The Model page 2
The railway would occupy raised beds in an L shaped strip along two edges of the garden 80 ft x 55ft, with another 12ft across the rear of the garage. The plans were drawn out on paper full size! I had access to a school hall and a large 5ft wide roll of paper.
Research into the area was also carried out to develop a ‘history’ for the line which proved a fortunate accident, it only happened because I had time on my hands whilst waiting to get started on building. It has proved invaluable in the development of the railway and in guiding decisions on the way to present the railway. Looking back I can see many occasions when, if I had just done what I fancied at the time, there would be a number of things that would have been out of context for the period or location. I would strongly recommend creating a history as part of planning any freelance model railway. There is an article on, Developing A Fictional Railway History, that might be helpful if intending to develop a fictional, or real, history for a model railway.
Whilst doing research on the area I discovered that an Act had been put before Parliament in 1859 for a railway in the area. The Act was not passed and was not presented again, presumably because plans for the Nanttle Railway were underway. I have not found any detailed records of the proposal but it was too much of a coincidence to ignore. The railway proposed was the Llyfni Vale Railway & Harbour Company. The ‘history’ was adjusted, not for the last time, and the LVR&HCo was born.