Assuming that we are building a model railroad indoors we need to overcome the fact that compared to the wide open spaces the small area we have to work with is a problem if we want to make things look right.  To over come the small size of our layout areas we need good lighting, careful painting to make sure the colors look right with our lighting, well done backgrounds so the world seems like it continues and scenes that are composed so they view well.  All these items are artistic in nature.

This is an area I plan to try very hard to master on my layout.  I am planing for carefully placed lighting and taking the time to run some tests to find out what type of bulbs and fixtures will work best for me.  With some luck and planning I plan to use forced perspective in almost every scene.  I also plan to carefully paint everything so the colors to match and the layout looks like an integrated environment.

This anchor is where I have some agreement with the concept that prototype modeling creates better modelers.  If you want to improve your modeling I think the best way to do it is the attempt to model a piece of prototype equipment as best you can.  No mater what skill level you are at with your modeling the attempt to do your best to create a prototype model of some equipment that you have a lot of information on will help you improve your skills.

While things have improved somewhat you need to have some caution in this area when you buy factory painted equipment lettered for your prototype railroad because from time to time what they do at the factory is not correct.

While I am not modeling a prototype railroad this is an anchor area for my layout.  I plan to carefully model my equipment from builders information that supplied the equipment that ran on narrow gauge railroads that had cargo and traffic levels that would compare to my layout.  Carefully modeling the equipment also includes having the correct details on the cars and locomotives (for example the correct brake systems, lights etc..)

Selecting a known location will do a lot to help you create a layout that can be accepted as a view of a miniature world.  You can run into trouble if the area you selected is very well known because any gaps in how well you modeled the area will be noticed.  Often the concept of alternate reality is used to add a new town or two to be modeled on your layout so the flavor of the real location can be used without scratch building all the buildings in the town(s) you want to be inspired by.  By selecting a location and using alternate reality with it you can retain the geology and the vegetation information of an area so what you model will look like the real thing.

While my layout location is middle earth I will use the location that I live in as the inspirational location anchor for my layout. On short day trips I can visit and take pictures of the type of geology and vegetation I want to have in my scenes.  If I put effort and care into it my layout should look like a real location.

For me the operations anchor is the most important anchor on my model railroad.  It is priority one that all trains will run on my layout for a reason.  Operations normally simulate the roles of the operations department of a railroad so that trains are run and cars are switched in a way that is inspired by the same roles on the prototype.  I plan to keep my layout operationally sincere and will try to avoid any case of just running trains just to see if I can do it.

Because I am firmly in the operations is priority one camp I find it ironic that my requirements is leading to an unconventional approach and some heart burn with those that are involved with conventional operational groups.  I want to include the roles of the person(s) who create a transportation empire while what most think of as operations is the roles of the people who run the trains.  Because the prototype railroad activity in empire building does not scale to a basement layout I will have to borrow a lot from trucking and airlines to include the roles that I want.  I want to have management roles for equipment selection, traffic rates, route selection and to have the operators on the layout decide if they want the expense of running a train etc..  I will use prototype information when ever I can but in the end the direction I am going with operations will be alternate reality.  If you see a train going down the rails on my model railroad there will be someone who can tell you all the details of why (why that locomotive, why that cargo, why those cars are used, why it is run at that time etc..) which goes beyond what the operations department would know or care about on a prototype railroad but I see this as an anchor for my layout because the trains are run to provide simulatied transportation.

I don't believe that all structures on a layout need to be scratch built but you could take that path and if you model one location your layout should look better for it.  I do believe it is a good idea to avoid popular (normally plastic) structure kits that would be noticed as kit X on your layout.  There are a lot of kits that look generic when carefully placed and some kits that can be kit bashed to avoid the kit X look.  Of course you have the wood and plaster kits that can still have a rare kit X problem.

If you want structures to be an anchor you will need to be careful that all the structures match the correct location and period for your layout.  Selecting the correct structures does require some research.

I want this area to be an anchor and will have to really work at it with a middle earth location.  Even with a lot of effort I might not be able to make this an anchor but I am going to try very hard to make it work.

I think this is a very useful anchor if not taken to far. If you define your period very closely to hour, day, month and year for example and then try to match a prototype complete with the activity of that prototype on that day you end up with a layout that is a recreation of that narrow period like the civil war batttle recreations where you know which way the troop actors will move and everyone knows who will win each battle.  Recreation is a great history lession but it is not an operating layout because the script of what needs to be done is to tite.

For my layout I am using the early fifties as an anchor.  If it was made after the fifties then it will not be on my layout. I also know the season is early spring. It does require some research but the rewards are worth it to me. We do not see items from mixed time periods as a normal part of life so a layout with mixed time periods will lose a chance to make us see it as a valid model of the world.