In Köln

You can´t visit Köln without visiting the Dom, the massive Cathedral that survived allied bombing during WWII.

Looking at pictures of the devastation around the Dom is amazing. Before the Washinton Monument and Eiffel Tower built, it was the largest structure in the world.

I was nearly as impressed by something more modern. In the Köln Hauptbahnhof, there are new luggage lockers near the North Main Entrance.

Except they are not really lockers at all. After inserting 4 Euros, a door opens and unveals a large dumb-waiter like compartment. You place your bags inside, the door shuts, and your bags are transported underground. You reclaim your bags by inserting a paper ticket back into the machine, and, nearly as miracously as the Dom surviving WWII, within 40 seconds, your bags appear. Over 1000 bags can be stored through this system.

I saw some tourists at first look at the machines skeptically, but the station officials tout this as a state-of-the-art addition to the recently renovated Köln Hauptbahnhof. Has anyone seen these machines in other cities?

Benjamin Thomas