|
MONTHLY NEWS March 1999 World's Largest Railway Model Completed in Saitama |
A scale model of four train lines and nine stations was recently completed in the city of Omiya, Saitama Prefecture. Built in a factory of the East Japan Railway Company, the three-dimensional model measures 25 meters by 8 meters--nearly as large as the swimming pools found at elementary schools in Japan--making it the biggest of its kind in the world.
The 1:150 scale model includes sections of the Keihin Tohoku Line, which runs between Saitama and Kanagawa Prefectures via central Tokyo, and the Shin'etsu Honsen Line linking Tokyo with Gunma, Niigata, and Nagano Prefectures, as well as nine stations, such as Tokyo, Yokohama, Omiya, and Karuizawa. The model was built to film scenes for a computer game named Gatan Goton, a train operating game that went on sale in March 1999. It took experts at a video production firm two and a half months to complete. The total length of the four lines stretches 700 meters, and the builders have applied to have the model listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. The model trains will be outfitted with miniature cameras to film the "landscape" along the way. Jun'ichi Ishizuka, who helped build the model, said, "Completing it was really hard work, but we've had to work even harder afterwards to polish the tracks every day to keep the trains running smoothly." Builders say they're not sure what will happen to the model after the shooting is over. There are plans for it to be shown to the public in March or April.
Photo: Workers put the final touches on the monster model. (Asahi Shogakusei Shimbun) |
.
|