KM1 Modellbau celebrates its 20th anniversary

By Peter Pernsteiner

In 2003, Andreas Krug started developing the first sophisticated technical details for 1:32 scale train models. In the meantime, his company KM1 Modellbau has grown into a full-range supplier for gauge one trains and the portfolio for gauge zero trains with a scale of 1:45 is also developing strongly in this direction.

The history of KM1 Modellbau e.K. began back in September 2003, in the workshop rooms of a small former carpenter’s workshop near the railway station of the town of Lauingen an der Donau. On the one hand, Andreas Krug started refining, for example, Märklin locomotives in 1:32 scale there and, on the other, he also began developing his own first train model. He announced the class 41 steam locomotive with tender as a brass handmade model early in 2004. These 74 cm long locomotives weighing 7.5 kg were already being delivered as early as the end of 2004. Even then, they had an amazingly realistic sound and a rhythmic smoke generator for the chimney or smokestack that is synchronised to the train’s speed.

Further sophisticated innovations in steam locomotive model technology followed as early as in 2005 and 2009. In 2010, the company moved to new and much larger premises and also started building its own track system. In recent years, the company premises have been comprehensively expanded with new buildings being added in which, for example, laser-cut models and the track system as well as realistic locomotive turntables are still being manufactured. These days, KM1 Modellbau is active worldwide and manufactures in six other production sites in the Far East and Europe. The company owner is also proud of the fact that many of his products are now distributed by around 300 specialist dealers and that he has been able to acquire more than 10,000 direct customers in 51 countries.

Musician with the model railway bug

Andreas Krug must have got the model railway bug at a very early age, but, of course, he can’t really remember when: “When I was three years old, my father gave me a Fischertechnik train for Christmas that could run on Fleischmann H0 tracks. Soon after that, I actually got my first H0 railway layout, which I still tinkered with a lot as a teenager.” However, another hobby also played a very decisive role when choosing his current profession: “Even as a child, I learned to play various instruments. After graduating from high school, I then studied the viola, violin, organ and piano.” Parallel to his practical musical experiences, he set up a recording studio while still at school, which he has run on a commercial basis ever since the mid-1990s.

Andreas Krug first became fascinated with the world of 1:32 scale model trains in the late 1990s  – but only as a hobby at first. When the ESU company presented the first LokSound Digital Decoder at the 1999 Spielwarenmesse, Krug quickly realised that his sound studio experience could come in quite handy. In 2002, he was allowed to mix real sound locomotive noises for ESU in his sound studio for the first time ever. The sounds alone, however, were still not close enough to reality for him personally, as he well recalls: “At that time, steam and diesel locomotives only had a smoke capsule and could only puff very monotonously and evenly. Out of this desire, as of March 2003, I developed my first rhythmically synchronised smoke generator with an electronically controllable miniature blower. This project was also the start of my own company for developing and marketing realistic train models.”

Official launch in October 2003

Andreas Krug first became fascinated with the world of 1:32 scale model trains in the late 1990s  – but only as a hobby at first. When the ESU company presented the first LokSound Digital Decoder at the 1999 Spielwarenmesse, Krug quickly realised that his sound studio experience could come in quite handy. In 2002, he was allowed to mix real sound locomotive noises for ESU in his sound studio for the first time ever. The sounds alone, however, were still not close enough to reality for him personally, as he well recalls: “At that time, steam and diesel locomotives only had a smoke capsule and could only puff very monotonously and evenly. Out of this desire, as of March 2003, I developed my first rhythmically synchronised smoke generator with an electronically controllable miniature blower. This project was also the start of my own company for developing and marketing realistic train models.”

“The response to the working model of the class 41 was so great that I felt encouraged to develop further locomotives and, of course, wagons and I also took the decision to go to the Spielwarenmesse with my own stand for the first time in 2005,” says Krug, recalling those days. In the summer of 2005, he presented yet another world first: the first electric gauge one locomotive with steam coming out of the cylinders independently of the chimney. At the Spielwarenmesse in 2009, the company presented its first electrically powered steam train with a functioning replica of a steam whistle.
In 2010, KM1 started taking a significant step towards becoming a full-range supplier for gauge one, introducing a finely detailed track system with real wooden sleepers. Since then, the sleepers have been manufactured with true-to-scale wood grain using laser engraving in Lauingen, and the rail sections are made from nickel-plated nickel silver using rolling technology, also in Germany. In the summer of 2012, the first locomotive turntables were delivered and, soon after that, the first turnouts and signals. At the same time, the firm introduced a digital control centre with a high-performance current output.

In the meantime, KM1 has successfully delivered almost 60 locomotive series in a total of more than 500 different variants to its customers, plus dozens of wagons of the most diverse types. In gauge zero (scale 1:45), KM1 announced its first model in 2020 and delivered it in 2022. Here, too, many other locomotives and wagons as well as various accessories will successively follow. Furthermore, the company produced and delivered a narrow-gauge locomotive in 1:22.5 scale (2m gauge) for the first time in 2023, and the range also includes several locomotive models with live steam propulsion.

New premises

When business expanded, it soon became very cramped in the old carpenter’s workshop. So, back in 2007, Andreas Krug and his wife decided to look around for a solution. By chance, the old electricity production plant of the former Lauingen public utility company nearby was empty. The town of Lauingen was looking for an investor who wanted to preserve the ensemble of buildings, along with the historic power generator machine hall from 1914, and take care of preserving the 48 metre high historic water tower that stood on the company grounds. “In 2009, we agreed on a concept with Lauingen Town Council and started on extensive renovation and modernisation work,” says Carmen Krug. She sums up with relief: “In 2010, the first renovation measures at least made it possible to move the firm in, but, until 2012, there wasn't really enough room for an 80 m² display layout, showcases, smaller seminar rooms and a cosy bistro café with a panoramic roof terrace.”

In the years that followed, KM1’s premises were comprehensively expanded, with new buildings being added. The centrepiece here is a 400 m² event hall in the E-Park in Lauingen, which, since 2018, has been used for the KM1 in-house exhibition, among other things, but is also available for completely different non-model railway events. During the KM1 in-house exhibition dates, numerous external companies are usually also guest exhibitors. The historic part of the company’s premises have been converted into the “EXPOneum” museum, in which the links from the discovery of steam power to the railway are illustrated at first hand. The exhibits there include, for example, large steam engines and also some 1:32 scale display layouts. The EXPOneum is complemented by the E-Park around the historic water tower, which Carmen Krug is also working hard to design and maintain. In this E-Park, for example, no less than 1,200 metres of 5-1/4” and 7-1/2” gauge track are laid, on which round trips with large real steam park trains take place several times a year.

20 years of KM1 Modellbau

On 21 and 22 October 2023, the 20th anniversary of the company was celebrated on a grand scale with many customers from near and far. On both those days, there were three one-hour guided tours around the company’s premises. In the KM1 shop, model railway fans could stock up on accessories and a bargain or two. The possibilities offered by the latest digital model railway technology were illustrated during demonstrations. The model highlight was the series-production model of the class 59 steam locomotive with its enormous F-type coupler with six coupled driving axles, which had arrived just a few days earlier. Also attracting great interest was, among others, a class 50 freight steam train in a variant with a replacement boiler of that time (transitional wartime loco boiler), which were presented for the first time. Moreover, visitors could gain an insight into the construction and mould making of KM1, and the EXPOneum was, of course, also open on both days. The event was rounded off by a live video interview between the well-known German TV presenter and railway lover Hagen von Ortloff and Andreas Krug.

More impressions of the anniversary at KM1 Modellbau can be found on the YouTube channel of Peter Pernsteiner under the search term "20 Jahre KM1".

About the author

Peter Pernsteiner discovered his love of technical journalism when studying electrical engineering and joined the editorial staff of a large ICT trade magazine soon after. Since 1994, he has worked as a freelance journalist, focusing on tech topics – including for model railway magazines. In 2016, he also started a YouTube channel for technology reports which has since attracted global attention.