Which is the best model railway?

This is a question that is sure to start a fairly heated discussion between devotees of various brands of model railways. Each person will have their own answer based on the experiences they have had over the years. However, in most cases, people tend to stay with the brand that they originally bought or were given.

In my own case and I believe this applies to many other people, I had wanted a train set for so long that when I eventually was given a Lionel set, to me it was undoubtedly the best train set in the world. My friends mainly had Hornby sets, which I thought were OK but not as good as mine. They disagreed with me and in the end, as we were all happy with what we had, we agreed very amicably to differ!!

Even though the majority of serious train modellers have kept their original train set, where they have been able to expand the layout and they find another company’s models compliment what they already have and are interchangeable with their original one, then they are happy to add this to their collection. After all, no company produces every type of locomotive or rolling stock and it is only to be expected that a variety of models will produce a more realistic finish.

Whichever brand that a person is attracted to, each company continues to produce new models every year. Each company also tries innovative ideas in order to keep ahead of the competition. By following every company and seeing their new models, it is possible to keep updating and expanding your own layout. It can be an expensive hobby but once you are involved with it, it is always easy to justify the purchase of something you must have!

After considering all the different companies as well as all the different models that each company produces, I think that the answer to the question “Which is the best model railway?’ is really quite obvious and simple. The first model railway we owned will always be the best one. It will not have been the most expensive one or even the biggest or most up to date one, but each of us will have our own nostalgic reasons for saying it is definitely the best!! It created the passion within each of us that has stayed all these years and which will last for many years to come.