Bob, I actually still had my 3-rail toy layout during my HO tenure. My plan was to learn landscaping with many seasoned layout building veterans, and turn my toy layout into a Hi-Rail layout. (The club actually has a separate room with woodworking tools, and one filled with shelves and drawers and cabinets brimming with landscaping supplies - a layout builders heaven!) After spending hours working on a detailed mountain scene, among other scenery endeavors, I decided that my true interest was running trains, blowing the whistle, smoking up the train room, and watching the trains on the lighted layout. To me, by contrast, the club members' "real" hobby was layout building, and, that wasn't my favorite activity. That finally settled it for me: I wanted to have toy-like layouts where I could watch the trains run.
I was unaware of the term "Cowboy Running" that you used above, but, I'm buying a cowboy hat to augment my U.P. Steam Power hats when I run the trains...
That's why I enjoy the literally lifelike video of RAK's layout in the post above. "O Gauge trains and accessories, vibrant colors, and Super "O" in a beautiful, well designed, postwar style layout.
