Mid-Cornwall Lines - 1950s Western Region in 00

[St Enodoc]

I took D601 out to the railway room earlier and set it up on Nancegwithey Viaduct for a photoshoot.

 

This, if I've understood Geoff Endacott's post in another place, shows A end on the right and B end on the left:

 

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/62201-kernow-models-d6xx-update/&do=findComment&comment=3499036

 

D816's green looks a bit yellower than D601's but I don't have a problem with either. The numbers on D816, however, look sharper, whiter and smaller than D601's. New transfers might be called for here.

 

The two greens here seem to be very similar in hue (tint? shade?) but D6307's looks slightly darker. Again, I don't have a problem with either. A similar comment on numbers as above.

 

Finally, here's the entire Mid-Cornwall Lines diesel-hydraulic fleet. Kind souls will say that they are posed for a publicity photograph. Unkind souls will say that some have failed and the others are trying to rescue them.

 

Later on I separated the four St Enodoc boards from which I am going to recycle the points. I should get a dozen or so, mostly curved ones that will go to Paddington and Penzance but also a couple of straight ones that could end up at Polperran one day.

 

During my hotel thinking time this week I decided that most of the empty stock boxes that I've packed away no longer "spark joy", so I've decided to throw them out. The only ones I'll keep are those that have nostalgic significance for me...

 

...like this one. On the first Pentowan layout (the garage terminus) I had a rake of four of these (see the second photo in this post: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/94350-mid-cornwall-lines-1950s-western-region-in-00/&do=findComment&comment=1727920), which are long gone although I have got some others to replace them in my heritage fleet.

 

Blunt's was our local model shop when I was growing up and no Saturday morning was complete without a look at their window and if I'd got enough pocket money going inside. Judging by the price I reckon I must have bought this in about 1970 1971 or 1972.

Edited July 18, 2023 by St Enodoc
images restored

[St Enodoc]

On 14/03/2019 at 18:10, Michael Edge said:

It was probably Nescafe, bought at Asda in Kent - it did work again briefly after drying out but then died completely.

16.2mm check gauge on its way to you today, sorry for the delay.

 

Check gauge arrived today Mike. Many thanks again.

[RobJC]

"Blunt's was our local model shop when I was growing up"

 

Was that in Mill Hill?  If so I remember it well. Not exactly "local" to me, before I learned to drive about 15 minutes on the A1 from St Albans if my father was willing to drive, otherwise a bit longer on the train but it was the nearest "proper" model railway shop......Gone now though, like so many others.

 

 

[St Enodoc]

13 hours ago, RobJC said:

"Blunt's was our local model shop when I was growing up"

 

Was that in Mill Hill?  If so I remember it well. Not exactly "local" to me, before I learned to drive about 15 minutes on the A1 from St Albans if my father was willing to drive, otherwise a bit longer on the train but it was the nearest "proper" model railway shop......Gone now though, like so many others.

 

 

That's the one Rob. We lived at the other end of Mill Hill but Saturday mornings meant shopping in the Broadway.

[Martin S-C]

I decided to bung this here because if I put it in my thread the peasants will start rioting. It hasn't turned a wheel yet but it sure is impressive.

[5BarVT]

Good job I haven’t got a plywood viaduct (yet) or I’d be really tempted too!

Paul.

[manna]

G'Day Folks

 

I think IBK, would be impressed with you viaduct.......

 

manna

 

[Martin S-C]

He was into timber viaducts, so I've heard.

[Mallard60022]

That Warship looks the works Martin. Any chance it could be viewed on Monday?

Phil

 

[St Enodoc]

4 hours ago, Mallard60022 said:

That Warship looks the works Martin. Any chance it could be viewed on Monday?

Phil

 

You're welcome to pop over for a long weekend, Phil, so that I can show you mine.

[Martin S-C]

Train fare might be a bit prohibitive.

[Oldddudders]

7 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

You're welcome to pop over for a long weekend, Phil, so that I can show you mine.

Ahem. 

[Mallard60022]

36 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

Ahem. 

Facebook/Snapchat for that particular activity I am told. saves a load of travel seemingly.

B.U. Tocks

[Martin S-C]

I was going to click the "informative/useful" option on the above post but there needs to be a "too much information" button as well.

[St Enodoc]

Time today to empty another box of boxes then to recover all the fiddle yard points from the old St Enodoc layout.

 

Here's board 1 before recovery. To lift the points, I slide an old steel rule (actually a new one that I bought from the dollar shop for $2.00. Don't use a decent one for this job as it will get scratched and dirty) under the timbers until they are all free of the trackbed. Having already cut the droppers, the points can then be lifted off ready for cleaning up and fettling so that they are ready to be used again.

 

Here's the same board after removing all the points. There's nothing much else worth recovering except the Minitrix metal fishplates, which are no longer available, so I put them aside for reuse too.

 

After working on boards 1, 2, 7 and 8 I had a grand total of 4 LH curved B8s, 4 RH curved B8s, a RH B6, a LH B6 and a LH A5. Another LH B6 was recovered a couple of years ago but with the remodelling of the storage loop overlap area it wasn't needed. All of these points will be reused at Paddington, Penzance or Polperran. Still on boards 2 and 7 are three more fully-timbered and ballasted points, which I will recover later for use at the remodelled St Enodoc and at Pentowan.

Edited July 18, 2023 by St Enodoc
images restored

[Martin S-C]

Music while you work. Excellent. BTW, John, I think you must be the only railway modeller on the planet who has a workbench that's cleaner than the clean zone of a pharmaceuticals research lab. I don't know which impresses more, your modelling or your workshop.

[St Enodoc]

11 hours ago, Martin S-C said:

Music while you work. Excellent. BTW, John, I think you must be the only railway modeller on the planet who has a workbench that's cleaner than the clean zone of a pharmaceuticals research lab. I don't know which impresses more, your modelling or your workshop.

Thanks Martin. I had to clear that part of the bench so that I could put the old baseboards on it and rest them against the window sill while I wielded the ruler. You should see the parts that were out of shot... (and no, I'm not going to take a photo just to prove it!).

 

Edit: If I've done my sums right, this is post 2268 which was the actual number of the aforementioned Collett Goods. The loco was intended for a proposed model of Watchet that a school friend and I never built. In fact, 2268 was the only tangible artefact on the project.

Edited March 31, 2019 by St Enodoc

[St Enodoc]

Will I be joining RMweb Gold?

 

Well:

 

- I have a complete set of BRM going back to the first issue.

- a free show ticket won't be a lot of use to me.

- I don't sell stuff online.

- I don't need a personal image gallery

- I've yet to exceed the normal image upload limit.

 

So, at the moment, the answer is no.

 

However, if the little teaser of combining RMweb Gold with a subscription to the print version of BRM comes about then I'll have another look.

[Chamby]

19 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

Will I be joining RMweb Gold?

 

Well:

 

- I have a complete set of BRM going back to the first issue.

- a free show ticket won't be a lot of use to me.

- I don't sell stuff online.

- I don't need a personal image gallery

- I've yet to exceed the normal image upload limit.

 

So, at the moment, the answer is no.

 

However, if the little teaser of combining RMweb Gold with a subscription to the print version of BRM comes about then I'll have another look.

 

I feel likewise (though I don’t have a full set of old BRM’s).  

 

I also dont don’t wear a big gold medallion in real life....  very seventies retro.... I grew out of that stuff!

 

Phil

[Martin S-C]

There is an option to have the gold medallion deleted, just let Andy know after you've subscribed. Then you get the benefits, support the site, and don't look like a 70s lager drinker.

[St Enodoc]

TrevorP1 of this parish has posted a most evocative and nostalgic thought in the final sentence of this post on his layout thread:

 

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/137733-grampound-road-salad-days-on-the-cornish-main-line/&do=findComment&comment=3516779

 

This has inspired me to complete a haiku that I've been toying with for a while:

 

The Mid-Cornwall Lines:

Sandy beaches, sunny skies -

Summer in the West.

Edited April 6, 2019 by St Enodoc

[nerron]

John,

You forgot the concluding "gong" which for you as a DCC man would be a doddle.

[St Enodoc]

22 minutes ago, nerron said:

John,

You forgot the concluding "gong" which for you as a DCC man would be a doddle.

Ah yes, but I don't do sound!

[St Enodoc]

A bit of a blitz laying points today.

 

I laid all eight of the recovered curved points at Penzance. This was very easy except for one thing - the space between the top of the baseboards and the bottom of the stock shelves is just less than the length of the electric drill with a spade bit chucked, so I couldn't drill the operating wire hole for the rearmost point at each end from above. Not a major problem, as all I needed to do was to use the bradawl to penetrate the baseboard then drill from below instead. Other than that, the points all went down without any trouble.

 

Here they are at the Up end. I laid the two at the back without any insulating fishplates, because the "tails" at the ends of the recovered points were far shorter than on newly-built ones. I had to line the rails up with bulldog clips while the glue dried. I think I will need to anchor the timber closest to the joint to stop the force of the point motor pushing the rails out of line.

 

Here's the Down end, a mirror image of the Up. The mess left after flipping the loops meant that some of the timbers lack a bit of support where two operating wire holes have run into each other. Again, anchoring the timbers here might be necessary.

 

I need to build two more points, one of each hand, to finish Penzance and of course lay the plain track linking the points to the rest of the layout and the new loop tracks. I'll do all that before fitting the motors and wiring up, after which I'll start all over again at Paddington. That will take longer as I will need to build all 10 points.

 

Once all the loops are commissioned we'll be able to run almost the complete Friday and Saturday sequence on the main lines, the only exceptions being a few sets where I still need to build the brake vehicles from kits. That will take operation to a new level, as we will no longer be able to get through the whole sequence in a single session.

 

Edit - these recovered points are now on their third layout, having been built originally for the storage loops on the first St Enodoc (the loft layout) in about 1992. A testament to the durability and robustness of copperclad construction I think.

Edited July 18, 2023 by St Enodoc
images restored

[St Enodoc]

I'm looking ahead to dismantling D601 so that I can fit the decoder. At the same time I plan to fit a crew so that I only have to remove the body once. Up to now, for 1950s diesel crew I have amputated the legs from the fellow from the Merit/Modelscene Station Staff pack who is standing with his right hand pointing forward - the one second from left in this image from Hattons (other retailers are available):

 

https://hattonsimages.blob.core.windows.net/products/5059_1334_Qty1_1.jpg

 

I'm now down to my last one and of course I need two for the Warship, so before I buy another pack I thought I'd ask the brains trust what figures they suggest (pre-painted preferred).

 

Over to you folks...

 

 

 

Edited April 10, 2019 by St Enodoc