Took a detour into #modeltrain scales while researching gaming #miniatures, and now Reddit is showing me train-related posts.

Turns out that train layout backstories can be just as goofy as #TTRPG setting lore.

https://www.reddit.com/r/modeltrains/s/exyPvQd7PT

More grist for my theory that all forms of play trend towards roleplaying eventually. "Historians" who keep adding things like "Chicago improv" and "Victorian parlor games" to the "ancestry" of #TTRPG are ignoring the possibilities of independent invention and convergent evolution.
@contrarian
I suspect it all derives ultimately from the "let's pretend" games that we all played as children.