I have studied Armstrong's and Koester's work, but I think John Allen should be required reading also. His Gore and Daphetied layout is one of the all-time most famous examples of a layout that started small and grew over time to be one of the most revered layouts ever. I am planning on building a copy of the G&D in Z scale.
I think he best expressed the reason for hidden staging by suggesting the layout be viewed much like a stage in a theatrical production where the trains are actors in a play. The actors come on, say their lines and then exit the stage. Some actors are the "stars" and stay on stage most if not all of the "play". Others may have bit parts - come on stage, say a line or two (drop a few cars in a yard, pick up others) and then continue back off stage, only to reappear in the next performance. But the important thing is they all have "roles" in telling the story.
Having been a "student" of live theater, it is a concept that resonated deeply with me. In a stage production, the backdrops are frequently mere paintings on large canvass, usually with features exaggerated for effect. Scrims are used to convey depth of field and distance ( http://www.studio-productions-...p_scrim_effects.html ). Several blocks of a street scene are compressed in to 50 or 60 feet - selective compression if you will much as we do in a layout... Lighting plays an important role in setting the scene, as does sound. The individual elements may not necessarily seem realistic, but taken in as a whole, can be very convincing in the minds eye. I think it can be a concept well suited to our application, particularly if where the layout is viewed from can be controlled so that you don't see back stage or behind the sets so as to spoil the illusion. The actors are significantly dynamic so that the "illusion" isn't noticed but instead adds to the feel of the scene.
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