You have a good idea that I have seen before only on a smaller scale. In traveling around the country in some museum I saw scale model of say 1.5 inch to the foot that accomplished the same thing. I think though a video on a 52 inch screen with full animation might do as well, then we could also illustrate the air brake system which is also not easy to explain to a novice non-techi.
Frank
PS: we are looking for good ideas of how to interpert the railroad to the uninformed (and some of the suposed informed).