Hi Peter,
Yes, Jürgen shows us the big advantage of a virtual model railroad: no problems with room and money
As for “shadowstations”: As a long time railroad modeler the use of hidden staging is normal for me. So the original layout – intended to be really built then – has one hidden staging at each end of the dog bone double track loop for an interesting and varied operation. This helps overcome the disadvantage of restricted room you mostly always have with a real model railroad layout.
Kind regards,
Willi