In 2008 this superb model railway layout was opened in the city of Oberhausen, located directly in the heart of Germany’s coal and steel industry, the so-called Ruhr area. Then, this permanent model railway exhibition represented cities, landscapes, steelworks, coal mines and the rail transport in the 1970‘s. The model railroad layout was constructed in HO scale or H0 gauge and covered an area of more than 420 square meters. Due to financial problems, this model railroad exhibit was closed two years after the opening.
Fortunately in September 2012, this large model railway layout was sold to a new owner, who re-installed the whole layout and made it accessible to visitors again. Today, this fine layout is a part of the railway museum, called „Modellbahnwelt Odenwald“, located near Frankfurt/Main, Germany. The miniature world was built according to original track plans, stations and landscapes, for example, the Oberhausen central station, the port of Dortmund, the blast furnace plant of Oberhausen, colliery and coking plants.
On the layout, there are many replicas of well-known buildings in the Ruhr area. Furthermore, a special highlight is the photorealistic background system of the model landscape. The model railroad was designed as a two-wire digital system, which is used by model trains of Fleischmann, Roco and from many other manufacturers, except Märklin. Locomotives, light effects and trains are managed by the digital model railway control system „TrainController“. Enjoy Pilentum’s train journey of at least 80 minutes on a several kilometers long track system.