Models & Kits

Model Railways are Simply Great Fun

In recent years there has been nothing short of an explosion in interest in model trains and railways. Some have said that this is due to baby-boomers who fondly remember their own model trainsets, now buying model train sets for their own children.

There is no denying that this is certainly the case for me. I am a baby boomer myself and I recall spending many happy hours with my brother and father building complex model rail networks. I recall that our most extensive and elaborate system took over the whole of our dining room which became known as ‘the railway room’. We managed to remain in the railway room up until Christmas of that year when we had family guests coming for Christmas dinner and my mother insisted that the railway was dismantled and the dining room returned to its original use. I can recall my fathers disappointment at having to dismantly the track that we had spent many hours constructing and modifying.

In fact, reflecting on those days, I think it was doing things with my father that was more important to me than the model railway. My father was never inclined to play any field sports and only ever took an apparently cursory interest in my school work. But when it came to model trains and railways his eyes would light up and he suddenly became very enthusiastic. The one guaranteed way to get him to put down the newspaper and leave his comfortable armchair was to suggest we have a session on the railway.

Model trains are good for any age, providing a fun, rewarding and engaging hobby. Model trains are not toy trains. They are scale models of the real thing and can provide a valuable educational aid, helping youngsters to become familiar with the history of rail transport, the development of railway technology and how locomotives have developed through the ages.

Way back in the 1850s Marklin, a German manufacturer of dolls-house accessories, introduced the first boxed train-set. The product was intended to appel to boys, broadening their market. They were also responsible for producig accessories for their train sets including trackside buildings. The company are still in business today.

It was the American company Carlisle Finch who are reputed to have introduced electric trains in 1897, but the Lionel Corporation are responsible for developing electric model trains. Their first Electric train, called the Electric Express, was actually not intended for sale. It was originally intended to be used as a storefront display.

Jump forward to today and you will find many fathers, like myself, who have fond memories of many hours shared with their fathers building and playing with model train sets. These days we go out and buy model train sets for our children but they are really a way for us to revisit the happy times we had as children.

Miniatur Wunderland *** official corporate video *** largest model railway / railroad in the world