How do you enjoy the railroad?

Do you like chasing a train to catch it at multiple locations, or content to stay in one spot to see what happens?

Have you ever considered how this preference might impact your thinking about layout design?

How do you look at the world? Do you prefer wide vistas, close up, or somewhere in between?

Think about your favorite railfanning spot.

What’s it like?

What do you see there?

What’s going on? Why does this place speak to you?

What do you want from the craft?

What does operation mean to you?

What qualities does it feature: fast paced decision making, a social gathering, or something else entirely?

Does the design you’re considering take your time, physical abilities and other resources into account? Does it speak to your needs or the hobby’s?

We tend to default to a single filter to sift everything through. Trackplanning is useful in many ways but it isn’t the panacea for every question that we think it is.

These questions focus on our experience of the railroad rather than the mechanics of it. Understanding how we experience the railroad and what we most enjoy about it helps us make better decisions about what to model.

Regards,
Mike

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