The $4 million miniature airport and the computer-driven miniature cars got my interest, but the miniature couple shagging in the field of sunflowers was the point at which you realize that the attention to detail is why this is one of Hamburg’s top tourist attractions.
My hobby is model railroading, so I found this video several years ago. I have read their blog which covers the inception of the railroad idea to the present. The blogger goes into great detail on the how and why of certain aspects of the construction. It even covered how ad why certain peple were hired or not hired.
I think the fornicating couple were stolen. A murder scene was removed or moved since it was deemed too graphic for the children guests.
Since they use 3-rail track which is about HO scale, usually 2-rail, they have had to replace much of the mainline, third rail. They apparently use a sliding contact rather than a rolling contact on the center, or third rail. Good thing they did use three rail, can you imagine finding a short and its cause on such a large track plan?
I limit my railroading to collecting now. I have trains and buildings in N, HO and one G scale set. When I moved from Houston to Lubbock I left my railroad in the garage, when I returned to disassemble and bring to Lubbock. The house was broken into and vandalized – the railroad was destroyed.
Every January when Hobby Lobby has their 30% off sale on their trains I add to my collection. My Filipina wife just says, “WHY?”.
CTD
I had a model railroad from, oh… about age 10 to age 13. But the love of model railroading never went away. To this day: Whenever I fantasize about my dream house, I set aside a bit of space in the basement for a model railroad.
By the way, the video focuses so little on the tracks… I could tell that it was roughly HO sized (and I figured that with a layout that size, they would use a standard size), but I did not notice the rail system you were describing. I don’t know enough about model railroading (especially something post circa-1982) to understand why they would use one particular system over another. I am not familiar with the rail system that you described.
p.s. Collecting model railroading paraphernalia … but not having a layout: I do have to echo your wife’s sentiment: “WHY?”