We have not made a lot of progress recently as we think about how to do the points.
However, that has given me a chance to think about what to do with the station with regards to scenics. Please take this post as an invitation for everyone to express their own views, and not me dictating how it is going to be!
I envisage it with the station building on a bridge, and this is how it was shown in the original plan.
The building might look a bit like this, which is based on Wigan Wallgate.
It would be positioned well to the right, on the curve, where the platform is narrowing. The steps to the platform would be angled. The platform stops where the station building starts; it does not go under the bridge.
On the widest part of the platform is a building 40×120 mm, and to the left another, 26×120 mm (sizes need checking). These would be angled to suit the curve. A canopy will connect them all. Hopefully this can be 3d printed along with everything else. A curved canopy to show the principle.
I am wondering if we can use “Glue ‘n’ Glaze” to make the glass. This would be relatively easy, and a less-than-perfect glass would suit it I think.
The two platforms would be broadly the same.
Now disregarding the original plan… After crossing the railway, the road comes to a T junction. Heading left takes you up a slope, and then right and over the other line on a bridge, and into the city centre on the hill top.
An alternative approach would have the station building on the far side, on top of a retaining wall, so the same height as the first option. It would then be on a road that runs parallel to the railway. A foot bridge then gives access to the platforms.
The same station building could be used either way (hmm, assuming there is space), but platform structures might want adjusting. I think a road bridge crossing the railway in the same place, or maybe a bit to the right, would still be a good idea. There would be less space for the road to rise up and cross the other line; a level crossing feels unlikely given the hilly terrain. But it could go the other way, to cross once the line is in a tunnel.
Either way, I would like to have a high street at the back, parallel to the back scene, populated on the far side by shops like BHS, Woolworths and C&A – in low relief because they tend to go back a long way.
