Largest miniature railroad-world record set
by Miniatur Wunderland
[Dec 4]HAMBURG, Germany--The Miniatur
Wunderland in Hamburg, Germany has 700 trains, 4,000 automobiles,
165,000 trees and 250,000 individual lights and a track lengh of
5.6 miles has set the world record for the largest miniature railroad.
The Miniatur
Wunderland has been build during approx. 500,000 working
hours and it costed 8.7 Million Euros (in April 07).
In June 2007 the 4,000,000th visitor has been
welcomed. (enlarge
photo)
The most expensive train in the stable is the
Marklin $500 Big Boy. Made mostly of metal, it is the world's largest
model steam locomotive.
“One of our fundamentals has always been to meet
every challenge, no matter how hopeless it seems to be in the beginning.
With this attitude we managed to create technology which amaze our
visitors.“, complements Gerrit Braun his brother.
For example, 250,000 lights, which are dynamically
turned on and off, together with a self-developed light control
system provide an almost perfect simulation of day and night.
170 computer-controlled cars surprise the visitors
and more than 150 push-button actions for interaction between the
visitor and the Wunderland people.
After the completion of the Swiss section in November
2007, there are more than 1,100 m² of model area where currently
more than 150 employees are working on.
Section America Highlights: Grand Canyon, Las
Vegas with its more than 30,000 lights, the Rocky Mountains, the
amazing Carsystem with the American fire engines, Miami, the Everglades,
Area 51, Cape Canaveral, Pueblo villages, woodmen camps and so on…
The metropolis of Las Vegas, a paradise for gamblers
in the desert, is the most luminous spot of the Wunderland. More
than 1/10 of all lights installed in the Wunderland – about 30,000
– are located in this world-famous city.
The Keys and Cape Canaveral directly pass into
Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon is only separated by a highway from
Mount Rushmore and Yosemite Park. The United States of Wunderland
are, compared to other areas, not very big, however they are full
of attractions.
The
Wunderland is very hands on. Kids can punch buttons to set
off space shuttles and shark attacks. The trains can be viewed from
above and the sides without looking through plate glass.
The trains are computer run by five guys sitting
at a control center with dozens of monitors that resemble a NASA
board. Each programmer oversees a specific portion of the layout
through cameras set up trackside. It takes 33 computers to operate
the Wunderland.
Miniatur
Wunderland is not owned by a corporate conglomerate but
by twin brothers Frederick and Gerrit Braun. In July 2000, Frederick
visited a model railroad shop in Zurich, Switzerland. (enlarge
photo)
He then called his brother to inform him they were
going to build the largest model railway in the world.