Wonderland
is an immense model railroad layout in Hamburg Germany. Actually
it is much more than a model railroad with 263,000 figures,
130,000 trees, 9,250 cars,
4,340 buildings and bridges and
over 1,000 trains with 10,000 train cars running on more than 9.5 miles
(15 Km) of track all lighted with 500,000 LEDs.
In fact these are underestimates for each of these categories since
additions are being made all the time. As you tour through the
layout you will visit Central Germany, Austria,
Hamburg, USA, Scandinavia, Switzerland, the Knuffingen airport, Venice,
Italy, the
fun fair, Monaco, Rio de Janeiro, and South America. Without further
ado and in no particular order lets begin our visit.
The Model Railway Wonderland occupies three floors in this building.
Wonderland's immigration department
has kept precise records about the
countries of origin of all visitors who have entered Wonderland. When we visited this was the status
board. They have granted visas to guests
from almost all parts of the world.
Some information about the America
section.
Even if you don't read German some of the entries are easy to guess.
Inside a miniature German home with a
lovely flower garden.
And nearby 2 graves with flowers.
And a large park in full bloom.
A little further on a garden center
with more plants.
There are little scenes to discover
throughout the exhibition. Here a rabbit is giving an egg
decorating lesson to little bunnies.
An open air shop
Occasionally you will get a glimpse
of what goes on backstage. And if you have time and plan ahead
you can get a tour to see how
the system works behind the scenes.
A garden party with a child's
birthday party on the other side of the
canal.
With a sword swallower for
entertainment.
A hot air balloon and a parade.
Playground
Workers are clearing debris from a
bridge that had been destroyed while
tanks are being transported over a hastily constructed replacement.
Another party, this seems to be for
dignitaries from the 17th century.
A modern stadium hosting a rock
concert. The performers on stage and a detail
of the audience so you can see
that they are all distinctly different individuals.
Now on to Rome. Visitors can get close to all the
models.
Firefighters and police responding to
an accident.
The rail station on the left,
Santissima Trinità dei Monti above the
Spanish steps in the center and the Vatican on the right.
I don't think that these monks and
nuns will manage to get to their
destination in just one car.
Another view of the rail yard and
station.
This is San Gimignano, a small walled
medieval hill town in the
province of Siena, Tuscany, north-central Italy.
On to Venice as night falls.
Switzerland by day and night.
The chocolate factory prepared and
wrapped candy for us.
The county fair with amusements and
food vendors on the midway and
porta potties for their visitors.
A D J Bobo concert that lasted
into the night.
The detail in all of the scenes is
remarkable.
Here we are on the Riviera.
Giants occasionally appear to check
on some difficulty in a rail yard.
Wild west movie set
A Swiss renaissance fair.
Night falls during the fair
A traffic jam on one side of this
roadway while they repair the other. Rather nonstandard power for one of
the pieces of equipment.
Buttons are scattered about, each
will initiate some action on the
layout.
Folks enjoying the beach near a
shipwreck.
I am sure that this yellow church is
a famous landmark. I just don't know it's name or
location.
This castle probably is too but again
I don't recognize it.
This volcano erupts and lava flows
down each night..
Trains pass as it erupts.
We often discover weddings as we
visit new places so this was no
surprise.
Visit this ruin.
Looks like there has been an accident
on this mountain road.
The classic car rally has a little
trouble with a flock of sheep.
Overloaded.
The lair of some evil villain intent
on debauchery and world
domination.
The workings of an elevator for
trains to raise them to another part of
the layout.
Other trains take this track spiral
to change levels.
Mountain climbers
And elsewhere a team is making a
rescue.
Night has fallen again.
Witches and warlocks in their own
playground.
Ghosts and demons in Wonderland's
underground
Occasionally you will get a glimpse
of some of the circuity that
is used tocontrol the action.
The scheduled flights to and from the
make-believe city of Knuffingen. There are local, international,
intercontinental, and intergalactic
flights listed.
Ground control and emergency
equipment for response to airport
emergencies.
Planes land and taxi to gates to
discharge passengers or to ramps
elsewhere on the tarmac where they are parked for loading and
unloading, refueling, or maintenance.
Cargo planes coming in
Looks like one of these planes is
going to be overloaded.
The Millennium Falcon has arrived
from Hoth
Another of the unusual aircraft that
you may see.
Another luggage overload. She is responsible for scheduling
(and other) problems.
The tractor pull at the county fair.
Impressive power put to the test.
Concession stands and attractions at
the fair later in the day.
On the left there are some storm
clouds with lightning but the ski
slopes on the right operate day and night
Hot air balloons drift over a village
in the valley.
There is something going on that
mountain snowfield.
A closer look reveals a nudist group
posing for a picture. I wonder
what that was about.
A polar bear and Greta Thunburg on a
shrinking ice flow while she is trying to get corporate representatives
to pay attention.
A palace with garden mazes.
This dance hall had lots of patrons.
A train station by night.
A passenger train had to slow
down because of a freight train
ahead.
A little church and a troll home in
the German forest.
They found some big fossils and are
working to find more.
The behind the scenes tour may make
you part of a scene.
Emergency vehicles responding to a
fire.
Structure fire emergency vehicles respond and all
other traffic is shut down in the
area.
This accident is hard to explain. You
may have noticed it in one of the
pictures of emergency vehicles responding. It was on the corner
near the fire.
The fire is out, the emergency
vehicles return to stations and normal
traffic resumes.
We are firefighters so we had to see
how the emergency responders of
Wonderland dealt with this vehicle fire on a
bridge.
Here they are recovering a car from
the river while divers search for
victims.
They are prepared for real world
emergencies as well.
Another accident. Fire/rescue
and ambulance on scene.
A small part of the control room and
a closer look at the monitors.
A workshop where they are making an
addition to the layout.
An amusement park with Ferris wheel
and a Wild Mouse ride.
A fair in a little town. The
parade had hippos pulling a wagon.
A few random shots.
Scouts on a hike and trains, trucks
and planes in the canyon.
A plane ran into the canyon
wall. The pilot managed to parachute
out but rescue climbers will be needed to bring them to safety.
Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills.
Los Vegas in all its decadence is
there as well.
This little town is ready for
Christmas.
A construction site.
Another stadium with thousands of
unique figures.
The town hall is on fire. No wonder
there are so many trucks and personnel deployed.
A little town and some of the
entertainment you may find there.
