The scope of this is pretty mind-blowing. It may not have the sophisticated special effects of Miniatur Wunderland, but it is still pretty damned impressive, especially since it was mostly built by one man and his family.

Wonderland in Hamburg is much superior. It has towns and cities built to 1/87 scale; trains; cars; trucks that move and jeliners that take off and land. There are several countries featured with boats and waterways. Italy has the Bascillica in Rome. There are 1,000 trains, 300 vehicles and 100,000 people figures. There is a nighttime display as well as daytime. It's amazing! The buildings look REAL because they are finely detailed and have interior lighting. The trains and cars at Wonderland move at 1/87 scale speed. The trains in the above display are moving too fast. The buildings look like wedding cake boxes stacked on each other. The mountains all look phony. Some of the railway bridges look like they were designed as car bridges because the bridge decks are too thin to support train locomotives.

Then bridges in this layout put Wonderland to shame. Wow, what engineering and construction. Credit where credit is deserved.

Most trans are running way to fast to see actually running in miniature

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT!!!!! EXCELLENT VIDEO COVERAGE!!! I would love to go back again. Thank you for sharing and keep up the good work.

Wow..jaw on floor. . Great video.. thanks for sharing James

The auld fella playing the keyboard reminded me of my father. Great film. 👍🏼

Amazing bridge work, but the trains are running too fast for prototypical operation and distracts from it.

After being there once to see the railroad, I have returned there on a regular basis to play the theatre organ in the main room. I have been known to vibrate a train off the tracks from time to time.. The bass in the organ is great. The railroad was indeed made for visitors, and not for the fine scale enthusiast. The kids love it and want to return.

looks more like a racing track then a layout

Holy cow, this place is huge. Floor to ceiling awesome!!!!!

This is truly awesome. Thanks for sharing.

Whoever says this is just a giant toy should be super ashamed of themselves. They shouldn't even talk about model railroading if they're just going to call these toys. Shame everyone who calls these toys.

wow that's what you call a model railway. we don't have nothing like this in the UK. we have model railways but not as good or as big as this one. great vid!!!!

You have to go visit. the film does not do it justice. I was there some years ago. I loved it. Thanks for sharing. ;-)

Wow those trains are CRUISING!!!!!!

I don't understand people nit picking on thing like detail, locos,rolling, scenery, ect. I mean come on. This thing was started decades ago. Back when low detail was the norm ( yes there are exceptions to that). This layout is designed for kids and family's to enjoy and be in wow. Not for rivet counters to be like "no tie plate and code 100 rail pfff"

Great video!

I've been there a few times. I wish I knew when you were in the area on your trip. It's only about 30mins from my house. Great video.

Thanks for showing us love your vids

Excellent camera work. Thanks for your work.

Wow !!! Talent & Pachence To Build This Layout !!! Again Wow

Fantastic. I'd like to go there. Thanks so much for sharing.

That is awesome thank you for sharing

Been there amazing work! I have a display myself but it's quite small compared to that mine is only a 6x4.

James by far one of your best vidioes ever . Randy

Model railroading is FUN! If these kids get inspired to build something,anything, now or later... MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Beautiful layout,

That would be cool if they ran a track cam around the layout.

Interesting layout. The height of it is crazy. He can play the organ. Scott

This man is a true artist. In every way.

Thanks for sharing.

Hi thanks for sharing awesome work cheers Kevin

A work of art, wonderful.

The organ is fantastic. Now about the layout. Trains are going to fast and it is too much track. But I must say it is very good build.

Good video shots James.

That is a very impressive layout there. Wish they had better locomotives and rolling stock, though. Still impressive!

Awesome!!

I am sure you were hoping for more modern stuff like i was... oh well, still ton of detail and time into the scenery and bridges!

Nice video. What an experience to see something like this. With all the attention to detail I am wondering why they choose to run the trains at what looks like an unbelievable fast speed(not very scale like).

Definitely lots of fine trestles!

I believe this is actually the largest in the US, the largest in the world is in Germany.

Amazing!

If you ever make it to cinncy ohio check out entertainment junction. Huge indoor G scale layout. Very nice.

Maybe larger in scope by not in grandeur. The Model in Hamburg has a huge staff working on it with major financing, promoting it as a tourist attraction. For a one man project......Great Job....KUDOS.

did you pick up a boxcar from the gift shop?

wow nice...I got an issue of model railroader magazine with this layout in it...

want to know which gauge track is ??? HO or N???

mined blowing that is just crazy must took 50+ years to make that WOW very nice!!!!!! AMAZING!!!!!

That a cool coaster

That man sure could play the heck out of that beautiful organ.

What Brand of Engines are they using ?

Is this HO scale, because it looks smaller?

Would be nice to have that much space for a home layout!

A lot of those bridges look like they were a pain to build. Also that's one FANCY organ.

I've looked thru some of your comments but I cannot see the question, so I will ask: What Scale is it N HO or other, thanks buddy and Happy New Year to You & Your Family

Is this HO scale by chance?

Impressive size of the place, but the train consists are really small and run waaaaaay to fast for scale. I guess they have to do it that way.

seen video's of both sites, kudo's...the american trains seem to be going very fast for scale, terran, but hell, keeps the kids happy

is that all one track or lots of small tracks on different runs

Where is it located?

I went before covid and it looked terrible, plaster cracked everywhere and only a few trains running.

I have heard that they operate all Tyco locomotives on this layout...

It may be the largest, but it's mainly mountains and bridges...and a castle? Very impressive, but it must be hard to see any details.

Awesome video James I subscribed to you

James, I am just getting back into the hobby after being out for years. I have locos with DCC plugs but I am not doing DCC. Do you have an email I can send some questions too? I enjoy your straight forward simple answers and I believe you can help me with the updates that I need to make. Thanks!

excelente material de ferromodelismo me dio buenas idea de construcción

There is also another Model Railway in Russia which is built in the buildings of an old asbestos factory, like the Model in Germany it's complete with working vehicles, boats & planes, but if you love trains & trains only then this place is hard to beat

Is it Ho Scale or N Scale?

Impressive..

I wonder how many trains they can run at once?

Very cool, but it looks like something from Mariokart, especially with the trains going at mach 5.

It looks so nice but one of the distracting elements to me is how fast the trains are going. Half that speed would look much more normal.

I would love to do something similar. There is a vacant building near me that use to be a home Depot with some 110,000 sqft of space but where do these projects get the funding to start such a thing? I don't think a kickstarter like campaign would garner enough support to get enough done to attract paying customers. If you like this but would like more realisim, check out the Greely Freight Station museum in Colorado. The even produced a video series on how they made their scenery which so far looks like some of the best I've seen so far.

It is amazing as well, but the one in Hamburg Germany is more realistic, has more gadgets, has an HO airfield, has an international character,and offcourse this one is bigger, it is in the USA right, so it has to be bigger,...:- )), like

Dope!

What scale is this?

I'm suprised at how fast all were running.

All I wanna know is.. How do they clean the track? o__0

Yo I live in jersey. Wanna meet up somewhere?

wonder how much the electric bill is

is this HO or N scale?

Wonderful but not the biggest. There is one in Saint Pertersburg Russia which is colossal and Minature Wunderland in Hamburg the layout is so massive it literally takes up a part of the city docklands. Not to take away from this beauty.

Is this N scale?

all i can say is wow and i would hate to be the one cleaning the track. is this ho or n scale??

jiwii2000 i hope he gets some high quality trains like you like the dda40x and the big boy but im sure he had to stay within a budget and i saw this in a documentary called millionaire toys

Very nice. To take nothing away from this layout here are some stats about Wunderland www.miniatur-wunderland.com/exhibit/wunderland/wunderland-facts/ Depending on the status of their new construction I would say MW is larger and miles above this layout in quality.

We’re does he live?

Was most the rolling stock and engines Tyco,Bachmann, AHM, and model power

What I don't get is with these huge model railroads, why do they always run stuff at a scale 100 MPH??

before seeing the video based on title I wondered how they know it's the largest? Watched the video and now I accept without any further check "yes, it is" :)

I think the harsh criticism is out of perspective. Is it a model railroad? It is not. It does not have operations, or scale or a even a good track plan. It is a freelance railroad on a different scale. A very grand scale. On model RR, due to space limitations, things like towns and cities are mostly representative. Forced perspective and imagination dominate a small area to depict a much larger area than the space required to represent a true subject. Funding, manhours, participation and deadlines have all taken a hit to enable ticket sales. And that is important. The cost of constructing such a behemoth is beyond comprehension but the cost to maintain the facility as well as the railroad probably has costs beyond the comprehension of most. What it does have, is a lot of fast running trains and grand scenery that fill the eyes euphorically. Especially to the eyes of the tourists and most importantly, little girls and boys. All they can say is wow! Regardless of artistic value. It reminds me of those Lionel O27 toys that mesmerized me to have my mother take me everyday to the Christmas train display at the department store. Capturing that WOW factor for a little girl or little boy gives this railroad exhibit a great value. So, model railroaders, chill. Take your kids and grand kids there and let them be inspired to a future of model railroading.

That is crazy

The organ song kinda sounded like the original series startrek main theme. Sort of...

Well when my time comes and if I make it to heaven this will be part of it.

It would be amazing if this was all DC powered. Is it?

I wanna go back again

All of these critiques are accurate. Trains run to fast. Detail not that of Wunderland etc. Having said that.....it is spectacular and I would kill to own this layout.

I’ve been here too!

Is your intro music from the sims? Be honest.