Model Railroad Hobbyist | September2015 | #67 GETTING REAL column Tony Thompson Two good ways to convey your modeling era IN ONE OF THE FIRST COLUMNS IN THE MRH “GETTING Real” series, back in November 2011 (mrhmag.com/magazine/ back-issues), Jack Burgess discussed the process of choosing a date to model, and ways to reinforce that choice, in terms of the things you place on the layout. Among an extensive discussion, he mentioned that automobiles are among the most familiar objects that anyone can date, whether they are modelers or casual visitors to a layout, and therefore that automobiles must be model-year consistent for your chosen era. Obviously they cannot be cars of a model year later than your modeled year, but can represent a fair range of previous years. Jack emphasized that cars should also have license plates, and mentioned billboards as period setters. I want to expand on these points, because I believe there is more to be said. I also want to explain a little about how I XX MODELING REAL RAILROADS AND WHAT THEY DO MRHMAG.COM • TABLE OF CONTENTS • INDEX