The Mogollon Railroad

[nachoman]

No shame in drawing comparisons to Furlow and Olsen. Those two sure take a lot of hits from the rivet counters, though . While some of their work seems a little far-fetched for my taste, when it comes to model railroads I tend to favor the spectacular and unlikely over the mundane and realistic. I'm willing to sacrifice a little realism in order to create something eye-catching and interesting. That's not a knock against the modelers who strive for a high-fidelity to the prototype. Actually, that is a recognition that even the strict prototypers often exaggerate things a little (unknowingly) making things more interesting. Face it, if we were to exactly miniaturize the real world, layouts would be a flat table with a straight track, one or two sidings, and only one town. Simple space constraints that require steeper terrain, sharper curves, and closer towns prevent most layouts from being too boring. In my case, the prototypes I am following were on the spectacular side; cramped mining boom towns clinging to the side of a hill. The Morenci Southern Railway had five (!) 360-degree loops over its own track, had some two dozen bridges and trestles, three tunnels, and very steep grades over an 18-mile route. <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.co.greenlee.az.us/morencirailroad.aspx">http://www.co.greenlee.az.us/morencirailroad.aspx</a><!-- m --> Given the same space constraints and an already spectacular prototype, that just makes my layout seem even more breathtaking.