Introduction

Aberystwyth '38 and Rheidol Valley is a long-term model railway project to recreate in miniature the GWR station at Aberystwyth in its heyday and part of the Vale of Rheidol Railway. The project's history is as follows:

1990?-1997 Aberystwyth Mk 1 - a shelf layout built around the walls of my bedroom in my parents' house. Completely dismantled when my parents moved. This model was viewed from the south side and the station buildings and goods yard appeared only on the backscene.

1998-2001 Aberystwyth Mk 2a - this time viewed from the north side, Mk 2a covered essentially the same features (goods reception road, passenger platforms and loco shed )as Mk1, but was/is  a free standing layout.

2001 Aberystwyth Mk 2b - as above but including the main station building to fill in an extra 18" at a new residence.

2002 Aberystwyth Mk 2c - inclusion of goods yard.

2003 Aberystwyth Mk 2d - extension of main line and loco depot, including the coaling tower, turntable and the Manchester & Milford exchange sidings with the Vale of Rheidol and the M & M bridge over both the VoR and the river.

2004 Devil's Bridge terminus built.

2005 Shoebox layout based on the original VoR depot constructed but owing to space limitations not connected to the main layout.

2006 Rhiwfron siding module built (again never connected into the main layout) to enter an exhibition organised by Chelmsford MRC for a 30" x 20" layout.

2007 Aberffrwd station module constructed to provide room on the layout for an extra train.Devil's bridge extended to include the watr tower, cottages and ruined mill. Rheidol Bridge module also built as a stand-alone feature for display purposes.

2008 Devil's Bridge, Aberffrwd, Rheidol Bridge and the shoebox layout exhibited jointly at the Kenavon Railway Society's first model railway exhibition. A house move later that year led to all the boards being separated and put into store (although Rhiwfron and the Shoebox attended exhibitions during this period) until October 2010 when reconstruction work began.