Prototype modeling - how far can you take it?

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Proto-lancing?
Thats a new one on me.

I'm sure it's not. Maybe you've just never heard it called that before. One of, if not THE most popular model railroad of all time was proto-freelanced...John Allen's Gorre & Daphetid. There are no hard-cut rules, but the basic premise is: take a freelanced railroad and operate it prototypically.

Prototype model railroading often includes modeling a particular sub or branch, "rivet counting", and other practices already mentioned here. Freelanced roads often include creating something whimsical "Dry Gulch Railroad Co." serving the "Dusty Valley" and "Cactus Junction".

Proto-freelance offers the best of both worlds. You can answer the "what if" scenario. You can run lines to cities that your favorite road never reached. You can completely make up a completely new road, as I did with the Erie & Southern. The E&S has a history that considers the growth of other railroads in the region, a timeline consistent with history, and best of all...a carefully planned system map that would have made it a competitor. It's a prototypical railroad that never existed, but could have.