The Computational Expressiveness of a Model Train Set: A Paperlet | Hacker News Reader

The Computational Expressiveness of a Model Train Set: A Paperlet

scottaaronson.com

31 pointsfeross10 comments

It's a shame that more technically-minded people aren't into model trains anymore. They're a great way to try to figure out logic problems using real world items.

It's my recollection that the very very very first computer hackers were members of the MIT model railroading club, because they understood electric circuits.

Yeah, it's such a fundamental piece of computing history. For instance the the MIT railway club is the origin of the computing terms "hack", "foo", "mung", "cruft", and using "orfice" instead of 'office'.

> They're a great way to try to figure out logic problems using real world items.

What are the advantages over using a computer?

Observability, for one. In the article, the author talks about the Y-junction that has a flag that directs the train, and the train flips it in some cases, and not in others. Being able to see exactly what happens the moment it happens is just immediately comprehendible... there's no "hidden state"; so if it does something unexpected, you can see the whole situation.

That's cool. Reminds me of https://ivanish.ca/hest-time-travel/

Traditionally, they require so much space. My computer can be palm-sized, or lap sized ... even the ones best left under the desk don’t require large percentages of household rooms or a workshop.

Very true and an interesting history as well. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tech_Model_Railroad_Club

As mentioned in the wikipedia article, the Steven Levy "Hackers" book has a great chapter on those early days.