RMweb Premium St Enodoc Posted August 19, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 19, 2017 Jerry, you have a PM... That's a bit like sending a text to say "I just sent you my email". Worse, when IT Support sends you an email to confirm a fault report when your email isn't working... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 2ManySpams Posted August 20, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 20, 2017 That's a bit like sending a text to say "I just sent you my email". Worse, when IT Support sends you an email to confirm a fault report when your email isn't working... I've found in the past folk don't always see or notice the red message envelop... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold queensquare Posted August 20, 2017 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted August 20, 2017 I've found in the past folk don't always see or notice the red message envelop... Guilty as charged m'lud! Replied this morning, many thanks Jerry Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold queensquare Posted August 20, 2017 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted August 20, 2017 . And Jerry notes John is making his own point motors...... Yes he does. Many years ago he bought a box of cheap motors from Proops (remember them!) for about 20p each. All the current point motors are made with these using threaded bar, a moving nut and home made wiper switches, not dissimilar to a Fulgerex motor but much cheaper and quieter. These motors have now run out so John has come up with a new design for the extension based on a cheap geared motor from Squires. I will try to remember to take a couple of pictures when I'm down in a couple of weeks. Jerry Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 2ManySpams Posted August 20, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 20, 2017 Guilty as charged m'lud! Replied this morning, many thanks Jerry And there's more... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold queensquare Posted September 15, 2017 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted September 15, 2017 Quick heads up before I jump in the car to head west. We are taking the entire Wenford branch to the Wadebridge show in Wadebridge school, Gonvena Hill, Wadebridge PL27 6BU tomorow, Saturday 17th. Do come along and say hello if you are in the area - pictures sometime next week! Jerry 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Popular Post queensquare Posted September 21, 2017 Author RMweb Gold Popular Post Share Posted September 21, 2017 Well John, Phil and myself had a splendid day (and evening come to that!) down in Wadebridge. Followers of this thread will know that the entire Wenford branch, sans scenery, has been in operation in John's loft for a number of years but last weekend was the first time its gone out to a show. The main reason it hadn't done so before is that, until recently, the dries section of the branch shared a baseboard back to back with Bodmin North. Following a suggestion from yours truly and a nifty bit of work from John with a large saw the two are now separated which does open up the possibility of Bodmin going out on its own although it too has very little in the way of scenics as yet. The first couple of shots show the entire branch - Wenford, the clay dries, Tresarret in the middle distance, Helland in the far distance and round the corner Dunmere. The lighting rig is from Wadebridge which with the help of a drill and a handful of bolts was modified 'on the hoof' in the hall friday evening and can now be used on both - though obviously not at the same time, I shall have to make some more panels! The clay dries are based on a much older group as those actually served by the branch were a comparatively vast complex and much too big. They were originally built for John's Bodmine layout back in the eighties and have spent more than a decade languishing in his daughters shed in deepest, dampest Cornwall. The original chimney disintegrated and needs replacing but the rest, with a bit of TLC will certainly pass muster, at least in the short to medium term (current focus is on Padstow) There is only one known photo of the quarry siding at Tresarret and the card mock up is based on that. If anybody knows of any more, don't keep them to yourselves! One of the best known locations on the branch, the wharf at Helland and, in particular the point where the line pops out between the cottages to cross the road. Still a lot of work to do here but when you consider this was still bare plywood on the Wednesday before the show I think it looks pretty good. The famous water column in the woods near here will be included on the model but both time and tree making materials ran out! Helland Wharf looking back toward Wenford with a Beattie on a Wadebridge bound train. The Wharf at Dunmere can also be seen in the second picture along with the improvised buffer (bit of foam and some gaffer tape!) protecting the end of the line. We didn't have a fiddle yard as such although there are plans to make a small one for the branch. The line curving round on the right behind the temporary sky boards (nicked from Wadebridge!) is heading for Bodmin North. The last two pictures were actually taken in John's loft a couple of years ago and are included to give some context. They show how the branch fits into the main layout (see grand plan several pages back). In the foreground is Boscarne with the Wadebridge line heading to the left and the line to the right splitting to head for Bodmin and Wenford. Those who know the area will realise that the lines at Boscarne should in fact be the other way round but space and the way the layout is orientated meant this wasn't possible. A handful of train pictures to follow Jerry 28 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Popular Post queensquare Posted September 21, 2017 Author RMweb Gold Popular Post Share Posted September 21, 2017 The name of the game is having fun so when Phil sent a tractor load down to Wenford John proceeded to unload it with the crane. I'm not convinced that steering column would take the strain in reality but it kept the boys amused in between cake (Edna made a date and walnut for us to take - my favourite!). Bodmin shunting at Wenford. These little saddle tanks never made it down to Wenford but why let reality get in the way of enjoying yourself! This beautiful, scratchbuilt loco is my current favourite of John's stud. Phil and John, shortly after eating cake by the look of it! Jerry 30 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Donw Posted September 21, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 21, 2017 Wonderful stuff Jerry. I wish I could have been there. Don Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coal Tank Posted September 21, 2017 Share Posted September 21, 2017 Lovely photos Jerry and having fun is the name of the game John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardS Posted September 22, 2017 Share Posted September 22, 2017 Marvellous. I saw the layout at the (a?) Wadebridge show in 2016 and was impressed but this part was not there. One day I hope I will be able to see the whole creation. I must say that cake is an essential ingredient of all great model railways! :-) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold queensquare Posted September 22, 2017 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted September 22, 2017 Marvellous. I saw the layout at the (a?) Wadebridge show in 2016 and was impressed but this part was not there. One day I hope I will be able to see the whole creation. I must say that cake is an essential ingredient of all great model railways! :-) The entire North Cornwall empire is going to RailWells next year, including Padstow - fingers crossed! Jerry 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Kylestrome Posted September 23, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 23, 2017 The entire North Cornwall empire is going to RailWells next year, including Padstow - fingers crossed! Jerry That'll take up a fair bit of space then? David 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold queensquare Posted September 23, 2017 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted September 23, 2017 That'll take up a fair bit of space then? David Chris Challis is very keen. We measured it up at Wells this year and it will fit between the pillars in the main hall downstairs - just!! What we haven't sorted yet is the logistics of getting it all up to Somerset and operating the entire system in public. - and building Padstow of course! Still we have ten months:-)) Jerry 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium DLT Posted September 24, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 24, 2017 That is excellent news. Wells is always on my "must attend" list so I will be there. Knowing your usual rates of progress, Padstow shoud be a doddle! All the best, Dave. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Branwell Posted September 24, 2017 Share Posted September 24, 2017 The entire North Cornwall empire is going to RailWells next year, including Padstow - fingers crossed! Jerry I feel a holiday in Somerset coming on next year. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Phil Copleston Posted September 24, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted September 24, 2017 (edited) For some reason I appear to have omitted to upload my own pictures of our outing with John's 'Wenford Branch' last weekend. Sorry 'bout that folks. So here they are: The whole caboodle! Nearest is the familiar scenicked 'Wenford Bridge Goods Depot' with its working gantry crane and road vehicles - a proper functioning rail-head. Beyond that, Wenford Dries (china clay kilns), then Tresarrett Quarry loader and siding, and in the distance between John and Jerry, is Helland Wharf and road crossing. Round the corner (out of sight behind John) is Dunmere Siding. In all, plenty of 'shunting action' as the train proceeds on its journey down the branch alongside the River Camel. Just my sort of layout. Most inspiring. Looking back to the terminus, and (bottom right) the cut out which will accommodate a section of river and adjacent tracks in the woods. The temporary scenic jolt is quite startling! The real location: Wenford Bridge terminus (the farthest point from Waterloo) taken on 1st August 1935. In this photo are Mr Cawsey (Station Master at Wadebridge), Clerk Martin (Wenford), R.S.Manning (Acting Guard), the Driver and Fireman of Well Tank No.3314 (later BR No.30585), and the travelling shunter from Wadebridge. [photo St Breward History Group] The old 'Bodmine' layout's Dries as rescued from a decade or more stored in a damp outhouse. Still, with a bit of tidying up they will make a decent stand-in for the real Wenford Dries (which are way too big anyway). To the rear is the cut-out in the foam for the pans (settling tanks), and on the hillside above, possibly a mica-drag will be included (a zig-zag series of sluices and settling troughs to separate out the mica in the clay - an important by-product of china clay working. I keep encouraging John to include this vital part of a china clay dries 'suite' of processing infrastructure, but he may yet ignore me! The fire or stoke-house end of the Dries. T'other end of the Linhay (drying house) needs a chimney to complete the under-floor flue. The roof's eves are a bit wiggly after the storage abuse this building got, but I think this can be fixed. And besides, it has bags of character! The real location: Beattie Well Tank No.30585 shunts Wenford Dries in the 1950s [photographer unknown] Tresarrett Quarry loader. John originally had the loader on the far side of the mainline (as per prototype, I think), but changed his mind and swapped positions. And I think it looks much better this way round. You can see the scar on the baseboard of the former trackbed. The vertical conveyors to fill the hoppers will be served by a narrow gauge 'tub' line between the main and the siding. The real location: Wharfinger Mrs Smith, standing beside a brake van and wagons, during shunting at Tresarrett Siding on 1st August 1935. [photo St Breward History Group] The famous photogenic Helland road crossing on the branch. The Wharf (siding) lies behind the cottages. The real location: Helland level crossing with the Wharf beyond, on 1st August 1935. [photo St Breward History Group] And finally, a look back along the whole branch from Helland to Wenford. This certainly is "a whole railroad you can model", as our American modelling cousins would have it, and this is certainly what inspired John and is the basic concept behind the whole master-planned Bodmin & Wenford/North Cornwall layout of which this forms a part. Jerry's hands are creeping into the scene on left as he grabs a few shots at the end of the show. And that's it! We had a really enjoyable time operating the complete branch on its first public outing, and the visitors seemed to appreciate it too - a whole branchline to view, not just a station. Thank you John for kindly inviting me to play. And to Jerry for the good-humoured banter and joshing throughout the day. And very importantly, thanks to Edna Greenwood for the yummy homemade cake! Next outing will be John's 'St Blazey Roundhouse' (as appeared at the Warminster show back in June) on Sunday 5th November (a one-day show) at the Cornwall Model Railway Exhibition, Carn Brea Leisure Centre, Station Rd, Pool, Redruth, Cornwall TR15 3QS, open 10:00-16:00. Edited September 25, 2017 by Phil Copleston 22 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold queensquare Posted September 25, 2017 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted September 25, 2017 Some great prototype pictures there Phil, really shows how well the character of the branch has been captured. Jerry Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium nick_bastable Posted September 25, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 25, 2017 fantastic I really like the way the real life photos look like a model or have I got that the wrong way round ? Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Phil Copleston Posted October 19, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted October 19, 2017 Half-a-dozen photos of 'Wadebridge' at the Farnham (Aldershot) show last weekend. To be honest I didn't take many, mostly people this time as I was too busy operating 'Wadebridge' and helping Mark Fielder with his 2mm scale narrow gauge layouts, 'An Clár' and 'The Pizza', across the aisle! Anyway, here they are: And while the boys were away (at the 2mm Association AGM in a side hall on the Saturday) - the girls did play! Edna Greenwood (on the left) and Kim Clifford ('Mrs Queenssquare') take control... And that's it. While it was cool outside, in the halls it was sweltering. But we did enjoy ourselves. And the Nepalese Gurkha curries on both evenings were exceptionally good! 21 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold queensquare Posted October 19, 2017 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted October 19, 2017 Thanks Phil, I too only took a handful of pictures but I will add them once this hectic week is out of the way. As you say, another great weekend away with the North Cornwall posse! Jerry Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold TomE Posted October 23, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 23, 2017 Thanks Phil, I too only took a handful of pictures but I will add them once this hectic week is out of the way. As you say, another great weekend away with the North Cornwall posse! Jerry I'm gutted I couldn't make the Farnham show this year. Looks & sounds like you had a great time though. Hopefully I'll have the opportunity to operate Wadebridge again though at some point in the future. Tom. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Popular Post queensquare Posted April 24, 2018 Author RMweb Gold Popular Post Share Posted April 24, 2018 Last weekend John, Phil and I took Padstow, the latest and final section of the North Cornwall system to the Helston show. This was the first time the layout had been put together outside the loft and, a few minor tweaks aside, it worked fantastically well. Despite the fact that it was little more than bare boards and the trackplan is greatly compressed it still managed to really capture the feel of Padstow - the way a train snaked in over the iron bridge and through the reverse curves (including a curved double slip!) being particularly evocative. The pictures show progress to date including the latest addition to the stud, an ex-GWR 44xx and the mock up buildings I managed to throw together over the weekend which have now returned with me to Wiltshire to be worked up. Jerry 22 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 2ManySpams Posted April 24, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 24, 2018 Going to be a very nice final section of the project. Gets a bit of getting used to seeing from the hill and looking out to see. Bridge looks superb. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgman Posted April 24, 2018 Share Posted April 24, 2018 A promising start Jerry and with a squint I can almost see the finished article. There's always something about introducing a bridge that appeals to me, especially seeing the locos passing over the one above. I do like the Prarie ( but then I would wouldn't I ! ). Not too sure about the alien space craft with the long legs in the 6th and 7th photos though ? ) G Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
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 accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now