Huge Model Railroad: Diablo Valley Lines

"Giant Model Railroad Is an Analog SimCity"
Wired Raw File (June 30, 2009)

"Before SimCity — even before Dungeons and Dragons — back when 'computer' was a job title, people still found ways to vaporize countless hours of free time designing and maintaining private universes. In the analog world, such parallel realities were built with tweezers, glue and a spouse's permission to cover the basement with papier-mâché massifs and plywood plains...."

I had a model railroad layout when I was a boy, about a half-century back now: and much smaller than the 54 foot by 32 foot Diablo Valley Lines that the Walnut Creek Model Railroad Society maintains.

This Wired article has a pretty good mix of text and photos: enough to give people who aren't familiar with model railroading an idea of what's involved, and those who have at least dabbled in the hobby a look at what a group of dedicated amateurs can achieve.

I enjoyed going through the pages - I hope you do, too.