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Dunsyre No 1
Manchester Piccadilly
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On the 9th September 1960 a class 84 electric loco no E1040 left Manchester Piccadilly with the
12.15 to Plymouth. This was the inaugural electric train on the first section of 'Britains new railway'.
Fifty years on there are still no 'modern style' station buildings available for modellers who wish to
model the west coast mainline.
Our aim with West Coast Miniatures is to offer an individual bespoke model making service for
those modellers who want to recreate this historic trunk route. The WCML links London to Glasgow
via Birmingham and the Midlands with important branches to Liverpool, Manchester and
Northampton. The route was electrified by British Rail in two stages. The southern half was
electrified between 1960-1967 while the northern section between 1971-1974. This created two
different styles of architecture relating to buildings and electrification equipment. With the first
scheme BR rebuilt a lot of the stations with a distinctive 'modern' look while the Overhead Line
Equipment consisted of lattice work gantries. When work moved onto the second phase a lot of the
original station buildings were retained whilst the OHLE was made simpler with head spans
replacing the lattice work gantries.
Most of the rebuilt stations on the earlier section had a distinctive look with hardly any windows
and large overhanging roof lines. Apart from Triang's attempt in the 1970's these buildings have
been largely overlooked by the main manufacturers. With West Coast Miniatures we aim to fill a void
in the market by offering custom built buildings based on WCML prototypes.
Latest News
The New Westcoast Miniatures website is now live
and is available at
www.westcoastminiatures.com
