Danemouth - a Seaside BLT

[Danemouth]

Removing the headshunt has the advantage of giving you an extra fiddle yard road, which means an extra train.  Retaining it makes operation easier; swings and roundabouts, again appropriate for the seaside...

 

Actually John I can have the best of all worlds by using the headshunt road as:

 

• A Headshunt,
• The road to the offstage turntable or
• An extra fiddleyard track

as the mood takes me.

 

The third option naturally makes an alteration on laying out the tracks on the traverser as the very front track will need to line up with both running line and headshunt.

 

The existing points operated fiddleyard has a maximum train length of just under 80 cms whereas the traverser will increase this to 100 cms which makes a three coach train possible and also allows some vans to be added to the current improbably short goods train

 

I envisage only one or two goods trains day. However, I do see NPCS stock such as GUV and Syphons on the rear of the B Set and the short siding at the end of the run around loop beyond the release crossover will have a short dock to accommodate these vehicles. So there's a little more shunting!

 

Regards,

 

Dave

[Danemouth]

I'm thinking of Porthcawl, however.... I'd guess that once a passenger job came in, a pilot loco might well draw the passenger off the berth, and stabled off scene. Certainly this was the case in Great Yarmouth, where the berthing sidings stretch on for a fair few miles. That said, I can't ever remember Porthcawl, Ho Hum.

 

Ian.

 

Ian,

 

It's funny you should mention Porthcawl - that's a station I like especially the three platforms. I tried it in an earlier incarnation of Danemouth but ended up with far too much track and something that looked very like an overgrown train set.

 

I can remember Porthcawl, I must have been about 7 or 8. We changed onto the branch train at Pyle - three autocoaches with I think a small prairie in the middle.

 

My love of operation will doubtless mean that Danemouth will rival Clapham Junction in its service frequency :yes:

 

Regards,

 

Dave

[The Johnster]

I can, but only just!  Porthcawl was originally laid out for heavy coal export traffic from the dock; this was filled in back in the 30s I believe and was where the coach park is now.  This made it very convenient for the few days of the year, especially bank holidays, when it was extremely busy with excursion traffic, but I don't remember a pilot being used.  Trains set back towards the old 'town' station a quarter mile away, and the loco ran around and propelled them into one of the many abandoned coal sidings.  The loco then retreated to Pyle where it turned on the triangle, and on return sat on it's stock while the crew went off for ice creams to await the return departure time.   

 

The normal traffic was daily commuter trains to Cardiff and Swansea, and autos from Tondu, a daily pickup, and a clearance from the Cornelly limestone quarry; this latter was replaced by a private road across the Kenfig and Margam sand dunes between the quarry and Port Talbot steelworks.  AFAIK the limestone traffic did not intrude beyond Cornelly Quarry.  There was some very sharp curvature and the freight work was done by 44xx small wheeled prairies which had to be regularly turned to even tyre wear.  These were allowed 15mph through the curves; everything else was restricted to 5mph.  

[The Johnster]

Actually John I can have the best of all worlds by using the headshunt road as:

 

• A Headshunt,
• The road to the offstage turntable or
• An extra fiddleyard track

as the mood takes me.

 

The third option naturally makes an alteration on laying out the tracks on the traverser as the very front track will need to line up with both running line and headshunt.

 

The existing points operated fiddleyard has a maximum train length of just under 80 cms whereas the traverser will increase this to 100 cms which makes a three coach train possible and also allows some vans to be added to the current improbably short goods train

 

I envisage only one or two goods trains day. However, I do see NPCS stock such as GUV and Syphons on the rear of the B Set and the short siding at the end of the run around loop beyond the release crossover will have a short dock to accommodate these vehicles. So there's a little more shunting!

 

Regards,

 

Dave

 

Sounds good enough to me, Dave!

[tomparryharry]

Ian,

 

It's funny you should mention Porthcawl - that's a station I like especially the three platforms. I tried it in an earlier incarnation of Danemouth but ended up with far too much track and something that looked very like an overgrown train set.

 

I can remember Porthcawl, I must have been about 7 or 8. We changed onto the branch train at Pyle - three autocoaches with I think a small prairie in the middle.

 

My love of operation will doubtless mean that Danemouth will rival Clapham Junction in its service frequency :yes:

 

Regards,

 

Dave

Hello Dave. I'd guess the less track, the more movement. You can't afford to have a Merthyr special, if the Treherbert is straight after. Something's got to give, there's a Penygraig (reverse at Llantrisant) in at 20 past, with the advance portion of the Blaenavon & Pontypool Crane Street. Nick the 56 off the Tondu control job, that'll keep the platform clear. Engine shed? That's a laugh! Loco service at Barry, Radyr, Canton or Cathays. Eddie the passenger shunter is running about like a blue ar$ed fly.... Lazy bu&&ers at Llantrisant: They're only down the road, yet we never see them on these jobs!

 

Cheers,

 

Ian.

[The Johnster]

That's about the size of it, Ian, but engines can turn at Pyle and be serviced at Tondu, so long as paths can be found for them on the single line between Pyle and Tondu.  Bank holiday working at this sort of place was intense and frenetic, everybody on overtime and bank holiday rates.  Barry Island was better set up for this sort of traffic, having been designed for it and enjoying a double track approach, but there was no turntable here either and engines used the dock network to turn.  I can remember Barry Island when you couldn't see the sand for people, and at about 4 in the afternoon the local temperance society would start the hymn singing; this would spread across the entire beach in seconds, harmonies and all; this is Wales we are talking about!

 

The hymns would wrap up at about 5, and this was the signal for the return exodus to start, just as the tide was beginning to clear them off the beach anyway.  Barry Island would be working flat out with total occupation for the next 3 hours or so, and still be busy well after; the same applied to Porthcawl but traffic was a little more constrained owing to the single track branch.

[Danemouth]

Well the track painting is almost finished but not without "moments if interest".

 

Blackboard paint applied the the baseboard - should make it easier in the goods yard.

 

Painted the sleepers with sleeper grime and then gave the rails two coats of Humbrol rail rust.

 

Tried the layout having first cleaned the track top. Oh dear! a couple of dead sections - I've never had problems with dry joints before until this layout - put that right.

 

So I decide that the sleepers need another coat of sleeper grime and the jar promptly runs out. I go to L & B to collect a couple of panniers that were having sound fitted - but they were out of sleeper grime. So I go to Lendons and they are also out of it - ended up ordering it from Gaugemaster where the postage costs almost as much as the two jars - waiting for it.

 

I will post some pictures once the paint has arrived and I've applied the final coat,

 

A thorough retest is then indicated after which I will start work on the scenic break bridge.

 

Regards,

 

Dave

[br2975]

 

Painted the sleepers with sleeper grime and then gave the rails two coats of Humbrol rail rust.

 

Harrumph !

.

Attended a certain emporium, local to you in northern Cardiff yesterday, in an effort to secure a couple of cans of Railmatch 'sleeper grime' but to no avail.

.

"You're the second person to ask for it this week"

.

C'est la vie.

.

Brian R

[tomparryharry]

Harrumph !

.

Attended a certain emporium, local to you in northern Cardiff yesterday, in an effort to secure a couple of cans of Railmatch 'sleeper grime' but to no avail.

.

"You're the second person to ask for it this week"

.

C'est la vie.

.

Brian R

That's got to be a mention in the Echo, and a 'GREN' cartoon....

[St Enodoc]

That's got to be a mention in the Echo, and a 'GREN' cartoon....

Is he still going?

Harrumph !

.

Attended a certain emporium, local to you in northern Cardiff yesterday, in an effort to secure a couple of cans of Railmatch 'sleeper grime' but to no avail.

.

"You're the second person to ask for it this week"

.

C'est la vie.

.

Brian R

The standard response in Edinburgh, certainly in the 1970s, was "we're waitin' on it comin' in".

[Happy Hippo]

Is he still going?

 

Sadly, Gren passed away in 2007.

[Danemouth]

Harrumph !

.

Attended a certain emporium, local to you in northern Cardiff yesterday, in an effort to secure a couple of cans of Railmatch 'sleeper grime' but to no avail.

.

"You're the second person to ask for it this week"

.

C'est la vie.

.

Brian R

 

That emporium told me that the minimum order for Railmatch is effectively £300 which is carriage free - order less than that and the carriage charges are significant making the line unprofitable.

 

Dave

[Danemouth]

Sadly, Gren passed away in 2007.

 

Brilliant cartoonist - really captured the spirit of the valleys with Aberflyarf and the pub "The Golden Dap". I can still see one of his cartoons in my mind which included a sheep with a sign on its back "Ban Mint Sauce".

 

Dave

[St Enodoc]

Brilliant cartoonist - really captured the spirit of the valleys with Aberflyarf and the pub "The Golden Dap". I can still see one of his cartoons in my mind which included a sheep with a sign on its back "Ban Mint Sauce".

 

Dave

I've got a book of Max Boyce's songs illustrated by Gren. Wonderful.

[tomparryharry]

Oh dear....Open mouth, insert foot.....

[The Johnster]

Harrumph !

.

Attended a certain emporium, local to you in northern Cardiff yesterday, in an effort to secure a couple of cans of Railmatch 'sleeper grime' but to no avail.

.

"You're the second person to ask for it this week"

.

C'est la vie.

.

Brian R

 

There's no demand, you know.  Yes there is, I just demanded it...

[The Johnster]

Brilliant cartoonist - really captured the spirit of the valleys with Aberflyarf and the pub "The Golden Dap". I can still see one of his cartoons in my mind which included a sheep with a sign on its back "Ban Mint Sauce".

 

Dave

My abiding memory of Gren, the only thing worth buying the 'Football Echo' for unless you actually liked Dan O'Niell's unabashed bigotry (I never did), was a sequence in which the posters began with, in the first frame 'Newport; Home of the Mole Wrench' and finishes with 'Cheap Day excursion to Newport, to watch them wrenching the moles'.  Circa 1972 or so.

 

A big (21% or so) miner's pay rise, admittedly long overdue, at around the same period resulted in 'Miner's Daughter Marries Commoner'.

 

Bromide Lil, Flymo the Sheep, et al, live on in our hearts, as do the cobwebs on the signal...

Edited August 3, 2018 by The Johnster

[Danemouth]

Well here are three photos of Danemouth today. Had a point motor act up that required fixing.

 

The baseboard has been painted with black paint as a base colour for the goods yard, the rails with Humbrol Rail Rust and Railmatch Sleeper Grime on (surprise, surprise !!!) the sleepers. The backscene needs another coat of sky emulsion but this will wait until I've sorted out the backscene board for the scenic break.

 

I won't ballast the track until the platform is in place.

 

So the autotrain is in the bay with 6412 and small Prairie 4507 is running around the B set in the main platform

 

 

as a result of which the fiddleyard is half empty

 

 

I did have an accident with the roof of the Highley Signal Box. So I've bought the Oxford Rail Signal Box which matches the station - I won't deploy that until I am ready to plant it properly, the Highley box remains as a marker

 

Cheers,

 

Dave

Edited August 18, 2022 by Danemouth
Images reloaded

[NHY 581]

Looking very nice Dave. Lovely to see things coming together.

 

Press on!

 

 

Rob

[br2975]

My abiding memory of Gren, the only thing worth buying the 'Football Echo' for unless you actually liked Dan O'Niell's unabashed bigotry (I never did), was a sequence in which the posters began with, in the first frame 'Newport; Home of the Mole Wrench' and finishes with 'Cheap Day excursion to Newport, to watch them wrenching the moles'.  Circa 1972 or so.

 

A big (21% or so) miner's pay rise, admittedly long overdue, at around the same period resulted in 'Miner's Daughter Marries Commoner'.

 

Bromide Lil, Flymo the Sheep, et al, live on in our hearts, as do the cobwebs on the signal...

 

Dan O'Neill - I'd just about erased his bitter and twisted ramblings from my memory, until now !

.

Gren's boy, Darryl,  a former work colleague now markets 'Aberflyarff' related products and memorabilia.

[br2975]

Well here are three photos of Danemouth today. Had a point motor act up that required fixing.

 

The baseboard has been painted with black paint as a base colour for the goods yard, the rails with Humbrol Rail Rust and Railmatch Sleeper Grime on (surprise, surprise !!!) the sleepers. The backscene needs another coat of sky emulsion but this will wait until I've sorted out the backscene board for the scenic break.

 

I won't ballast the track until the platform is in place.

 

So the autotrain is in the bay with 6412 and small Prairie 4507 is running around the B set in the main platform

 

DSC16616.jpg

 

DSC16617.jpg

 

as a result of which the fiddleyard is half empty

 

DSC16618.jpg

 

I did have an accident with the roof of the Highley Signal Box. So I've bought the Oxford Rail Signal Box which matches the station - I won't deploy that until I am ready to plant it properly, the Highley box remains as a marker

 

Cheers,

 

Dave

 

Dave, your images certainly give a 'spacious' portrayal of Danemouth.

.

Watching  quietly (don't laugh) from the sidelines.

.

Brian 

[NHY 581]

Dave, your images certainly give a 'spacious' portrayal of Danemouth.

.

Watching  quietly (don't laugh) from the sidelines.

.

Brian

 

 

Impossible.

[Andrew P]

Superb Dave, this is coming on really well mate, you will have some good operation there, and lots of fun as well.

[Danemouth]

Work has started again and the Civil Engineers have erect a bridge. Already buses are going over it and there seems to be something of a traffic jam. Beneath it a small Prairie arrives with a couple of coaches detached from an express passing a few wagons in the head shunt and a GUV in the bay siding.

 

The pavement still needs to be added at the back of the bridge and the end masked at the front of the layout.

 

 

 

 

 

Dave

Edited August 18, 2022 by Danemouth
Images reloaded

[br2975]

Show off mode - ON

.

Not quite Danemouth, but a different riviera. 

.

Almost 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'..........a SNCF Fret working disturbs my (expensive !) early afternoon aperitif as it rolls through Villefranche on the Cote d'Azur last week.

.

Funny, but the arches in the background reminded me of Aberbeeg !!

.

Show off mode - OFF

.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but needed to explain my recent absence.

 

Keep up the good work Dave.

.

Regards