Mosslanda: Wrecsam Canolog in N…
Rabbit holes… my recent holiday in Seahouses and the pondering of a modern setting of imagining the North Sunderland Railway’s survival led me down the path and so a trawl through the memory banks for modern single track terminus…
The physical manifestation will look much neater when the bare MDF is mid grey and I can wire up the track and lighting to the same style connections as Paxton Road - which basically means a 2.1mm 12v plug socket for power and a din plug for the walk about controller. The transformer will provide power to the lighting and controller, a small 28cm long cassette will rest on the extending support allowing the Sprinter to ‘leave’ the station, yet the box itself should be an attractive if somewhat ‘modern’ scene to display without operation to, meaning I should be able to find a home for it within the workshop or nearby fairly easily.
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| Lee Scott photo (https://flic.kr/p/nGwZmN) |
From Cardiff Bay to Rose Hill, Marple I’ve trodden this path before and recently had briefly considered Wrecsam Canolog (Wrexham Central). However with a bit more time on my hands and the benefit of Google Earth I actually went further, scoping out the sizes required and imagining it’s realisation in N scale with a mid 2010s setting and a Farish 150/2.
The prototype photos here show (along with others online) illustrate its ‘perfect for a box’ presentation. The platform, barely long enough for a 2 car Sprinter stops just shy of a road over bridge. Over half the back of the station is the side wall of a retail store. So where does this scheme challenge? The opportunity, as I see it, is to try out a few ideas ahead of a larger ‘station’ based N gauge project that I’ve kept under wraps for now. These include how to represent texture off the platform surface without resorting to scribed or embossed material. I’m interest too, I’m designing a set of parts to fabricate the modern platform canopy. This will not be a scale representation, rather an impression of the prototype based on known dimensions and photographs. Despite my proximity to the prototype I don’t really want to go and measure up the platform canopy supports in person!
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| Alasdair MacCalum photo (https://flic.kr/p/PvatJc) |
So my thoughts turned to physical design and how to construct the scene within the confines of an IKEA Mosslanda shelf. My usual fall back of 6mm MDF with a little hardboard seemed to offer a neat, quick and easy solution. What we have is basically a 55cm long, 9cm deep, 11cm tall with an 8cm high viewing window, perfect
The structures required to get me started are all relatively straight forward, platform, bridge, superstore. All of these are small enough to be able to be made entirely of styrene. A length of British a finescale code 40 flat bottom concrete sleepered track will satisfy the permanent way and I’ve got some back scene off cuts that will be big enough to work in such a compact scene.
I think small projects like this (Ynyslas and to some extent, Lochdubh) show that we all have space for a model railway in our home. In my case, they also indulge my butterfly mind with manageable discrete distractions that add to, rather than distract, from my longer term projects. The skills, experience and emotions these creations support and generate are fuel for my artistic soul. Until next time, more soon…
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Model minature railways and you could probably build an entire single track layout. I wonder if there any historic examples of single track terminus stations? These schemes also suit a simple shuttle module to automate operation.
ReplyDeleteThere isn’t much railway, even in N, in just this size of box but that doesn’t mean we can’t create an immersive sense of ‘travel’ through it’s artistry, space through the places beyond.
DeletePark Hall Halt always appeals to me. with perhaps just a GWR railcar or a bubblecar for stock
DeleteThat was Oswestry for the old hospital IIRC?
DeleteSome of the long closed Branchlines could be reimagined in this modern SLT format I think. Plenty of food for thought.
Another interesting idea James. I lived in Wrecsam for two years when I went to the now gone Cartrefle College studying graphic design. I remember the rundown old central station well. This more modern iteration of the station has appealed to me since I discovered it through Google Earth a few years ago. For me that modern, light and airy station building is a must. It would surely be a test of skills to build it in N scale. This post prompted me to dig out my old copy of "Branch lines into the Eighties" by H.I. Quayle and Stanley C Jenkins. There's many a subject in there for a little project layout like this. Many of which survived to the modern day.
ReplyDeleteI have tracked down a copy on eBay for a few £££ so I look forward to taking a look. It is the dearth of books of this nature for the 1990s and 2000s I feel we’re missing, the dawn of the internet age and initially low resolution digital cameras may mean such a publication is unlikely to ever happen.
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ReplyDeleteRef question (sketchbook page) of possibly hanging what looks like a channel section IKEA shelf on wall rather than screwing permanently, may I suggest the use of slotted glass plates?
CP
Hi Christopher, do you mean slotted to display plates or glass plate with a slot? How are these secured to the wall? I would be interested to hear more.
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DeleteThey screw onto the shelf. All that is needed on the wall is a screw onto which they can be hooked. I have been making use of them for domestic shelving that can be demounted for the last sixty years.
They are very widely available and usually made of brass. Do not confuse them with the non-slotted variety. You want the type with the inverted keyhole shape.
See here for an example in which I have no commercial interest.
https://www.howarth-timber.co.uk/dalepax-slotted-glass-plates/
CP
Thanks Christopher.
DeleteI missed this post somehow. Visited Wrexham a couple of years ago and rode the line up to Bidston. Trains weren't operating into Central at the time, so I walked into town from General, taking photos of Central and its surroundings on the way in. While the station was well-kept, the cafe etc. was empty so there was a bit of a Marie Celeste vibe about the place. Pleased to see that there are trains running now (just checked the live departures board!).
ReplyDeleteI remember thinking that WXC would make a nice SLT layout, though I suspect I'd be unable to resist the temptation to add an engineers' siding on that inviting bit of trackbed next to the platform road.
I know what you mean about a lack of a '90s-'00s equivalent to "Branch Lines into the 80s" and what I suppose was its predecessor "Modern Branch Line Album", though I suspect photos exist if somebody decided to produce one. There's very definitely a difference in atmosphere as you go through the decades in terms of stock used, signage, signalling and even the fashions of the figures on the platform.
Hi Simon, lovely to hear from you. I pondered the possibility of producing a new ‘Branchlines in the 2020s book’, it would be a fun project to co-ordinate.
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