Virtual Railroad

Retro trains whiz past 1940s- and '50s-era cars, all tailfins and turquoise. Urban settings consist of window pane-covered factories; tiny wooden farm houses dominate the rural areas.

The Potomac Module Crew's train display is old-fashioned, but state-of-the-art technology makes it happen.

Each engine has an encoder, and train owners control them remotely with wireless devices called throttles. "Engineers" can determine direction of engines regardless of the way they're facing. Digital Command Control has been around for about 10 years, and it's still cutting-edge.


"The technology is so close that anything that happens on the real railroad happens here," said Ralph Douglas, a member of several DC-area train clubs, including the Potomac Module Crew. Douglas should know: He's also a volunteer engineer for the Walkersville Southern Railroad in Frederick, Md.