Florida Coalcracker Chronicles: Train To Hamburg Germany - Miniature Wonderland

Saturday, April 16, 2016

Train To Hamburg Germany - Miniature Wonderland - and the Beatles At Reeperbahn

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Miniature Wonderland - train - trees - and coal crackers

Life in the fast lane at 7:30 AM

Burnout - after 12 hours of BUSY
at the Hamburg Train Station

Champagne on the way to Hamburg

The 6 Coal Crackers were all up dressed - breakfasted - and out the door at 7:30. That was pretty good considered the morning before they woke up in the USA and spent most of the day on a jet to Berlin. After a walk of 200 yards - and a 20 minute tram to the Berlin Train station - they had a second breakfast at Dunkin Donuts - waiting for the bullit train.

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At 8:30 - they were in their private glass compartment - all of 6 of them - on the way to Hamburg at 220 kilometers per hour. The windmills and farmer’s fields whisked by with visions of the Miniature Wonderland in their heads and champagne in their hands. There was a 90% chance of rain in Hamburg - and the weather people were 100% correct. We caught a Taxi van that could hold all 6 of us - and off we went down to the docks and the warehouse district.

On the 4th floor of an old brick warehouse is Miniature Wonderland. While I went in to negotiate the deal for tickets for a group of handicap senior citizens from America - the folks went across the street to a little cafe for a third breakfast. To our surprise - the Wonderland was booked and packed - we had an 80 minute wait. It flew by - and when our number was called it was like the start of marathon race.

Carl and Bill are model railroad enthusiasts their whole life. I can recall being 2 years old and seeing Carl’s train yard at Christmas. Bill has a yard that presently takes up their entire basement. For 4 hours we enjoyed the model layout - with all the working cars - trucks - trains - buildings - lights - airplanes - etc.

The Wunderland takes up 14,000 feet of yard space - which would translate to a train yard 100 x 150 (half of a football field) if all put together end to end. It has 10 miles of HO Scale trains - 335,000 lights - 215,000 model people - 900 trains with 14,000 units - and 225,000 tiny trees. Everything is to scale - and there are buttons to push to cause actions.

After the train yard - we took 2 cabs to the Reeperbahn Area - the red light district - famous for being the place where the Beatles became professional musicians. There is a memorial there to the Beatles - we also found the Indra Club - the first place they performed for 15 pounds a week! They slept in bunks in a closet size room in the back next to the ladies bathroom. They sometimes would play 9 hour shifts with the help of speed pills. They were eventually deported - when someone reported George Harrison being under age. They came back to Hamburg many times - each time doing better clubs and getting more money. They did their first recording here. Reeperbahn means rope district. Since Hamburg is a port city - this is where rope was made from hemp. More on this later.

We walked among the sex clubs in the rain. After a few pictures - it was supper time. Another pair of rain cabs got us back to the train station. We had a variety of foods in the train station with beer. As we were all running out of gas - we were the first people on the train home. Our glass compartment was quiet and comfy - as there was not much talking. Back in Berlin - it was dry - we had a quiet tram to the apartment.

Back in the apartment - after a little wine - the 4 that just arrived from America seemed to be having a second wind. People were busy on the apartment wifi - bragging to their buddies about the day online. It was a Facebook free for all. At 11 PM - everyone adjourned to their respective bedrooms - and not a creature was stirring - not even a louse.