223 replies to this topic

[2ManySpams]

4mm Scale, '00' gauge. Operated by members of RMweb: 2ManySpams, Indomitable026 and Old Gringo (Chris, Damian and John) .

Overview
In 2002 3 friends, then members of the Stafford Railway Circle, discovered a common interest in the network of railways constructed by the London & South Western Railway in the West Country. We decided to build a model of a station on the route running through North Devon and Cornwall; a section of British railways nicknamed "the Withered Arm" of the Southern!

Inspired by part of one of Sir John Betjeman's poems, "the emptying train, wind in the ventilators, puffs out of Egloskerry to Tresmeer - Could it really be that this same carriage came from Waterloo?" the layout was located using maps, site visits and Peter Gray's atmospheric photographs. For the model, Tresmeer station was "transplanted" one mile west and Treneglos is operated as a North Cornwall station in summer seasons between 1959 and 1964.


(Original map thanks to Peter Richards)

Trackwork is from the C & L range and signals from MSE. All the buildings and bridges are scratch-built. The concrete block viaduct was typical of later L.S.W.R. civil engineering and would have been built at Treneglos had the ground been stable. The locomotives and rolling stock are mostly ready-to-run models, weathered and with extra details added.



The group hope that you enjoy the posts that will follow. These will detail how and why we built our representation of a forgotten part of the British railway network. Look out for discussion on the "Atlantic Coast Express", known simply as the "A.C.E.", by both trainspotters and the operating department alike, which made its final run from Waterloo in September 1964 - now over 46 years ago.

Exhibition Details
A brief overview of the layout for exhibition organisers can be found here:  Treneglos Exhibition details9.pdf   698.73K   21 downloads
A run through of the team's exhibition invites (including Damian's Diesels in the Duchy), is in our exhibition diary: http://www.rmweb.co....hibition-diary/


Join us on Page 2 of the story - we're now up to board construction....


And on Page 3 there's a stunning bird....


On Pages 6 and 7 I'm building coaches....

Edited by 2ManySpams, 07 February 2012 - 19:56 .

[Happy Hippo]

I've seen Treneglos, it is one of my favourite layouts on the exhibition circuit.

More, please more.

Regards

Richard

[2ManySpams]

Thanks for the interest Richard - we've had a hard to maintain website running for a fair few years but it seemed time to re-organise, edit and post the info on RMweb. There will be more to follow.....

[ColinW]

Will look forward to more on Treneglos, I first saw it at the Uckfield show a few years ago.

Colin

[Indomitable026]

ah yes - Tren [nigh] glos

I've seen that somewhere recently.....

[gwrrob]

Hi Chris.Glad to hear you are still on the exhibition circuit.Are you doing any Midlands shows this year ? I'm hoping to get something Western running on it.

[Geoff Endacott]

Treneglos is at Trainwest www.trainwest.org.uk this year which is not far from the Midlands.

Geoff Endacott

[mike61680]

Hi Guy's

Absolutely cracking layout. I have seen it a dozen or so times at exhibitions and it never fails to impress. Keep up the good work.
Mike

[2ManySpams]

Geoff Endacott, on 12 January 2011 - 20:36 , said:

Treneglos is at Trainwest www.trainwest.org.uk this year which is not far from the Midlands.

Geoff Endacott

You beat me to it Geoff. The group's invitations for this year and next are listed in my blog page here. This list includes 'Diesels in the Duchy' and 'Once Upon a Time in the West'.

[Geoff Endacott]

You haven't got Diesels in the Duchy down for Trainwest 2012.

Geoff Endacott

[2ManySpams]

Part 2. In the beginning....
So how did Treneglos come to be? Well for starters Damian , John and I were then all members of the Stafford Railway Circle.

I'd been a member since my early teens and had progressively moved from 'playing trains' to getting stuck in to a bit of modelling. Initially I was very much into modelling the LMS just before nationalisation. At the time (mid 80's) most folk were into LMS / LNER or GWR. The Southern and particularly Bulleid's locos were a bit frowned upon. So I started to collect them, just to make life interesting! I got into making buildings and scenic work, and put a fair amount of effort into the club's EM colliery layout "New Haden". Then in the late 80's / early 90's I went to university and interest in 'trains' died off for a bit.

All was not lost though as returning back to Stafford, getting a job a job etc saw me get back involved with the club and trains again. But then a new job moved me away, marriage happened and kids were on the horizon. By 2000 or so work had got a bit 'interesting' and I decided I needed a hobby again, something to provide a bit of light relief.

This was around the time Hornby released their new Spam Cans and Bachmann their Std 4. These were a huge step ahead of what went before. One of each found its way home, together with some Bulleid coaches and the then new Mk1s. My thoughts turned to a S&D layout..... If only somebody would produce a RTR S&D 7F I thought.

But then in February 2003, whilst helping out at the club's show, Damian, John and I spent a while watching a certain SR layout (Cadisford Water). We talked about the new generation of models coming out and the fact that current club projects didn't interest us much. The show ended and we all went back to work.

Meanwhile, a few miles to the West of Stafford, John had a lunchtime out playing darts, helped along with liquid refreshment. He returned with a 'fuzzy idea'. So at 16:30hrs on the 9th Feb 2003 he put finger to keyboard ......

[2ManySpams]

Geoff Endacott, on 12 January 2011 - 22:18 , said:

You haven't got Diesels in the Duchy down for Trainwest 2012.

Geoff Endacott

Well spotted, sorted now.

[2ManySpams]

Indomitable026, on 12 January 2011 - 19:34 , said:

ah yes - Tren [nigh] glos

I've seen that somewhere recently.....

Must have opened your garage door then

[BlackRat]

keep it coming! Keep it coming!

[2ManySpams]

gwrrob, on 12 January 2011 - 20:28 , said:

Hi Chris.Glad to hear you are still on the exhibition circuit.Are you doing any Midlands shows this year ? I'm hoping to get something Western running on it.

Rob, you're a very naughty man. Everyone knows that WR engines weren't good enough to run on the NCR

[2ManySpams]

Part 3. John's 'fuzzy idea'....

Now 8 years ago John hadn't quiet mastered the art of one finger typing, nor had he quite worked out what the internet was for. In those bygone days, when summers were long and model railway manufacturers released but a few models a year, John wrote us letters. They normally contained the random witterings of someone whose's spent way too long with a pencil behind his ear or his head out of train windows (protected by woolly hat, goggles and scarf) or watching every cowboy film ever made. But this time he actually managed to make reasonable sense***.

Below is a scan of the real, actual letter he sent us. The pages that eventually launched a 32' layout, the manuscript that saw us tour some of the most salubrious exhibition venues in the UK, the writings that for some reason I've kept preserved for the past 8 years....


***This is on the basis that both Damian and I agreed to his proposal. Obviously had it been a bad idea we'd have screwed the letter up and filed it in 'bin'. Either that or it was a really bad idea and we we're both as bad as John (obviously this option has been discounted!)

Now the letter also came with some sketches which are included below. Dedicated Treneglos watchers could entertain themselves between now and the next post playing 'spot the difference' between John's first concept plan (below) and the current layout (1st post).

[Mickey]

Thats enough of this "north" stuff for now..... Lets enjoy DitD for a year or 5

[2ManySpams]

Mickey, on 13 January 2011 - 22:35 , said:

Thats enough of this "north" stuff for now..... Lets enjoy DitD for a year or 5

Right then Mickey, go and stand in the corner of Damian's DitD thread

[Mickey]

Can I peak if I really want to?
I rather like the NCR, just know next to "jack" about it... so far

[2ManySpams]

Mickey, on 13 January 2011 - 22:42 , said:

Can I peak if I really want to?
I rather like the NCR, just know next to "jack" about it... so far

Peaking allowed. In fact the primary goal of this thread will be to educate you poor, misled fellows that model the WR and anything past 1965

Repeat after me "I love spamcans, Bulleid was best, the NCR was the only true railway in Cornwall".

[Mickey]

"I like WR and all that came before and after on the South Coast,,,,, but I mite learn A Bit from this thread*....I think thats what you meant to write....


But seriously ....!!! ...Im looking forward to this a lot

[Ramblin Rich]

Chris (et al) - glad you've decided to add a thread on Treneglos, it's a a really inspiring layout & I'll be very interested to read this through.

[Tim Dubya]

FANTASTIC!

"I love spamcans, Bulleid was best, the NCR was the only true railway in Cornwall".

[ColinW]

Repeat after me "I love spamcans, Bulleid was best, the NCR was the only true railway in Cornwall".

Hi Chris, I may have to borrow this quote for some of our club members, to educate them, as for some reason they think the GWR was best, can't think why! Seriously we will be looking forward to you bringing Treneglos to Tonbridge next year.

Colin

[2ManySpams]

Thanks all. We've had a fotopic site on TG for many years now. But after starting off the 'Diesels in the Duchy' thread for Damian, and seeing all the great discusion and interest that generated, I thought it was best to record what we did on TG on RMweb. The recent St Merryn book gave me some inspiration to do this too. Looking through my notes on the layout, it's been quite interesting to see our approach change and knowledge increase. Hopefully my 'brothers in layout', John and Damian, will add their recollections too as the thread progresses.