The era in railway modeling was not so much. The earliest modeled railways appeared in 1840 and were so-called "carpet paths". Models of electric trains appeared around the beginning of the 20th century, but their similarity to the original prototypes left much to be desired. Model trains these days are much more realistic. Today, modelers create models of railway lines, often recreating real places and historical periods. For those who like to do their own work, railway modeling is an ideal hobby.
What is the essence of this hobby?
Its essence is to recreate real railway tracks with models of the railway itself and trains, as well as landscape models. People involved in this, have received the nickname "railway modelers" or "model railway workers." With sufficient funds and enthusiasm, they can even create full-size models!
Modellers can assemble model trains, creating a landscape for them. They are also able to control their miniature railway. For some modelers, the purpose of building a layout is to ultimately run it as if it were a real railway (if the layout was based on the imagination of the builder) or like a real railway (if the layout is based on a real prototype). If modelers prefer to simulate a prototype, they can reproduce road reproductions of a real railway in miniature, often using prototype tracks and historical maps.
Railway Modeling Records
Layouts range from an impromptu circle or oval to realistic reproductions of real places skillfully modeled on the prototype. The largest model landscape is in the British Pendon Museum in Oxfordshire, where a full-size model of the Vale of White Horse train was built in 1930. The museum also houses one of the earliest paintings - the model Mader Valley, built by John Ahern. It was built from the late 30s to the early 50s of the last century, and it turned out so beautiful and realistic that it was written about on both sides of the Atlantic in Model Railway News and Model Railroader magazines. Beckonskot in Buckinghamshire is the oldest model village, which includes a model railway dating back to the 1930s. The largest model railway in the world is the Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg, Germany. The largest live steam train with a 25-mile (40 km) railroad is the Train Mount in Chilohin, Oregon, USA. The exhibits of the Museum of Railway Modeling in San Diego are also noteworthy in their own way.
Landscape modeling
The art of railway modeling also includes landscape modeling. Some modelers pay attention to gardening their layout, creating a fantasy world or a real place, often with emphasis on its historical appearance in a particular era. Landscaping is called "building landscapes" or "landscape modeling."
Building decorations involves preparing a subsurface using a wide range of building materials, including shielded wire, a grid of cardboard strips, or carved stacks of polystyrene foam. The decorative base is superimposed on the sub-relief. A typical base includes injection plaster, gypsum, hybrid paper pulp (papier-mâché) or lightweight foam or fiberglass, as well as any material used in the geodesic formation of foam.
Soil modeling
The decorative base is covered with substitutes for the soil cover, which may be static grass. Modelers create an imitation of grass, poppies, conifers, tracked ballast and other picturesque soil cover. The material used to simulate road ballast is typically fine-grained ground granite. Material imitating colored grass is usually covered with sawdust, wood shavings or ground foam. Foam or natural lichens or commercial spreading materials can be used to model shrubs. An alternative material for grass is static grass, which is made to move with the help of static electricity.
Models of buildings and rocks
Buildings and structures can be purchased in the form of sets or made of cardboard, balsa wood, linden, other soft types of wood, paper, polystyrene or other plastic. Trees can be made of wormwood, to which modeled foliage is glued, but they can also be purchased ready-made from specialized manufacturers. Water can be modeled using polyester cast resin, polyurethane or corrugated glass. Rocks can be molded in plaster or foam-protected plastic. Castings are painted with special paint or female eyeshadow.
Climate and weather modeling
Some warp the finished models to simulate dirt and wear on vehicles, structures and equipment. Railroad cars in cities accumulate dirt from building and car exhausts and graffiti, while cars in deserts can be exposed to sandstorms that spoil or wash away paint. A model created in room conditions can hardly accommodate as many relief details as its prototype in real life, exposed to daily weather and other natural (and man-made) phenomena, can accommodate.
There are many methods to simulate the effects of weather, which include painting, grinding, breaking, and even the use of chemicals for corrosion. Some processes of creating weather clearly do not suffer from a lack of creativity, but this depends on the skill of the designer.
Dirt, rust and signs of damage
Changing acquired models is commonplace. At least, a change aimed at reducing the “plasticity” in the appearance of the models. Modeling dirt, rust and wear adds realism. Some modelers simulate fuel stains on tanks or corrosion on battery boxes. In some cases, traces of accidents or repairs can be added, such as dents or fresh spare parts, and mature models can be almost indistinguishable from their prototypes from a real photograph.
Clubs of lovers of railway modeling
Model railway clubs exist where enthusiasts are most often found. Clubs often showcase the best models for the public. One specialized industry focuses on large scales and gauges, typically using tracks from 3.5 to 7.5 inches (89 to 191 mm). Models on this scale are often made by hand and driven by steam or hydraulics, and the engines are powerful enough to accommodate dozens of artificial passengers.
The Technical Model Railway Club (TMRC) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the 50s of the 20th century for the first time provided automatic control of route switching using telephone relays. It is a real laboratory of railway modeling.
Fans of this hobby have their own "places of pilgrimage", one way or another connected with the history of modeling. Usually such places are just the society of modelers, scattered around the world. The oldest society is the Model Railway Club, founded in 1910. It is located near Kings Cross in London, UK. In addition to models of railways, it stores about 5,000 books and periodicals devoted to railway modeling. The Historic Model Railroad Society in Butterley, near Derbyshire, specializes in historical issues and has archives dedicated to the history of this hobby, accessible to club members and anyone interested.