I recently stumbled upon an interesting model railway display – “Miniland UA” in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.
Billed as the largest model railway in Eastern Europe (Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg, Germany is the world’s largest at 1,545 m2) the Ukrainian themed 1:87 scale layout covers:
- 87 m2 in area
- 510 metres of track
- 95 metres of roads
- 1465 people
- 152 point levers
- 124 signals
- 137 buildings
- 156 wagons
- 35 locomotives
- 4374 trees
- 6242 LEDs
Work on the project commenced in September 2020, with a soft opening to the public from November 2022.
Railway Supply magazine speaking to the creators of the display while construction was still underway.
The authors wanted to depict Ukraine on a model – with its cities and villages, reservoirs and the railway.
As director Pavel Gushchin explained, this will be one of the largest rail projects in Eastern Europe.
Objects and details are made on a scale of 1:87. To make them as realistic as possible, the craftsmen measured the walls of each architectural object that they made.
Among the Carpathian peaks, in the very center, rises the Olesko castle, which is located in the Lviv region. There is also the Podillia region with authentic huts, pierced by a river with real water and a dam.
The authors promise that they will implement a real river, mountain lake and water mill. Water will flow from the lake along the river to the boundaries of the layout. The sluices on the water mill will regulate the flow of water.
It is planned to install special pumps and a container with water under the model.
In mini-Ukraine, there is a wide and narrow-gauge railway and stations of Ukrainian cities. Carriage models were bought in other countries and produced with their own hands. The wireframes are 3D printed and painted according to real samples.
“We buy many carriages, there are those that we make ourselves. We don’t have many manufacturers, – Pavel Gushchin explained. “One train from several wagons costs about 900 euros.” A team of six people has been creating one carriage independently for almost a month.
There are also electric trains, in particular, the “Carpathian Express” – electric train EP2 with the communication Lviv-Mukachevo.
One of the most interesting locations of the model is the railway station in Gaivoron.
“This is a unique place where narrow-track and wide-track railways are combined. However, now there has been a reconstruction of the building, and we have reproduced everything in the old version. A drawing was sent to us by a subscriber, ”Pavel emphasized.
The layout for public viewing is planned to be exhibited in April next year in the entertainment center “Blockbuster” in Kyiv. After the completion of the main work on the project, the exposition will continue to be supplemented with new objects.
And a note on the war
The impact of the Russo-Ukrainian War can be seen at the bottom of the Miniland UA website:
If there is an air-raid alarm at the time of visiting the museum, each visitor will receive a Reserve ticket, which gives the right to re-visit the museum for free within a week from the moment of its issuance.
Further reading
More photos at the Miniland UA Instagram page.
Miniland UA also have a shop selling HO scale models of Ukrainian trains, along with decals for repainting models in Ukrainian Railways liveries.
