QUOTE (dbclass50 @ 4 Apr 2007, 22:19)
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>How about ;
A layout is where you can operate a locomotive and/or train to simulate real life action(s).
A diorama is where nothing is designed to operate or move under it's own power.
...
Quite a few shelf-layouts are just large railway dioramas. I do realise that it is perhaps possible to get some pleasure from moving the locos up and down the shelf. Space, cost and time do play a large part in this and I'm not anti the small layout, but I think if you ask a kid what a layout is, he will say: "a place to run the trains", and he's thinking:
full speed
I think a layout is place where the running of the trains takes precedent over the scenery. A railway diorama is where the detailing of the scenery (including any loco and rolling stock) is the main objective.
You can have layouts with detailed scenery and you can have railway dioramas with moving locos.