Today, we recived the following mail:

Congratulations! We are pleased to announce that your web site "Miniatur Wunderland" at www.miniatur-wunderland.com has been selected as a recipient of the coveted Web Gem Award from TrainNet.org. The vote average from the TrainNet.org Staff was 9.25, one of the highest that any site has ever received.

Operated by a solid staff of railway employees, railfans and model railroaders, the roots of the world-wide community of TrainNet.org go back to early 1986 when the CompuServe ModelNet Forum opened two railway oriented message boards. These boards proved to be wildly popular and in
1989 spawned the CompuServe TrainNet Forum which, for the next twelve years, was a busy and lively gathering place for railroad and railway fans, modelers and employees. On 1 November, 2001 the forum was integrated into TrainNet.org with message boards and twice-weekly moderated conferences.
TrainNet.org is the home of the coveted Web Gem Award (for railroad or railway oriented web sites), one of the most well-known and respected web site awards on the Internet. TrainNet.org is also the home of the world renowned
International Railway Links.

Here's some of the comments made about our site by the TrainNet.org Staff:

• Very interesting site about a fascinating model railroad operation (it's way more than just a "layout"). The site is very well done on a technical level and passes the W3C Validation Check with flying colors. I like both the English and the German versions of the site; even though the English side is basically under construction the German side is chuck full of stuff. The links pages are somewhat hidden under the "Community" and "Treffpunkt" buttons but once you find them they're easy to use. While there's not yet a link to us on the German side there is on the English side. I vote 9.

• I'm visiting the German version at least once a week to read the new weekly report and looking forward to the next visit to Hamburg (in fact I was there just last Tuesday). Also once made one of those "Behind the scenes" tours, my guide was Erhard. The design of the site is fine, you'll find the information to plan your visit in advance, background information on the layout and it's makers, etc. The only thing I don't like are those Google ads to be seen on almost every page. My vote: 9.

• Oh My God! That has to be the most comprehensive site I've ever seen! I won't even try to explain all the things that are impressive. Anyone who looks at that site will know. I now have a new place I "must" visit. I vote a solid 10.

• Oh, my!! These people are NOT amateurs! Nothing has been left undone. Every detail has been thought out and put in place. I could only DREAM of building such a model layout. They didn't leave all their talent on the layout. The design and navigation of the website is first class. I couldn't find anything to complain about! I vote 9.

• 9.5! It loads even on slow dial-up, everything works, and the content is simply amazing.

• Truly an amazing project! Just looking at the stats page boggles the mind with all the track, structures, rolling stock, etc.
  Site is easy to use, loads quickly, and is well planned. I vote 9. If the ads were gone it would have been a 10.

Thanks very mutch to the TrainNet.org Staff!