Inside the world's largest model airport and railway

[John Ashworth]

Inside the world's largest model airport and railway

There's a low rumbling sound of aircraft landing and engines whirring. Bags are loaded onto planes. In the terminal, people sip coffee, wait for their flight and reunite with loved ones in arrivals. An Emirates A380 readies for takeoff, accelerating before soaring into the clouds. A crowd of onlookers gasps in delight as the superjumbo disappears out of sight. No, they're not plane spotters -- or at least not in the traditional sense, because this isn't a real airport. The airplanes are fake. The clouds are painted. The airport spans just 1,614 square feet. Welcome to Miniatur Wunderland. This is the world's largest model railway, home not only to a functioning miniature airport, but also tiny replicas of some of the world's most popular destinations: Venice, Machu Picchu and Las Vegas, to name just a few. Spread across several stories in an old warehouse building in Hamburg, Germany, Miniatur Wunderland is a marvel of engineering and one of the German city's most beloved tourist attractions...