Episode 41: Railroad Club

Original air date: 7 Mar 2026.

You are walking down College Avenue on this sunny late winter morning, and you feel the very first stirrings of spring in the air around you. The chorus of birdsong has been growing louder and more complex with each passing week. You see the first crocuses of the season, blooming in tiny patches of yellow, purple, and white huddled close to the ground. You smell the richness of the damp soil around you coming back to life, and as you feel the warmth of the strengthening Sun on your face, you take an appreciative breath.

You are heading for the Main Library, where the Solarpunk Model Railroad Club is holding their monthly open house. You pass through the main doors, and take the broad open stairs down into the basement. There are kids threading their way through the gathered adults, and you see Mayor Ashley, who says, “Hello, You! Would you like to see some trains?"

You tell her, “Yes, for sure. I love model trains.”

The mayor’s youngest kid, Wyatt, looks out from underneath the hem of Ashley’s coat, wearing his over-the-ear headphones. He sizes you up, scrunches his nose briefly, and disappears again. The mayor gently pats Wyatt’s head, buried within her coat, and says, “We come to the open house every month. Never miss it. Come on.”

When you step through the open double doors, you are greeted with a bird’s-eye view of a vast and gleaming futuristic metropolis, sitting down a couple of steps from the entryway. Sleek model trains are gracefully curving through dense groups of skyscrapers, all of which have cascading gardens down their sides. There are lush parks overlooking rivers made of acrylic, and a fleet of airships on wires is drifting through the sky overhead.

As the three of you step down to the main floor, Darryl approaches you, with a computer tablet in his hands. He is wearing an old school train engineer’s hat and overalls, and he says, “Hello, You. Welcome to our railroad club. Would you like to drive a train?”

You say, “Yes! I can do that?”

Darryl smiles and says, “Absolutely. We give everybody a turn. You’ll even be able to see the view from the engine as you’re driving. Here.” At this, he hands you the tablet, and you see a cluster of controls on the bottom of the screen, with a live video feed from the front of a train on the layout. Your train is just emerging from a long tunnel into the light. Darryl points to one of the controls and says, “This is how you change the speed.”

You spend a moment getting familiar with the controls, and then you spend the next several minutes enraptured with the task of driving this miniature train. At one point, Darryl gestures toward the layout to the right of you and says, “This is you, right here.” You bring the train to a halt, and you stoop down to marvel at its intricate details. You smell modeling glue, coffee grounds, and the faintest scent of melting plastic, as you take a nostalgic breath.

Darryl stoops down next to you as well, glancing over at the tablet in your hands, and says, “You’ve got… let’s see, 182 passengers on board right now.”

You look up with surprise as you ask, “Wait, what? How can you tell?”

Darryl points to a box in the bottom right corner of the tablet, and tells you, “This layout has virtual people, and they move around the city using the physical trains, as well as the trams and buses and everything else. We can let it all run on its own, and the city will self-organize the best ways to get everyone where they need to go.”

You make a low whistle as you say, “That’s so cool.”

Darryl stands up again, stretching his arms as he sniffs the air, and he says, “I think the veggie dogs should be ready now. Let’s walk the rest of the layout and go say hi to Kerri. She was hoping to see you today.”

In the snack bar at the far side of the large room, Kerri is serving up free veggie dogs off the roller grill for anyone who wants them. You gratefully accept a dog for yourself, savoring the taste of the pickled red onions and spicy mustard as you take your first bite. As the heat of the mustard slowly coats your tongue, you notice your stomach rumbling, and you take a satisfied breath.

Kerri and Darryl fall into a conversation when there is a break in the snack action, and you are half paying attention as Kerri says in a low voice, “I haven’t seen him in a while, either. I’m a little worried.”

Darryl turns to you and asks, “Have you met Edwin before? He lives on your block.”

You shake your head and say, “I don’t think so. Where does he live?”

Darryl answers, “That big house on the corner of 4th Street. With the overgrown yard.”

You say, “Ah, right. The kids in the neighborhood think that house is spooky.”

Kerri raises her eyebrows toward Darryl and says, “Like I said. We need to help.” Turning to you, she says, “We’re planning to go over next weekend and do a cleanup day at his house. Will you join us? It will be some folks from the club and some people from your block. Edwin is one of the founding members here. We’ve all been missing him.”

You say, “Yes, I’m happy to help. I’d like to meet Edwin. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him.”

Darryl sighs and trades a look with Kerri as he tells you, “He’s been keeping to himself a lot lately. Hopefully we can get him out into the fresh air for a little bit.”

Mayor Ashley and Wyatt walk into the snack bar, and Wyatt announces to the room, “If that completes your order, please pull around to the second window.” Kerri walks over to Wyatt with a plain veggie dog on a plain bun, gets down on bended knee to meet him at eye level, and says, “Here’s your order, sir. Have a nice day.”