Model railroads are a time machine

摘要

We've previously chatted about how a prototype-based scale model railroad is one of the closest approximations of a time machine ever devised. Until virtual reality allows us to venture into a computer-generated past of our own choosing - and I doubt that re-creating the Nickel Plate Road's engine terminal at Frankfort, Ind., in 1954 is going to be high on any developer's list - building a 1:160, or 1:87, or whatever scale model and operating it realistically is our best bet.