45669 Posted December 1, 2020 Share Posted December 1, 2020 Morning All, Who remembers the much missed 7¼ inch gauge Forest Railroad at Dobwalls in Cornwall? For those that didn't see it, it was a fantastic system with two circuits based on American practice and it had steep gradients, deep cuttings and tunnels. I took some video on a visit in 1989 and the first part of this is now on YouTube. Here's the link if anyone would like to have a look: Hope it's of interest. 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB Posted December 1, 2020 Share Posted December 1, 2020 I got to ride behind the Big Boy on my visit. Pity it didn't survive for very long! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edge Posted December 1, 2020 Share Posted December 1, 2020 I always wanted to go and visit, but by the time I was able to go by myself (nobody else I knew wanted to go), the place had closed. Shame 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Claude_Dreyfus Posted December 1, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 1, 2020 This place brings back many happy memories of childhood holidays to Cornwall. I visited a couple of times in the mid 80s. There were other things besides the railway, I seem to recall a exhibition of wildlife paintings (Archibald Thorburn perhaps?) that my Mum was extremely taken with. I was very sorry to hear of its demise. Only a couple of our photos survive - my favourite being the one below. Is it a miniature railway, or just a very big cat? 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium New Haven Neil Posted December 1, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 1, 2020 My wife grew up and went to school with the Southern's sons, so on visits we got VIP treatment! I also got a drive (on the Rio Grande line - not the UP unfortunately), being a driver at another miniature railway at the time. Happy memories. Mrs NHN's mother used to live in a property exactly where the entrance to the Forest Railway Park ended up! 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris M Posted December 1, 2020 Share Posted December 1, 2020 Yes - the best miniature railway ever. What a shame it is no more. Every time I go to Cornwall which is at least twice a year (except this one) I wish it was still there to visit. The grandkids would have loved a day there. At least we still have Pecorama which is a lovely day out - well I hope it will be next year. There is still a wonderful miniature railway in Bouveret, Switzerland which is well worth a visit if you are ever in that neck of the woods. https://www.swissvapeur.ch/le-parc/galerie-photos/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halvarras Posted December 1, 2020 Share Posted December 1, 2020 We visited this fantastic railway twice while on holiday near Looe, in 1983 & 1987. I was very sorry to hear that it had been dismantled. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzie Posted December 1, 2020 Share Posted December 1, 2020 I did not know much about American railways when I visited there so it was all a bit alien, but now I realise how much attention to detail there was not just in the trains but the landscape too. It really was rather special and a sad loss. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LBRJ Posted December 1, 2020 Share Posted December 1, 2020 I can recall goin there a long time ago..and it really was great - Think my mother and grandmother were also more interested in the "wildlife gallery".... I also remember, much more recently, going thru Dobwalls in the light of yet another dawn, in a taxi up to Plymouth to do the Gunnislake branch and commenting that the Dobwalls job was more like a proper railway than where we were headed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted December 2, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 2, 2020 Deb and I rode one line, in 1979, I think. It was very jolly. But very expensive to set up, no doubt, and dependent upon a good season every year to pay its way. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
45669 Posted December 6, 2020 Author Share Posted December 6, 2020 On 01/12/2020 at 14:49, HSB said: I got to ride behind the Big Boy on my visit. Pity it didn't survive for very long! You can ride behind a real one now, but it means going to America first. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
45669 Posted December 6, 2020 Author Share Posted December 6, 2020 On 01/12/2020 at 14:49, HSB said: I got to ride behind the Big Boy on my visit. Pity it didn't survive for very long! If you go to America, you can now ride behind a real one. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
45669 Posted December 6, 2020 Author Share Posted December 6, 2020 On 01/12/2020 at 14:50, Edge said: I always wanted to go and visit, but by the time I was able to go by myself (nobody else I knew wanted to go), the place had closed. Shame 'tis a shame. I would have loved to have gone there again. And again...and again... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
45669 Posted December 6, 2020 Author Share Posted December 6, 2020 On 01/12/2020 at 16:13, Claude_Dreyfus said: This place brings back many happy memories of childhood holidays to Cornwall. I visited a couple of times in the mid 80s. There were other things besides the railway, I seem to recall a exhibition of wildlife paintings (Archibald Thorburn perhaps?) that my Mum was extremely taken with. I was very sorry to hear of its demise. Only a couple of our photos survive - my favourite being the one below. Is it a miniature railway, or just a very big cat? It's a very big cat. The railway is just a figment of our imagination. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
45669 Posted December 6, 2020 Author Share Posted December 6, 2020 On 01/12/2020 at 16:16, New Haven Neil said: My wife grew up and went to school with the Southern's sons, so on visits we got VIP treatment! I also got a drive (on the Rio Grande line - not the UP unfortunately), being a driver at another miniature railway at the time. Happy memories. Mrs NHN's mother used to live in a property exactly where the entrance to the Forest Railway Park ended up! If I'd lived a bit nearer, well, a lot nearer, I'd have gone more often. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
45669 Posted December 6, 2020 Author Share Posted December 6, 2020 On 01/12/2020 at 16:48, Chris M said: Yes - the best miniature railway ever. What a shame it is no more. Every time I go to Cornwall which is at least twice a year (except this one) I wish it was still there to visit. The grandkids would have loved a day there. At least we still have Pecorama which is a lovely day out - well I hope it will be next year. There is still a wonderful miniature railway in Bouveret, Switzerland which is well worth a visit if you are ever in that neck of the woods. https://www.swissvapeur.ch/le-parc/galerie-photos/ I have been to Le Bouveret, but it was winter, so it was closed. It's still on the 'to do' list though. I could have gone there in 2018, but I went to the Chemin de Fer Blonay-Chamby instead. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
45669 Posted December 6, 2020 Author Share Posted December 6, 2020 On 01/12/2020 at 23:26, Suzie said: I did not know much about American railways when I visited there so it was all a bit alien, but now I realise how much attention to detail there was not just in the trains but the landscape too. It really was rather special and a sad loss. I'm not very knowledgeable about the railways across The Pond, but if the Forest Railroad was still around I'd be willing to learn! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium spamcan61 Posted December 6, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 6, 2020 11 minutes ago, 45669 said: It's a very big cat. 'tis the Beast of Bodmin perchance? 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
45669 Posted December 6, 2020 Author Share Posted December 6, 2020 On 01/12/2020 at 23:27, LBRJ said: I can recall goin there a long time ago..and it really was great - Think my mother and grandmother were also more interested in the "wildlife gallery".... I also remember, much more recently, going thru Dobwalls in the light of yet another dawn, in a taxi up to Plymouth to do the Gunnislake branch and commenting that the Dobwalls job was more like a proper railway than where we were headed Your not wrong there! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
45669 Posted December 6, 2020 Author Share Posted December 6, 2020 On 02/12/2020 at 10:55, Oldddudders said: Deb and I rode one line, in 1979, I think. It was very jolly. But very expensive to set up, no doubt, and dependent upon a good season every year to pay its way. When I went he was appearing for funds as one of the engines needed a major overhaul. I think the sum quoted was around £100,000. That was a lot of money back then. (Not exactly chicken feed now!) Perhaps if Cornwall wasn't so far away it might have done better. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris M Posted December 7, 2020 Share Posted December 7, 2020 15 hours ago, 45669 said: I have been to Le Bouveret, but it was winter, so it was closed. It's still on the 'to do' list though. I could have gone there in 2018, but I went to the Chemin de Fer Blonay-Chamby instead. Chemin de Fer Blonay-Chamby is another place well worth visiting especially if you like LGB. They have a mallet and a snow plough that look like they were originals for LGB models. They even do fly shunting at the lower station to get the loco back on the front of the train. Actually seeing a real railway fly shunting was a real treat. My favourite ride was in a very old wooden coach - I just loved the way the whole thing creaked as we set off. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Re6/6 Posted December 7, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 7, 2020 (edited) Living in Devon, we were regular visitors to what was a superb attraction. Particularly of note was John Southern's collection of Archibald Thorburn's paintings. In the early days there were two very large US layouts in H0 and N. IIRC The H0 display was a mountainous gorge with impressive rock modelling. The N display was of Sherman Hill with Rivarossi 'Big Boys' hauling very long trains. Laterally they were removed and the building was turned into a sweet shop! It was a great place for kid's birthday parties which we used a few times. P.S. Thanks for the video 45669. It brought back many very happy memories. Edited December 7, 2020 by Re6/6 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium St Enodoc Posted December 8, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 8, 2020 On 01/12/2020 at 21:18, 45669 said: Who remembers the much missed 7¼ inch gauge Forest Railroad at Dobwalls in Cornwall? I do. We visited a couple of times in the early days - in fact the first time was before it became US-themed and our motive power was a Royal Scot. That would have been about 1970. This is the only photo I have, taken in August 1971 with an Instamatic 50 on Kodachrome. Those were the days: 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert17649 Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 (edited) We lived in Dobwalls for a few years whilst this amazing place was open. The Thorburn collection was apparently the largest in the UK at least. A big part of the problems was simply that during the season Dobwalls was frequently gridlocked or worse still bypassed by busy holiday traffic and people simply got through as fast as they could which was not fast, rarely stopping. If this railway had been almost anywhere else it would very likely have survived. Like many bits of Cornwall ignored by tourists and the tourist industry Dobwalls hid a fair amount of poverty and was a lot more isolated than it appeared externally. The irony is that more people stop at he village and pub now it has a bypass than did before. Strange as it may seem to those who view Cornwall as a source of second homes and holidays people actually live there on pay rates well below the national average and with highly seasonal employment not being well able to afford to buy homes in their home county . Theyare dependent on council and association rentals . until recently Dobwalls was a hive of such housing ( although we lived there in the 70's and 80's I have only been to the pub twice since we left over 30 years ago). It is still the place you go through or round on the way to somewhere else. Edited December 8, 2020 by robert17649 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Turnbull Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 Here's some shots of Dobwalls I took when my wife and I visited on 25th June 1980. Chris Turnbull 15 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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