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The Museum
of Road Signs and Signals
and street lighting
The Village miniature
(Trooz)
Welcome to the Trooz "Miniature Village" page. The Village was created in 1995 and evolves with the seasons. Enjoy your visit!
2019
1- Its history:
The story of the Trooz Miniature Village actually began in Beaufays in the 1980s, when the first village was built on the site of my childhood home...
Hello, I'm Pierre-Alain Michel, designer of the Miniature Village concept. Ever since I was a child, I've had a passion for road signs, traffic lights, public lighting and construction lanterns.
In 1995, I moved to Trooz and the Miniature Village was born. All the equipment created for Beaufays was repatriated to Trooz. Only the roads still exist in Beaufays, and a few searches under the successive layers of leaves should reveal some remnants.
Major works at Trooz began in early spring 1995. Each road was (and still is) built according to the rules recommended by an architect: extensive foundations and reinforced concrete were de rigueur.
Trenching, gravel, yellow sand and reinforced concrete were on the programme for the first carriageway. Underground electrification is planned along the entire length of the carriageway.
The layer of reinforced concrete is around 2 centimetres thick. The whole surface is smoothed by hand to give the appearance of a road. Time must then be allowed for the new road surface to dry.
Once the concrete surface was completely dry, tarmacking was scheduled. While the road markings were painted at Beaufays, for Trooz they were (and still are) made with vinyl stickers. The various traffic signs visible in this photo have been moved from Beaufays to Trooz.
In August 1995, the second road was built. If you look closely at the main street, it is lit by street lamps inspired by the Z range from the Belgian manufacturer Schréder. In 1995, they were fitted with 1.2 watt filament bulbs. The entire Village operates on 12 volts.
2- The first buildings:
While buildings were quickly erected at Trooz, Beaufays was a different story. Originally, the Village was intended solely for the construction of roads, signs and public lighting. The first house to appear, on the advice of friends, was made of varnished wood. It was transferred from Beaufays to Trooz in 1995:
Later, other buildings were added... Also made of wood. To prevent damage caused by damp, the wooden structure was first tarred and then painted. Over time, however, this technique proved to be less than perfect. PVC was then used, and is now the definitive choice.
Wooden building.
PVC building.
3- Plan your visit:
Since 1995, the Miniature Village has been growing and changing with the times. Renovations, maintenance, innovations, discoveries, public visits, etc. follow one another every year. The Miniature Village invites you to organise your visit around the following themes:
-TV reports and videos
-Traffic light signals
-Road signs
-Illuminated signage
-Street lighting
-Building the road network
-The devastating storm of July 2009
-The Village in photos, through the years
-The Village, the perfect location for a photo shoot
July 2024: renovation of public lighting
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