Chris Gadsby, Staff Writer
I’ve just left university and, as space was extremely tight in my student accommodation, layouts have previously consisted of a train set on kitchen tables, which took as long to unbox, set up and put away again as was spent playing with them. Now, however, I have space for a permanent layout and I have got down to some serious designing. People begin a model railway for various reasons. One is the desire to accurately model a particular location, while another is to base a layout around an already established collection of locomotives and rolling stock. I’ve decided to produce something modular, to allow me the opportunity to model areas that have impacted my life, and that are important to me. The layout will be able to grow over time as more places gain a significance. The first place that springs to mind is Cardiff, the city of my university, and the landmarks associated with it. Cue the ambitious projects to model the Principality Stadium, my university building and Cardiff Central station; in other words, an enormous national stadium, a modern building full of glass and a major station with nine platforms and through-lines. It shouldn’t be a problem (he says, with more than a hint of trepidation). Even in ‘N’ gauge, the stadium would be 1.35m long! Maybe I’ll only model part of it… While I am relatively new to the hobby, the appeal of building projects and bringing things to life drives me forward, my modelling career consisting so far of building a few pieces of rolling stock from kits. As a passionate sports fan, the prospect of building replica stadia is very exciting, but as nobody makes scale models of the Principality Stadium I shall have to delve into the world of scratchbuilding!