ISLs ..Coming Of Age?

[steinjr]

Your thoughts?

I think it is a combination of several factors:

- walk-around throttles
- a shift towards operations based layouts instead of just watching train layouts enter tunnels and cross bridges
- a shift towards more "sincere" or "prototypical" scenes - where e.g. the mainline passes once through each scene
- a desire for layouts to coexist peacefully with other uses of rooms

I don't know whether it really is that much less cheaper in terms of the number of engines and cars and buildings and such things. A small shelf layout - say a 20 square feet 2 foot x 10 foot switching layout - obviously will need quite a bit less scenery materials than e.g. a 32 square feet 4x8 foot layout. But it is not at all unlikely that the 20 square feet shelf switching layout will use more turnouts (and possibly also more engines and cars) than your typical 4x8 foot oval-on-table layout. That kind of stuff tends to be more expensive than scenery materials.

Smile,
Stein