Leo Gillick
Typically, the world of model train sets is in idyllic fairytales of their chosen landscape. They are filled with quaint villages and pristine cities. But a new model railway project in Germany is taking a deeper look at South America, bringing some harsh realities to miniature life.
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What is it?: Germany’s Miniatur Wunderland is home to the largest model railway set in the world. They have recently commissioned a new diorama for the monumental exhibition. United Scale Arts, a family-run business, has been given the task of creating a deep look into South America. It will include the Amazon, the Atacama Desert, and many other fascinating locations.
However, this won’t be your regular miniature railway. This will, along with the majesty of one of the most stunning continents in the world, also open the viewer’s eyes to the ugly side of South America in miniature as well.
The Good, The Bad, And The Tiny
The Argentine company tasked with working on this magnificent miniature wants to depict it realistically. As well as breathtaking cities and stunning biomes, scenes of despair will be included.
The good, bad, and ugly: The group intends to include the savage deforestation in the ancient rainforest. They are also including scenes of crime and poverty on the continent. Whole areas of the miniature South America will also be devistated by wildfires and scarred by illegal mining.
- “These are social problems that exist in the real world, and we need to show them also in the models, because I think it’s important not to make this kind of idealistic view of the world, but also to show reality and to use these tools as a learning experience for everyone that visits the Wunderland,” Matinez, lead designer told AP News.
Why it matters: Wunderland features areas from all over the world in its multi-story warehouse. Trains shuttle through famous cities, flying past iconic landmarks in miniature. Now, South America will be added to the collection, with warts and all.
As the world changes, the two brothers running Winderland decided to keep their diorama up to date. Rather than lock it down to a golden era of rail, viewed with rose-tinted spectacles of memory, they have used their model to reflect the real world back at us.
