Penhayle Bay

[St Enodoc]

In terms of new projects nothing much as yet. The intention was to make use of some existing boards with track already laid and points wired but the room needs to be two inches bigger to get them to fit. I could form an L-shape but not with the track as it is. So currently one board is acting as a static display though could easily be powered up to test stuff. It’s getting to the point where recent arrivals will need another siding laid to accommodate them. There is nowhere to show the Bulleid diesel nor the class 74s let alone the quintet of D600s all of which are on order and most are hopefully to arrive this year.

I hope so too!

[Gwiwer]

Exactly twelve months ago, on 17th April 2017, the last train ran on the Penhayle Bay railway.  It was swiftly dismantled as the entire house had to be vacant, cleared and cleaned and ready for our tenants by 13th May.  That included the 34 metres of layout outside which had been very firmly bolted to the house and the fence.  Very, very firmly indeed as it turned out when I tried to take it apart.

 

I had already sold the lift-out farm scene which was quite easy to remove and also a couple of the long narrow boards which sat alongside the house wall and were only supported on a couple of large angle brackets.  Removing that much was the easy part.  They went to their new homes and the various buildings also sold had gone a week or so earlier to a new home in New South Wales.  P.C.M and St. Enodoc of this parish were among those who directly benefitted from the break-up and the former's Llanbourne already includes a recognisable section of Penhayle Bay in the new-work extension.

 

I had hoped to salvage more than just the five-arch viaduct which was always going to stay with me.  I had wanted to keep the Penhayle Bay station / beach / jetty scene and tried very hard to dismantle this without causing damage.  In the end it was not just too well built, it was way too heavy to manage let alone ship over.  In my attempt to outdoor-proof the layout I had, perhaps, built everything a little too well.

 

As much as could be salvaged was therefore removed including point motors, some lights and signals (though others were simply too well glued down to be removed undamaged) and all the buildings which had not been sold.  One sign from Treheligan was donated to a friend who had visited the layout several times during his treatment and remission from cancer; things hadn't gone smoothly for him with a domestic break-up and a need to down-size forcing his own modelling efforts to be abandoned at much the same time so Penhayle Bay became his refuge and I know it motivated him to get through all his many difficulties.

 

The layout had been built in slotted-steel cradles which supported the boards.  These were designed to unbolt and the boards to be unscrewed from them should the need arise.  When the need arose the bolts and screws had been weathered tightly fixed for years and most refused to budge.  In short the remains of the boards had to be cut up using power tools.  That might seem an ignominious end to a popular layout but time was pressing and I hadn't too many options.

 

A year on I still own nearly all the rolling stock seen here over the years; a few carriages and units have been sold and the IC Mk1 rake has travelled to New Zealand so a very long way indeed from "home".  Some items ordered for the layout have yet to even arrive - most notably the D6xx "Warship" class quintet - but that's another well-documented story.  Most of that stock is still packed away in the boxes it always lived in and was shipped over without mishap.  A few items have been unpacked.  Almost a year to the day since closure the five-arch Darras Viaduct will reappear in public on Saturday 21st April when it features as my display stand to show weathering and decorative work at the Twickenham & District MRC pop-up event.  This event which is aimed as much at the general public as the modeller is in Twickenham library and features two of the Club's large layouts.  They have graciously allowed me a small space to show what the self-taught beginner can achieve in terms of realism, weathering and such.  The only surviving piece of Penhayle Bay in my ownership has come to the UK and will finally be shown to some of the people who may have admired it from afar and online.  Despite having been closed for a year the layout is still gaining followers on Facebook having now over 12,000, up from around 11,000 at closure.

 

I shall add a few pictures, all posted before, as memories.  If anyone happens past Twickenham Library this Saturday please drop in and introduce yourselves.  It's free.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[St Enodoc]

Exactly twelve months ago, on 17th April 2017, the last train ran on the Penhayle Bay railway.  It was swiftly dismantled as the entire house had to be vacant, cleared and cleaned and ready for our tenants by 13th May.  That included the 34 metres of layout outside which had been very firmly bolted to the house and the fence.  Very, very firmly indeed as it turned out when I tried to take it apart.

 

I had already sold the lift-out farm scene which was quite easy to remove and also a couple of the long narrow boards which sat alongside the house wall and were only supported on a couple of large angle brackets.  Removing that much was the easy part.  They went to their new homes and the various buildings also sold had gone a week or so earlier to a new home in New South Wales.  P.C.M and St. Enodoc of this parish were among those who directly benefitted from the break-up and the former's Llanbourne already includes a recognisable section of Penhayle Bay in the new-work extension.

 

I had hoped to salvage more than just the five-arch viaduct which was always going to stay with me.  I had wanted to keep the Penhayle Bay station / beach / jetty scene and tried very hard to dismantle this without causing damage.  In the end it was not just too well built, it was way too heavy to manage let alone ship over.  In my attempt to outdoor-proof the layout I had, perhaps, built everything a little too well.

 

As much as could be salvaged was therefore removed including point motors, some lights and signals (though others were simply too well glued down to be removed undamaged) and all the buildings which had not been sold.  One sign from Treheligan was donated to a friend who had visited the layout several times during his treatment and remission from cancer; things hadn't gone smoothly for him with a domestic break-up and a need to down-size forcing his own modelling efforts to be abandoned at much the same time so Penhayle Bay became his refuge and I know it motivated him to get through all his many difficulties.

 

The layout had been built in slotted-steel cradles which supported the boards.  These were designed to unbolt and the boards to be unscrewed from them should the need arise.  When the need arose the bolts and screws had been weathered tightly fixed for years and most refused to budge.  In short the remains of the boards had to be cut up using power tools.  That might seem an ignominious end to a popular layout but time was pressing and I hadn't too many options.

 

A year on I still own nearly all the rolling stock seen here over the years; a few carriages and units have been sold and the IC Mk1 rake has travelled to New Zealand so a very long way indeed from "home".  Some items ordered for the layout have yet to even arrive - most notably the D6xx "Warship" class quintet - but that's another well-documented story.  Most of that stock is still packed away in the boxes it always lived in and was shipped over without mishap.  A few items have been unpacked.  Almost a year to the day since closure the five-arch Darras Viaduct will reappear in public on Saturday 21st April when it features as my display stand to show weathering and decorative work at the Twickenham & District MRC pop-up event.  This event which is aimed as much at the general public as the modeller is in Twickenham library and features two of the Club's large layouts.  They have graciously allowed me a small space to show what the self-taught beginner can achieve in terms of realism, weathering and such.  The only surviving piece of Penhayle Bay in my ownership has come to the UK and will finally be shown to some of the people who may have admired it from afar and online.  Despite having been closed for a year the layout is still gaining followers on Facebook having now over 12,000, up from around 11,000 at closure.

 

I shall add a few pictures, all posted before, as memories.  If anyone happens past Twickenham Library this Saturday please drop in and introduce yourselves.  It's free.

 

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Very nice Rick and how time flies. As you say, bits of Penhayle Bay are living on in the care of Sandwich Station, P.C.M., myself and others, which is a tribute to the fondness we had for the layout. As you would be the first to agree, it was never "fine scale" but it had an inescapable atmosphere that set it very firmly in a time and place.

 

I'm sure that in the fullness of time an new layout will emerge and in the meantime have a good day on Saturday.

[Gwiwer]

As you would be the first to agree, it was never "fine scale"

I would definitely agree!  It was, however, the first layout I had built and I had no sort of background in any of the skills.   Everything was self-taught and I learned from my own mistakes as I went along.  Some "fixes" ended up better than others.  Some problems were never ever sorted out.

 

 

 

it had an inescapable atmosphere that set it very firmly in a time and place.

Many kind thanks.  I get the strong impression that a great many others, unknown to me other than as names on a Facebook page, feel the same way.  Among lifetime modellers there is also a degree of affection despite the "make do" approach to some aspects.

 

It has taken a full year to even begin with anything again.  Having to squeeze my life from a large Australian house and garden into a single London-sized room in a flat has not been easy.  Only this week the legs went onto the first board of what will be a small end-to-end project.  And because I have no workshop, very few tools, cannot make mess indoors and have nowhere outside to work this project will take some time to evolve and be rather limited in its scope.  But I aim to have trains moving by the summer as the boards are those which were stored beneath Penhayle Bay for years and are therefore wired and fully track-laid already.

Edited April 17, 2018 by Gwiwer

[sp1]

Great to see you back and looking forward to following developments

[DougN]

Hi Rick, we do all think of you. All those that know you here do think of you quite regularly. We all enjoyed our times of dropping in. As you say you knew a number of RMWeb members before the rest of us rabble of BRMA Melbourne came to know you. It is unfortunate that you couldn't keep more but in time your next layout will be so much better!

 

On a personal note I am positive that you will find time, space and inclination to create your new layout of what ever space you have and no doubt being more condensed the detailing will be carried out to the high standard you set yourself with the 'bay...

 

I look forward to hearing of your next exploits!

[Gwiwer]

Thank you Doug, and thanks to al those others (un-named but known to us) you included in your most heartwarming post.  Leaving Australia was, I guess, as easy as these things get but leaving the memory of a respected layout was so much harder.  

 

There is a little something in the offing and it will break cover here before too much longer.  

[brianusa]

Thanks to the internet this layout is still relevant.  Most layouts live on in faded photographs in some forgotten drawer but PB as it was, is still with us.

 Perhaps soon its successor will appear.

 

Brian.

[mullie]

Great to be reminded of the layout again, one of the first I discovered on joining RM Web.

 

Martyn

[Modelling Mike]

Has it really been a year since the demise of Penhayle Bay? I always thought it was a sad note that one of my favourite layouts on RMweb was being decommissioned just as my own efforts were finally getting off the ground. During what I call my “armchair years” of modelling when I couldn’t build a layout for various reasons, PB was one of the most inspirational layouts for me, and kept the creative juices flowing. I was often a mostly silent lurker, thoroughly enjoying the pictures and videos you posted. Sad though it is the layout no longer exists as it did, it’s great to know it lives on with the rescued sections, and even better - its online life. With all the negative press social media and the internet have been getting of late, it’s good to remember the positives it brings.

 

Looking forward to seeing what’s next, Rick!

[Gwiwer]

Thanks all.

 

What is next was a successful outing to the Twickenham & District MRC's pop-up event today with the Penhayle Bay viaduct and a selection of weathered rolling stock.  I received several favourable comments from people who had been following the layout here and elsewhere and a significant amount of interest in the weathering work including from seasoned modellers who do their own weathering.  

 

I had intended that the viaduct might be reworked slightly so as to fit the dimensions required of an RMweb module and then be part of the SWAG event down in Taunton.  It was not possible to have it ready in time and there was originally a clash of dates with other things in life.  If SWAG continues to have their Member's Day in 2019 the viaduct might yet get a bigger audience.  

[DougN]

In fact I saw a piece or 2 yesterday in the care of PCM! So in a couple of ways bits still exist!

[sandwich station]

Good to here you are settling in well in good old blighty Rick.

 

Rick kindly let me view Penhayle Bay a couple of times in it's final months and as I have a soft spot for farms, I purchased the farm, which is the lift out section.

 

As you can see Rick, the farm has prospered and they've had a couple of new buildings built. To new for the elements to have weathered them yet.

 

[St Enodoc]

Good to here you are settling in well in good old blighty Rick.

 

Rick kindly let me view Penhayle Bay a couple of times in it's final months and as I have a soft spot for farms, I purchased the farm, which is the lift out section.

 

As you can see Rick, the farm has prospered and they've had a couple of new buildings built. To new for the elements to have weathered them yet.

 

farm 1.jpg Farm 2.jpg

While we're at it then, here are Treheligan Junction station buildings in their new home at Porthmellyn Road.

 

 

 

[sandwich station]

While we're at it then, here are Treheligan Junction station buildings in their new home at Porthmellyn Road.

I remember a big hand from the sky lifting them before they departed for Sydney.

[Gwiwer]

Thank you gents. It is so good to see those pictures and how parts of the old layout live on.

[P.C.M]

Hi Rick, I was only thinking the other day that it must have been about a year since you left for the UK. Good to see you getting back into the model railways again glad you enjoyed the show I am sure the interest will fire you up to do some more modelling.

 

All the best Peter.

[Gwiwer]

I am happy to report that Darras Viaduct's first British outing will not be its last.

 

Following on from a successful day in Twickenham Library where it - and my associated weathering work - attracted quite a bit of attention and conversation I have been invited to bring the display along to the Club's Open Day on 21st July in their clubrooms.  The invitation came from their chairman who added that the display attracted a good deal of very favourable comment and was definitely a conversation-starter.  The open day is a bigger event and pitched at the modeller first and foremost.  I have accepted and feel honoured to have been offered a second opportunity to share this work with others.

 

Probably fewer than 100 people ever saw the actual layout and my weathered rolling stock in Australia.  As many again have now enjoyed as much as I could show them after a few hours one Saturday afternoon in Twickenham.  And likely at least that number again will be there on July 21st.  

[Gwiwer]

Today I am revisiting an old friend.

 

Almost three years since closure Penhayle Bay has appeared in Kernow MRC's weekly newsletter "Customer Layouts" section.  With some rather nice comments from their marketing manager Hayley.  

 

http://www.kernowmodelrailcentre.com/pg/100/Newsletter-Current

 

http://www.kernowmodelrailcentre.com/pg/94/Customer-Layouts

[steve22]

Gwiwer, 

 

it is an old friend to many of us.  Lovely to see it beyond RWweb. 

 

Steve.

 

[Gwiwer]

2 minutes ago, steve22 said:

  Lovely to see it beyond RWweb. 

 

 

Thank you kindly.  It was close to being considered for publication in a couple of the magazines on more than one occasion.  Being located where it was meant the usual photographers were unable to get to it and I didn't (and still don't) have image stacking software.  Which meant that while many of my own photos are of a reasonably publishable quality (especially if a few fuzzy edges are cropped) there was never the full-depth, professionally-lit option and things never progressed further than discussions.  

 

There was also at one time the possibility of me e-publishing a book of the better photos with extended captions rather than too much text but as a history and with some of the "how I did it" test from various forums.  That did not proceed owing to a lack of time on my part but - time aside - there remains nothing to prevent it appearing in the future.  Maybe one day.  

[bigwordsmith]

HI Rick

 

Just caught up with this as for some reason RMW hasn't been sharing your posts - delighted to see you are modelling - a ruptured achilles as well as the remnants of my daughter's marriage stopped me from accessing the loft, so my layout remains all mostly in boxes!

 

I thought you were planning to settle in North Surrey, or was the commute too long?

 

ATB

 

 

Peter

[steve22]

We'll be good and not pressure you!  Maybe simply smile, contented in the knowledge that your plans just may happen.

Steve.

 

[Gwiwer]

3 minutes ago, bigwordsmith said:

HI Rick

 

Just caught up with this as for some reason RMW hasn't been sharing your posts - delighted to see you are modelling - a ruptured achilles as well as the remnants of my daughter's marriage stopped me from accessing the loft, so my layout remains all mostly in boxes!

 

I thought you were planning to settle in North Surrey, or was the commute too long?

 

ATB

 

 

Peter

 

Hi Peter,

 

Sorry to hear things haven't all been a bunch of roses.  We were looking at any area within travel-to-work reach of SWMBO's then-new role and considered parts of North Surrey as they have a reasonable train service.  In the end we employed a relocation agent who was able to show us a good selection of places much closer to her work than we were actively considering.  They were worth every penny of their fee and provided an outstanding service.  We would never have teed up 14 viewings in one day ourselves for example.  So we ended up where we now are and with the bonus of that allowing me to also work close to central London rather than struggling in a depressed jobs market in the commuter belt.  

[Andrew P]

20 minutes ago, bigwordsmith said:

HI Rick

 

Just caught up with this as for some reason RMW hasn't been sharing your posts - delighted to see you are modelling - a ruptured achilles as well as the remnants of my daughter's marriage stopped me from accessing the loft, so my layout remains all mostly in boxes!

 

I thought you were planning to settle in North Surrey, or was the commute too long?

 

ATB

 

 

Peter

When I move back down to Amp Sher in a few weeks, I hope to meet both yourself, Rick and many other Suveners at Shows.