The farther back you go into model train and O scale history, the more crude the models are. the information was not as available in many cases, and "good enough" was a lower standard because you had to scratch build nearly everything or work from crude kits.
The costs of "nice" O scale stuff prior to WWII was pretty high. the average guy could not afford much. The built up scale craft and even the scale lionel hudson were for the more well-heeled enthusiast.
So many people made do with what they could build with what materials they had or could get cheap. Many of the kits even still had sand castings for most body parts. And a lot of guys would build there own from scratch and might take years to do it.
Getting a loop of track down, and a loco and a few cars built was a big project.
So while this is very crude by the standards of even the 50s and 60s brass, it probably was a serious project for the builder maybe in 1935 or somesuch.
