Model Railroad Hobbyist | November 2015 | #69 PUBLISHER’S MUSINGS Joe Fugate editorial The layout supersize fallacy It seems most model railroaders believe that bigger is better when it comes to a home layout. I know I thought that in my early days in the hobby. It’s been 47 years since I first got into model railroading, and I’ve learned that big- ger isn’t always better – in fact, thinking you must have bigger to have better is actually a fallacy. To clarify the issues, let’s talk about what I call “quality of run” versus “quantity of run.” Also, I’m talking scale model railroad- ing here, not tinplate. Quality of run is key to getting a layout that’s fun to operate. Newcomers usually think bigger is better, so they will search for satisfaction in quantity of run, not quality. But with some experience in the hobby, you will realize a small layout with a high quality of run can be far more satisfying than a large layout with a mediocre quality of run. First, note that quality of run is mostly visual. If you don’t believe that, try running your layout with a blindfold on and just listening to the trains run! Running trains blindfolded can be a bit more fun these days now that we have sound-equipped locos, but you get the idea. MRHMAG.COM • TABLE OF CONTENTS • INDEX