Mid-Cornwall Lines - 1950s Western Region in 00

[5BarVT]

22 minutes ago, figworthy said:

at which point we discovered that they came in RHD and LHD versions. 

Which, with hindsight, seems obvious.

Paul.

[figworthy]

2 minutes ago, 5BarVT said:

Which, with hindsight, seems obvious.

Paul.

 

Indeed, but without it, and a tightish time scale to get the job done, grabbing the first one out of the bin seemed entirely reasonable.

 

Adrian

[St Enodoc]

Some of you might be wondering what has been happening with Porthmellyn Road signal box (on the other hand, many of you probably couldn't care less).

 

After concentrating on Wheal Veronica and the design work for the single line over the past few weeks, I decided it was time for a change, so a couple of nights ago I got out the box of bits and started some more work on the signal box.

 

As you will recall, it is cobbled up from two Ratio 552 kits and I wanted to use as many of the kit parts as possible.

 

I'd already made up the windows and doors so I started to build the four wall sections.

 

 

At the top. upside down, is the rear wall. This is a full-width Ratio front, with its nice moulded window openings, that has been cut down in height and also extended to the left. If the vertical joint is too obvious I'll hide it behind some random pipe or conduit. The door is the Ratio locking room door, reduced in height. Between the brick wall and the windows, I still need to make the planked section, support beams and posts.

 

Moving clockwise we have the Up end wall with the main entrance door and the window, both straight from the kit. The lower half of this wall will be hidden by the platform except for a few millimetres at the back, so I don't think the two spliced joints will show up too much. Again, planks, beams and posts are missing at the moment.

 

At the bottom is the front wall. The two Ratio window units govern the overall length of the building. The brick sections are fixed to a backing piece which has oversized openings for the windows. I cut the arched top off these windows, as they have to fit snugly between the platform surface and the longitudinal beam. I still need some brick infill below the windows, to create a level surface.

 

Finally, on the left is the Down end wall. The lower right-hand corner of the brick wall will be hidden by the platform but the lower left-hand corner will be exposed.

 

This was all a nice change and I'm very pleased to have been able to use so much of the Ratio walling, which is quite finely moulded.

 

Next I'll finish each wall but without fixing the windows, then assemble everything around the floor to form the basic box structure.

Edited June 29, 2022 by St Enodoc
images restored

[St Enodoc]

After lunch, I went back out to the railway room and set out the single line at full size. With a bit of minor adjustment I managed to fit everything together. The transition at the St Enodoc end had to be moved to a point 60mm further round the curve than the original guesstimate. At the Treloggan Junction end I left the change from 760mm to 12000mm radius at 50mm from the point toe, which resulted in approximately a 20mm offset between the two 12000mm curves. Hence the curve lengths are just under 500mm each and the tangent length just under 1000mm.

 

 

Here it all is, rather Heath Robinson-ish, I'm afraid. It's held together and fixed down with a combination of Blu-Tak and foldback clips. I transferred the track centre lines to those joists that were long enough, so I've now got some reference points for the build.

 

Before I continue with the single line, though, I want to set out the curve from Polperran, so I screwed into place the first two secondary joists at the Porthmelllyn Road end using Fixit blocks as always. This end is where the headshunt will be, which will (together with the Barry slip) be the first piece of track to be laid. The baseboard will sit on top of the secondary joists, which means that the rail level at Treloggan Junction, Polperran and Pentowan will be 47 mm lower than St Enodoc and 57 mm lower than the main line.

 

The right-hand secondary joist reveals an earlier flaw in constructing the benchwork here. I should have set the right-hand L-girder back so that I could locate the secondary joists at the baseboard edge. I think I'll get away with it, although I might need to cut out some short lengths of secondary joist where the point motors need to go. We shall see.

Edited June 29, 2022 by St Enodoc
images restored

[Gedward]

Kallax shelving I presume? I have several of them in my railway room too.

[St Enodoc]

3 minutes ago, Gedward said:

Kallax shelving I presume? I have several of them in my railway room too.

That's right, George. The baseboard height is designed to store a 2x2 Kallax unit, fixed to a sheet of 18mm ply underneath and fitted with IKEA RILL castors, under the baseboard with about 100mm clearance to the bottom of the L-girders. More on this on page 2, starting here:

 

[Gedward]

42 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

That's right, George. The baseboard height is designed to store a 2x2 Kallax unit, fixed to a sheet of 18mm ply underneath and fitted with IKEA RILL castors, under the baseboard with about 100mm clearance to the bottom of the L-girders. More on this on page 2, starting here:

 

That's really interesting John. Yes I used the Kallax storage for exactly the same reason. Only I didn't bother with castors, as they slide around quite easily on the wood laminate flooring I have in the railway room. The height of my track is 47" in old money. So I've got plenty of space available on the top of the Kallax' also. In my case it's all used for modelling stuff.

 

[St Enodoc]

44 minutes ago, Gedward said:

 

That's really interesting John. Yes I used the Kallax storage for exactly the same reason. Only I didn't bother with castors, as they slide around quite easily on the wood laminate flooring I have in the railway room. The height of my track is 47" in old money. So I've got plenty of space available on the top of the Kallax' also. In my case it's all used for modelling stuff.

 

Mine are mostly used to house my collection of model railway magazines.

[St Enodoc]

I did a little more work on the signal box this morning, then went out to the railway room after lunch again.

 

I had a spare 1200mm x 600mm sheet of 9mm ply, so the first thing was to cut a 260mm wide slice off the long edge to form the first Polperran baseboard.

 

Here is is, after I fixed it to the secondary joists. At the far end it finishes in line with the main line/Chapel Sidings baseboard edge to maximise the length of the five roads, especially the headshunt (nearest the front edge).

 

 

 

Next, I placed the other half of the ply in position and marked out the track centres, including the start of the curve from the Barry slip towards Treloggan Junction. I cut a 260mm slice off this second board, leaving a short stub for the Treloggan Junction line.

 

I placed the Barry slip template in the right position and marked the centre lines of the two 1 in 5 fans, then checked where the tiebars are going to lie. I think that all will be well with the Barry slip if I use extended tiebars, away from the baseboard edge, although one motor might have to be fitted with a right-angle adaptor. I can sort that out later.

 

In these two photos you'll spot that I've also placed five Hornby-Dublo buffer stops loosely in position. From the buffer heads to the toe of the Barry slip, the headshunt is about 1450mm long, which is plenty for the longest train (probably the long china-clay train, with a 42xx, up to 12 wagons and a brake van).

 

At the front of the baseboard, there will, fortunately, be room for the point motors, even with the secondary joist set back. Phew!

 

This helicopter view shows, I hope, the whole of Polperran in context. On the left is the single line to St Enodoc, with Treloggan Junction right in the middle where the two L-girders meet. Polperran has five roads at each end and in between the fans, to the right of the Barry slip in this view, will be the point control panel (a smaller version of those at Paddington and Penzance) and space for spare wagons, locos and coaches.

 

The next step is to sort out the joist locations for Treloggan Junction, which I might start tomorrow, after which I'll be able to fix Polperran board two in place. I can't complete the Polperran baseboards, though, until I buy another sheet of ply.

Edited June 29, 2022 by St Enodoc
images restored

[Barry O]

Nice to have a slip named after me..

 

Great progess though. Been too warm to get everything I was going to do done.

 

Keep up the great progress!

Baz

[Bogie]

On 23/07/2021 at 12:20, St Enodoc said:

Some of you might be wondering what has been happening with Porthmellyn Road signal box (on the other hand, many of you probably couldn't care less).

 

 

Must admit I was in the latter category.

 

Please do  not take it personally.

[Sandhole]

3 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

I did a little more work on the signal box this morning, then went out to the railway room after lunch again.

 

I had a spare 1200mm x 600mm sheet of 9mm ply, so the first thing was to cut a 260mm wide slice off the long edge to form the first Polperran baseboard.

 

Here is is, after I fixed it to the secondary joists. At the far end it finishes in line with the main line/Chapel Sidings baseboard edge to maximise the length of the five roads, especially the headshunt (nearest the front edge).

 

 

 

Next, I placed the other half of the ply in position and marked out the track centres, including the start of the curve from the Barry slip towards Treloggan Junction. I cut a 260mm slice off this second board, leaving a short stub for the Treloggan Junction line.

 

I placed the Barry slip template in the right position and marked the centre lines of the two 1 in 5 fans, then checked where the tiebars are going to lie. I think that all will be well with the Barry slip if I use extended tiebars, away from the baseboard edge, although one motor might have to be fitted with a right-angle adaptor. I can sort that out later.

 

In these two photos you'll spot that I've also placed five Hornby-Dublo buffer stops loosely in position. From the buffer heads to the toe of the Barry slip, the headshunt is about 1450mm long, which is plenty for the longest train (probably the long china-clay train, with a 42xx, up to 12 wagons and a brake van).

 

At the front of the baseboard, there will, fortunately, be room for the point motors, even with the secondary joist set back. Phew!

 

This helicopter view shows, I hope, the whole of Polperran in context. On the left is the single line to St Enodoc, with Treloggan Junction right in the middle where the two L-girders meet. Polperran has five roads at each end and in between the fans, to the right of the Barry slip in this view, will be the point control panel (a smaller version of those at Paddington and Penzance) and space for spare wagons, locos and coaches.

 

The next step is to sort out the joist locations for Treloggan Junction, which I might start tomorrow, after which I'll be able to fix Polperran board two in place. I can't complete the Polperran baseboards, though, until I buy another sheet of ply.

Glad to see the Dublo buffer-stops are still being used.
Typical Dublo, useful and very well made!
Chris.

[St Enodoc]

3 minutes ago, Sandhole said:

Glad to see the Dublo buffer-stops are still being used.
Typical Dublo, useful and very well made!
Chris.

That's right, Chris. I've got enough for all the off-stage dead ends, although some of them are in temporary use on the scenic section pending replacement with LM&S kits.

[Martin S-C]

Every few days I drop into this thread and I am soothed and relaxed as though it were an old style intermission with a potters wheel... everything is so well made, planned out, competent, clever and old-fashioned reliable in a very British sort of way! If you modelled while wearing cricket whites I would not be at all surprised!

[St Enodoc]

9 hours ago, Martin S-C said:

Every few days I drop into this thread and I am soothed and relaxed as though it were an old style intermission with a potters wheel... everything is so well made, planned out, competent, clever and old-fashioned reliable in a very British sort of way! If you modelled while wearing cricket whites I would not be at all surprised!

Thanks Martin, flattery will get you everywhere.

 

I used to play cricket but, regrettably, my whites wouldn't come close to fitting these days. I've kept my old bat though (for the avoidance of doubt, the old bat is made of willow, not flesh and blood...).

Edited July 25, 2021 by St Enodoc

[St Enodoc]

Last night the urge to carry on with the signal box deserted me, so instead I started work on the ECC wagon. I used a fibreglass brush to distress the decoration and also painted all the bits below floor level black that are supposed to be black.

 

I think this looks all right. I might paint one or two planks as bare wood (colour suggestions please) before applying the new P number, ready for weathering.

 

In the railway room today there was another round of trial-and-error, setting out the Polperran - St Enodoc connection (the Loop) at Treloggan Junction.

 

To do this, I drew each of the points and the tracks leading from them, then fiddled around until I'd got them in the right position, fixing them together with Blu-Tack. Here they are - can you spot the (non) deliberate mistake? I'll tell you later.

 

Fortunately, as Graham @LNER4479 would say, there'll be enough "give" when I actually build it for me not to have to worry too much.

 

I then set out the alignment out with a piece of ply cut roughly to shape - I can tidy this up when I've cut the corresponding piece at the St Enodoc end. This view is from the Up end and shows quite well, among other things, that there's plenty of room on the left for the Camping Coach siding at St Enodoc.

 

Looking the other way, from Polperran, I've added a couple of (transverse) joists and the secondary (longitudinal) joists but haven't fixed them in place yet. I'll do that when I've set out the St Enodoc - Pentowan connection (the Main) at Treloggan Junction and can confirm the point motor locations at the same time.

 

Once I've got a single track laid all the way from St Enodoc to Polperran I think I'll stop and start St Enodoc lever frame.

Edited June 29, 2022 by St Enodoc
images restored

[Chamby]

15 hours ago, Martin S-C said:

Every few days I drop into this thread and I am soothed and relaxed as though it were an old style intermission with a potters wheel... everything is so well made, planned out, competent, clever and old-fashioned reliable in a very British sort of way! If you modelled while wearing cricket whites I would not be at all surprised!

 

Absolutely... well said, old chap.  

[KingEdwardII]

On 23/07/2021 at 09:53, Gedward said:

they slide around quite easily on the wood laminate flooring

Yes, that is a very useful feature of using wood laminate flooring in a railway room - something I only appreciated fully long after making the decision to take over what had been a child's bedroom for the railway room. Much, much easier to keep clean than most alternatives and it makes moving stuff around a breeze.

 

Yours, Mike.

[Keith Addenbrooke]

4 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

In the railway room today there was another round of trial-and-error, setting out the Polperran - St Enodoc connection (the Loop) at Treloggan Junction.

 

To do this, I drew each of the points and the tracks leading from them, then fiddled around until I'd got them in the right position, fixing them together with Blu-Tack. Here they are - can you spot the (non) deliberate mistake? I'll tell you later.

 

 

I could be completely wrong on this, but a puzzler is always worth a shot…

 

…if I’m reading the small print correctly at the extremities of the Wye, the line from the Pentowan terminus enters at bottom left, but is now shown as passing straight through the point - in earlier plans it diverged to the left (the connection to Polperran having the straight route).

 

Similarly the line from Polperran to St Enodoc, which enters at bottom right, also now goes straight through the first point it encounters, whereas previously it took the diverging route through a right-hand point.

 

That’s my guess - if I am correct and there is room, it would make sense.  Just my guess, Keith.

 

 

[St Enodoc]

11 hours ago, Keith Addenbrooke said:

I could be completely wrong on this, but a puzzler is always worth a shot…

 

…if I’m reading the small print correctly at the extremities of the Wye, the line from the Pentowan terminus enters at bottom left, but is now shown as passing straight through the point - in earlier plans it diverged to the left (the connection to Polperran having the straight route).

 

Similarly the line from Polperran to St Enodoc, which enters at bottom right, also now goes straight through the first point it encounters, whereas previously it took the diverging route through a right-hand point.

 

That’s my guess - if I am correct and there is room, it would make sense.  Just my guess, Keith.

 

 

Give that man a coconut!

 

Yes - although the track configuration is correct, the labelling is out of phase.

 

The top point should read PP, the right-hand PT and the left-hand SE.

 

Well spotted.

[aardvark]

7 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Give that man a coconut!

 

Yes - although the track configuration is correct, the labelling is out of phase.

 

The top point should read PP, the right-hand PT and the left-hand SE.

 

Well spotted.

 

Dang. I thought it was that you had it on the floor where it couldn't possibly connect to the other track.

[Keith Addenbrooke]

14 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Give that man a coconut!

 

Yes - although the track configuration is correct, the labelling is out of phase.

 

The top point should read PP, the right-hand PT and the left-hand SE.

 

Well spotted.

Thank you - I’ll pass on the coconut though, I’m a bit shy for that sort of thing.

[St Enodoc]

The ECC wagon is no longer 490 but has become P11983, although I've no idea whether this number has any relationship to reality. It was in one of two packs of Modelmasters transfers that I have and I chose it because it was a short number that would fit easily in the corner below the diagonal strapping. I also added the tare weight at the other end.

 

For once the transfers seem to have stuck, with the help of a fair dollop both of Micro Set and Micro Sol.

 

Later today, after the light had faded so no photo, I added a pair of PC Models three-link couplings. I like to use these for cosmetic couplings, as to my eyes they look compact and close to scale length.

 

Next is a coat of matt varnish to seal the transfers, most likely at the weekend when the weather is supposed to be warmer and calmer, followed by weathering. I think that will mostly be black with some dark brown on the underframe. I'll probably use a dilute ink/isopropanol wash for that.

 

Edit: photo with couplings inserted.

Edited June 29, 2022 by St Enodoc
images restored

[TrevorP1]

Very nice John. I’m tempted to do a ‘copycat’! Most of my P numbers are just a convenient number like yours. I’ve done a similar thing to a Powsides ‘West of England China Clay’ wagon - bit out of period but it makes for a little variety. Sorry no photo as I’m away from home.
 

I produced a few numbers by applying a Bxxxxxx and then carefully painting over the bottom part of the B so it becomes a P. I’m not sure how I managed to achieve this (!) but it looks fine under weathering and uses up transfers I’ve no use for.

[Michael Edge]

Don't worry about the P number, as far as I know they were assigned more or less at random after nationalisation.