Standing Commuter

This is a transcript between a commuter and the railroad company, regarding services of the latter.

"Gentlemen: I have been riding trains daily for the last twenty-two years, and the service on your line seems to be getting worse every day. I am tired of standing in the aisle all the time on a 14-mile trip. I think your transportation system is worse than that enjoyed by people 2,000 years ago. Yours truly, A Commuter"

The Reply to the above:

"Dear Sir: We received your letter with reference to the shortcomings of our service and believe you are somewhat confused in your history. The only mode of transportation 2,000 years ago was by foot. Sincerely, Western Railways"

And the Counter-Reply was:

"Gentlemen: I am in receipt of your letter, and I think you are the ones who are confused in your history. If you will refer to the Bible, Book of David, 9th Chapter, you will find that Balaam rode to town `seated' on his ass. That, gentlemen, is something I have not been able to do on your train in the last twenty-two years! Yours truly, A Long `Standing' Commuter"

World's Biggest Train Set

This is the world's biggest train set which covers 1,150 square meters (12,380 square feet), features almost six miles of track and is still not complete

Twin brothers Frederick and Gerrit Braun, 41, began work on the 'Miniatur Wunderland' in 2000

The set covers six regions including America , Switzerland , Scandinavia , Germany and the Austrian Alps

The American section features giant models of the Rocky Mountains, Everglades, Grand Canyon

and Mount Rushmore

The Swiss section has a mini-Matterhorn

The Scandinavian part has a 4ft long passenger ship floating in a 'fjord'

It is expected to be finished in 2014, when the train set will cover more than 1,800 square meters (19, 376 sq ft)
and feature almost 13 miles of track, by which time detailed models of parts of France, Italy and the UK will have been added

It comprises 700 trains with more than 10,000 carriages and wagons

The longest train is 46ft long

The scenery includes 900 signals, 2,800 buildings, 4,000 cars - many with illuminated headlights...

...and 160,000 individually designed figures

Thousands of kilograms of steel and wood was used to construct the scenery

The 250,000 lights are rigged up to a system which mimics night and day by automatically turning them on and off

The whole system is controlled from a massive high-tech nerve centre

In total the set has taken 500,000 hours and more than �8 million to put together, the vast majority of which has come from ticket sales

Gerrit said: "Our idea was to build a world that men, woman, and children can be equally astonished and amazed in"

Frederik added: "Whether gambling in Las Vegas , hiking in the Alps or paddling in Norwegian fjords - in Wunderland everything is possible"
The world's biggest model train set.

It comprises 700 trains with more than 10,000 carriages and wagons. The longest train is 46 ft long. The scenery includes 900 signals, 2,800 buildings, 4,000 cars - many with illuminated headlights and 160,000 individually designed figures. Thousands of kilograms of steel and wood was used to construct the scenery. The set is on display to the public and is so big that they employ more than 160 people to show visitors around their creation.