Not forsaking HO altogether here, but I am adding another railroad in On30. You will see it come together here.
Thinking of tying everything together. Joppa Iron Works is named after an actual colonial iron works that disbanded in the mid 1800’s. It’s my “what if” in the same general locale basing the story on having the iron works graduate to a steel mill with no finishing capabilities.
On30 may be a good chance for me to back date my story a little without destroying the HO efforts. Iron foundries need a lot of wood, limestone and iron ore. This may give me a chance to have a background railroad.
Since photography is also a hobby, the On30 models are far more photogenic than HO just due to size alone and the focal plane of the camera. They do tend to make you be more detail oriented, but that is part of the fun!