A little film about the world's largest model train

Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/07/13/a-little-film-about-the-world.html

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I grew up in New Jersey and went to Northlandz as a kid. It seems almost like a dream. It couldn’t have been real. But I guess there is video evidence. :slight_smile:

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Those cars look small, are they N-scale?

I love when these big layouts get into the 10,000s of feet of track – at 66’ per mile at scale, this guy has nearly 1,000 miles of track at scale.

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I grew up near Roadside America: http://roadsideamericainc.com/

We went there often, and I’ve loved model trains ever since!

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That’s definitely HO.

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sigh worlds largest? really? There is a whole world outside the USA you know.

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I’ve been a couple of times - it’s not far from where we live. For an idea of the size, this is the control room:

The airport is amazing:

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I haven’t been to Germany in a long time, but next time I go – I’m going there.

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I was there a number of years ago. It’s definitely neat to see – worth dropping in. I remember it being “dusty” though. If they still have the “Doll Room”, skip it - it’s creepy as all get up. I’ve been to Roadside America too which I think is somehow more impressive – mostly because you can see the entire layout all at once… Roadside America, in the off season (whatever that is), rotates chunks of it out for cleaning. I remember it being meticulously maintained.

We have a great little one in Walnut Creek (SF East Bay) I’ve been going to my whole life but while it has an active club, they don’t seem to have a good volunteer for dust abatement.

If you ever go to Sonoma California, check out http://www.traintown.com/ , it’s not as awe inspiring as this place, but you’ll have fun.

I interpreted “largest” to mean physical size of the train itself which made me ponder the question “At what point does the model train become a train?”.

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I grinned like a nutcase when I saw the jetliner fly through the cloud curtain. And then I scrolled down a bit more and saw the Millennium Falcon and the top of my head just about fell off.

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Would human accessibility and use for transportation be the qualifying traits for consideration as a “real” train? If a human can’t get into/on the train and it’s not used for actual transportation purposes (barring any kitschy uses like a condiment train on a dinner table), then I would consider it a model train regardless of the size.

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Fair enough. I guess I’ll never be a philosopher.

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That sounds exactly like something a philosopher would say! Congratulations, you’re a meta-philosopher about your own philosophizing.

Now let’s discuss Theseus’ Ship…

Do model train sets not include people of color?

Well, it is called “Northlandz”.

Imagine what might be unleashed with the advent of universal basic income. All those creative wonders, all those long-dreamed adventures, sitting gathering dust on the back shelves of people’s minds as they drag themselves through their dreary workday routines. Imagine what we might do with all that life-time squandered on someone else’s profit.

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