Jump to content
 

The North Cornwall line in 2mm Finescale


queensquare
 Share

Recommended Posts

  • RMweb Premium

Phil, John and Jerry,

Coming soon to a harbour near you :

attachicon.gifimage.jpeg

Look forward to being in North Cornwall this weekend at Wells.

Best wishes,

John

That presentation reminds me of a 1:700 scale Mikasa model that I made for a Japanese friend of mine a few years ago. This followed a visit to the real ship in Japan - I hand delivered the model to him, next time I was over.

5l9u36.jpg

 

Tim

  • Like 9
Link to post
Share on other sites

Last call...


 


post-14107-0-25668500-1533772735_thumb.jpg


 


Don't leave it hanging!


 


Remember to come along to Wells Town Hall, Somerset for


 


RAILWELLS - this coming Sat 11 and Sun 12 August 2018


 


and experience John Greenwood's 2mm finescale Magnum Opus


The North Cornwall Railway - including the Bodmin & Wadebridge Railway


 


Padstow - Wadebridge - Boscarne Junction - Bodmin North - St Blazey Roundhouse - and the entire Wenford Branch, including Wenford Goods Depot with working gantry crane and road vehicles. Seven layouts in one - a true model railway system.


 


Yes - ALL of it will be exhibited at the Wells Show - clearly an opportunity NOT to be missed!


As a reminder, this is what you will get to see - a whole model railway empire in one layout: 


post-14107-0-41688500-1533241989_thumb.j


 


Plus three other 2mm finescale layouts will also be there: 2mm 'Bordesley North' – Jim Alwood (minimum space layout with high level station and lower level cement terminal); 2mm 'Callaton' – Mick Simpson (situated north of Newcastle in the 1970s); 2mm 'Mini-MSW (The Woodhead Line)' – Alan Whitehouse (the first showing of Alan’s revamped DC overhead electric Woodhead inspired layout); and also ‘Ashburton’ – John Birkett-Smith (a superb 1930s era GWR terminus, actually built to 2mm scale, but with N gauge wheels and track).


 


Plus a host of other splendid layouts in P4 and other scales. A real Modeller's Show. More about Railwells 2018 here: http://railwells.com/railway-show/railwells-show-2018/


 


This is clearly a very special 2-mil orientated show - so be there if you can. See you this coming weekend!


Edited by Phil Copleston
  • Like 4
Link to post
Share on other sites

Someone is going to get a Form One ("please explain") and probably a few days suspension from duty for that. Road vehicles, including tractors, should only have been forwarded to stations with highway docks (Bodmin North in this case), and if, in extremis, they had to be handled by crane a complex arrangement with the tyres supported on beams with further beams used above (see photos of ships being crane-loaded for details) had to be used - and almost certainly prior consent at District level would have been required.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Someone is going to get a Form One ("please explain") and probably a few days suspension from duty for that. Road vehicles, including tractors, should only have been forwarded to stations with highway docks (Bodmin North in this case), and if, in extremis, they had to be handled by crane a complex arrangement with the tyres supported on beams with further beams used above (see photos of ships being crane-loaded for details) had to be used - and almost certainly prior consent at District level would have been required.

 

The snap of the tractor being lifted by its steering wheel was taken when John, Phil and I were playing with the Wenford branch. Phil sent the tractor down the line as a challenge, aligning the hook on the working crane with the steering wheel took a steady hand and not a little skill on the controls of the working crane which John managed.

We are under no illusions that lifting a tractor like that is in any way realistic, but it was fun, a concept we hold dear to our hearts.

 

Jerry

  • Like 6
Link to post
Share on other sites

The snap of the tractor being lifted by its steering wheel was taken when John, Phil and I were playing with the Wenford branch. Phil sent the tractor down the line as a challenge, aligning the hook on the working crane with the steering wheel took a steady hand and not a little skill on the controls of the working crane which John managed.

We are under no illusions that lifting a tractor like that is in any way realistic, but it was fun, a concept we hold dear to our hearts.

 

Jerry

 

 

post-20303-0-97431900-1533809813.jpg

 

Vic & Bob 

Dockside Managers

Link to post
Share on other sites

MinerChris and I had a very enjoyable day in Wells. Mr Greenwood's empire is well worth seeing if you can get there tomorrow. Thanks to John for letting us have a play.

 

D6309 was temporarily DCC chipped and got a run out to North Cornwall along with my Masterclass 'P' set with new 3d printed roofs which look very nice.

 

Most of my attempts to take photos didn't work out but this one of D6309 isn't too bad. Not sure what's going on with those telegraph poles though - must be a very heavy bird sat on the wire.

 

post-9623-0-68546700-1534018668_thumb.jpg

  • Like 5
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

It was a real privilege to be invited to operate the North Cornwall at Wells last weekend. A fantastic couple of days. Considering the magnitude of the project, that it had been transported all the way from Wadebridge, and there wasn’t really much in the way of a “plan” for operating, it all performed remarkably well. A credit to John’s workmanship, and my fellow operators!

 

Tom.

  • Like 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

Is the prayer (photo 2) part of the usual set up procedure? and the final photo could well depict my last ever departure from Wadebridge up the North Cornwall line, the 122 is even the right way round (so I had to watch the line recede, much to my annoyance at the time).

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

 

Pictures from an extraordinary exhibition! 

 

John Greenwood's 2mm finescale

North Cornwall Railway - including the Bodmin & Wadebridge Railway

at Railwells last weekend

 

Despite my good intentions, I didn't take too many photos during the actual two-day public exhibition - mainly because we were all dashing about like mad hares keeping the layout(s) running! And when I say 'layout(s)', it was really so - essentially the large and busy Wadebridge-Padstow section, and the whole of the Wenford Branch, plus some shuttle trains to the unscenicked Bodmin North.

 

This was the first time the whole thing had been erected or operated outside of John's loft. Indeed, it was a steep learning curve for us all, but we found that these various parts of the layout tended to operate as two (and maybe a half) separate sections back-to-back, sharing the common fiddleyards in the middle. The branch was largely self-contained. Viewing was primarily on three sides, illuminated via the layout lighting rigs.

 

The rest of the layout - the mostly incomplete Dunmere Junction, Boscarne Junction, North Cornwall Junction, Pencadder Road and St Blazey Roundhouse in the middle - could be glimpsed from the informal 'fourth' side. But visually these areas were largely obscured from public viewing and were only lit by the ambient hall lighting. See trackplan on posts #305 or 290 above to orientate yourself. We were situated in the main entrance foyer.

 

Anyway, on with the pics. You've seen most of the layout before in various parts on previous posts, so you generally know how it looks. But nevertheless, I did manage to capture some moments during set-up on Friday afternoon, and some shots of the 'last train' at the end of the day on Sunday. Plus a few in between. Hope you find these informative and inspirational!

 

Setting up, late on Friday afternoon:

 

attachicon.gif01. 20180810_183219_001a.jpg

 

attachicon.gif02. 20180810_183125a.jpg

 

attachicon.gif03. 20180810_183240a.jpg

 

attachicon.gif04. 20180810_183318a.jpg

 

View from the rather messy 'fourth side'. This will all eventually get scenicked and be more presentable:

 

attachicon.gif05. 20180810_190204a.jpg

 

Saturday morning, putting the stock on and trying things out:

 

attachicon.gif06. 20180811_095159a.jpg

 

attachicon.gif07. 20180811_095218a.jpg

 

attachicon.gif08. 20180811_095244a.jpg

 

attachicon.gif09. 20180811_095352a.jpg

 

attachicon.gif10. 20180811_095416a.jpg

 

Saturday, later during the day (where did all the crowds go?):

 

attachicon.gif11. 20180811_165659a.jpg

 

attachicon.gif12. 20180811_165721a.jpg

 

attachicon.gif13. 20180811_170326a.jpg

 

Sunday operations:

 

attachicon.gif14. 20180812_162043a.jpg

 

Tony Gee and John share some of Edna Greenwood's delicious home-made cake (a North Cornwall layout tradition):

 

attachicon.gif15. 20180812_162050a.jpg

 

Dave Taylor prepares the last train of the exhibition - a BR DMU 'Bubblecar' - to leave Padstow:

 

attachicon.gif16. 20180812_163838a.jpg

 

attachicon.gif17. 20180812_163919a.jpg

 

In reality, the very last North Cornwall train to depart Wadebridge on 1st October 1966 was a DMU 'Bubblecar', so this last view is most appropriate. Sob!

 

attachicon.gif18.20180812_164046a.jpg

 

And that was it! The crowds on Saturday were tremendous, so it was hard to get any shots of the layout as such. Sunday was less hectic and more relaxed. But the sheer numbers of well known modellers and 2mm Scale Association members who kindly came to see the layout was most gratifying. 

 

All in all, we felt it was a very successful outing for such a massive undertaking. Inevitably things went wrong - turnouts failed, locos died, the crane and road vehicles on Wenford Goods Depot were out of action for part of Saturday, so John Greedwood spent a lot of time with torch and tools under the layout fixing things. Lessons learned: less panic in operating, sloooow down, operate fewer passenger trains and more goods trains, and importantly, keep the number of operators behind the layout to the minimum necessary to keep it running. But generally, we all had a jolly good time - as indeed we hope the viewing public did too! 

 

Others will no doubt post more photos of this layout at Wells and unique 2-mil event. I look forward to seeing the layout from their perspective. So please post your pics, guys!

 

Whether this happens again - who knows. But having done it once, at least we now know how to go about it (or not)! Thanks are due to our willing operators over the weekend - Dave Taylor (DLT), Maurice Hopper, Tom Everitt (TomE), Laurie Adams, Tony Gee (plus a few others who wangled 'a go'), and of course to Jerry Clifford (queensquare), fixer-in-chief. And a special thanks to the gaffer himself, John Greenwood, for kindly inviting me (and the rest of us) to help out - it was a privilege and a real thrill. What an inspiring experience this has been!

 

Of the "views", I liked the end-on view of Padstow from the seaward end the most. I enjoyed looking through the gap between the pillars at the fourth side as well.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I posted this on the RailWells thread, but I think it belongs here too.

 

360 video of Padstow. Best viewed on a tablet or mobile phone, you can follow the train around the track by moving the tablet/phone, or swiping the screen.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuX85G5pxNc

It's like watching with the free 3D glasses !

Link to post
Share on other sites

Maurice Hopper – one of our intrepid fellow operators at Railwells – has kindly sent me these five photos he took early on on Saturday morning before opening, indeed before any of the rest of us got there! Maurice added these comments:

 

Having arrived early on the Saturday morning, I carefully removed the layout of its black plastic dust covers ready for the owner and the operating team to show up... and get the rolling stock out. Once exposed, it seemed like a good opportunity to photograph the layout in its prime position in the foyer of Wells Town Hall before the arrival of the viewing public and operators, who would soon be in the way of uncluttered photography!

 

It always seems rather amazing to me that all of the 2mm scale rolling stock for this extensive layout is carried in something not much bigger than a medium sized tool box!

 

post-14107-0-10642900-1534512821_thumb.jpg

 

post-14107-0-76277100-1534512847_thumb.jpg

 

post-14107-0-97220500-1534512881_thumb.jpg

 

post-14107-0-12618700-1534512923_thumb.jpg

 

post-14107-0-00178100-1534512955_thumb.jpg

 

Thank you, Maurice.

Edited by Phil Copleston
  • Like 11
Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for sharing these interesting photos - this layout is truly a impressive body of work. I really admire John's commitment to recreating an accurate historical account of the North Cornwall railways.

It's also (from my limited knowledge) a fairly unique approach to layout design in the UK, following more a style of US layouts?

Looking at this last batch of photos it's interesting to see some details of the layout super structure. I would like to see more details of this aspect, which is often over looked.

Things like the lighting rigging and frames, the trestles and the skirting/curtains - their design and how are they fixed to the layout.

What is best practice?

Can anyone refer me/us to further information on this aspect?

Edited by 2mmKiwi
Link to post
Share on other sites

Looking at this last batch of photos it's interesting to see some details of the layout super structure. I would like to see more details of this aspect, which is often over looked.

Things like the lighting rigging and frames, the trestles and the skirting/curtains - their design and how are they fixed to the layout.

What is best practice?

Can anyone refer me/us to further information on this aspect?

Dropped you a PM!

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...