Morfa is the latest incarnation of my lifelong interest in trains. It's based on the real life location of Morfa Mawddach, but includes numerous deviations that I thought would be an improvement on real life. Hopefully the character and atmosphere remain. These days I'm less interested in reading accounts of how individuals build their models than I am about why they do. Though I'm always up for pertinent questions, I'd like to step away from the norm and concentrate on the reasons behind the choices and the motivation to model. I'll try my hardest to avoid sounding like a pretentious twerp but there's a risk I may not succeed.

Tuesday 17 September 2013

Practicalities and fantasy

It's obvious that Morfa's scenery is at an early stage of development. I prefer to get all the nasty, functional, nuts and bolts jobs out of the way before making things pretty. Though simple in nature Morfa is a pretty big train set, being an 18' x 12' kidney shape.Previously all my other layouts could be grouped under the category of 'micro'. It's the sheer extra work, coupled with interests which veer off target, that has been responsible for the basics taking 'till now to reach completion. The last phase of work has seen the branch line which penetrates the backscene finished, the points made operational and the wiring completed. Here's a sketch of the station area which should explain what's in front and what's to the rear of the backscene, and how it fits with the geographical reality.


Here's what really happens once the model world fades from 3-D to 2-D behind an artfully placed clump of trees.


If we zoom in it's possible to see better the workings off stage.


However to keep up the lie that my version of Morfa is real it's necessary to also hold in ones mind the earlier plan.