Mid-Cornwall Lines - 1950s Western Region in 00

[St Enodoc]

2 hours ago, TrevorP1 said:

All this talk of ‘70s fashion has made me think of the brief craze - would have been the punk era - for girls to dress in black plastic bin liners…

Some of which were indeed very brief...

 

Oooh - nurse!

Edited May 16, 2021 by St Enodoc

[St Enodoc]

Today I tidied up after our running session but before I did so I took some photos of one of the last trains we ran, train 543 which is the 2350 (FO) Paddington to Penzance. It looks rather nice with a good mixture of stock, so I ran it back round to Nancegwithey Viaduct for the camera.

 

Here's the whole train passing Porthmellyn Road Down Home signal, which you might just be able to see is Off (of course!).

 

4906 Bradfield Hall of Truro shed (83F) is a standard Bachmann model, still awaiting detailing (crew, coal, lamps, etc.).

 

Set 506 consists of four coaches. Here are the first two, a Hornby D95 and a Hornby E165, fitted with the Hornby Roco-style couplers...

 

...followed by a Bachmann C77 and another Hornby D95. These still have tension-lock couplings, pending fitting of semi-permanent couplings as they are within a set.

 

Set 542 is a single Bachmann SK, making its way west to strengthen an Up service later on Saturday.

 

Set 819 is a Lima O33 Siphon G that has been rebogied, rebuffered and repainted, while bringing up the rear is set 999, a Mailcoach P16 Monster.

 

Another reason I like this train is that it includes four liveries: crimson-and-cream; maroon; chocolate-and-cream; and plain crimson.

 

After that I sorted out the stock at Paddington and Penzance so that everything's ready for the next train in the sequence, 549, which is the 0815 (SO) Polperran to Paddington. More on this another time, after Pentowan and Polperran have been built and are operational.

 

Finally, I drilled the holes for the point operating wires at St Enodoc 19A, 19B and 23 points, ready to lay the next sections of track.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 28, 2023 by St Enodoc
Images restored

[Clive Mortimore]

9 hours ago, TrevorP1 said:

All this talk of ‘70s fashion has made me think of the brief craze - would have been the punk era - for girls to dress in black plastic bin liners…

Ah The bin liners. As you can tell by hair in my avatar I wasn't adverse to a bit of pogoing at a gig. I cannot recall ever seeing a girl dressed in a bin liner. I saw the photos in the press but if it appeared in certain papers it must true.

[St Enodoc]

1 minute ago, Clive Mortimore said:

Ah The bin liners. As you can tell by hair in my avatar I wasn't adverse to a bit of pogoing at a gig. I cannot recall ever seeing a girl dressed in a bin liner. I saw the photos in the press but if it appeared in certain papers it must true.

Definitely true at some University hall-of-residence discos in about 1977 - 1978.

 

As Max Boyce would say, I know - coz I was there...

[TrevorP1]

28 minutes ago, Clive Mortimore said:

Ah The bin liners. As you can tell by hair in my avatar I wasn't adverse to a bit of pogoing at a gig. I cannot recall ever seeing a girl dressed in a bin liner. I saw the photos in the press but if it appeared in certain papers it must true.

Definitely true. My ‘cop’ was a disco at Brimpton Grange near Thame, late 70s.

[Oldddudders]

If a girl wore a bin-liner wouldn't you think she was rubbish?

[Stubby47]

8 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

If a girl wore a bin-liner wouldn't you think she was rubbish?

 

(You can tell he's missing Sherry...)

[St Enodoc]

5 minutes ago, Stubby47 said:

 

(You can tell he's missing Sherry...)

Nothing to do with Sherry/sherry but I learned that yesterday was International Whisk(e)y Day, so I indulged with a nightcap of Ailsa Bay, a very nice and very strong single malt.

[Chamby]

9 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

If a girl wore a bin-liner wouldn't you think she was rubbish?

 

Not when all that held it together was a safety pin...

[St Enodoc]

Not much Mid-Cornwall Lines action this week, as we spent a couple of days in chilly Canberra to see "From Botticelli to Van Gogh", the National Gallery of Australia's exhibition of 60 or so masterpieces from the National Gallery in London. COVID-safe timed tickets ensured that the rooms weren't too crowded so we were able to have a good look at all the paintings (although, as usual, there were one or two d!ckheads who stood directly in front of each exhibit and leaned as far across the white line as possible to take close-up photos). We also indulged in plenty of good food and drink with some brisk walks to work up the next thirst.

 

Of course, you can't have a weekend away without finding something of railway interest:

 

Cockington Green is a model village, inspired by the one at Babbacombe in Devon, that also includes a 12" gauge miniature railway powered by a half-sized replica of a Fowler 0-4-0WT that was built for a Queensland cane railway. The model is fired by LPG, so no smoke or smells other than hot oil, and water is carried in a tender to supplement the well tank. It is a very nice piece of miniature engineering. In the bottom-right corner is a representation of the Lynton-Lynmouth funicular, which children of all ages can operate themselves using push-buttons.

 

Back in the railway room today, I laid the three points at St Enodoc Down end.

 

I laid them gently in position and lined up the heels using Tracksettas...

 

...before pressing them firmly into position with the roller. After taking the photos, I placed some bricks on the points to hold them down while the glue sets.

 

Next weekend I plan to start, and possibly finish, laying the plain track to connect them to the rest of St Enodoc. I won't go further than this, though, until I've erected enough trackbase to lay a full yard of track on both the single line and the Wheal Veronica branch.

 

 

Edited June 28, 2023 by St Enodoc
Images restored

[5BarVT]

1 hour ago, St Enodoc said:

Next weekend I plan to start, and possibly finish, laying the plain track to connect them to the rest of St Enodoc. I won't go further than this, though, until I've erected enough trackbase to lay a full yard of track on both the single line and the Wheal Veronica branch.

Not even a temporary piece to allow run rounds?  (Got to find a use for those buffers stops somewhere!)

Paul.

[St Enodoc]

4 minutes ago, 5BarVT said:

Not even a temporary piece to allow run rounds?  (Got to find a use for those buffers stops somewhere!)

Paul.

Possibly, Paul, but I haven't got any suitable off-cuts of track at the moment. The spurs wouldn't be very long anyway and so won't add much to operations. Once a full yard of track is in place I'll be able to shunt the short clay trains without wrong-road running from Porthmellyn Road to St Enodoc - that's the imperative to get cracking with the next bits of plywood!

[aardvark]

14 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Of course, you can't have a weekend away without finding something of railway interest:

 

Hmmm - I take inspiration from your holiday.  Ours never seem to have the time

[St Enodoc]

I made a good start on St Enodoc Down end tracks today.

 

First, I cut the existing tracks back, and cleaned away the old ballast, so that I didn't have to worry about aligning the new track at the baseboard join. Because the station boards are now fixed permanently in place, crossing the join with a continuous piece of track doesn't matter (I've already done it at the Up end with a point as well). You can just see the old droppers too, which I will reuse. The pencil line at the bottom marks where the road overbridge will go.

 

Next, I laid the Down Main track. I started with this for two reasons. First, it is on a 30" radius curve for which I have a Tracksetta. Secondly, It has to fit between two fixed points so was likely to be more fiddly than the others (which turned out to be true). You can see both sides of the overbridge here and in the next photo.

 

After that, I laid the Up Main and the Loop, each in two stages, The first stage was from the station to the far end of the short length of straight track and the second was the reverse curve from there to the point. Not having to wrangle a whole length of track with the reverse curve and the straight part in the middle made life much simpler. The Loop was located using the Proses parallel track spacers. I think the short lengths of straight track on each line show up quite clearly.

 

Finally, I laid some copperclad timbers and sleepers to fill the gaps between the heels of the points. I set these out by eye but I think they look all right. The long timbers will give plenty of support to the passenger lines, while the sleepers will be good enough for the more lightly-laid china-clay branch. I'll add the rails once the glue has dried (remembering that I'll need two more isolating gaps!).

[St Enodoc]

Good progress again today.

 

First, I fitted four lengths of rail to fill the gaps between 19A, 19B and 23 points. I decided to remove the insulating fishplates that I'd fitted yesterday, as their thickness was causing a bit of unevenness where they were sitting on timbers and, in any case, with the copperclad timbers they really aren't needed anyway. I had to mess around with a couple of short rail lengths to get things right but apart from that it was quite straightforward, using a combination of Tracksettas and roller gauges to line the rails up. Then I gapped the copperclad with the slitting disc. Can you spot where I missed a bit?

 

Yes, on the Loop I needed to add gaps to the left-hand long timber and the adjoining sleeper, to avoid a permanent short between the lower rail on the loop and 19B's crossing when 19B is set for the Down Main. You can just see them in this view. I then mounted the three point motors and inserted the droppers for the new track, although I didn't have time to solder them up.

 

Finally for today. here's an overall view looking Up. If you've got sharp eyes and a good memory you'll see that I've removed the "bulge" at the edge of the baseboard so that the track base is now normal width on the outside of the single line. Before the next running session in July, I'll add a new piece of board at a lower level to form the edge of the gap between the single line and Porthmellyn Road.

[St Enodoc]

I rounded off a very productive weekend today. First, I wired up the new track and points at St Enodoc Down end.

 

Unfortunately for Paul @5BarVT, even after cutting and laying the track there were still no suitable offcuts to lay temporary spurs on the single line and the Wheal Veronica branch - sorry!

 

It was quite comfortable doing the wiring while sitting on a low stool in the gangway rather than sitting on the floor under the baseboard for a change.

 

All the points are now connected to the temporary panel. I tested everything with loco 4206, which was fine, so had a break for a cup of tea.

 

After tea I started on the next section of baseboard. I'd already marked this out on a large-ish ply offcut, so the first job was to cut the outer edges and the Up end to line everything up. The track centres at the join aligned to within about 3mm, which is well within the tolerance for my tracklaying ability.

 

I therefore marked the track centres in ink and cut the slit between the two tracks. Here they are propped up temporarily. Although I haven't set them out to the final vertical alignment, this does show how the single line will fall while the china-clay branch rises as they curve away from St Enodoc.

 

The next job is to add some joists and risers and connect these sections of board to the existing ones before pressing on with the head of steel nickel-silver.

[5BarVT]

11 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

Unfortunately for Paul @5BarVT, even after cutting and laying the track there were still no suitable offcuts to lay temporary spurs on the single line and the Wheal Veronica branch - sorry!

 

11 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

The next job is to add some joists and risers and connect these sections of board to the existing ones before pressing on with the head of steel nickel-silver.

As you said earlier, it’s motivation to add track support zone,  and if that leads to room for a whole train, it has to be good!

 

On a separate subject, have you heard the sad news about Harold’s partner and the ongoing impact on Modratec production?

 

Paul.

[St Enodoc]

1 hour ago, 5BarVT said:

On a separate subject, have you heard the sad news about Harold’s partner and the ongoing impact on Modratec production?

PM sent.

[Oldddudders]

I'm rather enjoying the extensions as they emerge. It's a bit like when I watched daily updates of progress on the Welsh Highland rejuvenation, although this is a bit quicker!

[Barry O]

Work is progressing well. Hopefully we have a visit planned here with Red Leader to get Leeds going again..

 

Baz

[St Enodoc]

7 minutes ago, Barry O said:

Work is progressing well. Hopefully we have a visit planned here with Red Leader to get Leeds going again..

 

Baz

Well, I gather he's got to make a trip to Nottingham anyway, so breaking the journey in Leeds seems to make sense!

[Sharky]

4 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

I therefore marked the track centres in ink and cut the slit between the two tracks. Here they are propped up temporarily. Although I haven't set them out to the final vertical alignment, this does show how the single line will fall while the china-clay branch rises as they curve away from St Enodoc.

 

Progressing very well.
What grades will both lines be built at? 1:50?

[Clive Mortimore]

On 29/05/2021 at 08:57, St Enodoc said:

Good progress again today.

 

First, I fitted four lengths of rail to fill the gaps between 19A, 19B and 23 points. I decided to remove the insulating fishplates that I'd fitted yesterday, as their thickness was causing a bit of unevenness where they were sitting on timbers and, in any case, with the copperclad timbers they really aren't needed anyway. I had to mess around with a couple of short rail lengths to get things right but apart from that it was quite straightforward, using a combination of Tracksettas and roller gauges to line the rails up. Then I gapped the copperclad with the slitting disc. Can you spot where I missed a bit?

 

Yo Sainty

 

Yes

 

The first new timber as you come right to left from the right hand point, bottom rail, about 1/4mm not cut through. Good you spotted it before painting the sleepers, otherwise it could be weeks to sort out that short.

 

More importantly, this here UK and and Aussie trade deal, our lovely PM has promised us tariff free Tim Tams, are they any good or are Penguins better?

[St Enodoc]

14 hours ago, Sharky said:

 

Progressing very well.
What grades will both lines be built at? 1:50?

The single line to Treloggan Junction will fall at about 1 in 100 while the china-clay branch will climb at about 1 in 50.

[St Enodoc]

13 hours ago, Clive Mortimore said:

Yo Sainty

 

Yes

 

The first new timber as you come right to left from the right hand point, bottom rail, about 1/4mm not cut through. Good you spotted it before painting the sleepers, otherwise it could be weeks to sort out that short.

 

More importantly, this here UK and and Aussie trade deal, our lovely PM has promised us tariff free Tim Tams, are they any good or are Penguins better?

Close but no cigar. Looking at the upper-right point, the second long timber and first sleeper needed to be gapped within the vee to prevent a permanent short between the second and third rails from the top.

 

Tim Tams are good. There are plenty of different flavours, assuming you import them all. Having said that, we can now get standard, orange and mint flavour Penguins here. I do like the mint ones.

 

Which reminds me that it is many a long year since I ate a mint and plain chocolate Jacobs Club biscuit...