Overview

Basic Information

Style: Modular Subway Layout
Scale: H0

Gauge: Standard 16.5mm

Track: Märklin C
Power: 3-rail AC Digital

Control: Märklin Central Station CS2
Minimum radius - visible: R9 1114,6mm

Minimum radius - hidden: R1 360,0mm
Minimum radius - turnouts: R1 360,0mm


An Introduction

New Helsinki Metro is a modular rapid transit layout depicting a Finnish-themed metro line in a fictional setting inspired by Helsinki, the capital city of Finland. The making of this layout started in spring 2015 when I bought my first metro train from a local hobby store and wanted to build an underground station to display it in. The idea has since expanded to its current form.

A large part of the real Helsinki Metro runs overground in the suburbs. As such, the layout includes overground modules depicting the stations and trackage between them, with underground tracks running under the modules on both sides. They have been realized so that only the stations have been modelled, with the rest of the track being hidden from view. Every module has a length equal to a certain combination of C-tracks. The modules all have a space for at least a double-track line with two different parallel spacings depending on the platform arrangement of the next station. There are also of course transition modules from one spacing to another.



Currently the layout includes two underground stations, one overground station and one straight overground module. More will come as I make progress. The plan is to have two overground stations with some distance between them, and five underground stations on tracks that run below the overground modules, two on each side and one below the depot area.

The layout started out as a two-rail analog system but has now been converted to incorporate a digital 3-rail system, using Märklin C-tracks. Therefore I will run only digital metro trains in the future, with all trains being models of Finnish prototypes.

Enough background information already?
Click here for a tour around the layout!


Why build a metro/subway layout?

Only a few different types of trains available, generally a very straightforward trackage with no sidings, branches or industrial areas, no shunting, no grade crossings, lots of underground sections that make for a boring scenery, no huge station areas or complex signalling and routing systems...

These are only a few reasons why not to build a metro layout.
On the other hand: why not? :)

I'm also engaged in other activities considering the world of MRR and have some digital Märklin trains of various types, I'm especially fond of the 60's analog Märklin and have a home layout consisting of M-track and various locomotives, rolling stock and accessories from that era. So that kind of answers some of the questions above. Here are some other points that I have thought out as to why it is interesting to build a metro layout:

Familiarity

When I travelled with my family as a child, we always got in the car and drove to the destination. If it was far away, we took the plane. When I moved into my own place, I didn't use my car so much as I lived near a metro station and it's a far more conventional form of travel than driving a car in the centre of Helsinki. As such, the metro is the only railway system in the world I have actually used more than just a few occasional times and I think it is a big part why I became interested in modelling it.

Uniqueness

There aren't so many subway/metro layouts out there and definitely not European ones. I know of a few nice takes on the NYC subway system but even they are scarce. Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg includes quite a nice "Hochbahn" system and that's about all I've ever seen out there. Another point is that I want to model something from my home country, but am not that interested in the classic "low-traffic Finnish countryside single-track line" thing that everyone here builds. Now don't get me wrong, the Finnish layouts I've seen, especially the FREMO-modular one are absolutely astonishing to look at and so my layout would at the best only be a shadow of those out there. Additionally, one gets to see the Finnish layouts quite much here in conventions and exhibitions so that's enough for me at the moment.

Compression

Every model railroader knows about compression, and a metro layout doesn't get away from it either. However, it is a little bit easier to make a metro layout in terms of compression, since the stations are generally much closer to each other than on a railway network. Also, the option to hide the underground tunnel-trackage between two stations is very forgiving in terms of compression. The shortest distance between two stations in the Helsinki Metro is 487 meters under the ground, and 1367 meters overground. They make for 5,6 and 15,7 meters in H0 scale, so some compression is still definitely required..

Simplicity

Sometimes less is more, don't you think? It kind of nice to just have a double-track line with a turnout every now and then and not having to worry about complex trackage and systems. Many layouts often suffer from overcomplicated trackage. That's definitely not the case in a metro layout.

Possibilities

More stations, more scenery modules, a metro depot with lots of tracks and service areas, more rolling stock, service vehicles, automated digital train control systems... I have a lot more expansion possibilities than I have space to store the modules in!

So, aren't there enough reasons already? :)


Why Märklin and not 2-rail DC?

The debate on the pro's and con's of two-rail and three-rail systems is endless and I'm not going to participate in it here. My first model train set as a child was a Märklin and I've grown used to it. This is the reason why I chose to make the metro layout also using the Märklin three-rail system.

The other reason is that I want to limit the amount of different systems I have to a minimum. I already have an analog three-rail Märklin layout and own a digital Märklin system with a CS2 and enough C-tracks to build a temporary layout every now and then. If I were to construct a two-rail digital system, I'd have three different types of model railroad equipment I'd have to concentrate on and learn new things about. That's just too much.

The rolling stock models I use are only available as analog 2-rail versions and I actually first started the project as an analog system using Trix C-tracks, but have now been moving on to a 3-rail digital system and am not going back! After all, in the long run it's easier and cheaper to just convert the trains than to build an entire system on a platform that's not the desired one.


Inspiration

My number one source of inspiration is of course the real system. I can always drive around in my hometown Helsinki and look for small details or even take a ride on the metro to get some inspiration regarding the layout. Besides that, I've frequently visited the internet pages of the "Route of the Broadway Lion", a NYC subway layout that resides in a monastery's old classroom that has actually been made by a monk. Very nice!

Well, that's about it!
Please search around the site for more information and enjoy :)