Wigan Wallgate

Hello All,
Allow me to introduce my in progress model of the ex L&Y station Wigan Wallgate set around Nationalization time period .
V4 after a further move of house is being built in a purpose built 'Craft Room' which is a 20' x 20' Air cond' room that is accessed without going outside or up / downstairs. ( Nirvana)
Started around 6 years ago the layout is built to 4mm to the foot scale, using code 100 trackwork, NCE DCC control and by necessity has a reasonable but acceptable level ( to me ) of Modellers Licence invoked.
Versions 1,2 & 3 started in a shed in the back garden of my house around 1980 and progressed very little each time due to house moves .This was initially pre internet after all so my father’s memory was the greatest source available to me for information before the Internet came to the rescue.
Progress was reasonable amongst many other projects including working for a living until a couple of years ago when a medical issue followed by forced retirement buggered up a number of plans. However Progress We Will! Wont We ! ( say yes here )
I apologise for the plan it was drawn a number of years ago in Excel the original of which has apparently vanished.Several areas have changed to various degrees but in general it is pretty much as shown.( where the green came from though I have no idea )

Going around the layout clockwise from the top we have:
Wallgate Station , island platform c/w waiting rooms & cafeteria sitting below King St West with the Booking Office straddling the lines as they pass under Wallgate. A small goods yard sits directly south (below) the platform all of which was the L&Y’s construction.
Photo shows the station area with King St west along the wall, photo taken from the WCML overbridge looking towards Wallgate.


Passing under Wallgate the lines climb alongside the upper level Exchange yard / coal yard sidings on the inside of the bend and a few sidings that stay at the lower level to deal with cattle yard, Fyffes and general warehouse facilities.This curve is one of the main Modellers Licence areas as the 90 deg of the model far exceeds the 20 or so deg . of the actual.


View looking away from Wallgate


Looking back towards Wallgate

As the line levels out it passes a warehouse adjacent to where it passes over Chapel Lane and Wigan Gas Works on the far side of the line before branching off to the right to run alongside the WCML that along with Wigan NW station appears to have vanished from existence. The L/h side of the branch will at sometime in the future (possibly) breach the room wall before heading for Manchester.


Looking towards the Gasworks area and Jcn.

The line now runs along the opposite side of the room from the station ,over the access door lifting ‘bridge’ before plunging out of view on a downhill course to a return loop under the top L/H corner of the layout. Some work is being done in the area of the Lower L/H corner to include several Engineering works ( actual ) and a long defunct Colliery , roughly in the right spot but somewhat imagined.


Looking back towards the Gas Works, the bridge is produced from an actual photo of Taylor's Lane bridge and is even roughly in the right area. The L/H lines are heading downhill towards one of the return loops.The train would be currently travelling on the far r/h line at this point heading towards Colliery Corner where it disappears from view under the raised section that the Winding House is sitting upon. Sneakily those lines are also passing through / under the Engineering works buildings ( more on that later )


Colliery Corner shown on the plan, Winding House shown in centre background area

So a train having left Wallgate returns several minutes later heading in the opposite direction and, having paused at the platform, leaves under the WCML before swinging to the left ( instead of slightly to the right towards Southport) . This obviously is a site of further M.L. as the line that actually swings left heads more towards Liverpool but…….The Line again is decending past some carriage sidings before swinging again to the left in front of the previously shown Colliery & Engineering Works before crossing the access bridge and again disappearing from view towards another return loop.


View under the previously shown bridge, the visible lines are heading for the main storage / return loop area underneath the Exchange / Coal yard sidings.

This area has some of the main storage facility due to its length 3 complete trains can be held on each of the two lines and I am currently working on a method of automatically despatching then indexing along the subsequent trains to keep trains running while I fiddle with shunting requirements to and from the various yards ( and obviously dodging incoming traffic ) The plans of mice and men…..
By using the two return loops a total run exceeding 200’ is achieved before a train having left returns to it’s start point having left Platform 1 passed through the other way and returned to Platform 1 ( Notice what I did there, tho it’s probably been done before! ).

Hopefully I haven't lost / confused too many with my attempted trip round the layout as it currently stands, and also hopefully any further posts will be somewhat less wordy and more photo based.
Thanks
Kevan

 

Thank you all for the comments,
Toto and Splitpin, This version was originally started about 6 years ago, however while progress was reasonable up until about 2 years ago in getting to the stage of trains running the last couple of years have been somewhat interfered with.
I have just finished a second round of chemo that has knocked me about somewhat, tho it hasn't completely knocked me down and I don't intend to let it. As you can see there is still too much to do!
Ian and Matt, I often get nagged by my wife Deb for not finishing anything before moving on to the next project, largely true I am afraid, the original plan had been to produce some 'undetailed mock up's ' that kinda got away from me.
Unfortunately Ian without extending Wallgate south of Poole's cafe out into the room the Swann & Railway wont make an appearance as much as I would like to have had a crack at the building in between. However


This set of buildings at the corner of King St West and Wallgate is a mix of photos of the actual buildings, propriety downloadable parts and other detail sourced from the Net. Probably took about 3 - 4 months to get to this stage, including finding suitable window and showroom dressings.






None of the furniture shown in either showroom is 3d it is all just printed and stuck to a piece of clear plastic, some of which can be seen between the sofa and chairs in the window above .Also I didn't notice the Boris Karloff monster look a like until well after he was glued in pos'n.

Timbersurf & York Paul, glad you like the bridge, I am very pleased how that turned out


As trains come out of the tunnel area and under the bridge they pass over the joint where the Access flap is located with a realistic clickety click, I must try to capture it on video at some stage.


I was very happy with how the bridge came together, even in closeup the printed sidewalls and rivet detail came up rather well I think.

Better leave it here as the tiredness is kicking in with a vengence ( at 5:19 pm !!) so before I degenerate into gibberish if I already haven't,
stay tuned.
Kevan

 

Hi Timbersurf,
Thank you for the compliments, I am happy that you can appreciate what I am trying to achieve on Wallgate.
I suppose I have gone down the path I have with the printed buildings largely because I found I was able to manipulate them on the PC in order to use actual photos of the buildings etc (and the fact that my ability to paint makes me a good candidate for a road sweeper - no offence intended to any reading ).
I don't think any of the various kits I have ever down loaded have been built up, numerous bits and pieces have been utilized at various times along with sections of suitable walling, roofing etc begged, borrowed or ooh not that, found on 'texture' sites.

The buildings shown so far and indeed the majority of them tend to reside towards the rear of the layout which could be upto 1 to 1.5 m away and unless I am mistaken the pointing on most brickwork would be in the order of about 0.010" or less. I find that by using the photos a certain amount of actual shading tends to enhance the appearance.

Also the buildings tend to be made up of several layers of card giving the required 3d effect to the front's, several of them at this stage still are 'mock ups' with only one or two layers with possibly several more to be added when I pass that way again.


In searching for this sample shot that forms the basis of the bridge it is only now I have noticed the printer has had it's own input on the colour scheme, well done that man.The vertical angles on the bridge are pieces of 2mm plastic angle with a wrap of suitably adjusted printed self adhesive label attached.

I do have several Linka and Linka compatible moulds that will get an airing in various places, one being to produce the setts evident on the bridge.
Unfortunately searching for suitable printable details can be very time consuming, however having spent days looking for suitable furniture the construction side lasted only a fraction of the time taken.
As with your bedroom ( which looks rather plush by the way ) I have gotten carried away on occasion with detailing some part or other then being unable to see any of it due to the proximity of another structure, still we know it's there though!
Anyway, each to his own, however what did Mr Bond say, "Never say never again"
Cheers
Kevan

 

Hi all, Couple of photos of Coops Clothing factory that was all built up from just the one photo of the R/H part shown ( the bit with the front door section )


The difference in colouring of the walls is as the building appears, the two L/H sections are developed from the original photo by many hours of cutting and pasting including resizing windows and filling in some of the more ornate areas with plain brickwork.


Yes the side wall and front wall are misaligned , they were also not glued at this time while I checked for fit in the location



This is the original section that all of the rest was developed from, made up of several layers to give the required depth.
As all the window portals the door way sections and all the window frames were cut out using my Silhouette Cameo cutter in all it probably came out some much easier that using plasticard brickwork or casting. As it is set back fairly well it is also modelled to 3.5mm to the foot to force some perspective.

I really must finish it.

Kevan

 

Thank Guys, another couple of shots of one or two shops (including the original photos ) on Wallgate including a little cameo that I could not resist.

There are several Bendix washing machines, some old gas stoves and a couple of upright vacuum cleaners on display inside, these unlike the furniture are 3d. The colours are quite as wishy washy as they appear, largely the difference between an old phone camera and an SLR I think.






So much for OH&S provisions .

Mr Isherwoods shoestore was the beneficiary of several pairs of shoes and boots left over from having to trim one or two passengers to fit interior scenes.
See NEVER through anything away! although finding matching pairs was a bit of a headache at times.

Hopefully I will be getting back into actual constructive work shortly as the side effects of the cure slowly drain away, between physical tiredness and mental lethargy progress has been slowed somewhat over the last few months. I have actually been into the train room for a couple of hours in the last few days although trying to remember what the heck I was or was planning to do is proving to be a task on it's own. My brother suggested a large white board hung on the door that I could make relevant notes on as things come back to me may be a good idea, it may well be at that.
Cheers
Kevan

 

Just behind the shops on Wallgate there was a fairly large water tank, not having much in the way of close up shots I had to do a bit of guessing which resulted in



The water is a Woodland Scenics product, Deep Muddy Water ( I think ), again because it is set back fairly well the meniscus that can be seen in the pic. is not particularly obvious in real life.

The steel panels are several layers of 300gsm card cut out on my Silhouette plotter cutter m/c


As you can see the top layer had a bit of a problem, rectified by changing the blade.



The blemishes evident along the long side shown appear to have been inspired by glue contamination more than any artistic intent.
Anyway it doesn't look out of place on the layout.

The building mock up's adjacent are at the top end of King St. more about them later
Cheers
Kevan