Muffikon
The village of Muffikon is purely fictional. I had no plans for another
village on my layout. The whole area was to be a loop of track around a
tall mountain. When I explained this to Sam, his comment was, "So,
you're going to build a volcano?" It was his way of pointing out that a
big mountain in the middle of the loop would look rather strange.
Instead, he suggested the mountain would extend (in imagination) beyond
the layout, and the part on the layout would be the end of a small
mountain range. This had great appeal to me, and was another
realization that Sam was a superb modeler.
Thus, with the mountain came the idea of moving the small stop that Sam
had suggested earlier to lie in the valley of this mountain range. What
I had envisioned as a small depot with a few structures, Sam saw as a
prosperous tourist stop. The tourist attraction was Schloss Moxiberg,
of course. About half of the structures in this village were built by
Sam.
I had admired the Pola Susch station he had built some time before. Sam
suggested it would make a terrific bahnhof for the village. I could not
refuse this wonderful offer. Susch was "finished" as far as most folks
would think, but Sam saw it only half done. It needed a personality
that would fit the dorf of which it was to become a part. Sam was an
expert with Adobe Photoshop, and quickly produced the scrolled artwork
of the original Susch station, that included the station name. With
software magic, the name was changed to Muffikon, and placed on the
station. It looks like it was painted on by the HO scale station
maintenance crew.
Bahnhof Muffikon from track side. A typical day with lots of action.
Bahnhof Muffikon from the street side. Compare these to the real Susch
station here
and here.
Sam was a great proponent of interior detail. This can be seen in the
Bahnhof Muffikon below where the roof has been removed.
Bahnhof Muffikon interior detail.
Of course a tourist town has got to have a place for folks to stay. For
this Sam built the Hotel Garni Europa.
Kibri model 8038.
The village has a few shops like this with living quarters on the
second floor. This one is a souvenir shop. I'm sure they sell Schloss
Moxiberg memorabilia.
Kibri model 8036
Kibri model 8036
A smaller shop selling spirits.
Kibri model 8003
Once again, Sam has paid attention to interior detail as seen below.
Muffikon also has a typical farm house. This one is actually quite
large, and beautifully done. As with most of the other kits Sam built
for me, he kept me informed of his progress. He had great fun with
this one. The fir tree is also Sam's creation. On a visit to my house,
Sam noticed some interesting plants in our yard. A quick check with my
wife, Karen, determined they were Fox Tail ferns. Sam asked for
clippings of some tops, and you can see the result below.
Faller model 366
Faller model 366
Faller model 366
I was always amazed at the time and detail Sam put into his models. He
was indeed a master craftsman.