Layout Description

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Nestling near the Sussex coast, Withermarsh is a fictional small fishing port at the head of a creek. The Old Town, comprising of narrow streets and lanes known as 'twittens' (resembling Old Hastings and Rye) rests on a shallow cliff. Lying beneath the settlement is the narrow gauge station of the Mid Sussex Light Railway connecting Withermarsh with the rural hinterland villages.

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The station is accessed via a footbridge which descends to a wooden platform with a small shelter and, across the track, a further island platform. A small goods shed serves regular freight trains. At a lower level the railway skirts the river bank with a junction leading to the adjacent quayside siding handling daily fish traffic. Despite competition from early 1950s road traffic, the railway continues to provide a service with its regular short trains necessitated by the steep gradients.

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The layout is an exercise in creating the illusion of depth using forced perspective. The foreground and station is modelled in 4mm scale. The buildings at front of the raised ‘Old Town’ are in 3.5 mm scale while the rear of the street is 3mm with the receding twittens, modelled in decoupage, in 2mm.