Another Shorpy great

[nachoman]

Great photo! Also note the wires plugged into the "light socket" in the ceiling.

I have some older model railroader magazines from the late 1940s-50s. Sure, the layouts don't look as detailed, but if you consider what people had to start with, the amount of work they put into their layouts was equal if not greater than what you see today. In 1950, almost everything in HO scale came as a kit and had to be assembled. plastic structure kits practically didn't exist, and almost all layout buildings came from craftsman kits or were scrachbuilt out of household items. Even obtaining DC power for control was difficult. I read where many people were using car batteries. Let's not forget most of the scenery materials we now use weren't commercially available.