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Lunerigg - 'Nyhing could happen in the next 2 years...


Wild Boar Fell
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Lunerigg (Lune-Rigg) - Experimentation in N

 

Lunerigg is located to the north of Lambrigg and south of Tebay in the stunning Lune Gorge, just don't try finding it on the map. If you have ever ventured north of Kendal on the M6 you may remember crossing the WCML as the impressive remains of Lowgill viaduct appear to the right. Slightly west of this point is Lambrigg unfortunately made famous for the 2007 derailment involving Pendolino 'City of Glasgow', however before the site of the incident is reached there are a pair of staggered passing loops. The loops are the inspiration for those that will appear on Lunerigg.

 

Continuing along the M6 the road swings northwards turning into the Gorge, the railway follows suit at a lower level with both routes hugging the hill sides all the way up to Tebay. It is this section which I wish to portray, the setting of many icon APT and Pendolino photos showing the tilt to good effect. To add a little more scenic interest, I have 'borrowed' one of the river crossings from nearer Tebay and added that to the layout. 

 

The layout itself will begin construction with the scenic section only (6ft by 1ft), built on two Tim Horn 3ft by 1ft modules built as a test for board which one day I wish to use on my Warrington Bank Quay layout. As time, interest and funds allow the plan is to develop the layout into a continuous run that is exhibitable. If you aren't aware of my other layouts, then I should point out that this is my first foray into N gauge. It is also the first layout I have built using the idea of 'Railway in the Landscape', so between these this could prove 'interesting'.

 

Control wise I wish to use this layout as a further test bed for WBQ so will utilise DCC along with servo point control and maybe a few other bits of electrickery further down the line.

 

Next time i'll go into the background to the project and the progress to date.

 

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Stay tuned,

Wild Boar Fell

 

 

Edited by Wild Boar Fell
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Hi WBF,

 

Great plan - looking forward to seeing how you get on. As fellow group member St Ives Nick posted above, we are following our Horseley Fields club layout with something inspired by Cumbria, so this will have particular resonance for us...

 

Cheers

 

Ben A.

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Thanks guys, Nick I hope the layout is still recognisable when I've finished with it then  :jester: .

 

Lunerigg - Genesis

 

The year is 2014, and I am layoutless having sold my 1st exhibition layout 'Wild Boar Fell' a few years prior. A few layout ideas are being sketched and re-drawn and a healthy assortment of locomotives and rolling stock suitable for 1960s Warrington are being collected. The initial plans consist of the very industrial Dallam Branch Sidings, Bank Quay Low-Level and Arpley Stations. This ultimately got whittled down Dallam Branch Siding utilising some of Tim Horn's excellent baseboards, so as a test a couple of smaller 3ft by 1ft boards were purchased. One of these boards was utilised to create a photo plank for my then underdevelopment Wild Boar Models range of kits, whilst the other was stored until this month. The photo plank was also used as a test of Code 75 track but was never wired up or finished scenically, once it had fulfilled its purpose it was also stored to gather dust.

 

The photo plank doing its job

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Later in 2014 a pair of N gauge modellers decided they wanted to have a go at crowdfunding a new item of rolling stock via Kickstarter. Being in the process of also planning a Kickstarter for a OO gauge locomotive, I decided to back the project. Ultimately the N gauge Kickstarter didn't quite reach its target. What happened next ultimately led to one of the finest (IMHO) N gauge models currently available, yes the Revolution Trains Class 390 'Pendolino'. 

 

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Poppy, the culprit (Virgin Hero)

 

Fast forward to 2018, the photo plank is being used again for my TPO conversions shown on my WBQ thread. Then, 'Poppy' appears!

My plan had always been to sell on the model as I had no intention of moving away from OO, especially with Bank Quay now 2 years into its build phase. However the model was just too good to sell. Unfortunately for non-modelling reasons, progress on all fronts halted.

 

Following a suggestion from my Folks (yes I know you're reading this) about developing an N gauge layout for the Pendolino, a few ideas were floated but one generated most of the interest... Modelling the Lune Gorge.   

 

To put things into context, that suggestion occured on Sunday. By Monday I was mooching around Hattons (being very glad of the air-conditioning) and had stripped the photo plank back to bare wood. The 2nd board had also been assembled. By Wednesday there was a rough track plan and scenic idea. Thursday saw the embankment created out of Polystyrene sheeting (25mm & 50mm), whilst today has seen the start of adding grass mats to form a scenic base layer. 

 

The strip-down underway...

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The layout currently

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Apologies for the rather rambled post, i'll shut up and do some modelling again soon.

 

Wild Boar Fell

 

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Interested to see how this gets on. You can do a lot on 6ft. My Burton on Trent layout is only 6ft x 2.5ft but has plenty of space for detail and the trains to stretch their legs!

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Lunerigg - Valley low, river wide

 

Evening all, tonight has seen a little bit more progress on the river bed and bridge section. After working out the rough position needed for the central pier of the bridge, its relationship to the river didn't look right so I have taken the opportunity to widen the river. The river now flows around both sides of the pier, which should aid with a scenic feature I have planned which will appear in the fullness of time. 

The embankments have also been cropped to extend the span and help the structure blend into the landscape better (in my opinion anyway). Next up will be to make a bridge deck that allows for the curvature of the track which will be mounted onto the 50mm trunking lid that is shown in the images below. Hopefully this will provide a fairly sound structure which can them be clad.

 

Rough trackwork over the bridge.

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River widened and embankments cut back.

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A better view of the trackbed height above river level.

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The new river course.

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Interested to see how this gets on. You can do a lot on 6ft. My Burton on Trent layout is only 6ft x 2.5ft but has plenty of space for detail and the trains to stretch their legs!

 

Thanks RBE, I did actually get to see Burton at DEMU this year. I was having a good nosey at the YEA you had at the front of the layout. I hope the layout hasn't suffered any damage from the sauna like effect of the room?

 

Wild Boar Fell

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Not exactly a layout update, but I found myself near Kendal the other day. I could see across towards the Lune Valley but didn't have chance to go there properly for some photos. 

It was very strange seeing everywhere so dusty brown and with straw-like grass, if I tried to copy this on the layout I am certain it would date the layout too finely!

 

Apologies for my attempt at an 'arty' shot.

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Not in the same direction, but better display of the colours...

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Wild Boar Fell

 

P.s. Not trying to figure out the best way to fit the servos to the point motors (or drive them), given the points are atop the embankment.

Edited by Wild Boar Fell
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Having reached a roadblock preparing some OO gauge rolling stock (why is the grey primer always about to run out?), it has given me a chance to do some more work on Lunerigg. 

For this layout I am planning on using SG90 servos to drive the points via the wire in tube method (something I've not tried before), so a 'point rodding' tunnel was required before the trackwork could be laid. Having some 12mm trucking handy (I use these for OO gauge platform wall formers) I worked out the rough location of the points and set the trucking into the embankment such that the top of the lid was flush with the polystyrene surface. The lid will be left removable for now, possibly always to allow for the inevitable failure at some time down the line. The plan is these tunnels will also carry the track supplies up from the rear of the layout to the rails. 

 

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Once these were set in place and left to dry, attention turned to determining the track alignment. I picked up a few more of the Peco 6ft Gauges, ok they might be simple and cheap but they don't half come in handy for holding track when you run out of hands. Please note the track lengths are not exact yet, for instance the headshunt will be shorter to avoid it going down the bank.

 

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Happy Modelling,

Wild Boar Fell

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  • 2 weeks later...

Managed to get the masts for Lunerigg after popping across to the Dapol factory today, now I just need to work out where to place them. Worth noting that the masts were more than £1 cheaper than anything I could find online, so was quite chuffed. Work on Lunerigg is on a temporary hiatus as it is currently behind my magazine collection, which is in the process of being rationalised. I seem to have gather 'a few' in the 13 years since I returned to railway modelling.

 

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The other good thing about visiting Chirk is you can do some excellent research on viaducts... from the pub!

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Wild Boar Fell

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The plastic trunking idea is a novel one, you will need to be ingenious with the ballast to keep the lid removalable!

 

I see that you are using tracksetta gauges for setting up the 6 and 10 foot, are they setting them up the scale distance apart or are they exaggerated like you often see?

 

Andy G

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The plastic trunking idea is a novel one, you will need to be ingenious with the ballast to keep the lid removalable!

 

I see that you are using tracksetta gauges for setting up the 6 and 10 foot, are they setting them up the scale distance apart or are they exaggerated like you often see?

 

Andy G

 

Thanks Andy, to quote a certain Mr Baldrick "I have a cunning plan..."

I need to test if it works but hopefully will do the trick simply.

 

 

Tracksetta, put a ruler to them and the 6ft comes put about 14mm or so and 10ft comes out about 24mm (from memory, I checked yesterday).

 

Hi there,

Progress looking good, and love Chirk viaducts....

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This a pal's layout...

Cheers

Ben A.

Cheers Ben,

Same always have done, my that looks superb. A rather strategically placed Pendolino there, at some point I will get the other 10 vehicles out of the box.

 

No modelling to be done this weekend unfortunately, off to see some big cats (8 wheeled) and classic cats (4 wheeled).

 

Happy Modelling,

Wild Boar Fell

Edited by Wild Boar Fell
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