Prototype modeling - how far can you take it?

[nachoman]

Prototype modelers, get right down to the reporting marks, on the equipment that the railroad used. And many have changed the side the brake gear was on"Because the model had it wrong"

So, if one is to get the reporting marks down correctly, they may need to nail their era down to a month and year. Once one knows the month and year, he/she could potentially go to the library and look at the headlines for the local paper in that month. Perhaps they would learn the local steel mill was shut down for the whole month because of an equipment failure - and thus to be prototypically correct would have to quit switching to that industry on their layout