The Wilmington RailRoad Museum Breaks World Model Train Record

Screen capture of team breaking down the train layout
after the successful record-breaking attempt. Image courtesy
The Seahawk student newspaper, UNC-Wilmington.
at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington.
A picture of the museum facade is at top right.

My Dad is a devoted volunteer at the Wilmington RailRoad Museum in coastal North Carolina. Today, after 3500 hours of volunteer work by a big team, they attempted to break the world record for longest functioning model train...and they did it. Holy cow.

The train was some 900 feet long, which at actual size means about 15 miles long, and to break the record, it had to circle a huge track set up at the University of North Carolina Wilmington  for 40 minutes. At first, when Dad phoned to let me know about the streaming video of the event, he said things were going "lousy". He had designed the control system that drove the train. He's a retired electrical engineer and developer for IBM, and lifetime train nut. The first few breakdowns must have been nerve-wracking.

Still, by 4:00 p.m., they had kept it running and had "smashed" the record, as one observer wrote, although I don't know by how long.

Here is an article from News Channel Three this evening: FIRST ON 3: Wilmington train breaks Guinness World Record.
Dad, I am so happy for you! That's quite an achievement for the museum, and I hope brings lots of visitors.