Model Citizens Page #8

headlight on the front him

off, and then I can

turn it back on again.

- We're now starting

seeing things

where more and more

interface between

mobile devices, smart

phones and computers,

and I think that's gonna help it

with a generation that

grows up with those.

- I think the future's bright.

We are getting more and

more into the technology

of the area in which I live,

Silicon Valley.

And so we have now a digital

world in model railroading,

basically in our

control systems,

which is extremely interesting.

We've integrated

computers into it.

We now have, you can

take your iPhone,

and run your train

using your iPhone,

for example, or Android.

- One of our junior

members a few months ago

had a tablet out and

was putting together

trains in the yard like

a pro with his tablet.

- The first computer

game was invented

at the MIT Model Railroad Club.

MIT has a model railroad club,

and in 1961, while

they were playing

with some surplus

electronic equipment

that they'd scavenged,

they created the

first computer game,

video game, called Space Wars.

- I do know that the

kids who are interested

in model railroads,

and there are some,

are very quick to adopt all

the new technology around it.

I know there has been,

have been a couple of products

that were train simulators.

I don't know how

well they've done.

I think one of

the challenges is,

kids don't have

the same exposure

to railroads that they used to.

So while they may

be interested in

a car racing simulation,

a racing game,

they're less likely to be

drawn to a train simulator.

And the other thing is that

one of the things that

tend to be about conflict,

whether it's athletic

competition or combat.

No one's yet come

up with a train game

that sort of has

that piece of it,

which I think is big

part of kids' play.

It's not the only

part of kids' play,

but it's a big part.

- One of the things

I think we're gonna

do more and more

are simulations.

There's a company in,

I believe they're

based in Australia,

called Trains, T R A I N Z.

And they have a

simulation software

and you can get

into their library

and you can actually build

a mythical railroad.

You can have like a grid

and you can reach in

and pull up some of the

grid to make mountains.

You can grab a bridge

outta the library

and install it and grab

a steam engine or diesel,

put it on the tracks.

And you can run the train,

you can be in the cab

of the locomotive,

you can be flying along

beside it in a helicopter,

you can be standing up on

a mountain looking at it.

Even if you don't wanna do that

as a full-time simulation thing

like a pilot would do,

have a flight simulator,

you can use it to test

run your model railroad.

- The really cool

things you can do with

technology, for example,

using your cell phone

to control a train

from another place.

I've actually

heard a story where

this one guy has a layout

where the dispatcher

is in Alabama, but the layout is

somewhere in

Northern New England.

Like Maine or something.

- What we'll do

is, we'll log on,

and I'll mark up

to run engine 70,

and Perry will mark

up to run engine 55.

And somebody else

in Pittsburgh will

mark up for another engine.

And we'll have

maybe a dozen guys,

all of us online, networking,

running a railroad.

Now is that model

railroading or not?

Well,

you're using your hands

to build these things.

So I would say, in a way,

it is model railroading.

But I don't think

the hands-on type model

railroading is gonna go away.

(jaunty music)

- Model railroading, supposedly,

is a kind of old-fashioned

hobby, it's not.

- Some of us lament

about the fact

that it's not taken seriously.

- The cliche, I

guess you could say,

is that model railroaders

are usually white, old men.

- Today I was talking

to a gentleman

who was showing a module,

and I asked if he'd built it.

He said no, my husband built it.

And I thought that

was great because

that's not something you

would've heard five years ago.

Granted, they're both

still white males, but,

it's still an improvement.

- When you think

of model trains,

we all have this vision.

And you know everyone

does, it's not a secret,

we have this vision,

it's this older white

guy with glasses

and his train hat

in his basement.

Little weirdo doing the trains.

And that's what's

portrayed in the media,

that's what portrayed

in the movies

and TV shows.

= I think what a lot of people

think about model railroading

is that it's only

about the trains.

In some ways,

I think the trains

are no more or less

than a delivery

system for emotions.

For me,

it's a feeling.

A time when I was a young boy

and everything was possible.

I model a time in post

World War II America,

when we were the greatest

power on Earth at that time.

When nobody bought a car that

wasn't made by General Motors.

When trains were made by

General Motors as well

and the American

Locomotive Company

in Schenectady, New York, ALCO.

A time when my

grandfather, a railroader,

a person to whom

I was very close,

was still in the

prime of his life.

What I'm evoking

through my trains,

is a kind of feeling.

And a kind of emotion

and a time of my life

that I loved very much.

And I think at the heart

of every model railroader,

you will find

something like that.

It's more than just

the trains, believe me.

- Model railroading is

really more than just trains.

- You know, you just

have to open up.

And be aware that there's a

lot of new stuff around you.

- Find your passion,

and just follow that passion,

whatever it is that

really interests you.

- Model railroaders, by and

large, are a bunch of nerds.

We're a bunch of

geek type of guys,

but no more so than

the computer guys.

We just like making

stuff and watching trains

roll around a layout and,

again, being able to create

stuff with your hands.

- Us geeks, we're

not afraid to just

go have fun doing this stuff.

- A dork's a dork.

I mean, we all have interests

and we're all a little that way.

I pity the guy that isn't.

Doesn't have interests

that would push him

over into the semi-dork

category, you know?

I'm a dork.

- You're kinda born with it.

(chuckles)

- As I say, it's never too

late to have a happy childhood.

(chuckles)

- That's how warped

model railroading is,

we're okay folks, really.

- [Voiceover] Whatever the

future of model railroading,

it may not be the world

as you want it to be,

but that's okay, you

can make your own.

(awe-inspiring music)

(slow instrumental music)

(robust music)

(train whistle blowing)

(conductor murmuring)

(train horn wailing)

Be yourself.

Do your thing.

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