Bump for the Miniatur Wunderland - reason enough for anyone into to trains to visit Germany/Hamburg. You can easily spend two half days there. Their behind the scenes tour will give anyone with or thinking of building a layout enough ideas to keep them busy for years.
Their attention to detail, not only on the front end but also the backend is incredible. My wow moment was their staging. Since the trains run for the duration of the hours they are open - they get hot so they switch between two trains for each line so the motors don't burn out. Underneath each 12-18 inch riser section in the staging area is a separate smoke detector. (~20 smoke detectors in each staging area.)
https://www.miniatur-wunderland.com/ https://www.youtube.com/@MiniaturWunderlandOfficial
>> This out dates me but didn't those come to market in the 80's? Too new to be old but too old to be new.
>> Also pretty sure I saw a blue Conrail GP-40-2 in the background of the Youtube clip. (Not too up on diesel. Know more about steam.) but either way Conrail wasn't formed until the late 1970's?