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Although I'm sure it will upset more than a few newer hobbyists here, I repectfully have to disagree with this interpertation of just what is a model railroad layout. A layout is not a layout simply because one says it is. As someone who has been in the hobby for decades, it was always my understanding that a "layout" was an attempt at representing at least a small slice of reality that would be recognizable as such to to most viewers. Layouts also need to represent a reason for the train's existance, i.e. implying the moving of passengers or materials over a significant distance that would be impractical via other means of transportation. Below the classification of "layout" always were "modules" and "dioramas". While a series of modules might be connected together to make a (purposeful) layout, a diorama always remained a diorama since the trains were more part of the scenery than having actual purpose. CNJ831 [/quote] Allow me to respectfully disagree entirely. ALL model railroads, no matter how large, are ridiculously compressed. Even the largest of basement empires doesn't come close to the real thing in scale. The only way to make a layout believable is to obsucre enough of this fact from the viewer that it doesn't interfere with the illusion of reality. This might be harder to do with a micro layout, especially a shoebox-sized diorama, but it is hardly impossible. I've seen finescale micro layouts that do a far more convincing simulation of the prototype than do most large scale railroads modelled with less attention to detail. The size of a layout is essentially of no relevance for its realism.
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