Sethusamudram project is illegal, arbitrary and unacceptable: Subramanian Swamy


Sethusamudram project is illegal, arbitrary and unacceptable: Subramanian Swamy

Lashing out at the UPA Government over its decision to go ahead with Sethusamudram Project despite the R. K. Pachauri Committee report suggesting it is unviable, Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy on Monday said the mega project is illegal, arbitrary and unacceptable.

“The important thing is that the project is not acceptable. It is illegal, arbitrary, unreasonable and extremely expensive,” said Swamy, while talking to reporters here.

“They (government) also clamed in their affidavit that Rs.860 crore have already been spent and therefore we want to go ahead with the project. Well if you have spent Rs.860 crore for a project which was illegal, arbitrary and unreasonable, malafide and extraordinarily expensive then according to the Supreme Court judgments, those who cleared the project they are responsible and this amount must be taken out of their wealth,” he added.

Swamy further stated that cutting of the Ram Setu (Adam’s Bridge) for this project would be a violation of section 295 (malicious of the religious sentiments of the citizen irrespective of any class) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Sethusamudram project was started in 2005 but was suspended following the Supreme Court order and R. K. Pachauri Committee was constituted to look in to the matter.

The committee has submitted its report on Friday last week, suggesting the entire Sethusamudram project unviable on two fronts – economically as ecologically.

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However, the government has rejected the Pachauri Committee report and submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court with and intention to pursue the project cutting through the Adam’s Bridge, popularly known as Ram Setu.

Saving the mangroves


India’s eastern coastline and regions east of India have been suffering serious environmental degradation without any sincere efforts at mitigation. The Orissa super-cyclone of 1999 smashed through huge tracts of land, taking countless lives and wrecking incalculable damage to crops, cattle, and property. The thirteen coastal districts along Tamil Nadu’s 255-kilometre long coastline are regularly exposed to cyclonic fury, and the terrifying tsunami of 2004 is still fresh in public memory.

Summer 2008 has been kind to India; Hurricane Nargis which shattered the lives of untold thousands in Myanmar has spared this land; it could so easily have been otherwise. A grim earthquake has devastated China, raising the toll of human tragedy manifold. Delhi’s unseasonal rains have also taken some lives, and the weather has been inexplicable enough for experts to seriously consider it a consequence of global warming and environmental degradation.

Resurrecting the mangroves, now almost extinct in our part of the world, can even now end this continuing legacy of human misery, this horrible haemorrhaging of the earth itself. Mangroves, literally dense forests on the shore, tolerate the salinity of sea water and protect inland water sources and soil from salinity and erosion; above all, they mitigate the impact of cyclonic winds. There is no more ecologically sensitive and cost effective measure of saving the seacoast and continental shelf than mangroves, yet we have seen least action in this direction.

Given the pulsating environmental instability in our region, it is astonishing a debate still persists regarding the desirability of the Rs 2,400-crore white elephant called the Setusamundaram Shipping Canal Project (SSCP). The plan to dredge a 300-metre wide channel through the land-link between India and Sri Lanka, to reduce the distance between the western and eastern coast ports, is opposed by environmentalists, economists and security analysts. Colombo has raised an alarm fearing human intervention on Ram Setu could threaten its very existence in the event of another tsunami, already predicted by Nature magazine (December 2007).

The historical-civilizational significance of Ram Setu is obvious. Sinhala scholar Prof Tissa Kariyawasam, former dean of the University of Jayawardenapura, Sri Lanka, says most probably Emperor Ashoka’s son Mahendra and daughter Sanghamitra came to the island by walking across the Ram Setu. It symbolizes the establishment and protection of dharma; the Skanda Purana prescribes worship of the Rama Setu and the Shivalinga installed in its middle with appropriate mantras. It is a popular place for offerings to pitrs (ancestors).

The proposal to hack a channel was publicly welcomed by the LTTE in Sri Lanka and Tamil politician Vaiko. The Indian Navy and Coast Guard warned of the possibility of facilitating militant groups! Capt. H. Balakrishnan (retd) of Chennai made an in-depth study of the SSCP’s viability, particularly the claim that it would save ships nearly 424 nautical miles (780 kms) and about 30 hours of sailing time, with commensurate savings in fuel, thereby becoming self-sustaining over time. An estimated 3055 vessels were projected to use the canal annually.

But its economic viability alone is questionable from a study of the Information Memorandum of the UTI Bank (now Axis Bank), wherein dredging costs alone are pegged at Rs 200 million in the first year. This will actually be higher as the open sea will constantly bring sand, which may keep the channel effectively closed much of the year. It is pertinent that the Suez Canal was cut through land, though it too has to be annually desilted. Many international shipping companies have already stated that using the canal would involve reducing speed, switching fuels, and incurring extra costs like canal charges and navigation assistance to negotiate it; hence it made better sense to go around Sri Lanka! With news reports suggesting cost escalation up to Rs. 4000 crores, the argument for economic viability of the project is certainly over.

The Kochi-based Centre for Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) has warned about the adverse effect on marine bio-diversity in the protected Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve, if the SSCP is implemented. Director NGK Pillai has affirmed that the 3,600 species in the biosphere would be endangered if the Gulf of Mannar was linked to the Bay of Bengal, in the manner in which the Kochi shipyard had caused loss of nearly 60 percent biodiversity in the Kochi estuary. Worldwide, the phenomenon of vanishing wildlife is reaching endemic proportions, and unless strict measures are taken, biodiversity loss could touch 60 to 70 percent in the next three decades. In this regard, the practice of trawl fishnets needs an urgent rethink, as they cause immeasurable damage to non-edible biota.

The National Institute of Ocean Technology has affirmed that the Ram Sethu is a man-made structure, dating back to antiquity, a view shared by the National Remote Sensing Agency of the Ministry of Space, which has even been tabled in Parliament. This is why, once it was forced to withdraw the controversial affidavit denying the existence of Sri Ram, the Union Tourism and Culture Ministry insisted only an archaeological investigation could determine if the Ram Setu is man-made, and a legitimate heritage site worthy of protection under the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act, 1904. With monsoons ruling out an early investigation, the project is virtually in a limbo for the present.

But the danger is far from over as the forces behind SSCP are resourceful and powerful, as reflected in the ingenuous argument of protecting the Ram Setu while continuing with the project through a different alignment! It needs to be understood that the Ram Setu is a single, somewhat winding, land track between Sri Lanka and India, wide enough for an army to cross over. Over the centuries, natural erosion in the turbulent waters there has cut natural channels into it, wide enough for shallow boats to cross over to either side.

Any move to preserve the pristine glory of the Setu must envisage filling these passages and restoring the ‘Ram path’ between the two nations. Stopping SSCP vandalism at a spot where dredging is difficult and attacking the structure at a more vulnerable point, in the name of realignment, is desecration in disguise. It is pertinent that the southern sands are rich in thorium, our nuclear future. India does not need unnecessary activity in this area.

 Sandhya Jain -The Pioneer, 27 May 2008

10 Most Expensive Single Objects in the World


10. Oresund Bridge (Cost:$6 Billion)

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The Øresund or Öresund Bridge  is a combined twin-track railroad and four-lane highway bridge-tunnel across the Öresund strait. The Øresund Bridge connects Sweden and Denmark, and it is the longest highway and railroad bridge in Europe. The Øresund Bridge also connects two major Metropolitan Areas: those of the Danish capital city of Copenhagen and the major Swedish city of Malmö. Furthermore, the Øresund Bridge connects the highway network of Scandinavia with those of Central and Western Europe.

  • Official name: Øresundsbroen, Öresundsbron
  • Carries: Four lanes of European route E20 Double track Oresund Railway Line
  • Locale: Copenhagen, Denmark and Malmö, Sweden
  • Designer: Georg Rotne
  • Design: Cable-stayed bridge
  • Total length: 7,845 metres (25,738 ft)
  • Width: 23.5 metres (77.1 ft)
  • Longest span: 490 metres (1,608 ft)
  • Cost: $6 Billion
  • Country: Denmark, Sweden
  • Year of completion: 2000

9.Large Hadron Collider (Cost: $6 Billion)

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The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world’s largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. It is expected that it will address themost fundamental questions of physics, advancing our understanding of the deepest laws of nature.

The LHC lies in a tunnel 27 kilometres (17 mi) in circumference, as much as 175 metres (574 ft) beneath the Franco-Swiss border nearGeneva, Switzerland. This synchrotron is designed to collide opposing particle beams of either protons at an energy of 7 teraelectronvolts(1.12 microjoules) per particle, or lead nuclei at an energy of 574 TeV (92.0 µJ) per nucleus. The term hadron refers to particles composed of quarks.

  • Country: Switzerland
  • Year of completion: 2008
  • Cost: $6 Billion

 

8. ITER – Experimental Fusion Reactor (Cost: $6.5 Billion)

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ITER - International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor is an international tokamak (magnetic confinement fusion) research/engineering project that could help to make the transition from today’s studies of plasmaphysics to future electricity-producing fusion power plants. It builds on research done with devices such as DIII-D,EAST, ADITYA, KSTAR, TFTR, ASDEX Upgrade, Joint European Torus, JT-60, Tore Supra and T-15.

  • Country: China, European Union, India, Japan, Russia, South Korea, United States
  • Year of completion: 2016 (expected)
  • Cost: $6.5 Billion

7. Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant(Cost: $7.2 Billion)

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The Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant is on Olkiluoto Island, which is on the shore of the Gulf of Bothnia in the municipality of Eurajoki in western Finland. It is one of Finland’s two nuclear power plants, the other being the two-unitVVER Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant.

The Olkiluoto plant consists of two BWRs with 860 MWe each. These were supplied by ASEA-Atom, now a part of ABB Group. The plant is operated by Teollisuuden Voima, a subsidiary of Pohjolan Voima. Unit three, the first EPR (European Pressurized water Reactor) is under construction, but various problems with workmanship and supervision have created costly delays, and been the subject of an inquiry by the Finnish nuclear regulator STUK.A  license for a fourth reactor to be built at the site was granted by the Finnish parliament in July 2010.

  • Country: Finland
  • Year of completion : 2012 (expected)
  • Cost: $7.2 Billion

6. Alaska Pipeline (Cost: $8 Billion)

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The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS), includes the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, 11 pump stations, several hundred miles of feeder pipelines, and the Valdez Marine Terminal. It is commonly called the Alaska Pipeline, Trans-Alaska Pipeline, or Alyeska Pipeline, (or the Pipeline as referred to in Alaska), but those terms technically apply only to the 800.302 miles (1,287.961 km) of the pipleline with the diameter of 48 inches (122 cm) that conveys oil from Prudhoe Bay, to Valdez, Alaska. The crude oil pipeline is privately owned by the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company.

The pipeline was built between 1974 and 1977 after the 1973 oil crisis caused a sharp rise in oil prices in the United States. This rise made exploration of the Prudhoe Bay oil field economically feasible. Environmental, legal, and political debates followed the discovery of oil at Prudhoe Bay in 1968, and the pipeline was built only after the oil crisis provoked the passage of legislation designed to remove legal challenges to the project.

  • Country :United State
  • Year of completion : 1977
  • Cost: $8 Billion

5. CVN-78 Class Aircraft Carrier (Cost: $8.1 Billion)

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The CVN-78-class aircraft carriers (or Ford-class) are a planned class of supercarrier for the United States Navy, intended to replace the current Nimitz-class carriers. The new vessels will use a hull design very similar to the Nimitz carriers, but many aspects of the design will be very different, implementing new technologies developed since the initial design of the previous class (such as the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System), as well as other design features intended to improve efficiency and running costs, including a reduced crew requirement. The first hull of the line will be named Gerald R. Ford, and will have the hull number CVN-78.

  • Country : United States
  • Year of completion : 2015 (expected)
  • Cost: $8.1 Billion

4. James Bay Project ( Cost: 13.8 billion)

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The James Bay Project refers to the construction by state-owned utility Hydro-Québec of a series of hydroelectric power stations on the La Grande River in northwestern Quebec, Canada, and the diversion of neighbouring rivers into the La Grande watershed. It is located between James Bay to the west and Labrador to the east and its waters flow from the Laurentian Plateau of the Canadian Shield. The project covers an area of the size of the State of New York and is one of the largest hydroelectric systems in the world. The project has cost upwards of $13 billion US to build and has an installed generating capacity of 16,000 megawatts, three times more than all of the power stations at Niagara Falls, eight times the power of Hoover Dam, and over twice the power of all eight reactors units at the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station, the largest in North America. If fully expanded to include all of the original planned dams, as well as the additional “James Bay II” projects, the system would generate a total of 27,000 MW, making it the largest hydroelectric system in the world.

  • Country : Canada
  • Year of completion : 1972
  • Cost: 13.8 billion

3. Three Gorges Dam(Cost: $25 Billion)

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The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric dam that spans the Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping, located in the Yiling District of Yichang, in Hubei province, China. It is the world’s largest electricity-generating plant of any kind.

The dam body was completed in 2006. Except for a ship lift, the originally planned components of the project were completed on October 30, 2008 when the 26th generator in the shore plant began commercial operation. Each generator has a capacity of 700 MW.Six additional generators in the underground power plant are not expected to become fully operational until 2011.

  • Country : China
  • Year of completion : 2011 (expected)
  • Cost: $25 Billion

 

2. Itaipu Dam (Cost: $27 Billion)

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The Itaipu Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Paraná River located on the border between Brazil and Paraguay. The name “Itaipu” was taken from an isle that existed near the construction site. In the Guarani language, Itaipu means “the sound of a stone”. The American composer Philip Glass has also written a symphonic cantata named Itaipu, in honour of the structure.

The dam is the largest operating hydroelectric facility in terms of annual generating capacity, generating 94.7 TWh in 2008 and 91.6 TWh in 2009, while the annual generating capacity of the Three Gorges Dam was 80.8 TWh in 2008 and 79.4 TWh in 2009. It is a binational undertaking run by Brazil and Paraguay at the Paraná River on the border section between the two countries, 15 km (9.3 mi) north of the Friendship Bridge. The project ranges from Foz do Iguaçu, in Brazil, and Ciudad del Este in Paraguay, in the south to Guaíra and Salto del Guaíra in the north. The installed generation capacity of the plant is 14 GW, with 20 generating units providing 700 MW each with a hydraulic design head of 118 m. In 2008 the plant generated a record 94.68 billion kWh, supplying 90% of the energy consumed by Paraguay and 19% of that consumed by Brazil.

  • Country : Brazil, Paraguay
  • Year of completion : 1984
  • Cost: $27 Billion

1. International Space Station(Cost: $157 Billion)

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The International Space Station (ISS) is an internationally developed research facility that is being assembled in low Earth orbit. On-orbit construction of the station began in 1998 and is scheduled for completion by late 2011. The station is expected to remain in operation until at least 2015, and likely 2020. With a greater mass than that of any previous space station, the ISS can be seen from Earth with the naked eye, and is by far the largest artificial satellite that has ever orbited Earth. The ISS serves as a research laboratory that has a microgravity environment in which crews conduct experiments in biology, chemistry, human biology, physics, astronomy and meteorology. The station has a unique environment for the testing of the spacecraft systems that will be required for missions to the Moon and Mars.The ISS is operated by Expedition crews, with the station programme maintaining an uninterrupted human presence in space since the launch of Expedition 1 on 31 October 2000, a total of 9 years and 262 days.

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  • Country : Canada, European Space Agency, Japan, Russia, United States
  • Year of completion : 2011 (expected)
  • Cost: $157 Billion

India links Golden Triangle by Train


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At present, the key points of the “Golden TriangleDelhi, Jaipur and Agra are linked by advanced comfortable trains that run daily along this route. The testing of Shatabdi Express was started in late November. And it has become clear that this is the most advanced train that will carry passengers to their destinationsfaster than before.

At present, passengers spend one hour to travel from Jaipur to Agra, while earlier, they spent 4-5 hours. The train was launched after the reconstruction of the old railroads which have been made wider. The express is air conditioned. The government is planning to replace gradually all long-distance trains with advanced new ones

Ferris wheel to tower over Dubai


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Dubai‘s skyscrapers are seen with the Burj Khalifa, the tallest tower in the world at a height of 828 metres. A 210m-tall Ferris wheel will soon be the newest addition to the skyline.

Dubai’s ruler has approval a US$1.6 billion (NZ$1.9b) island development project that would be home to what’s billed as the world’s biggest Ferris wheel.

The project reflects a renewed appetite in Dubai for extravagance as the economy rebounds from a debt-driven slump during the past three years.

The official WAM news agency said Wednesday that the Ferris wheel – dubbed the Dubai Eye – will stand 210 metres (688 feet), exceeding the London Eye‘s 135m (443ft). Construction is set to begin this year.

Dubai has proposed a series of mega projects reminiscent of its boom years before the downturn hit in 2009. The projects include theme parks and a satellite city named for Dubai’s ruler, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashin Al Maktoum.

AP

Peace #Church in swidnica – Just 350 years old


This IS really amazing! Use all of the directional arrows along with the full screen and the zoom at bottom of screen. It does take a second to focus on any zoom in shots.

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Inside of a 350 year old Wooden Church in Poland. Amazing that this church survived the World Wars! It makes one a little dizzy moving around in the church but it is some awesome artwork

A large screen is a must to view this in order to do the camera and the artwork justice! Use your mouse to pan around and up and down. Then zoom in and look at areas and objects within inches for minute details. WAIT FOR IT TO SELF FOCUS.

This old wooden church in south west Poland is truly beautiful and amazing artwork. Use the pointers at bottom to see the whole church interior details (also full screen). It must have taken years to construct such a beautiful church and the art work and ceiling painting even longer!

Click: http://zieba.wroclaw.pl/kpg/kps.html

Unique Eco-Sculptures from an Indian Design Student


Design Student Creates Unique Eco-Sculptures 

The Eco-Lamp

Satish Behera is a design student in India who has been exploring the ancient craft of paper maché as an ecological design material.  His style is so unique, his designs so impressionable that they are hard to forget.  His has created a style that is very professional and objects that are very desirable. (Pics)

 Using nothing more than newspaper, glue and varnish, Behera’s medium winds around and around itself as it becomes both base and cover, while Behera molds each strip into an elegant cultural work of function and art.  Each work has a patina of its own created by the blend of varnish, glue, and paper ink, adding even more distinctiveness to Behera’s style.

 

Eco-Ganesha is a modern, ecological sculpture of an ancient Hindu god, a god who, legend has it, has an elephant head.  It is exquisitely formed with rich detail that’s astounding when you consider the designer’s medium.

Design Student Creates Unique Eco-Sculptures

Eco-Ganesha

The Eco- Lamp or the Paper Table Lamp was a challenge for Behara who writes that the unusual form resulted from his placement of the lamp’s center of gravity.  Though Behara uses every strip of newspaper he acquires in his exploration, he acknowledges that he had to use “alien” products like wire, a bulb and the bulb holder.  This is a functioning lamp with a 60 watt bulb.

Wanting to design something more interesting than a box for a speaker, Behara created the Eco-Speakers to look like large snail shells/  Again, you see his meticulous craftsmanship.

Design Student Creates Unique Eco-Sculptures

Eco-Speaker

Of course, these works were simply explorations Mr. Behara undertook as part of his design coursework, but they’re awfully interesting and I should think marketable as well!

#Dubai’s underwater hotel promises submersible luxury


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Dubai‘s fascination with bombastic architecture has moved below sea level thanks to the announcement of The Water Discus — billed as the world’s largest underwater hotel.

With an aesthetic not too many light years removed from the Starship Enterprise and an evacuation mechanism not dissimilar to that of a cafetiere plunger in reverse, the design by Polish firm Deep Ocean Technology reveals a hotel split into two parts — one permanently above the water and the other capable of submerging to a depth of 10 metres.

The submersible part of the hotel is intended to contain 21 hotel rooms as well as an underwater diving facility and a bar. Deep Ocean Technology are also keen to point out that from this location visitors will be able to observe the minutiae of the lives of their aquatic neighbours:

“Special lighting system of the area around the room and the miniature underwater vehicles which can be operated from inside will allow you to take a closer look at even the most microscopic underwater creatures using macro photography.”

Although, that said, they are less keen on fish and fellow guests being afforded the same prurient privileges:

“We also ensure that our guests can protect their privacy whenever necessary. All rooms are sound-proof and have curtains of different levels of transparency.”

President of BIG InvestConsult AG (a Swiss firm who have partnered with Deep Ocean Technology for the project) Bogdan Gutkowski previously informed World Architecture News that The Water Discus is also intended as an environmentally conscious research centre as well as a tourism hub.

“We would like to create here in the UAE the International Environmental Program and Center of the Underwater World Protection — with Water Discus Hotel as a laboratory tool for ocean and sea environment protection and research.”

By Philippa Warr

Indian company to build a resort on a natural lake in Macedonia


Indian company to build a resort on a natural lake in Macedonia

Indian billionaire and head of a business corporation “SaharaSubroto Roy, during a visit to Macedonia announced plans to build a resort “Sahara of Macedonia” on the shores of the Ohrid lake in Ohrid city. It is expected that investments in the project will comprise at least 100 million euro. It will be one of the largest lake resorts in Europe. This planned project, which is tentatively scheduled to be completed by 2020, will have a number of first class hotels, 4000 luxury villas and apartments, as well as a casino and golf and spa facilities, convention halls and shopping malls.

Subroto Roy purchased a hotel in Ohrid to host the team of engineers, designers and planners. The billionaire did not disclose the price of the purchased property, but as per unofficial estimates, the amount is equivalent to 3 – 4 million euro.

This is what you call a 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
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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.
TALK ABOUT YOUR SECOND CHILDHOOD—–“BOYS” AND THEIR TOYS….