Tech Model Railroad Club

[2] Some of the key early members of the club were Jack Dennis and Peter Samson, who compiled the 1959 Dictionary of the TMRC Language[5] and who are credited with originating the concept "Information wants to be free".

One was eventually used to operate the club's major freight yard, and the other was set up to perform user interface tasks, such as the initial assignment of trains to throttles,and to throw turnouts.

There were scram switches located at numerous places around the room that could be pressed to shut down all movement on the tracks if something undesirable was about to occur, such as a train going full speed toward an obstruction.

TMRC's "Signals and Power Subcommittee" liked to work on the layout's relays, switches, and wires, while the "Midnight Requisitioning Committee" obtained parts independently of campus procurement rules.

The Signals and Power Subcommittee included most of the early TX-0 and PDP-1 computer hackers, and several people would later join the core of the MIT AI Lab staff.

[citation needed] MIT's Building 20, TMRC's home for 50 years, was slowly evacuated in 1996–98 and demolished in 1999 to make room for the Ray and Maria Stata Center.

The vintage telephone crossbar relay-based control system was moved into the new space and operated for two years but, as the new layout grew, the decision was made to replace it with an electronic equivalent.

The model is wired with an array of incandescent window lights, which can be used as a display for playing Tetris, and was a precursor to the project to do this with the actual building.

[9] Passersby inside Building N52 can view the model through a window and play a monochromatic version of Tetris via remote control, accompanied by authentic-sounding music, even when the facility is closed.

[10] In 2011, an independent group of hackers reified this "holy grail" of hacking by installing and operating a full-sized color version of Tetris on the 295-foot (90 m) tall Green Building tower.

[11][12][13] As of April 2015[update], TMRC holds a semi-annual Open House, inviting the MIT community and the general public to visit.