Ron from Leicester north of London in the UK sent in these photos taken at a Peterborough Arena Model Rail Show. He apologizes that a couple of them are a little blurry, but I thought they were so interesting, they deserved to be published regardless.

These photos are a wonderful example of a model train display telling a story. As many experienced hobbyists know; it is always a good start to write a short story (or series of notes) about the scene or industry you intend to create, or to thoroughly research aspects of a real railroad if you intend to model it. Using the ‘prototypical’ approach is to take a real full-sized railroad and model its operation at a certain point during a certain period in time.

Obviously is is easy to take the detailing to extremes, but often it is the attention to detail that adds the real interest and realism to a railroad display. Replicating a real life scene requires the location to be constructed so as to closely resemble the real community and surroundings as accurately as possible, if that is the way you decide to go. Others in the hobby just like to do their own thing and create a scene from their own imagination, and that’s okay too. The important aspect of this wonderful hobby is to enjoy what you are doing, and create something that you personally want to create, regardless of whether you want to create a prototypical replica, or something created from your imagination.

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