Historical Model Railway Exhibition
The Historical Model Railway Exhibition is one of the largest in Europe. It features a giant scale model of the railways of Hungary, Austria, and Germany from the 19th to the 21st centuries, including meticulously recreated station buildings, tracks, locomotives, and trains.
The model landscape spans more than 503 m² with over 2.7 kilometers of track. Through 348 fully automated, decoder-controlled turnouts and among more than 600 buildings, 75 historically accurate train compositions operate simultaneously, based on locomotives, passenger cars, and freight wagons from the past two centuries, all in H0 (1:87) scale. Station track layouts are based on aerial photographs and original plans, complemented by historical blueprints and technical descriptions of Hungary’s most famous trains.
In recent years, the exhibition has been completely renewed. Most of the landscape has been rebuilt using the latest technology. A highlight is the “Lights of the Night” display, where hundreds of lamps in the buildings and streets illuminate the model in a unique, magical light. An interactive system allows visitors to trigger hidden elements using motion sensors—for example, starting a fire at a campfire, operating a crane at a construction site, or feeding chickens on a farm. A special camera-equipped locomotive also lets visitors experience the landscape from the engineer’s perspective.
Galéria
The exhibition pays tribute to the former Austro-Hungarian Southern Railway with layouts of the Semmering–Klamm and Nagykanizsa–Budapest-Déli lines. Semmering represents the Austrian section of the railway (Süd Bahn), while the Nagykanizsa–Budapest line was the main Hungarian section. The Klamm–Semmering stretch, with its viaducts and tunnels, is one of the largest mountain railway layouts in the world, accurately illustrating elevation changes and all engineering structures.
The Zala layout consists of two interconnected main units. Stations represented on the Zala lines include Nagykanizsa, Zalaegerszeg, Zalaszentiván, Zalaszentiván-Kisfaludpuszta, Zalalövő, Őriszentpéter, Keszthely, Badacsonytomaj, Pannonhalma, and Sümeg. The main line between Nagykanizsa and Budapest-Déli passes through Balatonszentgyörgy, Székesfehérvár, and Kelenföld. All stations are presented as they appeared at the height of their activity.
Galéria
At the center of the hall runs the Nürnberg layout, featuring the Black Forest, the city of Nürnberg, Bad Schandau (a former East German–Czechoslovak border crossing), and a Central European-style city. Trains travel through snowy winter landscapes in the Black Forest and Nürnberg, while the rest of the terrain shows autumn scenery. Nürnberg layout stations include Triberg, Nürnberg, Bad Schandau, Sebnitz, and the Central European city.
All stations are faithful replicas of the originals. The largest station, Nürnberg, has 26 tracks, while the smallest, Őriszentpéter, has 3 tracks. The Central European city includes a 9-track main station, a container freight yard, a traffic depot, a 21-stall roundhouse, and associated facilities.
The average duration of viewing the exhibition is approximately 20-30 minutes.