The
Catch Phrase Of the year seems to be " Plausible Reality"
When it comes to creating a ficticious road.
My reccomendations then come from gathering information regarding techniques people have used,articles read,books on the subject etc and they all point to this:
After determining the type of RR (hvy mainline, bridge traffic, shortline industrial)
And the Geographic Location (Western Mountains,Coastal , Eastern Mountains, Midwest praries, Northern Forests etc)
And the Era (Modern, Transition, Turn of the century roaring 20's, depression 30's wartime 40's etc)
Look then to the Railroads of the Area , Era and type that were Real.
Use these examples as guidelines to help develop a theme for your railroad.
Take a look at a map of the area and what commodities were being hauled, waterways, traffic patterns etc and use this to Create your new Railroad.
In this way you can place your model RR into a realistic setting and give it a plausibility that fits!! By doing this you will improve your realism overall because what you have created could have been. Only those with much knowledge of railroading may even realize your road wasnt a real railroad because you base its traffic,comodities and look around a real RR of the area in and around that time in history.
The research is half the fun!! :thumb:
This link to the LDSIG will be very helpful as you get started designing your own layout. I reccomend reading the entire thing Twice!!
http://www.vetmed.auburn.edu/~smithbf/BFSpages/LDSIGprimer/TOC.html