Model Railway Set

[Romilda Tiger]

Thescale models include locomotives, rolling stock, streetcars, tracks, signalling, cranes, and landscapes including: countryside, roads, bridges, buildings, vehicles, harbors, urban landscape, model figures, lights, and features such as rivers, hills, tunnels, and canyons.

The earliest model railways were the 'carpet railways' in the 1840s. The first documented model railway was the Railway of the Prince Imperial (French: Chemin de fer du Prince Imprial) built in 1859 by Emperor Napoleon III for his then 3-year-old son, also Napoleon, in the grounds of the Chteau de Saint-Cloud in Paris. It was powered by clockwork and ran in a figure-of-eight.[1] Electric trains appeared around the start of the 20th century, but these were crude likenesses. Model trains today are more realistic, in addition to being much more technologically advanced. Today modellers create model railway layouts, often recreating real locations and periods throughout history.

The world's oldest working model railway is a model designed to train signalmen on the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. It is located in the National Railway Museum, York, England and dates back to 1912. It remained in use until 1995. The model was built as a training exercise by apprentices of the company's Horwich Works and supplied with rolling stock by Bassett-Lowke.[2]

Involvement ranges from possession of a train set to spending hours and large sums of money on a large and exacting model of a railroad and the scenery through which it passes, called a "layout". Hobbyists, called "railway modellers" or "model railroaders", may maintain models large enough to ride (see Live steam, Ridable miniature railway and Backyard railroad).

Modellers may collect model trains, building a landscape for the trains to pass through. They may also operate their own railroad in miniature. For some modellers, the goal of building a layout is to eventually run it as if it were a real railroad (if the layout is based on the fancy of the builder) or as the real railroad did (if the layout is based on a prototype). If modellers choose to model a prototype, they may reproduce track-by-track reproductions of the real railroad in miniature, often using prototype track diagrams and historic maps.

Model railroad clubs exist where enthusiasts meet. Clubs often display models for the public. One specialist branch concentrates on larger scales and gauges, commonly using track gauges from 3.5 to 7.5 inches (89 to 191 mm). Models in these scales are usually hand-built and powered by live steam, or diesel-hydraulic, and the engines are often powerful enough to haul dozens of human passengers.

The oldest society is 'The Model Railway Club'[5] (established 1910), near Kings Cross, London, UK. As well as building model railways, it has 5,000 books and periodicals. Similarly, 'The Historical Model Railway Society'[6] at Butterley, near Ripley, Derbyshire specialises in historical matters and has archives available to members and non-members.

The largest common scale is 1:8, with 1:4 sometimes used for park rides. G scale (Garden, 1:24 scale) is most popular for backyard modelling. It is easier to fit a G scale model into a garden and keep scenery proportional to the trains. Gauge 1 and Gauge 3 are also popular for gardens. O, S, HO, and N scale are more often used indoors.[7][8]

Later, modellers became dissatisfied with inaccuracies and developed standards in which everything is correctly scaled. These are used by modellers but have not spread to mass-production because the inaccuracies and overscale properties of the commercial scales ensure reliable operation and allow for shortcuts necessary for cost control. The finescale standards include the UK's P4, and the even finer S4, which uses track dimensions scaled from the prototype. This 4 mm:1 ft modelling uses wheels 2 mm (0.079 in) or less wide running on track with a gauge of 18.83 mm (0.741 in). Check-rail and wing-rail clearances are similarly accurate.

A compromise of P4 and OO is "EM" which uses a gauge of 18.2 mm (0.717 in) with more generous tolerances than P4 for check clearances. It gives a better appearance than OO though pointwork is not as close to reality as P4. It suits many where time and improved appearance are important. There is a small following of finescale OO which uses the same 16.5mm gauge as OO, but with the finer scale wheels and smaller clearances as used with EM- it is essentially 'EM-minus-1.7mm.'

Many groups build modules, which are sections of layouts, and can be joined together to form a larger layout, for meetings or for special occasions. For each kind of module system, there is an interface standard, so that modules made by different participants may be connected, even if they have never been connected before. Many of these module types are listed in the Layout standards organizations section of this article.

In HO, the Americans standardized on horn-hook, or X2F couplers. Horn hook couplers have largely given way to a design known as a working knuckle coupler which was popularized by the Kadee Quality Products Co., and which has subsequently been emulated by a number of other manufactures in recent years. Working knuckle couplers are a closer approximation to the "automatic" couplers used on the prototype there and elsewhere. Also in HO, the European manufacturers have standardized, but on a coupler mount, not a coupler: many varieties of coupler can be plugged in (and out) of the NEM coupler box. None of the popular couplers has any resemblance to the prototype three-link chains generally used on the continent.

For British modellers, whose most popular scale is OO, the normal coupler is a tension-lock coupler, which, again has no pretence of replicating the usual prototype three-link chain couplers. Bachmann and more recently Hornby have begun to offer models fitted with NEM coupler pockets. This theoretically enables modellers of British railways to substitute any other NEM362 coupler, though many Bachmann models place the coupler pocket at the wrong height. A fairly common alternative is to use representations of chain couplings as found on the prototype, though these require large radius curves to be used to avoid derailments.

Constructing scenery involves preparing a sub-terrain using a wide variety of building materials, including (but not limited to) screen wire, a lattice of cardboard strips, or carved stacks of expanded polystyrene (styrofoam) sheets. A scenery base is applied over the sub-terrain; typical base include casting plaster, plaster of Paris, hybrid paper-pulp (papier-mch) or a lightweight foam/fiberglass/bubblewrap composite as in Geodesic Foam Scenery.[9]

The scenery base is covered with substitutes for ground cover, which may be Static Grass or scatter. Scatter or flock is a substance used in the building of dioramas and model railways to simulate the effect of grass, poppies, fireweed, track ballast and other scenic ground cover. Scatter used to simulate track ballast is usually fine-grained ground granite. Scatter which simulates coloured grass is usually tinted sawdust, wood chips or ground foam. Foam or natural lichen or commercial scatter materials can be used to simulate shrubbery. An alternative to scatter, for grass, is static grass which uses static electricity to make its simulated grass actually stand up.

Buildings and structures can be purchased as kits, or built from cardboard, balsa wood, basswood, other soft woods, paper, or polystyrene or other plastic. Trees can be fabricated from materials such as Western sagebrush, candytuft, and caspia, to which adhesive and model foliage are applied; or they can be bought ready-made from specialist manufacturers. Water can be simulated using polyester casting resin, polyurethane, or rippled glass. Rocks can be cast in plaster or in plastic with a foam backing. Castings can be painted with stains to give colouring and shadows.

Weathering refers to making a model look used and exposed to weather by simulating dirt and wear on real vehicles, structures and equipment. Most models come out of the box looking new, because unweathered finishes are easier to produce. Also, the wear a freight car or building undergoes depends not only on age but where it is used. Rail cars in cities accumulate grime from building and automobile exhaust and graffiti, while cars in deserts may be subjected to sandstorms which etch or strip paint. A model that is weathered would not fit as many layouts as a pristine model which can be weathered by its purchaser.

There are many weather techniques that include, but are not limited to, painting (by either drybrushing or an airbrush), sanding, breaking, and even the use of chemicals to cause corrosion. Some processes become very creative depending on the skill of the modeller. For instance several steps may be taken to create a rusting effect to ensure not only proper colouring, but also proper texture and lustre.

Weathering purchased models is common, at the least, weathering aims to reduce the plastic-like finish of scale models. The simulation of grime, rust, dirt, and wear adds realism. Some modellers simulate fuel stains on tanks, or corrosion on battery boxes. In some cases, evidence of accidents or repairs may be added, such as dents or freshly painted replacement parts, and weathered models can be nearly indistinguishable from their prototypes when photographed appropriately.

Static diorama models or "push along" scale models are a branch of model railways for unpowered locomotives, examples are Lone Star and Airfix models. Powered model railways are now generally operated by low voltage direct current (DC) electricity supplied via the tracks, but there are exceptions, such as Mrklin and Lionel Corporation, which use alternating current (AC). Modern Digital Command Control (DCC) systems use alternating current. Other locomotives, particularly large models, can use steam. Steam and clockwork-driven engines are still sought by collectors.

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