'Crazy' Pandemic Project Sets New World Record For Longest Melody Played By A Model Train

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) - A German museum that temporarily closed during the coronavirus lockdown has broken a Guinness World Record by using a model train and nearly 3,000 wine glasses to play 20 different classical tunes.

Frederik Braun, founder of the Miniatur Wunderland museum in Hamburg, said he and his team spent their time during the museum's COVID-19-mandated closure to set up massive musical project.

"And what sounded like a crazy idea, where everyone first said, you must be crazy," Braun said. "Now we are going to go along and sort of try to break a world record, because that would be a world record, and that just brings fun to all of us, honestly. We're playing kids."

Mallets attached to the train strike the glasses as it passes, creating musical notes. The train plays 2,840 notes of classical music, including Johann Strauss's Radetzky March and Ludwig van Beethoven's Für Elise.

"It's not all perfect, but just try to play Verdi on wine glasses. Or even worse, the Bolero, when you only have two octaves at your disposal," Braun told Reuters. "And that's why I say this world record is a mega world record. It won't be beaten anytime soon, I'm certain of that."

Setting up the 690-foot-long track posed significant challenges. For example, by the time the glasses were filled with water to the correct level, the water had already started to evaporate, making them off-key.

"We tried it with plastic wrap to cover the surface, and we found out that a light oil, very liquid oil, so not cooking oil or something, it's best to create a layer on top that preserves it and then there's hardly any evaporation," Braun explained.

The team also had to make sure that the mallets attached to the model train did not shatter any of the 2,840 wine glasses as it passes intricate miniature landscapes and tiny colorful versions of cities like Hamburg and Las Vegas.

The effort was apparently worth it, as the museum earned a Guinness World Record for the longest melody played by a model train.

It's not the first time that the museum has made it into the Guinness World Records. It also boasts the world's largest model train set, with a total track length of 9.76 miles.