Mid-Cornwall Lines - 1950s Western Region in 00

[5BarVT]

You’ve been keeping your plans for a branch to Helston very quiet!

Paul.

Edited June 14, 2019 by 5BarVT
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[St Enodoc]

8 minutes ago, 5BarVT said:

You’ve been keeping your plans for a branch to Helston very quiet!

Paul.

Not going there Paul, as I don't want to butt in on Tony's (Mulgabill) territory - hence the rather unlikely back story. As I hinted in an earlier post, I just like brake vans - especially those with Cornish branding. I've got a couple of ancient Ratio kits hand-lettered for St Blazey that work with the clay trains; a couple of equally ancient Airfix RTR that I branded Truro and Laira by cutting and pasting from a sheet of Woodhead transfers (that should tell you how old they are); and a selection of newer Hornby and Bachmann RTR branded Truro, St Erth, Par, Penzance, Bodmin Road and now Gwinear Road. Apart from the Toads I've also got a BR standard 20-tonner and a Bachmann SR pill box, which will soon be joined by the new Hornby LSWR 24-tonner.

[St Enodoc]

Time only for a short session today, so I programmed the Penzance Mini Panel with the new routes to loops 2 to 7 at each end. This also involved creating a new command station macro as some of the routes involve five points. Having made a few dozen droppers last Monday evening while watching the telly, I'm now ready to install these and connect them up to the Down bus and the frogs on the new points. The only remaining job at Penzance will then be the fouling point markers.

[Barry O]

You can always use the old Leeds MRS approach to scenery..as in not a lot of it required!

Chapel is covered in it..could be due to Fred and Ian..or Smithy...

Baz

[Clive Mortimore]

1 hour ago, St Enodoc said:

Time only for a short session today, so I programmed the Penzance Mini Panel with the new routes to loops 2 to 7 at each end. This also involved creating a new command station macro as some of the routes involve five points. Having made a few dozen droppers last Monday evening while watching the telly, I'm now ready to install these and connect them up to the Down bus and the frogs on the new points. The only remaining job at Penzance will then be the fouling point markers.

All sounds very complicated for a train set.

[St Enodoc]

4 hours ago, Clive Mortimore said:

All sounds very complicated for a train set.

Not really. Only a couple of dozen pairs of wires...

[St Enodoc]

Another year older and deeper in debt but I was able take the new 6825 out of its box officially today. It looks much the same as the other green Granges except for the tender. I'll run it in later tonight on DC. I removed the old 6825's nameplates and numberplates and changed the smokebox plate to 6824 - the new one already has 6825 printed on the front and I've run out of Slaters 1.5mm 6s. If the new plates for 6824 arrive this week I'll fit them next weekend.

 

I also took the old decoder out of 6824 ready to fit to the new 6825, so now 6824 needs a new decoder. I think a TCS DP2X-UK should fit through the gap in the bottom of the boiler. It's a real nuisance that NCE has discontinued its 8-pin plug-fitted range.

 

Why didn't I just change over the tenders? Well, that was my original plan but the old 6825 was one of Hornby's pre-weathered models (6869 was its original number). Putting it next to a clean tender (and the new clean loco next to a dirty tender) just wouldn't have looked right in the end. Edit: when I was setting up the rolling road, I noticed that the new loco has a semi-permanent tender coupling rather than the old pin-and-hole type, so Plan A wouldn't have worked anyway.

 

Out in the railway room, all the Penzance droppers went in today. There were about 70 of them in the end, by the time I'd connected each point plus the various lengths of track that join the points to the rest of the layout and to each other. Feeders next - not too hard a job but not my favourite as it's all under the baseboards.

 

 

Edited June 16, 2019 by St Enodoc

[Barry O]

Happy Birthday!

 

Card has arrived here..many thanks!

Baz

[Stoker]

On 15/06/2019 at 04:54, Clive Mortimore said:

All sounds very complicated for a train set.

The hobby has moved on a bit since "Pig Lane", Clive.

[Clive Mortimore]

3 hours ago, Stoker said:

The hobby has moved on a bit since "Pig Lane", Clive.

Serious head on.

 

Hi Stoker

 

I am not too sure it has moved in the right direction. You mentioned Pig Lane. That was a big learning curve for me mainly in how and where to research information on railways. It was also a great little layout for learning how and how not to make things. 

 

These days I see other people's attempts to make a small diesel depot, they all look the same, they all sound the same, all have high tech control systems, the same engine sheds, the same portacabins and all seem to have the same RTR locomotives. I never see a kit or scratchbuilt diesel on a layout these days. Most have fuel tanks that are smaller in volume than the wagons bringing the diesel. They are basically copies of each other.

 

The worst part, and depot layouts are not the only ones to suffer is the lack of a realistic track plan. The first time I took Pig Lane out an ex driver from a club I belonged to, who seemed like taking the mickey out of me, said "It operates like a real depot".

 

Yes the technology has improved but in many cases the layouts are much the same as a CJF "plan of the month" from the 1960s.

[Stoker]

Clive,

That's a pretty big can of worms mate, maybe better discussed in a separate thread, out of respect for St Enodoc's thread.

Also let's not be too negative, eh? Horses for courses and all that.

All the best,

Scott.

[Martin S-C]

I think constantly sniping at DCC on a thread where the layout owner is very much committed to it and is clearly demonstrating the usefulness of it is un-necessarily negative.

[Clive Mortimore]

1 hour ago, Martin S-C said:

I think constantly sniping at DCC on a thread where the layout owner is very much committed to it and is clearly demonstrating the usefulness of it is un-necessarily negative.

I was not sniping.

 

I think over the years John and I know when we are just having a bit of fun with each other.

[St Enodoc]

12 hours ago, Stoker said:

Clive,

That's a pretty big can of worms mate, maybe better discussed in a separate thread, out of respect for St Enodoc's thread.

Also let's not be too negative, eh? Horses for courses and all that.

All the best,

Scott.

Don't worry Scott, this topic wanders in all sorts of directions and as long as it stays within RMweb rules, and avoids party politics, religious zealotry and personal insults, anything goes, like the conversations we have on club night at tea break or in the pub afterwards.

 

In this particular context I agree with Clive. There seems to me to be a growing reversion to modelling models rather than modelling the real thing (although recently, perhaps due to recent TV programmes, there is also an increase in totally fictitious or fantasy modelling, which I don't think is all bad).

[St Enodoc]

11 hours ago, Martin S-C said:

I think constantly sniping at DCC on a thread where the layout owner is very much committed to it and is clearly demonstrating the usefulness of it is un-necessarily negative.

 

9 hours ago, Clive Mortimore said:

I was not sniping.

 

I think over the years John and I know when we are just having a bit of fun with each other.

My approach is always to tell folk what I do and why (and sometimes what I don't do and why not). I try hard not to tell people what they should do themselves. Clive and I certainly have a different approach to layout control and wiring, which is healthy, and what is also healthy is that neither of us, in common with many of my real and virtual (i.e. RMweb) friends, takes model railways so seriously that we can't pull each other's legs and have a chuckle along the way.

[Stoker]

5 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

Don't worry Scott, this topic wanders in all sorts of directions and as long as it stays within RMweb rules, and avoids party politics, religious zealotry and personal insults, anything goes, like the conversations we have on club night at tea break or in the pub afterwards.

 

In this particular context I agree with Clive. There seems to me to be a growing reversion to modelling models rather than modelling the real thing (although recently, perhaps due to recent TV programmes, there is also an increase in totally fictitious or fantasy modelling, which I don't think is all bad).

Well since it's open season, I might as well add my two cents.

I've been in this hobby for about 25 years now, maybe more. Growing up with Hornby and Lima, what was available off the shelf were not really "models" at this point, they were toy trains. The model railway hobby elsewhere in the world had legitimate RTR offerings, but not the UK. To be a "real modeller" back then you basically had to build brass, resin, a spare few injection molded kits, or scratch-bash the toy trains into real scale models. This was not easy for everyone, some took to this aspect of the hobby better than others. I'm sure I'm not alone in having vivid memories of one particular Model Rail magazine staffer who had a bit of an obsession with etched bogie steps, but always botched them!

Although I spent most of my life in Cornwall, I went to a boarding secondary school in Hampshire, which gave me an interest in SR 3rd rail slammers, but apart from a few kit manufacturers you were absolutely buggered if you wanted to model any of it, which was very frustrating for a 13 year old who lacked the skills to scratch build! I still remember being absolutely extatic to find cast whitemetal N scale 4cep and 4cig cab ends at an exhibition for converting Grafar mark 1 coaches. I had no bloody idea how I was going to motorize it, or what I'd do about the bogies, or the driver's side windows... but damnit it was a start!

Once we started getting solid RTR offerings from the late 90s onward, it became obvious that the hobby was becoming a more open field. While all the kit and scratch building was commendable, it did drastically slow progress on many layouts, and acted as an insurmountable barrier to entry for others. I liken it a lot to the diminishing returns between EM and P4 - while EM will get you "right" looking track, much finer pointwork and wheels, without really holding up your layout building much, P4 will require significant bogie rebuilding and the addition of compensation... all for the sake of 0.64mm. For some those diminishing returns don't matter, the satisfaction of being "dead scale" makes up for it, for others it isn't worth it. Neither approach is "wrong", but by the same token, neither approach is "better", just different. Without the barrier to entry or the requirement for kit building and scratch building, those who would otherwise have given the hobby a miss started participating in it. Some of those became very proficient detailers, weatherers, and a few even went on to scratchbuild some of the most impressive model buildings I've seen in this hobby. None of them have much desire to kit build a locomotive though, and that's fine.

Over the years I have observed that some of the "I have something you don't" elitism that came from those who did have the skill to scratchbuild has sort of morphed into bitter "it's not real modeling if it's RTR" now that their models are no longer exclusive to them. It's not everyone, but this is an aspect of the hobby that I've never liked. Now that I've been doing this for so long, I basically have the ability to scratchbuild anything I want - for me the idea of being motivated to scratchbuild something just to get a kick out of other's envy is abhorrent, as is any kind of elitism once a RTR model is inevitably released.

Here in Canada, we basically have a RTR model of everything, all to extremely high standard. Athearn's Genesis product line has amazing detail going right down to things like rotating axle caps. Despite this, there are still some people who build entire locomotives using Cannon & Co doors, cabs, noses, fans, exhaust ports, brass lift rings and grab irons, etc. on a styrene sub assembly. They use photo etched walkway tread, and brass handrails threaded through cast brass stanchions, the end result is extremely impressive.



Believe it or not, despite this and the growth of the Proto 87 group, many in the North American hobby also lament "nobody builds anything these days, it's all RTR". But I don't think it's necessarily true that these aspects of the hobby can't coexist. In fact, I think it's probably more true that the one needs the other.

Over the 25 year period that I've been doing this, I always read all the magazines, and if anything I'd say the absolute best work I've seen in the British model hobby has been in the last 8 years, and the "best" keeps getting better all the time. With the internet becoming faster and more accessible than ever, I'm also starting to see way more prototypical layouts. I've long been an advocate of prototype standard for china clay, and you have no idea how frustrating it is to see the potential of that prototype wasted as "just a shed by the tracks with some white stuff in it" with barely a second thought or so much as a second closer look at any photos of the real thing. These days I find myself answering some very detailed questions from people who have come online to do research, and the results speak for themselves. Some of the best china clay based layouts I've ever seen have come up on here in the last 5 years or so, even a few full scale non-compressed models of real life clay works. Funnily enough, most of that work has coincided with many of the wagons that were once the preserve of scratchbuilders being released into the RTR market.

Also there are now way more tools to research prototype. It used to be the case that the only people who modelled a period "a long time ago" were those old enough to have lived through it. Now with the magic of the internet we can access aerial photos taken 90 years ago, industrial archaeology through GIS mapping, take detailed measurements using Google earth, and access archives of old maps and photographs. The internet is like a free time machine!

So in summary, I believe there's no reason to panic or mourn the death of the hobby, quite the contrary I think now is the time to rejoice what I see as a renaissance. More and more young people are taking it up, something that was once predicted would never happen. This is the best the hobby has ever been and it's only going to get better.

[St Enodoc]

2 hours ago, Stoker said:

Well since it's open season, I might as well add my two cents.

I've been in this hobby for about 25 years now, maybe more. Growing up with Hornby and Lima, what was available off the shelf were not really "models" at this point, they were toy trains. The model railway hobby elsewhere in the world had legitimate RTR offerings, but not the UK. To be a "real modeller" back then you basically had to build brass, resin, a spare few injection molded kits, or scratch-bash the toy trains into real scale models. This was not easy for everyone, some took to this aspect of the hobby better than others. I'm sure I'm not alone in having vivid memories of one particular Model Rail magazine staffer who had a bit of an obsession with etched bogie steps, but always botched them!

Although I spent most of my life in Cornwall, I went to a boarding secondary school in Hampshire, which gave me an interest in SR 3rd rail slammers, but apart from a few kit manufacturers you were absolutely buggered if you wanted to model any of it, which was very frustrating for a 13 year old who lacked the skills to scratch build! I still remember being absolutely extatic to find cast whitemetal N scale 4cep and 4cig cab ends at an exhibition for converting Grafar mark 1 coaches. I had no bloody idea how I was going to motorize it, or what I'd do about the bogies, or the driver's side windows... but damnit it was a start!

Once we started getting solid RTR offerings from the late 90s onward, it became obvious that the hobby was becoming a more open field. While all the kit and scratch building was commendable, it did drastically slow progress on many layouts, and acted as an insurmountable barrier to entry for others. I liken it a lot to the diminishing returns between EM and P4 - while EM will get you "right" looking track, much finer pointwork and wheels, without really holding up your layout building much, P4 will require significant bogie rebuilding and the addition of compensation... all for the sake of 0.64mm. For some those diminishing returns don't matter, the satisfaction of being "dead scale" makes up for it, for others it isn't worth it. Neither approach is "wrong", but by the same token, neither approach is "better", just different. Without the barrier to entry or the requirement for kit building and scratch building, those who would otherwise have given the hobby a miss started participating in it. Some of those became very proficient detailers, weatherers, and a few even went on to scratchbuild some of the most impressive model buildings I've seen in this hobby. None of them have much desire to kit build a locomotive though, and that's fine.

Over the years I have observed that some of the "I have something you don't" elitism that came from those who did have the skill to scratchbuild has sort of morphed into bitter "it's not real modeling if it's RTR" now that their models are no longer exclusive to them. It's not everyone, but this is an aspect of the hobby that I've never liked. Now that I've been doing this for so long, I basically have the ability to scratchbuild anything I want - for me the idea of being motivated to scratchbuild something just to get a kick out of other's envy is abhorrent, as is any kind of elitism once a RTR model is inevitably released.

Here in Canada, we basically have a RTR model of everything, all to extremely high standard. Athearn's Genesis product line has amazing detail going right down to things like rotating axle caps. Despite this, there are still some people who build entire locomotives using Cannon & Co doors, cabs, noses, fans, exhaust ports, brass lift rings and grab irons, etc. on a styrene sub assembly. They use photo etched walkway tread, and brass handrails threaded through cast brass stanchions, the end result is extremely impressive.



Believe it or not, despite this and the growth of the Proto 87 group, many in the North American hobby also lament "nobody builds anything these days, it's all RTR". But I don't think it's necessarily true that these aspects of the hobby can't coexist. In fact, I think it's probably more true that the one needs the other.

Over the 25 year period that I've been doing this, I always read all the magazines, and if anything I'd say the absolute best work I've seen in the British model hobby has been in the last 8 years, and the "best" keeps getting better all the time. With the internet becoming faster and more accessible than ever, I'm also starting to see way more prototypical layouts. I've long been an advocate of prototype standard for china clay, and you have no idea how frustrating it is to see the potential of that prototype wasted as "just a shed by the tracks with some white stuff in it" with barely a second thought or so much as a second closer look at any photos of the real thing. These days I find myself answering some very detailed questions from people who have come online to do research, and the results speak for themselves. Some of the best china clay based layouts I've ever seen have come up on here in the last 5 years or so, even a few full scale non-compressed models of real life clay works. Funnily enough, most of that work has coincided with many of the wagons that were once the preserve of scratchbuilders being released into the RTR market.

Also there are now way more tools to research prototype. It used to be the case that the only people who modelled a period "a long time ago" were those old enough to have lived through it. Now with the magic of the internet we can access aerial photos taken 90 years ago, industrial archaeology through GIS mapping, take detailed measurements using Google earth, and access archives of old maps and photographs. The internet is like a free time machine!

So in summary, I believe there's no reason to panic or mourn the death of the hobby, quite the contrary I think now is the time to rejoice what I see as a renaissance. More and more young people are taking it up, something that was once predicted would never happen. This is the best the hobby has ever been and it's only going to get better.

Some very interesting and thought-provoking comments there Scott - thanks.

 

What strikes me about all this is that it has never been easier to find information (although some of what we find has to be taken with a pinch of salt), that it has never been easier to build a realistic model railway and yet, paradoxically, that it has never been easier to get it wrong.

 

The general availability of information, largely through the web, and the availability and willingness of people with first-hand experience to share their knowledge, is invaluable.

 

The wide range of ready-to-use models, be they trains, scenic items, or whatever, is also invaluable - not least because they save time that can be spent on making things that are not available ready-to-use.

 

As you say, a consequence of all this is that high standards have never been easier to achieve and that the best is probably better than it has ever been - and certainly more widespread. However, I think it's also true that the quantity of models that we see that are not quite the best is also bigger than ever.

 

Bringing this all back home, so to speak, this means that I can model what interests me - the railways of Cornwall in the 1950s - far more effectively than ever before and, I hope, to higher standards (others will be the judge of that). I can also upgrade earlier work to higher standards where I wish. For example, my Cotswold 42xx tank has been displaced by two Hornby models; I'm in two minds whether to do the same with my Nu-Cast 16xx; and I will rebuild or replace my model linhay to represent better the real thing. 25 years ago my plan was to upgrade three Tri-ang Hornby Halls using Crownline/M&L detailing parts - now I have 13 RTR versions. 20 years ago I sweated blood fitting a K's Grange body to a Bachmann Manor chassis - now I have half-a dozen RTR models of the class. I could go on but I hope you see my point.

 

Finally, I agree that there is no need to worry about the death of the hobby. It was a different hobby 50 years ago when I started, a different hobby 25 years ago when you started and it will be a different hobby in 25 or 50 years from now - but it will still be the best hobby of all.

[Bogie]

Hear, hear!

[Stoker]

27 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

I will rebuild or replace my model linhay to represent better the real thing.

I would be more than happy to assist with this if you wish.

Are you doing coal fired or oil fired? There was a bit of both in the 50s.

[St Enodoc]

3 hours ago, Stoker said:

I would be more than happy to assist with this if you wish.

Are you doing coal fired or oil fired? There was a bit of both in the 50s.

Thanks Scott, I would appreciate that.

 

It will be a coal-fired linhay, based on that at Wheal Rose near Bugle, which I photographed nearly 40 years ago. I've got lots of other photos of similar structures including some of my own from Wheal Martyn and your sketches from a few years ago, which will give me a good start. On page 1 of this topic you can see the existing model on the first St Enodoc layout.

 

I won't need the linhay for some time though, so there is no rush.

[Sharky]

9 hours ago, Stoker said:

So in summary, I believe there's no reason to panic or mourn the death of the hobby, quite the contrary I think now is the time to rejoice what I see as a renaissance. More and more young people are taking it up, something that was once predicted would never happen. This is the best the hobby has ever been and it's only going to get better.

 

As a token "young person" I feel I should throw my 2 cents in.

I think it's incredibly closed minded to say that the hobby is in decline.

 

I've been in hobby for 11 years now, starting at 13 years old with your typical 'Flying Scotsman Train Set', and I can vouch that there are quite a number of younger people in the hobby.

 

I'm a member of a model rail club located in Melbourne, Australia. We have around 60 members of the club who regularly attend running sessions, and I would say a good 20-25 of those members are aged somewhere between 11-30.

We have a variety of different session available throughout a month on different weekends. Eg. Australian prototype, UK Prototype, General (whatever goes) etc...

We had a look which sessions were the most popular and the 'Juniors' session came out on top. The 'Juniors' being anyone under the age of 18.

 

Although a large percentage of younger people in the hobby aren't overly interesting in building a wagon kit, or weathering something up. There is still a large enough percentage of those who are interested in modelling.

They have seen what can be produced and would like to have the proud feeling of having a finished model and saying "I built that, I painted that and weathered that myself", and end up having a unique model to everyone else.

 

My main forte in the hobby is weathering, I've had a number of people (both younger and older) ask me how I achieve the effects I've created or even as simple as "where do I start?" Or "How do I weather?" 

And I've been more than happy to pass on my knowledge and the techniques I've learnt.

 

I think the hobby overall is in a fantastic time! The amount of RTR stock that is being produced and at the deatil level it's being produced at, is incredible.

Of course with that in mind the hobby has favoured a more wallet driven focus now. And the percentage of people who will buy something over actively building it is less than it used to be.

But something to take into consideration is the amount of overall people in the hobby has grown, so you could argue that number of people building items hasn't changed much.

 

As stated before there are still a large number of younger people who are interested in modelling a railway and not just playing trains, that I think the modelling side of the hobby still has a lot of life left in it, and it's going to be very interesting to see where the hobby will be in 20 years time.

 

[Stoker]

1 hour ago, St Enodoc said:

Thanks Scott, I would appreciate that.

 

It will be a coal-fired linhay, based on that at Wheal Rose near Bugle, which I photographed nearly 40 years ago. I've got lots of other photos of similar structures including some of my own from Wheal Martyn and your sketches from a few years ago, which will give me a good start. On page 1 of this topic you can see the existing model on the first St Enodoc layout. 

  

I won't need the linhay for some time though, so there is no rush.

Ah yes Wheal Rose kiln, one of the slightly more unusual type with the double pile roof - basically one roof over the pan, another roof over the linhay, and a valley between. This was a very early style that had the linhay floor almost level with the pan, which made stacking the dried clay more labour intensive. I think it actually might have been the longest lived of the double pile roofed kilns. I visited it once while I was tracing the old Carbis branch, but strangely didn't take any photos.

Immediately next to the kiln was Boss Allen's Timber Wharf and Wheal Virgin air dry. I know the air dry would've been out of use by the 50's, but I'm not sure about the timber wharf - there is some info about it in one of Maurice Dart's books (I think it might be East Cornwall Mineral Railways) .

I'd need to get hold of some photos first, but if you could give me the details on the space you'd like to put the building in, I could draw up scale CAD drawings that you could work from.

[DougN]

4 hours ago, Sharky said:

 

As a token "young person" I feel I should throw my 2 cents in.

I think it's incredibly closed minded to say that the hobby is in decline.

 

I've been in hobby for 11 years now, starting at 13 years old with your typical 'Flying Scotsman Train Set', and I can vouch that there are quite a number of younger people in the hobby.

 

I'm a member of a model rail club located in Melbourne, Australia. We have around 60 members of the club who regularly attend running sessions, and I would say a good 20-25 of those members are aged somewhere between 11-30.

We have a variety of different session available throughout a month on different weekends. Eg. Australian prototype, UK Prototype, General (whatever goes) etc...

We had a look which sessions were the most popular and the 'Juniors' session came out on top. The 'Juniors' being anyone under the age of 18.

 

Although a large percentage of younger people in the hobby aren't overly interesting in building a wagon kit, or weathering something up. There is still a large enough percentage of those who are interested in modelling.

They have seen what can be produced and would like to have the proud feeling of having a finished model and saying "I built that, I painted that and weathered that myself", and end up having a unique model to everyone else.

 

My main forte in the hobby is weathering, I've had a number of people (both younger and older) ask me how I achieve the effects I've created or even as simple as "where do I start?" Or "How do I weather?" 

And I've been more than happy to pass on my knowledge and the techniques I've learnt.

 

I think the hobby overall is in a fantastic time! The amount of RTR stock that is being produced and at the deatil level it's being produced at, is incredible.

Of course with that in mind the hobby has favoured a more wallet driven focus now. And the percentage of people who will buy something over actively building it is less than it used to be.

But something to take into consideration is the amount of overall people in the hobby has grown, so you could argue that number of people building items hasn't changed much.

 

As stated before there are still a large number of younger people who are interested in modelling a railway and not just playing trains, that I think the modelling side of the hobby still has a lot of life left in it, and it's going to be very interesting to see where the hobby will be in 20 years time.

 

 

sharkie great to have you along as another here in Melbourne, I should ask do you know me? . I had been in the younger generation for years a minority. Ok I am now middle aged... but I have always been interested in the proportion of younger people coming into the hobby. St Enodoc is pointing out the number of people entering is  smaller than the number leaving. Hence a long decline. I started at the age of 14 or 15 getting into serious building... ok that makes me feel old...when the flying Scotsman was here in Australia. Ok you can figure out how old I am! In 20 years I will still be around but the number in BRMA may be reducing... I am also a member of a smaller group which is seriously declining and I don't think will last more than a couple of years. So join BRMA and generally you will always find me at a meeting or on the BRMA stand at an exhibition and have a chat. 

 

In the the long term I would like to think the number leaving and entering remains stationary so we can pass along skills between people! 

[St Enodoc]

4 hours ago, Stoker said:

Ah yes Wheal Rose kiln, one of the slightly more unusual type with the double pile roof - basically one roof over the pan, another roof over the linhay, and a valley between. This was a very early style that had the linhay floor almost level with the pan, which made stacking the dried clay more labour intensive. I think it actually might have been the longest lived of the double pile roofed kilns. I visited it once while I was tracing the old Carbis branch, but strangely didn't take any photos.

Immediately next to the kiln was Boss Allen's Timber Wharf and Wheal Virgin air dry. I know the air dry would've been out of use by the 50's, but I'm not sure about the timber wharf - there is some info about it in one of Maurice Dart's books (I think it might be East Cornwall Mineral Railways) .

I'd need to get hold of some photos first, but if you could give me the details on the space you'd like to put the building in, I could draw up scale CAD drawings that you could work from.

Thanks again Scott. It will be a while until I can determine the precise space available, other than to say that it probably won't be big enough for a true-scale replica. I think the most likely course is that I will use the CAD sketches you posted on RMweb a few years ago and adjust the sizes from there. So don't hold your breath yet!

 

At some stage I'll dig out my 35mm slides from 1981, scan them and post them here.

[St Enodoc]

30 minutes ago, DougN said:

 

sharkie great to have you along as another here in Melbourne, I should ask do you know me? . I had been in the younger generation for years a minority. Ok I am now middle aged... but I have always been interested in the proportion of younger people coming into the hobby. St Enodoc is pointing out the number of people entering is  smaller than the number leaving. Hence a long decline. I started at the age of 14 or 15 getting into serious building... ok that makes me feel old...when the flying Scotsman was here in Australia. Ok you can figure out how old I am! In 20 years I will still be around but the number in BRMA may be reducing... I am also a member of a smaller group which is seriously declining and I don't think will last more than a couple of years. So join BRMA and generally you will always find me at a meeting or on the BRMA stand at an exhibition and have a chat. 

 

In the the long term I would like to think the number leaving and entering remains stationary so we can pass along skills between people! 

Doug, as you are both BRMA members you probably already know each other!