A model train market in Virovitica, the first in Croatia.
The first model train market has taken place in Virovitica, organized by Goran Denac from Virovitica and the City Tourist Board. Many visitors from all parts of Croatia came and bought small models of locomotives, wagons and rails, which have been presented by Goran’s numerous friends, collectors and model makers from Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Hungary, reports Glas Slavonije on October 28, 2015.
“This is a great event for Virovitica, and for all the fans of model trains”, said on Saturday many of the visitors who came to the first market of model trains, as well as to the well-known model and exhibition “Virovitica Loves Trains”, at the premises of the Croatian Railways Union at the City Railway Station. The visitors could see the entire famous “Oto Horvat” model, which is still waiting for a complete restoration.
Director of the Virovitica City Tourist Board Katarina Đurđević said they have been looking for some time for a new, larger and more adequate space for the exhibition, in order to make it more accessible to all visitors, particularly children.
Goran Denac is a medical technician from Virovitica who has collected about 150 locomotives and 500 wagons over the last twenty years. His models and showcases contain more than a kilometre of railway tracks. “When we were young, we all had someone in Germany, an aunt or someone else who would come, always bringing cars and various catalogues from shops which were filled with model trains as well. It was my desire to have these trains from the catalogues, but I was not able to get them. I was living at the railway station, my family house is even today just a few meters from the station. In addition, my grandfather worked for the rail company, he was a railway worker and had many pictures of trains that I was fascinated with. I am more of a collector than a modeller. When I have time, I make a tree, plant a bit of grass, but today I buy most of all materials ready-made and then only put them together, paint them…”, Denac said.
