You can now see the world's largest model train set on Google Maps

We didn't think we liked model trains.

They're the sort of thing you obsess over in your youth, ignore for a good 30 years of maturity, before sliding back into once retirement and a dodgy knee beckons.

But then we heard that Germany's branch of Google had documented the collections of the Minatur Wunderland - the world's largest model railway exhibit - in Hamburg for Google Maps, and we found an overwhelming urge to have a click.

With more than eight miles of tracks, 200,000 figures and 900 trains, this is hobbyist dedication on an industrial scale. Google mounted small cameras on "tiny vehicles" to record explorable Street View footage - in exactly the same way they would map full-sized streets. 

Head here to explore the exhibit in full - you'll want to find icons of trains to take part in Street View tours. Expect a sudden urge to invest in paint and tiny brushes.