about the merits of two attitudes, which at the extremes can be summarized as "It must be beautiful even if it has nowhere to go" vs. "I don't care what it looks like as long as the trains are on time". Everyone seems to have staked out a spot along that line, and many are vociferous in the defense of their position. Personally, I am probably closer to the art end, but I feel all approaches are valid and potentially fun. I also have no illusions that either approach is particularly "real". Ops can not be fully prototypical unless you are getting a paycheck and working in 10 below weather; the most perfect model cannot escape the fact it is 10" long. To get either, you would have to buy a railroad (I know where there's one for sale). The prototype is an inspiration which you can follow with any degree of rigor.
The enjoyment of model railroading depends on the suspension of disbelief. A 2 year old pushing wooden cars along router shaped track has no conflict with reality-- this is just fun to do. Eventually, a child learns to associate this toy with something in the real world--maybe by train rides, maybe by Thomas on television. She knows she is playing with a toy, but at the same time, she is using her imagination to populate the world with everything that is missing-- scenery, freight and people, among other things. As we grow older, the gap between the toy and known reality widens. It becomes more difficult to believe in the world of the toy. One way to reinforce the belief is to make the toy more "realistic". Put it on a track that may only go in a circle but populates the field of vision with things that do not flatly contradict the imaginary world. Another way is to develop a stronger imagination-- to focus not on the visual world, but on the action of the participants. You have already figured out where each path can lead.
There are benefits and disadvantages in both approaches.
If you pursue artful realism, you will spend a lot of money on tools, craftsman kits, and exotic materials, and spend hours at the workbench for every minute running the layout. It will probably be a couple of years before you can even run a train, at least through the finished section of the layout. In fact, you may not finish the thing before you die. The benefits are you get a thing of beauty that even your non-railroading friends and family can admire. You can post pictures of your models on the pickier forums with no embarrassment, and you may even get your efforts written up in a magazine. The work itself is pleasant, indoors with no heavy lifting. It is especially rewarding to achieve an advanced quality on a model, and extremely frustrating if your skills or work environment are not up to the task.
If you focus on operations, you really need a fair amount of space. Trains move things from here to there-- if all you have is "here", what can you do? You need a higher degree of reliability, so even though you can get away with economy rolling stock, you will spend a lot of time tweaking and tuning. Your track may sit on unpainted plywood, but it must be electrically and mechanically bulletproof. The benefits are economy (although not as much as some might think) and you get to spend most of your time actually using the thing you are spending time and money on. It is "play" in the same sense that you play basketball or I play bassoon (more fun than you might think.) Your family and casual visitors may be politely unimpressed with the look of the layout, but you will develop a circle of friends who share your approach and will form the core of a social network that the artistic lone wolves have to develop another way.
Of course, the ideal layout provides both. The most elaborate prairie can grow scenery, or at least the plywood can be painted and the tools picked up. Even ProtoXX track allows the movement of trains, and it only takes a little extra planning to make this movement purposeful, even if that is just to stop for passengers every other time around.
So, what have you done (or plan) to strike a balance between art and ops? What can you not disbelieve?
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