Delft, Rotterdam and Miniworld - Thursday 12 September 2024

Delft

We were surprised at how easy it is to use the Dutch train and tram system. One can now use a credit card. We just had to tap in at the beginning of the journey and tap put at the end. On the train this is done at the station, on a tram there are reader machines on the doorways. 

We took a train to Delft to look at the old town and the Thursday market. The market with a good supply of meat, fish, cheese and other local produce was in an interesting setting of the old town with many interesting buildings. I was surprised that all the buildings, walkways, roadways were built of brick, many of them very small. I presume this is because rock would not have been available locally.

The original Delft station is now a restaurant, it having been replaced by a larger modern structure.
We then took a train to Rotterdam Centraal station, a vast overall roof and an impressive facade.



The Miniworld at Rotterdam is only a short walk away from the Centraal station. It concentrates upon Holland and is extremely large. It is probably larger than any one layout of the Hamburg Miniatur Wunderland. However, Miniworld is not so well developed. Although the area is large, much of it is not close to the public viewing area and there modelling techniques could be developed, particularly with regard to road traffic and showing moving objects. A large part of the railway and tram networks was not used at all. One good point is that Miniworld concentrates on modelling local items and giving their history.









There is also a British section downstairs but this needs a lot of work.
From Rotterdam Centraal we took a train to Den Haag HS and then a tram to the coast.

On the tram turning loop at the coast

The ferris wheel was working despite the very high winds

The extensive use of windmills is evident here. The Dutch railways claim to be powered exclusively by wind power.

A tram brought us back to the hotel.





 






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