The World’s Largest Model Railway – Latest Update

The Miniatur Wunderland…..

…..(Miniature Wonderland) is the most popular tourist attraction in Hamburg, Northern Germany. It has been attraction more than 1 million visitors annually and the figure is continually growing as the worlds largest model railway continues to expand.

There is no thought of leaving this masterpiece alone as there are plans already in place for new sections to be added up until 2020. These proposed displays include England, Italy, France as well as parts of Africa so the team have plenty to occupy themselves with for the foreseeable future..

The model airport….

…..in the mythical town of Knuffingen which was opened in May 2011 has shown the brilliance of the development team. 40 planes continually arrive and depart, with the terminal, hangers and all ground staff duplicating every procedure of a normal airport. No detail was too small for the staff and no aircraft too big to be duplicated in miniature. It includes the world’s most advanced model flight simulation making the departures and arrivals appear as natural as possible.

The main attraction……

……of course is still the model railway and the amazing scenery through which over 900 trains pulling over 12,000 wagons operate every day. They travel several hundred kilometres every day over the 13 kilometres of track, through the scenery of Scandinavia, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and eventually connecting up with America. The longest model train is over 14 metres long.

Don’t imagine for a moment that this is just an exhibition of model trains going around. The scenery is a delight to see with the Alps reaching a height of over 6 metres and the North Sea displaying a selection of large and small boats. More than 200,000 miniature figures showing all walks of life are spread throughout the display giving a realistic view of everyday life.

More than 250 vehicles…..

……operate continually, including cars, buses and trucks as well as police cars catching speeding vehicles and villains, ambulances attending accidents and fire trucks attending to occasional fires. Everything in real life has been duplicated. The night time is just as stunning as the daytime scenery. With over 300,000 LED lights coming on, it lives up to its name of Miniatur Wunderland.

To control and synchronise all these moving exhibits takes more than 40 computers linked by an incredibly complex software system, developed by the team. Overall there are 260 dedicated people on the team whose expertise is obvious at every turn. The spectators have not been neglected either with many opportunities to interact with the exhibition in the form of interactive models.

The popularity of the worlds largest model railway….

….shows no sign of abating. With over 1,000 TV documentaries having been completed and shown worldwide the natural interest that comes with such a masterpiece will continue to attract world wide attention with many people arranging their holidays to include some time at this exhibition.

Video from official site of “Miniatur Wunderland”