Model train brands: what each one makes and what it costs

Browse model trains on any second-hand site and the first thing you see is a brand name: Märklin, Roco, Piko, Hornby, KATO, TOMIX. This article goes through about fifteen common brands by region. For each one it covers the scales it makes, the power system it uses and which country's trains it mostly models. It then uses the prices on each brand's own website to show roughly where their locomotives sit.

Narrow it down by scale and system first

Before picking a brand, check what scale it makes and what power system it uses. The scale decides how big the trains are and how much room you need. The system decides whether a train will run on your track at all. Both are covered in Scales and gauges and AC or DC, analog or DCC. Once those two are settled, the list of brands gets much shorter.

The table below is a quick reference. The price column is the median listed price of the brand's locomotives on its official website. How the prices were collected is explained under "How to read the prices".

Brand	Based in	Main scales	Power system	Mostly models trains from	Median locomotive price
	Germany	HO, also Z and 1 2	Three-rail AC 1	Mainly Germany 20	HO €449
	Germany (owned by Märklin)	HO / N 3	Two-rail DC 3	Mainly Germany, also Switzerland, France, the Netherlands and others 20	HO €449, N €337
	Germany (owned by Märklin)	G (1:22.5) 4	Not found	Mainly Europe, also US and Canadian models 4	No reliable price data
	Austria	HO, also N and TT 5	Two-rail DC, some models also in AC 21	Many European countries, plus some US models 5	No reliable price data
	Germany (same group as Roco)	N 67	Not found	Central Europe 6	No reliable price data
	Germany	HO, also G, TT and N 8	Two-rail DC, some models also in AC 20	Mainly Germany, also Poland, the Netherlands, Austria, Czechia and others 20	HO €295
	Germany	HO, also TT, N and Z 9	HO comes in both DC and AC versions 9	Not found	No reliable price data
	Founded in Austria, now owned by Bachmann	HO, H0e, N 10	Two-rail DC 10	Germany, Austria 20	HO €335
	UK	OO 12	Not found	UK 20	OO £190
	Italy (now owned by Hornby)	HO 20	Not found	Mainly Italy, also Germany and Austria 20	HO £276
	Founded in the US, headquartered in Hong Kong	HO, N, OO, G and others 11	Not found	US, UK 11	No reliable price data
	US	N, HO, O 14	Not found	Not found	No reliable price data
	Japan	N, HO, 16-ban 15	Two-rail DC 15	Japan, plus exports to the US and Europe 15	Website examples only: N-scale EF65 ¥7,700 to ¥7,920 28
	Japan	N, also 16-ban 16	Two-rail DC 16	Japan 20	N single locomotive ¥8,580, N basic set ¥18,700
	Japan	N, also 16-ban 17	Not found	Not found	N complete train set ¥19,580
	Japan	N 18	Not found	Japanese private railways, regional JR trains 18	Ready-to-run basic set ¥23,925, kit ¥3,960
	Japan	Mainly 16-ban, plus brass models 31	Not found	Japan; US models in its early years 31	No reliable price data

("Not found" means we found no reliable source for that cell, not that the answer is "none". Where the "Mostly models trains from" column cites ²⁰, it was worked out from the railway company listed for each product in the catalog; for TOMIX, from the train and railway names in the product titles. For how prices were collected, see "How to read the prices".)

Germany and Austria

Märklin, with Trix and LGB

Märklin was founded in 1859 and is based in Göppingen, Germany ¹. Most of its products are 1:87 HO ². It uses its own three-rail AC system. The wheels are not insulated, so Märklin trains cannot simply be put on another brand's two-rail DC track ¹. Besides HO, Märklin makes 1:220 Z (which it calls mini-club) and 1:32 gauge 1 ².

Märklin has owned Trix since January 1997 ³. Märklin now uses the Trix name to sell two-rail DC models in HO and N; the N range is called Minitrix ³. New Trix HO models overlap more and more with Märklin's, and the main difference is the power system ³. If you like Märklin's German trains but want to run DC, look at Trix.

LGB (Lehmann Groß Bahn) was launched by the Lehmann company in 1968 and bought by Märklin in 2007 ¹⁴. It makes large 1:22.5 models that run on 45 mm track, mostly for garden railways laid outdoors ²⁴. It is the most popular garden railway system in Europe ⁴.

Among the European brands in the catalog, Märklin and Trix list the highest HO locomotive prices. Märklin's median is €449, with the middle half between €399 and €539 ²⁰. Märklin also has a beginner range called "Start up": the 8 HO locomotives in it are listed between €90 and €160 ²⁰.

Roco and Fleischmann

Roco was founded in 1960 by Heinz Rössler in Salzburg, Austria. It makes HO and N, and later added TT ⁵. In February 2008, Roco's parent company Modelleisenbahn bought Fleischmann, and the two brands have been run separately since ⁵. Since 2019, Fleischmann no longer makes HO and only makes N; its HO models moved to the Roco name ⁶⁷. English Wikipedia describes the two together as the largest maker of two-rail DC models in Europe ⁵.

Roco's HO models also come in AC versions. In the 7-digit item numbers used since 2023, a third digit of 0, 1 or 2 means analog DC, digital DC or digital AC ²¹²² (see AC or DC, analog or DCC). So people on Märklin's AC system can buy Roco too, as long as they pick the AC version.

Roco's and Fleischmann's websites block automated access, so the catalog has no prices for them and we don't estimate any here ²⁰.

Piko

Piko was founded in East Germany in 1949 as a state-owned company. After reunification, it was bought in 1992 by PIKO Spielwaren GmbH, set up by René F. Wilfer ⁸. It is based in Sonneberg and makes four scales: G, HO, TT and N ⁸.

Piko's HO locomotives come in several tiers. Its official shop splits them into Hobby, Expert and Classic ranges ²⁰. Hobby is the entry-level range, with a median HO locomotive price of €149; Expert is the main range, at a median of €309 ²⁰. On a tight budget, start with the Hobby range. Most Piko HO locomotives are two-rail DC, but many also come in AC; the shop lists DC (Gleichstrom) and AC (Wechselstrom) separately ²⁰.

Brawa and Liliput

Brawa was founded in 1948 by Artur Braun in Waiblingen; the name comes from the first letters of "Artur Braun aus Waiblingen" ⁹. It started with accessories such as lighting and only began making rolling stock in 1993. Its HO models come in both DC and AC versions ⁹. Brawa's website shows no prices ²⁰.

Liliput was founded in Vienna in 1947 ¹⁰ and bought by Bachmann in 1992 ¹¹. The brand is now run by Bachmann Europe's German branch and makes HO, H0e (narrow gauge) and N ¹⁰. Its median listed HO locomotive price is €335 ²⁰.

Britain and Italy

Hornby and Rivarossi

Hornby is a British brand that launched its first OO train in 1938 ¹². OO is the most popular scale in the UK ²³. It is 1:76.2 but runs on 16.5 mm HO track, so the trains are a size bigger than 1:87 HO (see Scales and gauges). Hornby's catalog is mostly British prototypes ²⁰. Its median listed OO locomotive price is £190 ²⁰.

Hornby also owns several older European brands. Italy's Rivarossi was founded in 1945 and bought by Hornby in 2004 ¹³; the same deal brought in Lima, Jouef, Arnold and other brands ¹²¹³. Hornby also bought the Spanish company Electrotren ¹². All the locomotives in Rivarossi's online catalog are HO, mostly Italian prototypes, with a median listed price of £276 ²⁰.

Bachmann

Bachmann started in Philadelphia. It is now part of the Kader group, headquartered in Hong Kong, with models made in Dongguan ¹¹. In the US it sells HO, N, On30, G and other scales ¹¹. In the UK, Bachmann Europe sells OO models under the Branchline name and British 1:148 N models under the Graham Farish name ¹¹. Bachmann used to focus on entry-level train sets, and in 1988 it launched the more detailed Spectrum range ¹¹. The catalog does not cover Bachmann yet, so there are no prices here ²⁰.

United States: Atlas

Atlas is based in New Jersey and makes N, HO and O models. It is best known for track: Flex Track, which can be bent to different curves, and track in code 55, 80, 83 and 100 rail heights ¹⁴. The code number is the rail height in thousandths of an inch, so code 55 rail is 0.055 inches tall ¹⁴. Atlas's website fills in prices with scripts, and the catalog could not collect them reliably, so we give no figures here ²⁰.

Japan

Japanese scales first

N is the most popular scale in Japan ²⁵. But Japanese N is 1:150, and only the Shinkansen uses 1:160 ²⁴. Most Japanese railways are 1,067 mm narrow gauge and the trains are smaller than European or American ones; at 1:150 they don't look too small next to Western models ²⁴. Both ratios run on 9 mm track, so they share the same track ²⁴.

The main larger Japanese size is "16-ban" (16番): 1:80 on 16.5 mm track ²⁶. It uses the same track as Western HO (1:87), but the trains are a size bigger. Some Japanese shops and modelers call 16-ban "HO", which is wrong by the standards ²⁶. When a Japanese site says "HO", check whether it means 1:80 or 1:87.

How Japanese trains are sold: basic, add-on and starter sets

Many Japanese N-scale trains are sold as formations split across two or three boxes. The basic set (基本セット) contains the motorized car, and the add-on set (増結セット) adds more cars. Greenmax writes this straight into its product names: basic sets say 動力付き (powered) and add-on sets say 動力無し (unpowered) ²⁰. Take KATO's E5 series Shinkansen "Hayabusa": the 3-car basic set is ¥12,210, add-on set A (3 cars) is ¥10,450 and add-on set B (4 cars) is ¥12,650, so the full 10-car train comes to ¥35,310 ²⁹.

In the catalog, TOMIX's N basic sets have a median price of ¥18,700 and its add-on sets ¥12,100 ²⁰. TOMIX lists 334 products with 増結セット (add-on set) in the name ²⁰.

To get everything at once, buy a maker's starter set (スターターセット), which includes a train, a loop of track and a controller ³². KATO's E5 starter set is ¥22,000 ²⁹ and its series 787 starter set is ¥29,150 ³². TOMIX's starter sets are called "Basic Set SD" (ベーシックセット SD) and "First Set" (ファーストセット), listed between ¥13,200 and ¥31,900 ²⁰.

KATO

KATO's company name is Sekisui Kinzoku. It was founded in 1957 by Yuji Kato and is based in Tokyo ¹⁵. It began by making HO parts for other companies, and in 1965 released a C50 steam locomotive and an Oha 31 passenger car, Japan's first proper mass-produced plastic N-scale models ¹⁵. Today it makes two-rail DC N, HO and 16-ban rolling stock, plus track, buildings and controllers ¹⁵. KATO also exports: US models are sold through KATO USA, and European models are made to order for local manufacturers ¹⁵.

KATO's website lists prices including tax. Some examples: the N-scale EF65 1000 electric locomotive is ¥7,700 to ¥7,920 ²⁸, and the HO (16-ban) EF65 0 is ¥19,800 ³⁰. KATO is not in the catalog yet, so we can only give examples, not a median ²⁰.

TOMIX

TOMIX has a history with America's Bachmann. The toy company Tomy imported Bachmann's N-scale products in 1969, and from 1974 sold Japanese models under the "Tomy Nine Scale" (トミーナインスケール) brand. Some of those early Japanese models were made by Kader in Hong Kong ¹⁶, the company that owns Bachmann today ¹¹. Tomy created the TOMIX brand in 1976, and since 2001 it has been run by its subsidiary TomyTec ¹⁶.

TOMIX now makes two-rail DC N-scale trains, track, buildings and controllers, plus HO (16-ban) rolling stock ¹⁶. Besides hobby shops, TOMIX is sold in ordinary toy stores and large retail chains ¹⁶. Going by the product names, almost all the TOMIX trains and sets in the catalog are Japanese ²⁰. The median price of a single N-scale locomotive is ¥8,580, and of an HO locomotive ¥43,780 ²⁰.

Two track systems: KATO Unitrack and TOMIX Fine Track

For Japanese N scale, the track is almost always one of these two. Both are sectional track with built-in roadbed that clips together, but the sizes and joiners differ:

The two cannot be joined directly. The joiners get in each other's way and the roadbed heights differ ¹⁹. To connect them you need an adapter track: KATO's is 20-045 and TOMIX's is 1529 ¹⁹. So whichever brand your first track comes from, it is easiest to keep buying that brand (our suggestion).

Micro Ace

Micro Ace grew out of the model company Arii (有井製作所). It began selling China-made N-scale trains in 1996 and added HO (16-ban) in 2005 ¹⁷. Almost all its N-scale trains are sold as complete formations ²⁰. On its product list, the median N set is ¥19,580 and the median N basic set ¥21,780; HO products (all types combined) have a median of ¥21,780 ²⁰. The list doesn't mark discontinued items, so these figures mix old and new models ²⁰.

Greenmax

Greenmax started in 1972 as a model shop in Itabashi, Tokyo ¹⁸. For many years it mainly made unpainted plastic N-scale kits that you assemble and paint yourself. From the mid-1990s it began selling pre-painted kits and ready-to-run models, and those two are now its main lines ¹⁸. It focuses on Japanese private railways and regional JR trains, often models that other ready-to-run makers don't produce ¹⁸.

In the catalog, Greenmax's N ready-to-run basic sets have a median price of ¥23,925 including tax, and its kits ¥3,960 ²⁰. (Greenmax's website data gives prices before tax, so we multiplied them by 1.1 to include tax and match TOMIX and Micro Ace ²⁰.)

Tenshodo

Tenshodo is an old jewelry and watch shop in Ginza, Tokyo, that has sold model trains since 1949 ³¹. It started by making brass models of American trains for US occupation personnel, and began exporting to the US in 1954 ³¹. Tenshodo is best known for high-end brass models, made with the lost-wax casting used in jewelry ³¹. In recent years it has also worked with other companies on more affordable plastic and die-cast models; its plastic HO models are made with Bachmann ³¹. Tenshodo also distributes Roco, Bachmann and Kadee products ³¹. Its prices are not in the catalog, so we give none here ²⁰.

Bachmann and Japan

We found no Bachmann product range of its own in Japan. We did find three connections. The company that became TOMIX first imported Bachmann's N-scale trains ¹⁶. Some early TOMIX Japanese models were made by Kader, today Bachmann's parent company ¹¹¹⁶. And Tenshodo makes plastic HO models with Bachmann and distributes Bachmann products ³¹.

How to read the prices

The prices above come from the Hobbee model train catalog: product listings collected from each brand's official website on October 6 and 7, 2026 ²⁰. How they were collected:

• These are official website prices. European brands are euro prices on the German official site or official shop (Märklin and Trix list recommended retail prices). Hornby and Rivarossi are pound prices on the UK sites. Japanese brands are the makers' prices including tax (Greenmax's are stored before tax, so we multiplied them by 1.1). They are not second-hand prices or discounted shop prices.
• For European and US brands we only counted locomotives, not cars, track or accessories. Japanese trains are mostly sold as formations, so we also counted basic sets, add-on sets and complete sets.
• For Piko we removed items the site marks as discontinued. For the other brands we used everything in the online catalog, including announced models that are not yet out.
• We give the median. Ranges in brackets or in the text are the middle half (25th to 75th percentile).
• Prices stay in their original currency and are not compared across currencies.

European and British brands (locomotives):

Japanese brands (yen, including tax):

KATO is not in the catalog, so here are single examples from its website: the N-scale EF65 1000 at ¥7,700 to ¥7,920 ²⁸, the 3-car E5 series basic set at ¥12,210 ²⁹, and the HO EF65 0 at ¥19,800 ³⁰.

Brands with no price data: Roco and Fleischmann (their sites block automated access), Brawa (no prices on its site), Atlas (prices are filled in by scripts and could not be collected reliably), and LGB, Bachmann and Tenshodo (not in the catalog yet). This article gives no price range for them.

How a beginner should choose

These are our suggestions, not rules.

• Narrow it down by scale and system first. On Märklin's AC system, look at Märklin plus the AC versions from Roco and Piko. For two-rail DC HO, look at Trix, Roco, Piko, Liliput and others.
• For HO on a budget, look at Piko's Hobby range and Märklin's Start up range. By median price, a Piko Hobby locomotive costs about half as much as an Expert one, and a Märklin Start up locomotive about a quarter of Märklin's HO median (see the table and the Märklin section).
• For Japanese trains, start in N with a KATO or TOMIX starter set, which gets you a train, track and controller in one box ²⁰³². Keep buying track from the same brand afterwards, since the two only connect with adapter track ¹⁹. For particular private railway or regional trains, look at Micro Ace and Greenmax.
• For British trains, choose OO: both Hornby and Bachmann's Branchline make it ¹¹¹².