John Oliver gifts 'irresponsibly large' train set to Scranton TV station

A little model train set that is part of the news set over at 6abc sister station, WNEP in Scranton, has had a big journey that all started with a joke on national television.

John Oliver from HBO's "Last Week Tonight" first poked fun at the train set. The joke did not go over well.

However, Oliver not only offered an apology for his joke, but he one-upped it.

"Please don't think I was making fun of your backyard train. I love that backyard train and I also love how passionate you all are about it and if you don't believe it, let me prove it to you. Because my only criticism of your train set is that I think you deserve a better one, a bigger one, an almost irresponsibly large one," Oliver said.

Oliver then transformed their small railroad into a huge one.

It took a big effort and many hours and miles to get the train set to Lackawanna County, traveling from Seacaucus, New Jersey to Scranton in a big truck and in many boxes.

The now famous "irresponsibly large" train set is 16-feet tall and 18-feet wide. The train set was so large it didn't fit in the studio set.

The train set can now be found at the City Trolley Museum in Scranton where it took it's first turns around the track on Friday for its grand unveiling.

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