One of my personal favorite aspects of a model railroad is operational realism. This is largely a function of the track plan. And one of the coolest parts of any track plan, in my opinion, are interlockings. These are places where two tracks go to one or three tracks go to two. They are where operating decisions have to be made by the dispatcher and where priorities get established, creating the feeling that you are actually running a real railroad rather than just playing with a bunch of brass and plastic toy trains. There was a model railroader back in the 40s and 50s by the name of Frank Ellison who is credited as being among the pioneers of realistic operation of model railroads. As such, he espoused the concept that the layout is really just a stage upon which a very dramatic and complex play is being performed. I agree with that. Above all else though, Model Railroading is FUN! :-)
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 19:57:14 +0000
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