Strange Crafts: Are model railroads a form of fanfic?

I have been mulling over this interesting article for a while now. The author's contention is that building model railroads is a kind of fanfic. I don't quite agree, but I also think that a lot of people do not appreciate the craft and creativity that goes into building a model railroad.

I don't build model railroads. I play The Sims. Which is surprisingly similar, both in the incredible amount of world-building that happens inside your head, and in the inability of outsiders to understand the appeal. So even though I'm not into model railroads, I totally get it.

I think what most people don't appreciate is the amount of creative dedication that a model railroad represents. The fact that most people look at one and think "Yep, that's a 100% realistic scale model of a railroad alright" is testimony to the builder's work.

Most railroads are a form of elaborate, three-dimensional worldbuilding. If you have ever drawn a map of an imaginary land, and filled that land with imaginary creatures and people, this is like that, times a million. Imagine spending years to bring your creation to live, complete with perfect scale realism.

By comparison, fanfic is the opposite of worldbuilding. The appeal of fanfic is that no worldbuilding is required - that part has already been done by the source material. Whether you are writing Star Trek fanfic or House of Cards fanfic, you don't have to construct the world beforehand. You just start right in with your story.

Are model railroads a form of fanfic? I don't believe so. However, I firmly believe that they are a creative pursuit every bit as elaborate and impressive as writing a novel. Frankly, model railroad builders deserve a lot more respect. These people are out there imagining worlds AND bringing them to life. It's incredible stuff, and I salute them for it.

Image courtesy Flickr/liftarn