The rough layout for the village came very easily. We were to have two stations – one for the 009 traffic and one that would also serve the (static) 00 engine that Mike had as a boy. Between that we wanted the appearance of different levels, with bridges and a tunnel.

At the back, in front of the top station would be houses, a central area will shops and perhaps a few houses, and at the bottom the lower station, signal box and level crossing.

On the left would be more houses and a pub.

The draft layout was made using cardboard houses. It was clear where the stations should be, and the level crossing dictated the route for the main road. At this stage we did not consider the areas outside of the track circuit.