Mid-Cornwall Lines - 1950s Western Region in 00

[St Enodoc]

53 minutes ago, aardvark said:

 

Similar, but different. Apart from that, they're almost twins.

Fair enough - I'm only a mechanical engineer, after all.

 

I'm glad you brought the topic up, though, because I now think that I can use an LM2596 module for the Wheal Veronica uncoupler. Thanks!

[aardvark]

Any assistance that I have provided was purely unintentional.

[Mallard60022]

Yo dude. I am having a purge (no sniggering) in the man loft due to my aging process catching up, and am finding all sorts of forrin stuff I don't think I will ever use. If I make a list of 'relevant' items, and that might be any old thing, would you be kind enough to accept them if they are of use? No charge no postage. It may end up only being a loco lamp but hey, generosity is my middle name!

Phil

 

[St Enodoc]

5 hours ago, Mallard60022 said:

Yo dude. I am having a purge (no sniggering) in the man loft due to my aging process catching up, and am finding all sorts of forrin stuff I don't think I will ever use. If I make a list of 'relevant' items, and that might be any old thing, would you be kind enough to accept them if they are of use? No charge no postage. It may end up only being a loco lamp but hey, generosity is my middle name!

Phil

 

That's very kind, Phil. Yes, please send me a list. Thanks.

[St Enodoc]

I had a spare half-hour this evening so I decided to timber up the Polperran Barry slip.

 

You will recall that this is a "modellers' version" and it will also be off-stage, so the timbering is purely functional and, by increasing some of the spacing, economises on copperclad (the whole formation used almost exactly three 12" lengths).

 

On the far left, you can see that I've taken the curve right through the crossing so that it will meet the continuing curve to Treloggan Junction with no kinks or doglegs.

 

The template is marked up for the rails, of course, and also:

 

- C and W show the ends of the check and wing rails respectively.

- G shows the gaps to isolate the crossing electrically.

- T is the tiebar, which will be made of C&L ply timber strip so that I don't have to faff about with gapping the copperclad in the very limited space around the ends of the switches. I've also shown operating loops but with the ply tiebars I won't actually need those. The tiebars are overlength in case there are challenges fitting the point motors, as there might be some joists close by.

- V shows where the vee will be (funnily enough).

- X reminds me not to solder the switch rails to those timbers.

- the numbers along the top are just sequential

- the numbers along the bottom are the lengths of each timber.

 

I haven't quite decided the build sequence yet. I'll certainly start with the vees, the stock rails and wing rails, as with a double slip, but after that I'm not sure. Probably the straight switch/closure rails followed by the curved pair - or possibly the other way round. We'll see.

Edited June 29, 2022 by St Enodoc
images restored

[aardvark]

Very impressive.

[St Enodoc]

This afternoon, I discovered that I have about 20 power supplies of various sorts - computers, mobile phones, modems, etc., etc., but only one turned out to have a suitable rating for the H&M coils, an old one rated at 5V 2.5A dc. I've no idea what it was for originally but it's definitely getting on in years, because it has UK/Singapore-style square pins. Fortunately, I also have a universal extension power board that also dates from Singapore days, so away we went.

 

The current would have been about 1.25A through the two coils and the magnets worked fine although not quite as strongly as those at Porthmellyn Road. On the strength of that I've ordered another LM2596 module to power this uncoupler and the future installations at Pentowan (I actually ordered three, with the extra two for the signals at St Enodoc and Pentowan too). When it arrives, I'll try it at about 6V (1.5A) and also 3V through a single coil, which I'd prefer to use in future. I'm fairly confident that this will all work but as always the proof of the pudding will be in the eating.

 

Finally today I got all the St Enodoc lever frame parts out of the box. I haven't checked all the quantities although knowing Harold all will be well with a few extras for the smaller parts.

 

It's a bit simpler than Porthmellyn Road, with 30 levers and 19 locking bars as against 54 levers and 29 locking bars.

 

As a result of Harold cutting back on the Modratec business, for personal reasons, I'll have to make some bits myself and also drill and tap some of the parts. @RudderC Charles has kindly offered to help with this, once I'm allowed to visit him.

Edited June 29, 2022 by St Enodoc
images restored

[St Enodoc]

Today we had the Naming of Parts.

 

Having unboxed St Enodoc lever frame yesterday (sorry, no video), I checked all the parts and marked them up so that I'll be able to see quickly what is what when I eventually start construction. As I expected, everything was indeed there in the right quantities so, other than the drilling and tapping and also making up an MDF locks cover in lieu of an acrylic one, I'm ready to go.

 

One of the first jobs will be to paint the levers, as before, but I'll need to wait until the weather warms up a bit first. I'll also need to wait until I can get some more red epoxy spray paint. I can start other prep work though, based on my experience with the Porthmellyn Road frame. That will include squaring off the faces of the locking bars, and fettling the locking bar guides and tappet guides. I'll also draw up a new spreadsheet with the tappet notch data, which saved a lot of time and head-scratching with Porthmellyn Road.

 

Today should have been our regular running session but of course that couldn't take place because of the stay-at-home rules. Instead, to round off the afternoon, I ran some china-clay trains over the newly-painted and cleaned track. That went very well, with only a little fettling needed where I hadn't cleaned the paint completely away from the switch rails and stock rails. Next time Charles is allowed to come round I'll ask him to do a short video.

 

Probably no more railway action today, as after dinner I'll be watching the third, deciding, rugby international between Australia and France.

Edited June 29, 2022 by St Enodoc
images restored

[St Enodoc]

Another "indoors" job over the past few days has been to tweak the layout at Treloggan Junction and the approach to Pentowan. There were two principal reasons for this.

 

First, Treloggan Junction consisted of three Y-points. After the discussion on straights between reverse curves at St Enodoc Down end a few months ago, I thought I should do something about that at Treloggan Junction too. I therefore replaced the Y points with standard A5 left- and right-hand points. By doing this, I now have about 200mm straight between the reverse curves at each apex of the triangle.

 

Secondly, I wanted to see whether I could rearrange the approach to Pentowan so that all five roads sprang off the same track, in the same way as the prototype. Previously I had Platform 1, the loco spur, Platform 3 and the Loop doing this but Platform 2 sprang off Platform 1. By starting at the station end of the fan rather than the single line end, I found that I could get all five tracks springing off the wide curve, albeit at the expense of a shorter length of plain line between Pentowan and Treloggan Junction. I'm not too worried by this though.

 

More on this, with pictures, when I've tidied up the draft layout plan.

 

Anyway, the result of all this was that the three curve centres at the junction had to be moved a little so I set those out too. The critical ones are the centres for Pentowan and for Polperran, to get the curve to line up with the Barry slip.

 

The final piece of the jigsaw was the single line between St Enodoc and Treloggan Junction and I mocked this up at full size this afternoon.

 

 

I started by setting out the position of the point at the end of the single line and from that stretched a string line to the start of the single line curve. To get a smooth entry to the curve I had to move the transition about 90mm nearer to Treloggan Junction.

 

Next, I got the two 12000mm radius curve templates, that I made a few years ago for the viaduct, and placed them at each end of the single line. After a good deal of trial and error I found a position where there was about 900mm of straight track between the curves, which is where Indian Queens Halt will go (roughly where the G-cramp is, right in the middle of this photo).

 

Finally, this photo shows how the single line moves gradually away from Wheal Veronica as it progresses towards Treloggan Junction, which is something else I wanted.

 

I'll transfer all this to the draft layout plan and make sure I'm happy with it before starting to set out the ply track bases themselves.

Edited June 29, 2022 by St Enodoc
images restored

[5BarVT]

36 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

Secondly, I wanted to see whether I could rearrange the approach to Pentowan so that all five roads sprang off the same track, in the same way as the prototype. Previously I had Platform 1, the loco spur, Platform 3 and the Loop doing this but Platform 2 sprang off Platform 1. By starting at the station end of the fan rather than the single line end, I found that I could get all five tracks springing off the wide curve

Relock? !!

:-)

Paul.

[St Enodoc]

34 minutes ago, 5BarVT said:

Relock? !!

:-)

Paul.

No, I drew the SB diagram the new way not the old way - that's one of the reasons I made the change!

[The Stationmaster]

48 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

No, I drew the SB diagram the new way not the old way - that's one of the reasons I made the change!

Ah, an excellent example of a track layout being altered to match the signalling and interlocking.

[Sharky]

On 17/07/2021 at 18:06, St Enodoc said:

 

 

Today should have been our regular running session but of course that couldn't take place because of the stay-at-home rules. 

 

 

Also known as a 'Lockdown' a bit further south where the party in charge is not approved of my Murdoch's press. A certain Midnight Oil song comes to mind...

 

Anyways back to more important matters, you're really motoring along now.

The track/curve alignment subject is fascinating to me. Trying take it all in, but maths was never my strong suit (English was less so, guess that's why I work for the railways).

Looking forward to the build of the lever frame. Would've loved one myself for the future layout in my new residence, but looks like I won't be able to get a Modratec one.

Hopefully we'll be able to make it up to Sydney one day for a running session, when restrictions and shifts allow.
 

[St Enodoc]

52 minutes ago, Sharky said:

Also known as a 'Lockdown' a bit further south

Well, yes, in all but name. The official wording, though, is "Stay-at-home Rules".

 

It reminds me of the signs you used to see when arriving at an Australian international airport, telling you about all the things you mustn't do. It would have been far simpler just to put up one big sign:

 

"Welcome to Australia. DON'T".

[Sandhole]

4 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Another "indoors" job over the past few days has been to tweak the layout at Treloggan Junction and the approach to Pentowan. There were two principal reasons for this.

 

First, Treloggan Junction consisted of three Y-points. After the discussion on straights between reverse curves at St Enodoc Down end a few months ago, I thought I should do something about that at Treloggan Junction too. I therefore replaced the Y points with standard A5 left- and right-hand points. By doing this, I now have about 200mm straight between the reverse curves at each apex of the triangle.

 

Secondly, I wanted to see whether I could rearrange the approach to Pentowan so that all five roads sprang off the same track, in the same way as the prototype. Previously I had Platform 1, the loco spur, Platform 3 and the Loop doing this but Platform 2 sprang off Platform 1. By starting at the station end of the fan rather than the single line end, I found that I could get all five tracks springing off the wide curve, albeit at the expense of a shorter length of plain line between Pentowan and Treloggan Junction. I'm not too worried by this though.

 

More on this, with pictures, when I've tidied up the draft layout plan.

 

Anyway, the result of all this was that the three curve centres at the junction had to be moved a little so I set those out too. The critical ones are the centres for Pentowan and for Polperran, to get the curve to line up with the Barry slip.

 

The final piece of the jigsaw was the single line between St Enodoc and Treloggan Junction and I mocked this up at full size this afternoon.

 

 

I started by setting out the position of the point at the end of the single line and from that stretched a string line to the start of the single line curve. To get a smooth entry to the curve I had to move the transition about 90mm nearer to Treloggan Junction.

 

Next, I got the two 12000mm radius curve templates, that I made a few years ago for the viaduct, and placed them at each end of the single line. After a good deal of trial and error I found a position where there was about 900mm of straight track between the curves, which is where Indian Queens Halt will go (roughly where the G-cramp is, right in the middle of this photo).

 

Finally, this photo shows how the single line moves gradually away from Wheal Veronica as it progresses towards Treloggan Junction, which is something else I wanted.

 

I'll transfer all this to the draft layout plan and make sure I'm happy with it before starting to set out the ply track bases themselves.

Your standard of carpentry is superb.
Just looking at the pictures make me want to play with this layout.
I have a question, I apologise if you have covered this and I've missed it.
Are the rakes of clay tipplers propelled down to the drying banks without a brake van? Will there be a loco dedicated to the 'shunt?
Your layout is based in the 50's, does that mean 6300 Diesels?
I've always had a soft spot for those locos, same with their bigger twin engined sisters.
Regards,
Chris.

[Nick Gough]

1 hour ago, St Enodoc said:

Well, yes, in all but name. The official wording, though, is "Stay-at-home Rules".

 

It reminds me of the signs you used to see when arriving at an Australian international airport, telling you about all the things you mustn't do. It would have been far simpler just to put up one big sign:

 

"Welcome to Australia. DON'T".

My wife likes watching a tv series about Australian customs and border protection - 'Nothing to Declare'.

 

I suspect, very soon, they are going to run out of footage for any future programmes?

[Joseph_Pestell]

6 minutes ago, Nick Gough said:

My wife likes watching a tv series about Australian customs and border protection - 'Nothing to Declare'.

 

I suspect, very soon, they are going to run out of footage for any future programmes?

 

No worries. They will just schedule repeats. Quite possible that no one will notice as each episode is much like the others.

 

It is even shown here in France. TV really is poor these days, since we had more "choice" than just three channels.

[The Stationmaster]

1 hour ago, St Enodoc said:

Well, yes, in all but name. The official wording, though, is "Stay-at-home Rules".

 

It reminds me of the signs you used to see when arriving at an Australian international airport, telling you about all the things you mustn't do. It would have been far simpler just to put up one big sign:

 

"Welcome to Australia. DON'T".

And judging by what I saw the Customs people seemed more distrustful of treturning Aussies than they ever were of us foreigners  trying to get in (and, in my case, confusing them by declaring a packet of Eccles Cakes  ).  Ar one time the Republic of Ireland Customs seemed to have similar extensive ideas about what you weren't allowed to take in presenting arrivals with a very long list of prohibited items.  The list was rather strange to my eyes in that contraceptives were almost at the top while firearms were consigned to a very low place on the list.

[Nick Gough]

28 minutes ago, Nick Gough said:

My wife likes watching a tv series about Australian customs and border protection - 'Nothing to Declare'.

 

I suspect, very soon, they are going to run out of footage for any future programmes?

Of course, having seen a few of them, we were very careful what we arrived with at Perth, on our first Australian visit, and expected to be thoroughly searched for banned items.

 

In the event, we were quickly and effortlessly through the system.

 

No doubt they know exactly what to look out for.

[Denbridge]

22 minutes ago, Nick Gough said:

Of course, having seen a few of them, we were very careful what we arrived with at Perth, on our first Australian visit, and expected to be thoroughly searched for banned items.

 

In the event, we were quickly and effortlessly through the system.

 

No doubt they know exactly what to look out for.

A few years back a friend was celebrating a milestone birthday whilst visiting his sister in Australia. I sent him a couple of teabags with a note saying "have a drink on me". The card was opened by Oz customs, who fortunately saw the funny side and sent it on its way to the recipitant complete with their own humorous birthday wishes.

[St Enodoc]

8 hours ago, Sandhole said:

Your standard of carpentry is superb.

Thanks, Chris, but it's very much in the bodge-it style - which of course is one of the benefits of the L-girder system.

 

8 hours ago, Sandhole said:

Just looking at the pictures make me want to play with this layout.

You'll be welcome if you ever make it this far south!

 

8 hours ago, Sandhole said:

Are the rakes of clay tipplers propelled down to the drying banks without a brake van? Will there be a loco dedicated to the 'shunt?

We had a discussion on this a few pages back. The conclusion, unless any fresh evidence comes along, is that the short china-clay trains will be propelled by the train engine from St Enodoc to Wheal Veronica with a brake van at both ends.

 

8 hours ago, Sandhole said:

Your layout is based in the 50's, does that mean 6300 Diesels?
I've always had a soft spot for those locos, same with their bigger twin engined sisters.

Yes, I've got one pair but they only run on the main line. I've also got one each of the D600 and D800 Warships.

[Clive Mortimore]

57 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

Thanks, Chris, but it's very much in the bodge-it style - which of course is one of the benefits of the L-girder system.

 

You'll be welcome if you ever make it this far south!

 

We had a discussion on this a few pages back. The conclusion, unless any fresh evidence comes along, is that the short china-clay trains will be propelled by the train engine from St Enodoc to Wheal Veronica with a brake van at both ends.

 

Yes, I've got one pair but they only run on the main line. I've also got one each of the D600 and D800 Warships.

Oi Sainty

 

Only one of each??????

 

Even I have more Warships and I don't model bandit country.

[St Enodoc]

6 hours ago, Clive Mortimore said:

Oi Sainty

 

Only one of each??????

 

Even I have more Warships and I don't model bandit country.

Less is more.

[Stubby47]

8 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

Less is more.

Except for hair.

[Chamby]

7 hours ago, Clive Mortimore said:

... bandit country.

 

Bl**dy cheek...   Pirate country, please.

 

And remember, jam first!