Historical development of model railroads and accessories
| 1784 | Murdock (England) presents a steam wagon prototype without track |
| 1829 | When the Spanish King visited Germany,Dietz Imbrechts presented a working 'model' railroad for children which he brought from England |
| 1835 | Colored cut-outs and tin figures representing the ADLER show up. One tin model is preserved in the Bavarian National Museum. |
| 1836 | Morris Locomotives (USA) gives away PR-models in 1:4 ratio to european political leaders. To models are still preserved in the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers in Paris and in the Technical Musuem of Vienna, Austria. |
| 1838 | Leeds Mechanics Institution (England) runs model shows. |
| 1840 | The first tinplate models show up in Germany and France |
| 1859 | An outdoor (garden railroad) is being built for the french prince in Saint Cloud. It is preserved in the Musoen de Rodo, in Uzes |
| 1862 | Joseph Myers & Co. London (England) offers the first steam powered locommtives in his mailorder catalog. |
| 1869 | C. Caragotti's mechan. Institut, Königsberg/Prussia, issue an advertisement about a "Locomotive, running in the room..." (Germany) |
| 1879 | J. Bateman & Co. (England) builds locomotve - model with fixed cylinders |
| 1882 | Planck, Nuremberg, announces first electrical toy trains (Germany) |
| 1883 | Novelty Electric Co., Philadelphia (USA) are the first to use two-rail track for electrically powered model railraods |
| 1884 | The first friction-driven models appear in Germany and France |
| 1886 | Günterman, Nürnberg are the first to offer a locomotive model driven by a clockwork. First trainset complete with track by Bing, Nürnberg |
| 1887 | Schönner, Nürnberg offers a steam-powered locomotive with carriages and track in two gauges: 65 and 115 mm (2.5 inches and 4.5 inches). |
| 1891 | Märklin exhibits at the Leipzig Fair and categorizes the gauges of their program (Gauge 0,1,2,3) |
| 1893 | Carette, Nuremberg (Germany) offers electrical powered models of tramways |
| 1895 | For the first time, turnouts and accessories like structures, tunnels, and signals are offered in the Märklin catalogue |
| 1897 | Carlisle & Finch (USA) deliver their first electric powered models with three-rail track |
| 1900 | Schönner, Nürnberg builds the first model locomotive after a German prototype in 75mm; resp. 85mm (3 inches, resp. 3.3 inches). Märklin offers 3-rail track. |
| 1901 | The english magazine Model Engineer starts a discussion about model standards. The first mechanic and electric remote control for turnouts is out from Märklin |
| 1902 | The first tracks with gauges smaller than 0 appear: Gauge 000=25/23 mm : Schönner, gauge 00=21/19 mm and 30/28 mm : Carette |
| 1904 | The first steam powered railbus is out by Märklin |
| 1905 | Carlisle & Finch (USA) deliver tram models powered by overhead catenary |
| 1908 | First automatic couplers by Voltamp, Baltimore (USA). Basset-Lowke's "Handbook of model railroading" is out and promotes the standards of Greenly (based on the Märklin "Norms") |
| 1909 | Märklin offers so-called "Reform"-track, i. e., track with more generous radii: 0=60 cm (23.6 inches), 1=90 cm (35.4 inches) in lieu of 36 (14.1 inches)resp. 48 cm (19 inches) |
| 1910 | Cogwheel models made by Bing, Carette, and Märklin appear on the German market |
| 1912 | 00-railroad by Bing, electrically powered: 2-4V - battery and a motor with permanent magnet. Märklin offers a "Ghost-car" as performance booster |
| 1923 | Basset-Lowke introduces a trackwidth of 16.5 mm as gauge 00 in England. |
| 1924 | Transformers (power packs) are introduced as power source for model railroads. The Dorfan Company (USA) starts using metal shells for locomotives. |
| 1926 | First stop switches by Märklin and Lionel |
| 1927 | The VDE (Assocation of Electricians in Germany) implies a maximum power of 22 V as power source for model railroads. |
| 1928 | First automatic train dependency system by Märklin |
| 1935 | Trix (Nuremberg, Germany) presents a more sophisticated Bing-00-program with 3 electrically isolated rails. Now, more than one train can be run independently on the same track. AC. Märklin also offers an 00-gauge system in fall; using DC-power in the beginning and later converted to AC. Foundation of the NMRA (National Model Railroad Association), USA |
| 1936 | Kits become popular in the USA |
| 1949 | The Association of German Model Railroad Clubs (VDMEC) is founded. Lytax produces the first TT-models (12 mm gauge, ratio 1/120). |
| 1950 | First German model railroad standards by VDMEC(MONO) |
| 1953 | Trix in Nuremberg converts to DC and offers the first single-knob powerpack. |
| 1954 | Foundation of the MOROP (Modellbanverband Europa).This is the association of national european model railroad associations. |
| 1959 | Trix offers the first non-powered models in 1/180 ratio (Minitrix). |
| 1960 | Arnold offers the first electric powered model railroad in 1/160 ration and 8 mm gauge track. Later the track was converted to 9mm (N). |
| 1965 | The System Rot-Dinter is the first usable electronic multi-train control as a small production series, based on an analog carrier frequency. |
| 1968 | Introduction of an era-classification in Germany |
| 1972 | Märklin introduces Z.gauge: proportion 1:220, track-gauge 6,5 mm (0.26 inches) |
| 1973 | Trix offers it's ems-system, an electronic multi train control system produced on a large scale for H0 and N. |
| 1976 | Roco in Austria offers the first short couplings for H0 |
| 1982 | Trix is the first to offer a complete digital system: Selectrix |
If you would like to read this page in German language, just click the language icon to the left of the site logo...
© 2009 by Erhard Baltrusch, Hamburg, Germany