Rail transport modelling

Bekonscot in Buckinghamshire is the oldest model village and includes a model railway, dating from the 1930s. The world's largest model railroad is the Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg, Germany in H0 scale.^[3] The largest live steam layout, with 25 miles (40 km) of track is Train Mountain in Chiloquin, Oregon, U.S.^[4] Operations form an important aspect of rail transport modelling with many layouts being dedicated to emulating the operational aspects of a working railway. These layouts can become extremely complex with multiple routes, movement patterns and timetabled operation. The British outline model railway of Banbury Connections in New South Wales, Australia, is one of the world's most complicated model railways.^[5]

Model railroad clubs exist where enthusiasts meet.^[6] The Tech Model Railroad Club (TMRC) at MIT in the 1950s pioneered automatic control of track-switching by using telephone relays.^[7]

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.^[8][9]

In 1938, Hornby, a manufacturer of 'O' scale model trains in the UK, launched a range of 'OO' scale electric trains (Hornby Dublo) with 1/76 scale rolling stock using 1/87 scale 16.5 mm wide track with a third centre rail. The power supply was 12 V DC and the track was equipped with an electrically insulated central rail and two non-insulated running rails. In 1959 Hornby abandoned its three-rail track in favour of a two-rail track for its 'OO' scale electric trains.^{[10][better source needed]}

DC motors with more powerful magnets began to be used for model trains in the 1950s.^[11]

Engines powered by live steam are often built in large outdoor gauges of 5 inches (130 mm) and 7+1⁄2 inches (190 mm), are also available in Gauge 1, G scale, 16 mm scale and can be found in O and OO/HO. Hornby Railways produce live steam locomotives in OO, based on designs first arrived at by an amateur modeller. Other modellers have built live steam models in HO/OO, OO9 and N, and there is one in Z in Australia.^[12]

• Model railways
• 
  Exeter Bank: An HO-scale Australian model railway
• 
  An O-scale Australian model railway
• 
  A propane-fired 1:8 scale live steam train running on the Finnish Railway Museum's 7.25-inch (18.4 cm) gauge track
• 
  A small 5-inch (13 cm) gauge live steam locomotive at the Wagga Wagga Society of Model Engineers' miniature railway, Willans Hill, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia
• 
  1:8 Live Steam Malmö 1987
• 
  1:8 Live Steam Malmö 1987
• 
  HO gauge Model Railway featuring the Sapsan train on the Moscow – Saint Petersburg Railway and Moscow to Nizhny Novgorod Railway in the Museum of the Moscow Railway, Moscow

Several organizations exist to set standardizations for connectibility between individual layout sections (commonly called "modules").^{[citation needed]}

• ausTRAK,^[13]
• FREMO^[14]
• Free-mo^[15]
• MOROP^{[citation needed]}
• NEM^{[citation needed]}
• NMRA^{[citation needed]}
• N-orma^[16]
• oNeTRAK^[17]
• Sipping and Switching Society of NC^[18]
• sTTandard^[19]
• T-TRAK^[20]
• Z-Bend Track^[21]

Displays and famous layouts

Groups dedicated to railway modelling