All of those things that we don’t model nearly enough. All of those things we look right past in our search for “trains”. In our search for the present, we often ignore what has gone before. That old wood abutment is still holding up despite all its years and it’s still filled with the rocks that supported the original wooden bridge. In their hurry to just get there the railway builders were often forced to use the resources that were right at hand. Then come back years later to finish the job properly.

Perhaps it would be a good idea to give your railway some ‘history’ by building in those original supports right along side or below that prize winning steel and concrete span you're so proud of? Has plenty of rust stained that concrete over its years of service? Have those annual floodwaters piled up debre up stream from the bridge? We go to such lengths to make our engines and rolling stock reflect the changing times. Green and yellow or red and black. Why not the rest of our small scale world?

The little girl is out watching trains with her dad.