Marklin’s massive building kit 89200 was announced as a new item more than 20 years ago, it was an eye-popping new release with a footprint 34 x 18 inches thus collectors had to have room or make room for it. The kit is now long out of production and hard to find, but some still circulate as dealer old stock. I bought one when it came out, but I ended up selling it owed largely to lack of space, but I regretted the decision and bought a second: it’s has been sitting on a shelf for years. Time has come to get on with it and build it with a proper dedicated table more as historic display piece rather than part of a layout.

There is much than can be read online about the old station which was built in the late 19th century and later largely destroyed during WWII, but if the bad guys had won the station would have gone anyway. Some of the building still exists mostly as a preserved ruin, its colors made up of various shadings of ochre.

For those interested in buying a kit, I want to point out a couple of things to look for in determining if the kit is complete. First the kit should include the plastic building parts which will be found loosely thrown in box without wrapping: many sprue fragments floating around. Second it should include an architectural rendering of the buildings footprint which is excellent and suitable for framing. Third it will include build instructions. And fourth it will include 4 ZAMAC die cast pieces to adorn the buildings facade, high quality detailed castings will be found in a plastic bag floating in the box. The large diecast piece in my kit is not level thus it falls over because of the uneven base (blue tape in photo was necessary for it to stand): repair should be easy. Much of the time this kit will have a damaged box due to flimsiness and large size.