Longest Model Train

The Wilmington Railroad Museum have not only broken  world record but also the requirement.The museum which built  THE 920 ft long model train  surpassed the previous record  for the longest model train held by the Germans which measured just 892 ft.A group of Wilmington Railroad Museum volunteers built a model train that was 920 feet long and could move under its own power with 34 locomotives and 1700 freight cars setting a new benchmark in history.

Further the train ran on its own power  for over 750 ft breaking the requirement for 630 ft.Now that is what you call buying a cak and eating it two.

Julie Rehder, a member of the museum board, said the doors would be  open at 10 a.m. People could  listen to the Hewlett Creek Boys playing bluegrass music as they watch about 100 volunteers finish setting up for the 1 p.m. effort. Mayor Bill Saffo and New Hanover County Commission Chairman Jonathan Barfield will be acting as conductors for the day.

She further added that  the event was  the brainchild of Bill Bryden, a Landfall resident and a member of the museum’s model railroad committee. 

Bryden stated that the Wilmington modelers were planning to create an HO-scale train 920 feet long, which equates—at full scale—to more than 15 miles long. T

More than 30 modeling committee members had been  been working for six months, a total of about 3,600 hours so far put on the project. About 1,500 hours have gone toward testing the equipment in sections at the museum.Rehder added that the event  was being held at the convention center rather than the museum because of the  larger space. She added it would be a wonderful opportunity for older onlookers to tell children what Wilmington was like when it headquartered the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad.It would be a nice down trip to the old  memory lane for many of the old folks present there.

One of the goals of the museum was  to explain history and to  keep the joys of railroading alive and fresh. Also the office bearers hoped with the setting of the record the museum would garner more attention and more  new visitors who had not got the chance to come before.

The Longest model train measured 920 ft and was set by the volunteers at the Wilmington Rail Road Museum  at Wilmington,North Carolina,United States of America on April 26,2011.