Mid-Cornwall Lines - 1950s Western Region in 00

[Gwiwer]

I have to agree regards the timber.  It looks as good as you'd get at Bunnings (which I believe is not just the equivalent but is the Aussie branch of an American outfit who also hold B&Q in their portfolio) after a long search.

 

My own woodwork also comes from Bunnings as there's nowhere else nearby.  I could get it delivered from farther afield but then I don't get to inspect it first.  Their wood is of variable quality and can be knotted to the hilt, warped and twisted.  It's not always cut straight either.  But persistence pays and looking through the entire stock has usually allowed me to come home with enough of what I needed in useable condition.

[St Enodoc]

Reminds me of the build the strongest bridge from balsa at Uni.

Coming on well, when will it be finished? As in completely operable?

May provide a target date for a visit for an operating session.....

Baz

From snowy Leeds

Won by the late D N E Smith of Didcot fame as I recall, with a fine structure bearing the inscription " I K Brunel, Engineer, 1859" (so there is a Cornish connection!). Finished? No such thing for a model railway. I hope to have the basic double track circuit running by the middle of the year, then I will add the storage loops and move on to the junction. That's when it will get interesting as I will then need to modify and integrate the existing St Enodoc station before continuing down the branch. But again, I'm getting ahead of myself.

[St Enodoc]

I have to agree regards the timber.  It looks as good as you'd get at Bunnings (which I believe is not just the equivalent but is the Aussie branch of an American outfit who also hold B&Q in their portfolio) after a long search.

 

My own woodwork also comes from Bunnings as there's nowhere else nearby.  I could get it delivered from farther afield but then I don't get to inspect it first.  Their wood is of variable quality and can be knotted to the hilt, warped and twisted.  It's not always cut straight either.  But persistence pays and looking through the entire stock has usually allowed me to come home with enough of what I needed in useable condition.

I did try a local timber merchant, which I won't name, and they were the most unhelpful mob you could imagine. All the wood was in random lengths, mostly 4 m or more, and if you had it cut you had to pay for the whole length including the bit you didn't want. Bunnings also cut sheets and panels - $1 per cut with the first one free. That's where the ply for the trolleys and shelves came from (usual disclaimer).

Andy, it came from Bunnings, which is the equivalent of B&Q. I went through the racks to get the best lengths - probably rejected 4 out of 5.

 

Andy, I should have added that one good thing about L-girders is that if you select the pair of battens carefully, they will straighten each other out.

[St Enodoc]

The L-girder framework now extends round one long side and one short side of the railway room. The long side will form the Paddington loops while the Penzance loops will bridge across the roller door. Each set of L-girders is approximately 2000 mm long, with some varying slightly so that the joins between them are clear of the electrical sockets below. Where the L-girders are against a wall they are screwed to the wooden frame of the building. So as not to rely just on the shear strength of the screws, 42 mm x 19 mm legs also support the joins between these L-girders, being screwed to the web of the rear L-girders and to the skirting board at floor level. Where the L-girders are free-standing the joins are supported by 42 mm x 42 mm legs, suitably braced.

 

The Paddington loops are fixed to the wall throughout their length and at their Down end, but the Penzance loops are only fixed to the walls at their two ends because of the roller door. The two intermediate joins are free-standing at the moment, but once everything is lined up in its final position (which probably won’t be until the ply top surface is installed) the legs will be fixed to the floor. I would like to use KD blocks or similar for this but these seem to be hard to get hold of in Australia. The alternative is small timber cleats at the base of the legs.

 

 

These two photos show the Paddington loops. For the time being, some of the magazine shelves are stored under here and some spare timber for L-girders and joists is resting on the shelves. The L-girders are 600 mm across their outside faces, but the joist and tops will extend 710 mm from the wall so that I can lay 14 parallel tracks at 50 mm spacing, with an extra 5 mm at the front and the back. The legs don’t rest on the carpet by the way – I cut small sections of carpet out so that they rest on the concrete floor itself.

 

 

Here we have the Penzance loops, with some of the loaded trolleys underneath. The holes in the carpet are more obvious here, as I had to make them bigger to allow the leg positions to be adjusted. If you look closely at the left-hand side of the first picture you will see some plywood resting on the shelves. This will be used for the top of the Penzance loops.

 

By way of a change, here is a Hornby Skaledale Baptist church, which I have placed temporarily on St Enodoc. In the fullness of time a large hole will be cut in the other end and the building will become Pentowan Lifeboat Station.

 

Finally, this Base Toys Karrier Bantam is on its way to Pentowan station to pick up supplies for the major Coastal Command base nearby at RAF Lanherne.

Edited July 22, 2023 by St Enodoc
images restored

[St Enodoc]

I would like to use KD blocks or similar for this but these seem to be hard to get hold of in Australia.

It turns out that the blocks I am looking for are called Fixit blocks, not KD blocks. Either way, they don't seem to be available in Australia so I have just ordered 100 from the UK using eBay. Total cost including airmail is GBP 7.60.

 

Otherwise, little recent progress on account of a week's holiday in Singapore to celebrate the Lunar New Year with Veronica's family. This weekend should see some action though with another trip to Bunnings to buy more wood for L-girders.

[Joseph_Pestell]

While there's truth in that I have yet to see some areas represented at all.  Who, for example, has brought us a model of the Gerrans and Portscatho Joint?  The beautiful Roseland area is so often overlooked in real life and in model format.

 

I love the Roseland peninsula. Had a couple of trips down there last year on business -- not an easy place to take a Luton-bodied van.

 

Not too sure though if the landscape would allow any viable railway routes. A rack-equipped 48xx would be "different".

[Gwiwer]

I love the Roseland peninsula. Had a couple of trips down there last year on business -- not an easy place to take a Luton-bodied van.

 

 

 

Try an 11-metre bus!  If you got whitewash from the cottage walls on the tyres you cleaned it off.  Both the tyres and your black mark on the cottage.  If you damaged either the bus or the cottage you could rely on getting a suspension.  Portscatho was the worst spot on the Roseland though not the tightest we went to.  

 

There's some interesting geography down there which makes taking even a fictitious railway to the villages a bit tricky but as many places had the station at some miles from the place purported to be served one could always have Grampound Road as the junction with stations at Tregony, Bessibeneath (a great name!), Veryan Road (at Ruan High Lanes), Portscatho (at Trewithian), St Just and St. Mawes.

 

The line would follow the River Fal down to Tregony then ascend though the hills to the ridge used by the main road.  We could even have a new Cornish viaduct over the valley at Polhendra

[St Enodoc]

Try an 11-metre bus!  If you got whitewash from the cottage walls on the tyres you cleaned it off.  Both the tyres and your black mark on the cottage.  If you damaged either the bus or the cottage you could rely on getting a suspension.  Portscatho was the worst spot on the Roseland though not the tightest we went to.  

 

There's some interesting geography down there which makes taking even a fictitious railway to the villages a bit tricky but as many places had the station at some miles from the place purported to be served one could always have Grampound Road as the junction with stations at Tregony, Bessibeneath (a great name!), Veryan Road (at Ruan High Lanes), Portscatho (at Trewithian), St Just and St. Mawes.

 

The line would follow the River Fal down to Tregony then ascend though the hills to the ridge used by the main road.  We could even have a new Cornish viaduct over the valley at Polhendra

So what are you waiting for Rick?????

[brianusa]

 

Thanks Rick for your comment and all those lovely Cornish names on this St Pirans Day.

The Helford River by its famous church was as close as I could come

 

Brian.

[Gwiwer]

So what are you waiting for Rick?????

 

More of those folding-type modelling vouchers  And some space!

[artizen]

Know what you mean by folding modelling vouchers. Very scarce this time of year in Australia as well. They must have emigrated for the winter.

[St Enodoc]

Try an 11-metre bus!  If you got whitewash from the cottage walls on the tyres you cleaned it off.  Both the tyres and your black mark on the cottage.  If you damaged either the bus or the cottage you could rely on getting a suspension.  Portscatho was the worst spot on the Roseland though not the tightest we went to.  

 

There's some interesting geography down there which makes taking even a fictitious railway to the villages a bit tricky but as many places had the station at some miles from the place purported to be served one could always have Grampound Road as the junction with stations at Tregony, Bessibeneath (a great name!), Veryan Road (at Ruan High Lanes), Portscatho (at Trewithian), St Just and St. Mawes.

 

The line would follow the River Fal down to Tregony then ascend though the hills to the ridge used by the main road.  We could even have a new Cornish viaduct over the valley at Polhendra

Rick, you've got me thinking (dangerous...).

 

The junction for this branch probably wouldn't have been at Grampound Road itself, due to the geography, but more probably near where the main line crosses the River Fal. So some possible names for the junction might be Resugga Castle, Trenoweth, or St Stephen's Coombe.

 

There would certainly have been a station at Grampound itself, so Grampound Road might have had a different name - Trewince, or Ladock Road (in which case Probus and Ladock Halt might have been just Probus).

 

Trewithian would, of course, have been the junction for the aforementioned Gerrans and Portscatho Joint...

 

Back to reality, or my version of it anyway, so out to the garage now to cut up some of the timber I bought earlier. I have to say, though, that today's sausage sizzle wasn't as good as some I've had.

[St Enodoc]

In the Northern hemisphere, Autumn marked the traditional start of the railway modelling season. Here in Sydney the first day of Autumn brought temperatures of 36 degrees - the hottest March day for 11 years apparently - followed by a drop of more than 10 degrees, gales and thunderstorms.

 

Not much got built this weekend - only one short L-girder frame that wasn't worth photographing on its own. Next weekend is the North Shore Railway Modellers' Association exhibition at Forestville (http://www.nsrma.com.au/exhibition.htm) so I might get some wagon kits under way, more DG couplings made or even start a copperclad point on the BRMA demonstration stand. On the other hand, I might just spend the weekend nattering and playing trains. After that the rate of progress will be limited during the new rugby season, but I do want to try to get all the frames up and some baseboard tops laid before the BRMA Sydney area group meeting in early May. Moving trains will probably be confined to the current St Enodoc though.

[Barry O]

In the Northern hemisphere, Autumn marked the traditional start of the railway modelling season. Here in Sydney the first day of Autumn brought temperatures of 36 degrees - the hottest March day for 11 years apparently - followed by a drop of more than 10 degrees, gales and thunderstorms.

 

Not much got built this weekend - only one short L-girder frame that wasn't worth photographing on its own. Next weekend is the North Shore Railway Modellers' Association exhibition at Forestville (http://www.nsrma.com.au/exhibition.htm) so I might get some wagon kits under way, more DG couplings made or even start a copperclad point on the BRMA demonstration stand. On the other hand, I might just spend the weekend nattering and playing trains. After that the rate of progress will be limited during the new rugby season, but I do want to try to get all the frames up and some baseboard tops laid before the BRMA Sydney area group meeting in early May. Moving trains will probably be confined to the current St Enodoc though.

well its about 10 degrees in Leeds, blowing a hooley and now dry and sunny after torrential rain overnight...

 

Nattering... never!!

[St Enodoc]

In the Northern hemisphere, Autumn marked the traditional start of the railway modelling season. Here in Sydney the first day of Autumn brought temperatures of 36 degrees - the hottest March day for 11 years apparently - followed by a drop of more than 10 degrees, gales and thunderstorms.

 

Not much got built this weekend - only one short L-girder frame that wasn't worth photographing on its own. Next weekend is the North Shore Railway Modellers' Association exhibition at Forestville (http://www.nsrma.com.au/exhibition.htm) so I might get some wagon kits under way, more DG couplings made or even start a copperclad point on the BRMA demonstration stand. On the other hand, I might just spend the weekend nattering and playing trains. After that the rate of progress will be limited during the new rugby season, but I do want to try to get all the frames up and some baseboard tops laid before the BRMA Sydney area group meeting in early May. Moving trains will probably be confined to the current St Enodoc though.

Back from a very enjoyable Forestville exhibition, at which I spent much of my time playing trains on NSRMA's Dungog layout (see http://www.nsrma.com.au/layouts.htm#Dungog). I also bought an NCE SB5 smart booster before the AUD/USD exchange rate goes any further the wrong way. This is part of a staged upgrade plan, which will see the replacement of the existing entry-level Power Cab system by the SB5. Later I will move into radio control once the new layout has progressed sufficiently to justify it. With three signalmen and two yardmasters on the Mid-Cornwall Lines there won't be much room for more than six drivers, so the SB5 with its capacity of six throttles will be adequate without going to the extra expense of the full Power Pro system.

 

[Joseph_Pestell]

Try an 11-metre bus!  If you got whitewash from the cottage walls on the tyres you cleaned it off.  Both the tyres and your black mark on the cottage.  If you damaged either the bus or the cottage you could rely on getting a suspension.  Portscatho was the worst spot on the Roseland though not the tightest we went to.  

 

There's some interesting geography down there which makes taking even a fictitious railway to the villages a bit tricky but as many places had the station at some miles from the place purported to be served one could always have Grampound Road as the junction with stations at Tregony, Bessibeneath (a great name!), Veryan Road (at Ruan High Lanes), Portscatho (at Trewithian), St Just and St. Mawes.

 

The line would follow the River Fal down to Tregony then ascend though the hills to the ridge used by the main road.  We could even have a new Cornish viaduct over the valley at Polhendra

 

On my first trip down, I arrived at the same time as all the school buses. Considerable delay as all manoeuvred into place outside the school.

[Anthony Ashley]

John,

 

I have just read through your whole thread. It is interesting how you are incorporating aspects of your modelling over 30 or so years (perhaps more). I shall follow the thread with interest and look forward to many more photos. Your method of base board construction looks great and will obviously do the job.

 

I am also interested in your research for the project and the application of the area within Cornwall to provide the "strategic" feel of the layout. I think a larger layout offer an opportunity to recreate a strategic element of a line, while still modelling at an operational and tactical level (ie shunting within a good yard).  

 

I have also utilised Bunnings for timber supplies, nearly going through the whole rack of timber to find 10 or so planks that can be used in the layout. My children always query why the search for the best timber. 

 

I am looking forward to seeing your stock of locos, carriages and goods wagons., It sounds like you have a very extensive collection.  

 

Looking forward to further entries.

 

Regards,

 

Anthony Ashley

[St Enodoc]

John,

 

I have just read through your whole thread. It is interesting how you are incorporating aspects of your modelling over 30 or so years (perhaps more). I shall follow the thread with interest and look forward to many more photos. Your method of base board construction looks great and will obviously do the job.

 

I am also interested in your research for the project and the application of the area within Cornwall to provide the "strategic" feel of the layout. I think a larger layout offer an opportunity to recreate a strategic element of a line, while still modelling at an operational and tactical level (ie shunting within a good yard).  

 

I have also utilised Bunnings for timber supplies, nearly going through the whole rack of timber to find 10 or so planks that can be used in the layout. My children always query why the search for the best timber. 

 

I am looking forward to seeing your stock of locos, carriages and goods wagons., It sounds like you have a very extensive collection.  

 

Looking forward to further entries.

 

Regards,

 

Anthony Ashley

Thanks Anthony. It's getting closer to 50 years not 30, which is a little unnerving. I will certainly be writiing about the trains themselves in due course - once the layout is far enough advanced for more of them to come out of their boxes.

[St Enodoc]

I'm not sure that I understand Bunnings' modus operandi. Our nearest store has a saw to cut panels, but doesn't stock 9 mm marine ply. The next nearest stocks the ply, but doesn't have a saw. To find both together means going to a third, more distant, store. Fortunately, that is close to where my rugby match was today so I came home with enough ply to complete the Paddington and Penzance loop boards.

[brianusa]

Bunnings doesn't have the edge on dodgy wood. Over here, Home Depot, Lowes, etc, have the same problem and it takes a lot of sorting to find anything decent.

 

Brian

[St Enodoc]

The L-girders for Porthmellyn Road are now in place. This revealed that this side of the room is 5 mm shorter than the opposite side. Less than 0.1% difference isn’t at all bad I think.

 

 

The narrow section at the Down end will be off stage and will carry the two main lines as they start to fan out into the Penzance loops, and also the Up Refuge Siding and Carriage Siding. In the 1950s these trailed into the Up Main, but to save space mine will trail into the connection between the Branch platform and the Down Main as did the prototype in later years.

 

The L-girders along the fourth wall will take a little longer and a little more thought for two reasons. First, they include the dropped section for Nancegwithey Viaduct, and secondly they need to make provision for the lifting flap across the entrance door. More on this in a future post.

 

In other news, a black Bachmann 64xx pannier arrived this week from Kernow. This will be modified to represent 7446 of St Blazey depot, as seen in an undated photo by Brian Butt on page 82 of “Great Western Steam in Cornwall”, and will replace a still-unbuilt Nu-Cast kit. The mods will involve removing the electrical boxes from each buffer beam and what I think is a battery box from under the bunker. I will modify the cab-bunker join to a right angle rather than a curve, but I don’t intend to replace the “solid” tank supports at the smokebox end with the “open” ones that were fitted to the prototype. Numberplates, a TCS EUN-651 decoder and DG couplings will complete the job. 7446 will work alongside 1664 on the Wheal Veronica china clay trip working, and eventually 2182 (another still-unbuilt Nu-Cast kit – if I wait long enough an RTR version might appear) will join them.

 

Edited to correct senior moment regarding kit manufacturers.

Edited July 22, 2023 by St Enodoc
images restored

[St Enodoc]

Decisions, decisions...

 

The prototype passenger service between Lostwithiel and Fowey was worked by an 0-4-2T and an autocoach. My venerable Airfix pair will work between Pentowan and Polperran, so do I need to get a Heljan AC Cars railbus to run between Porthmellyn Road and Tregissey?

 

Answers on a postcard please.

[brianusa]

Take the CMR through Pinnock tunnel to Par.  Change to the Cornwall Railway train to the newly opened branch to Charlestown where you can get a connection to Tregissey.  Be sure to stay at the Godolphin hotel and ask for Demelza!

 

Brian.

[Gwiwer]

Decisions, decisions...

 

The prototype passenger service between Lostwithiel and Fowey was worked by an 0-4-2T and an autocoach. My venerable Airfix pair will work between Pentowan and Polperran, so do I need to get a Heljan AC Cars railbus to run between Porthmellyn Road and Tregissey?

 

Answers on a postcard please.

 

Of course you do!  And it can come tax-free all the way from the Duchy if you so choose.

[St Enodoc]

Take the CMR through Pinnock tunnel to Par.  Change to the Cornwall Railway train to the newly opened branch to Charlestown where you can get a connection to Tregissey.  Be sure to stay at the Godolphin hotel and ask for Demelza!

 

Brian.

Thanks Brian. If I ever get to build a representation of Tregissey it will probably look something like Charlestown, with the clay discharged down the wooden chutes into the ships below. We used to stay at the Pier House Hotel for our summer holidays in the late 1960s when Charlestown was still a working port - long before Poldark was on TV! Watching the coasters being warped in and out of the harbour and through the sea lock was fascinating. Most of the coasters were grey - many of Dutch registration - but there were some that were bright blue and were named Lady S..., for example Lady Sylvia or Lady Sandra. The Artitec/Langney Models kit would be a good starting point for a model.