Alternative to the NMRA Master Model Railroader?

[steinjr]

If other people are looking at what you did for inspiration you are propagating the hobby. The metric by which inspiration is measured is in the eye of the inspired.

Precisely.

One good model builder has scratch built this engine (although it is not particularily "realistic" in my eyes, based on the engines I have seen):


And another good, perhaps great, model railroader has detailed and weathered this RTR locomotive, and built the realistic looking scene it is photographed in:


I don't see any obvious criteria which would make it meaningful to compare the level of competence of these two model railroaders - both are good at the way they do their hobby, but they work in very different ways and with fairly different goals.

Smile,
Stein