What Scale this week or in reality What Era this week.

The joke among my friends is what scale are you in this week which stems from my having tried all the major scales except S.  What is more accurate is what prototype are you reading about this week.  Research is a passion since long before my graduate school days.  Though I had looked at the American Civil War (ACW) as a prototype era long ago it was dismissed due to the problems with the small HO locomotives.  After converting to O Scale almost 8 years ago I decided to check out various prototypes.  Many different ones were evaluated including PRR, NKP, C&O, N&W, SR&RL, C&S, RGS, and several modern roads including shortlines.  Each had their issues and nuances.  The ACW came back after looking at Bernie Kempinski's blog on his USMRR layout.  His website and appearances on the Model Railcast Show made me look more closely at this era.  So now the fun begins with a new layout.