01-29-2013, 10:44 AM
This problem reminds me a little of a problem Bob Brown had in early issues of The Gazette: he was trying to model Phillips, ME on the Sandy River c 1900. He was either modeling everything exactly to scale or carefully compressed: at the end, he was unhappy with things and realized it was because (in my interpretation of his remarks) he was building a museum exhibit, not a model railroad. That helped me to break away from the museum exhibit mentality myself. I wound up with an idea closer to Jim Vail, a Gazette columnist, whose layout is a series of scenes, some prototypical (like the West Side Lumber Tuolomne mill), others fanciful (Cumbres Pass set somewhere in the California Coast Range).
If I were planning an ISL or shelf-style layout, I'd be thinking in terms of doing something like what Reinhard has done here, scenery and structures that can easily be changed to suit changing preferences. I used to be heavily Northeastern US- New England until I moved to California; now in my old age I'm appreciating the Frisco and the L&N. . . the "experts" say you have to pick a prototype. Phooey!
If I were planning an ISL or shelf-style layout, I'd be thinking in terms of doing something like what Reinhard has done here, scenery and structures that can easily be changed to suit changing preferences. I used to be heavily Northeastern US- New England until I moved to California; now in my old age I'm appreciating the Frisco and the L&N. . . the "experts" say you have to pick a prototype. Phooey!