World's Largest Model Railway

This is an amazing video tour of the Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg, Germany.



The idea of a model railroad under the Christmas tree is as old a Lionel. It's an idea that has been displaced by computers and video games for the most part.

Dad and I had a small set up in our basement once upon a time. Ours was a Lionel set with one of those engines that would puff smoke from its stack when you put a special little pill in there. The entire set up was just large enough to fit on a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood. When I entered my teens and started to show a lack of interest, Dad decided to sell the whole set to a co-worker without asking me. (He would do the same to the TR-3 we rebuilt, but for a different reason. I'm guessing the insurance cost. Man, I wish I still had that car!)

There are still many active model railroading clubs including one in this area (well, actually, Elmira) that occasionally puts up a sizable display in one of the vacant mall shops. (And if you get the chance, Roadside America off Route 22 in Shartlesville, PA is still a cool place to go.) Most of those clubs have switched over to HO-Scale for both the economy of space and dollars. I started purchasing HO-Scale trains when Chef Boyardee started putting out sets that could be bought at discount with label redemption. I've still got more than half a dozen engines, over 50 cars (also known as "rolling stock"), a few buildings, and enough track to really, really interest the cats should I decide to set them up.