A MAN has taken his love of trains to the extreme, spending 2500 hours over four-and-a-half years building a full-size replica train carriage in his own home in painstaking detail.

Jason Shron, 37, who owns a model train company in Canada, finally finished the epic project last month. It cost $10,000.

Shron said he knew it was unreasonable to ask his family to live in one, so he opted for the next best thing.

The project took a long time as it was challenging to make the train appear authentic, with Shron scrapping everything and starting from scratch three times.

Another challenge: parts were hard to find. Shron was eventually able to take apart a real train carriage.

He said it was all worth it.

"I've always wanted to have a VIA train in my basement since I was a kid," Mr Shron said.

"In fact, when me and my wife were looking to buy a house I would say 'no' if the basement wasn't big enough for me to build it.

"I even have a letter from VIA Rail Canada telling me that they can't sell me any seats from their trains. It was 1987 and I was 12."

The railway carriage was used across Canada from 1954 to the 1990s. It was built as it appeared in 1980.

The attention to detail is evident, with genuine seat numbers, chairs, timetable racks, welcome signs, coat hooks and 1970s carpet.

"Everything is accurate down to the carpets and baseboards, but I did replace the bathroom with a place for my records and turntable."

Most of the time it plays a soundtrack of a train clicking along the track.

Shron said there's been huge interest in the train, which is fast turning into an attraction for those in the area.

A video showing the construction of the train has received more than 180,000 views.

