Prototype modeling - how far can you take it?

[nkp_174]

It depends on when and where you are modeling...when it comes to how far you take it. I can think of a number of railroads were that level of research is impossible. I believe that you definitely can model a prototype railroad without picking a specific time. While most of the major lines are well known, many smaller lines have many gaps in the information about the equipment and the operations. For that matter, there is a shortage of info on the structures of the area. That is where making reasonable guessing comes in...to fill in the gaps of knowledge and keep the process from bogging down. D&RGW modelers are fanatical about details specific to individual locomotives...yet South Park modelers focus more on classes and major changes due to our fewer photographs. Newspaper accounts are helpful, but they don't tell you the precise details of a particular washout that occurred. Neither is it usually possible to figure out exactly what cars were used in each train, how close to the schedule they were, the state of repair of each car, and who the crew was.

Proto-freelance certainly seems to me to be what you are doing. Following the standard practices, yet choosing to create a new piece of railroad. I feel that proto-freelance frequently is used by lazy modelers as a license to make an unrealistic railroad. Basically, just modeling a prototype poorly. But when done correctly, it is every bit as difficult as prototypical modeling...and produces every bit as realistic of a railroad. I don't really know how to delineate the line between prototypical modeling and proto-freelance...or between freelance and proto-freelance. I don't really care what a layout is...if it is well researched and executed...it is great!