THE LLANDECWYN RAILWAY

I have been modelling for almost as long as I can remember, and indeed, still have the first locomotive I made. This consisted of a small block of wood, four slices of dowel cut as wheels nailed onto each corner, a larger piece of dowel as the boiler, and a smaller piece for the funnel. Made under the watchful eye of my father, I was about five years old at the time. Later, we progressed to Tri-ang Transcontinental with a layout that filled our large loft. When Airfix brought out its Spitfire kit, all trains were abandoned in favour of WWII aircraft, and this continued until 1970, when the aviation venture I was involved in folded financially, and mentally caused a lot of heartache. I abandoned that in favour of narrow gauge steam, and Wales in particular.

Towards the end of my aviation period, I had managed to scrounge a few days off and drove home from Blackpool to Croydon via Portmadoc, Towyn, and Aberystwyth. I fell in love with the