The world's largest and most complex Fischertechnik cable car model has a new home. © SI

Cableway & Technology, Cities

Cable car model finds a home

A desperate plea reached the SI editorial team a year ago. The 1:10 scale Fischertechnik cable car had lost its shelter and was urgently seeking a new home. The world’s largest and most complex Fischertechnik model was facing complete shutdown - and with it, a project into which 30 volunteers had invested thousands of work hours. But now, there is good news.

Thomas Surrer

13. August 2026

“Cable car model urgently needs shelter” was our headline in late June 2025: The world’s largest and most complex Fischertechnik model had to move out of the Fördertechnik Museum Sinsheim (Germany) and was searching for a new home.

Thanks in part to our SI Urban coverage, a solution has now been found. Following the appeal, the German city of Herne reached out to the model builders and agreed on a new location for the exhibit.

Since January 2026, the 1:10 scale Fischertechnik model cable car (Doppelmayr 10-MGD) has been housed in Herne for at least two years. There, cable car enthusiasts are not only able to store the installation, but also display it. The exhibition period will also be used to continue building the model.

Since Herne is planning its own cable car in the Blumenthal business park, the city was keen to invite and support the team as “Ambassadors for Urban Cable Cars.”

Mayor Frank Dudda also advocated for the model to be presented to the public for a full month in September 2026 as part of Manifesta 26.

Tilo Rust

Project Manager ft.seilbahn-Project

“Even though it is already known that an aerial tramway is being built in Herne, our model of a monocable gondola lift can demonstrate the fundamental technology, purpose, and benefits of a cable car. In Herne, we are also supplementing our model – which, by the way, also corresponds to the cable car system in Paris – with models featuring the construction style planned for Herne. Together, they serve as a valuable information point regarding the upcoming construction in the city.”

Relocation, Assembly, and First Presentation

The transport from the museum in Sinsheim to Herne already took place in December 2025 via a freight forwarding company. After all, the model now fills 19 Euro-pallets.

In January 2026, it was displayed for the first time in a shortened form (without the return station and with one fewer support tower) as part of a community event. Here, the team was able to put nearly 200 work hours into the model and improve it significantly.

About the project

The ft.seilbahn project was founded seven years ago in Mannheim as a private model-building initiative and has been built with the help of over 30 rotating specialists.

Originally initiated as a 1:10 scale replica of the BUGA23 cable car (where it was also exhibited), the model has grown into a comprehensive informational display that includes an original D-5000 grip and other small exhibits on urban cable cars. Right from the start, the team designed the model to be modular, allowing it to be loaded with a forklift and exhibited anywhere.

One highlight (which, however, cannot be shown in Herne this time due to space constraints) is the “Luisenpark” return/top station, where visitors can step underneath the model and experience the technology from a first-person perspective.

This time, the all-volunteer team of tinkers – who, by the way, have no professional ties to cable car construction or fischertechnik – will be working on the 260 tire conveyors, the programming, and the platforms. Anyone interested can watch over their shoulders or even lend a hand – there is plenty to do!

Model Represented at Major Event

As part of the major event Manifesta 26, from September 18 to 20, 2026, the model built from 100,000 individual fischertechnik parts will be housed in a retail store in Herne-Wanne and open to the public almost daily. Guided tours, demonstrations, and celebratory events will round out the program.

In addition, other fischertechnik models will enhance the exhibition for visitors. Admission and participation in the guided tours, which are also available in English, are free of charge. Special tours for groups can be booked.

City Leadership Places Building Block

A special highlight will be a ceremony in which Mayor Frank Dudda will place the 100,000th building block, celebrating the world’s largest and most complex fischertechnik model.

But even before then, the 23-meter-long installation will go into operation, gliding the OMEGA-V gondolas by CWA over the heads of visitors. This time, for the first time, featuring working doors, a replica of a Doppelmayr Connect control system, as well as safety systems and platforms with media fronts.