I've always thought of the great minds in model railroading for inspirations, and thoughts into what might work in the real world. A lot of these hobbyists spend time, in some cases semi-following prototype practices to develop new routes that might exist if the investments, timing, and supply/demand factors were slightly changed. Sometimes the results on a model railroad are current to what we really could see in contemporary railroading.

1, The Utah Belt.
A trunk railroad connecting El Paso (MP) with Salt Lake City (WP). Locomotive roster stays current with the times, and so does the freight.

2, CN-BCR interchange traffic from a friend's layout. He selected a route from Lytton, BC to Lillooet, BC that was shared trackage for the two railroads. Set in the late 60's to late 80's, it travelled the short route carrying interchange traffic, as well as re-routes for destinations in the Lower Fraser Valley.

3, Another friend's layout is a CP connection from Calgary, AB to Pasco, WA. in the late 80's-early 90's. The traffic would be interesting, but the real route might be too expensive to build. It would mostly follow the BN from Sandpoint to Pasco, ala Milwaukee Road followed Northern Pacific to pretty much everywhere.

Imagine if the Milwaukee Road was able to purchase the SP&S (or other way around)?

almo