WESTALAN
'N' - NORTH ROAD MRC
Westallen Junction is a layout very loosely based on the Looe Valley Branch line, in East Cornwall. The branch has its own station alongside the main station in Liskeard. The line has steep gradients as much as 1 in 40 and change of direction at Coombe Junction Halt.
The line leaves Liskeard travelling North towards Coombe Junction Halt where it changes direction South and travels through the picturesque Looe Valley running beside the river to the beautiful fishing town of Looe (Macmillan Town in the model). For sake of the model the town has become a small town with a tiny harbour where narrow boats, barges and pleasure craft can be found.
The model is not set in any particular era. Looe is still a very pretty oldie worldie town with long narrow streets and beautiful old buildings, it lends itself to being modelled as a 21st century town or post 2nd world war village but the layout is so designed that a simple change of stock it can be viewed as a layout using modern image stock right back to stock which ran in the pre nationalisation/early BR days. It is not intended to be kept to one region/era model but will be kept in such a way that rolling stock and eras match.
The layout is a model which will eventually have street and building lighting etc, and is an on-going project. The track is code 55 fine scale Peco, with Peco turnouts, double slips and electrically operated with Peco point motors. The buildings are Metcalf card kits with one or two Graham Farish Scenecraft resin buildings. Scenery is constructed of carved insulation foam sheeting supported with interwoven light weight ply battening and covered with modelling plaster, and Woodland Scenics scatter. The track is underlaid with joist rubber and hand ballasted.
Westallen Junction sits in the foreground of the model, with station, engine shed, small freight shed and turntable which is motorised. Sat to the rear of this area is a single track embankment which crosses the main line with a double span girder bridge over the freight yard with gradients of 1 in 40 with a high level station where the branch changes direction, and carries on to a single platform double track station terminus. This enables two trains to use this single track at any one time whilst the double main line can also be used. It is possible to have 4 trains running at the same time.
Westallen was originally envisaged as a vehicle to help raise funds for the Macmillan Cancer Support Charity, in memory of our wives who Alan and I both lost to cancer. Unfortunately, Alan also lost his life to the disease in January 2013 just after we manged to complete the baseboard. I decided to complete this model in memory of all touched by this disease.
The name Westallen Junction was not the original planned name, but I choose to rename the layout in the memory of Alan.
If you would like to support Macmillan, please feel free to donate to the charity using the collection box.
Thank You.