Building the railway
The MVR as it now exists was constructed in three phases.
As originally planned the section shown here as 'phase 1' was all that was intended to be built.
Phases 2 and 3 were not part of the original plan.(see the History page for details.)
Phase 1 : The initial layout - started: May 2018
Construction of the main board.
An undercoat of paint.
Track laying in progress.
More track laying.
The start of scenic works.
The basic outline of the wharf board.
First coat of paint on the main board.
First coat of paint on the quarry board.
The start of scenic work on the main station.
Phase 2 : The (originally unplanned) extension - started: April 2019
Construction under way.
The baseboard is complete.
First coat of paint.
Tracklaying finished.
The start of scenic works.
Progress on the scenic work.
The station and wharf areas are added.
More basic scenic work.
More basic scenic work.
Phase 3 : The (totally unplanned) second extension - started: February 2020
The new baseboard completed.
Trackwork being laid.
The start of scenic work.
More scenic work.
The roadway and station platforms are added.
The station building and houses are put in place.
Work progressing on the redevelopment of the quarry.
The new winding houses for the upper and lower quarry inclines are added.
Phase 4 : The (really totally unplanned) third, and final, extension - started: February 2022
The point to access the new extension is put in.
Construction of the new baseboard is finished.
The start of scenic work.
Track laying in progress.
The loco workshop is added.
The rest of the works buildings are added.
As I was unable to find any suitable kits or completed model buildings the railway's original
The photos below show the construction of the houses in Glanfa Newydd village.
Photographs © Peter Boulter 2019 - 2023
The gap left by the removal of the original scenery can be see on the right.
buildings were created in Photoshop Elements and printed onto thick card using an ink jet printer.
But after a few years the colour faded and some of the buildings started to look very tatty.
So in March 2023 I started a programme of replacing them with scratch built replacements made
out of slate wall effect plastic card over a 5mm foamboard core. This project is currently ongoing.
