Building a model railroad takes time, patience and a lot of rails. Especially if you’re looking to build a large layout. For some, the hobby is about collecting unique locomotives and wagons, but for others it’s about reviving an old interest and creating realistic miniature worlds where you can also buy houses, cars and decor for your model railroad landscape.
Someone who has long experience of model building is the editor of Allt om hobby, Joakim Sannagård. As technical manager at Modelljärnvägens hus, he has built several large model railroads.
– What I like about model railroading is that there are so many parts to it. First, you go through a fun planning phase that can last for years. Then it’s about carpentry, laying track and dealing with the electronics. Then you create the landscape around the model railroad and get the traffic moving. It’s simply a hobby with many possibilities. But you’re never done, because there’s always something you want to improve,” says Joakim Sannagård.
What is most challenging about building a large model railway?
– I would say that it is about building the railroad so that all parts work well, without hassle. A classic problem is that people are in a hurry and get too eager, so they don’t pay much attention to the cabling. They make temporary solutions, creating a tangle of cables in the end, which makes it difficult to troubleshoot. To keep track of the cables, I like to use different colors depending on the function. If you are careful with the electrical work, it also gives results in the function. If you are too eager when laying the tracks, it is easy for it to be uneven and for the locomotives or wagons to derail – so accuracy is important,” says Joakim Sannagård.
What are the differences between the different scales H0 and N?
– The majority of model railroaders build in H0 scale (16.5 mm gauge), with Märklin in particular being the major manufacturer in the Swedish market. H0 (scale 1:87) is about twice as big as the N-scale (1:160) which has a track gauge of 9 mm. This means that you can fit a lot more in the N-scale. In my opinion, H0 has better reliability, although many people think that N has improved. There is a much larger selection to choose from if you are into H0, especially if you want models of Swedish locomotives and wagons. Then you should add that there are many more scales to choose from as well.
How to think about analog and digital control?
– The analog control is the classic solution where a transformer regulates the voltage in the track and thus the movement of the trains. If you want to have several trains on the track, you need isolated tracks and switches that make it possible to turn off the locomotives you are not running with. In digital control, you have a constant voltage in the rails and the trains are instead controlled by digital signals between the driving control and a decoder mounted in the locomotive. One advantage of digital is that you can run several locomotives on the same track without them affecting each other, but the disadvantage is that the digital variants are more expensive than the analog ones.
What should you consider when buying second-hand locomotives?
– For example, there is a difference between analog and digital locomotives you buy. You need to know what system you have today so that the used locomotive works on your track. Many locomotives are delivered today with a digital decoder pre-installed and I think that all newly manufactured locomotives today have some type of decoder socket that makes it easy to install a digital decoder on your own. The slightly older locomotives usually have no decoder, and if you want to run digitally, you need to rebuild the locomotives – something that can be both complicated and expensive. It is virtually impossible to run analog locomotives with digital control, while most digital locomotives can be run on an analog model railway.
Many people know the Märklin brand. Why has it become so famous?
– In the mid-20th century, a model railway was one of the most sought-after toys and Märklin invested in both marketing and distribution in Sweden and Europe. For many, their starter sets were perhaps the first contact they had with a model railway and in this way many have gained a relationship with the brand. Even though there are several different major brands today, many people have an emotional connection to Märklin.
How do you build to impress other model railroaders?
– Then you should probably build something that actually feels finished. That’s usually what gets a lot of attention anyway. Then there are many who build according to a clear model, it usually also becomes popular. It should be mentioned that this can be a relatively expensive hobby as a large model railroad costs a lot, takes a long time to build and takes up space. If you are looking to build larger model railroads but don’t have the budget, you can always build modules together with others. It’s a good way to get into the hobby and get help. But I don’t think it has to be big to be good. I have seen fantastic results with both limited dimensions and budget,” concludes Joakim Sannagård.
At Tradera you’ll find a wide range of affordable electronic components, H0 scale models, N scale models and a variety of other scales, spare parts, accessories and much more.
