This model railway layout was opened in 2014, and it is one of the largest layouts made by Marklin in Germany. It is called Oktorail Model Train Show. The model train layout presents a journey from Germany’s Ruhr Valley with its steel and coal industry to Italy. At the beginning of the exhibition, the Ruhr Valley is presented before the days of heavy industry. Then, there is one of the first displays showing the coal loading in a port in the 1960s. At that time, the coal was first stored and later loaded onto ships. Behind that scenery, a replica of a typical mine in the Ruhr Valley is presented.
This scale model of the mine includes any technical details. Next to the coal and steel industry, the so-called Rhine Route is presented. This is a part of the freight and passenger traffic railway line, which leads from the Ruhr Valley to other regions. For example, there are many trains running along this railway line. Furthermore, there is a fairground or fun park. At the fairground, more than 20,000 LED were installed. Right next to the fairground, there are a town, two model cyclists and an amazing castle.
There is also a great central station where various passenger trains and freight trains meet each other. Far behind the central station, a large car factory is located. Cars and vehicles are shipped by freight trains to the Alps. After discovering this German section of the great model railroad layout, the Alps are the next special attraction inside this model train show. There are mountains, bridges and a lot of railway lines. Finally, the trains - after climbing the Alps - reach their destination in Italy. Inside the Italian section of this great exhibit, the region around Venice and its typical landscapes, train, cars and locomotives are presented.
