Victor Grech, co-Founder of Pavi and Smart Supermarket, is a dedicated train enthusiast, and, for the past 13 years has been building an impressively detailed train village below his house.

Speaking to WhosWho.mt, Mr Grech said that ever since he was a child, as young as 10 years old, he was in awe of trains.

“I used to pay attention to anything train related when I was younger and now that I’m older, I am obsessed,” said Mr Grech.

The train village is not a simple one with a few trains and a nicely decorated stop. The village is set in Mr Grech’s garage with a large track going around every corner of the area.

The train village also has multiple levels to it including a hyper-realistic underground with individuals waiting to board their metro, resembling a scene of the everyday hustle and bustle beneath London’s busy streets.

Additionally, trains moving along Mr Grech’s track pass through tunnels, bridges whilst also accommodating his tiny “customers” with a cable car if they wish to go to the mountains for a spot of skiing.

It also has a football pitch with an on going match with supporters watching attentively on the stands. 

Detail is key in Mr Grech’s little train world, as well as patience to hand craft most of the houses, front yards, multiple working lanterns, gates, small gravel, parking areas, and areas with lots of greenery.

Vehicles in this village are also highly life-like with details like differently coloured lights, DHL vans, civil protection vehicles and to top it off, it also features a petrol station and a car washing area.

Surely, such detail requires a lot of precision, patience, and time. Asked about the time spent in his garage Mr Grech explained that he spends most of his days creating new additions to his village. “Sometimes I start very early in the day and keep on working until its midnight,” he remarks.

Expanding more on what inspires him, Mr Grech says that most of the models he creates are based on real life objects. “Obviously, I have to adapt everything to make everything smaller. In my case I use the HO scale,” he added, referring to the most popular rail transport modelling scale which uses a 1:87 scale.

Above all, his favourite area in the village is the central station, through which he is able to control all his trains.

In addition to the time spent working on the train village, he also spends a hefty amount of time and energy on decorating his house for Christmas. 

Mr Grech has a total of 25,000 light bulbs to illuminate the house and the community of Attard with festive décor. Preparations for such decorations start early, he said. “I start the process on 1st November and keep going till the end of December because as one might expect you have to keep up with its maintenance in case something goes wrong.”

However, despite all his effort to brighten everyone with Christmas cheer, Mr Grech’s favourite remains his own central station and his village.

All aboard!