Mid-Cornwall Lines - 1950s Western Region in 00

[acg5324]

Yes a belated happy birthday.

[St Enodoc]

Belated Happy birthday young man!

 

Layout coming along!

Baz

That's a laugh, you calling me "young man", young man!

 

I am sure that you will recall that Mr Smith, Roly S, Captain Seffers and I all have birthdays within about two weeks of each other, and that the four of us hosted a rather enjoyable joint 21st party at the Cat's Whiskers in Meanwood rather a lot of years ago.

[Barry O]

yes - its now the site of a Waitrose!  And I remember crawling up meanwood road afterwards!

[St Enodoc]

Joists, joists and more joists.

 

I started by cutting and fitting the joists for the corner board under the electrical distribution box, where the Paddington and Penzance loops overlap. First I cut a joist to run along the diagonal edge of the void at the back, then one for each end of the board. I left these over-long so that they can be trimmed back flush with the baseboard tops when the front fence is fitted.

 

I screwed each joist to the L-girders from below, so that the joist sits under the join between the top sections. I then screwed four Fixit blocks to each joist – one on each side near each end.

 

A single screw in each block fixes it to the joist. There are several reasons for this. First, it uses fewer screws so costs less and takes less time. Secondly, it lets the block adjust its position when the top is screwed on, and thirdly it means that two blocks can be fitted opposite each other without the screws fouling.

 

Once I had got the first three joists screwed to the L-girders I laid the top in place, adjusted it for position then screwed it down from below using the Fixit blocks.

 

After the first corner board was in place, I carried on round the two sides of the room, leaving a short gap on each side to be closed by a tailored piece of ply.

 

 

I also added extra joists at roughly 400 mm centres but left these loose until I know exactly where the point motors will need to go. This was very easy and progress was satisfyingly rapid.

 

In the scenic areas, most of the closed-top baseboards will be shaped to avoid the “table top” look, so again I left some of the joists over-long to be trimmed later. I will do the same for the open-top areas as well.

 

Here are some photos of the current state of play:

 

Looking Down towards Penzance from where Porthmellyn Road will be. This is also roughly where the Polperran fiddle yard will be, at right angles to the main lines.

 

 

Penzance, looking Up and Down. In the second shot you can see a (not very flat) sheet of 3 mm ply, which will form the trackbed in the lifting flap area; and also a pile of cork sheets, which will form the trackbed everywhere else except plain line in the scenic areas – more on that another time.

 

 

Paddington, looking Up and Down. What you can’t see is another quirk of buying from Bunnings. You can tell from the colour of the veneers that the two sheets of ply on the left in the first photo are obviously from different batches and they are in fact slightly different in thickness. I put shims of 0.5 mm Evergreen styrene strip between the joists and tops where necessary to get smooth joins. I don’t think a gradient of about 1 in 2000 is going to be a big problem…

 

Looking Up towards Paddington from where Nancegwithey Viaduct will be.

 

Next weekend I hope to start laying the cork trackbed for the Paddington and Penzance loops.

Edited July 22, 2023 by St Enodoc
images restored

[St Enodoc]

As it turned out I didn’t actually cut and glue any cork this weekend, as we are in the middle of a cold snap here in Sydney and I didn’t want to risk the glue taking an excessive time to dry (or not drying at all).

 

However, I did mark out some of the boards for where the cork sheets will go. This is complicated slightly by the fact that these are in two thicknesses, 2 mm and 3mm. The reason for this is the difference in height between the SMP track and hand-built points, at just over 3 mm, and Peco code 75 track at just over 4 mm. By using the 2 mm cork under the Peco track with the 3 mm cork under the SMP track and the points, the tops of the rails will be virtually level making joins between them much easier to arrange.

 

Rather than try to get too clever and cut small sections of each thickness of cork, the throats and fans at each end of the Paddington and Penzance loops will all be laid with SMP track, including the through tracks as they go round the corners of the room. The Peco track will be confined to the straight sections between the fans.

 

Something that had needed doing for a while was to work out the exact curve on Nancegwithey Viaduct and across the lifting flap. I started by considering the angle at which the main lines left Paddington, which is 1 in 10 due to the use of A5 Y points. To keep the desired gangway width along this side of the layout means that the overall width of the scenic area will be limited to about 300 mm. I don’t want the tracks, and hence the viaduct structure, to be too close to the edge in case they get brushed or knocked by people passing by, so I decided that the furthest the tracks should be from the wall should be no more than 250 mm and less if possible.

 

Now, the distance of the centre line of the Up Main from the wall at the toe of its Y point at Paddington is 175 mm. A 12000 mm radius curve starting at this point would mean that the furthest the Up Main was from the wall would be 175 + 60 = 235 mm. 60 mm is half of 120 mm, which is the length of the short side of a right-angled triangle with an acute angle of 1 in 10. I don’t claim to be an expert geometer by the way – I use an old copy of the Scalefour Digest as a source for all sorts of stuff on curves, offsets, transitions and so on.

 

Why 12000 mm? Well, that was a short cut. 12000 mm is roughly 40 ft in old money, and I have a 48 in radius track template as one of the set of transition and curve templates I made years ago. By using this full-scale template on the 1/10 scale plan I could draw a scale 12000 mm radius curve.

 

My first attempt at marking out a 12000 mm radius template was a dismal failure, which I should have seen coming. I took a long length of string, held one end down with a brick halfway up the drive and tried to use it to trace a curve on to a sheet of card. Indeed, a curve was traced, but certainly not a smooth circular curve as the string stretched in an uncontrollable way as I tried to draw the line.

 

Having abandoned Plan A, I reverted to geometry and marked out the curve using offsets from the tangent according to the formula V = (L x L)/2R, where V is the offset (V because the formula is derived from the versine formula), L is the distance from the tangent point along the tangent and R is the curve radius. I marked the offsets at intervals of 100 mm and joined them using straight lines, then cut along the lines. At this large radius the angles between adjacent line segments are so slight as to be insignificant. The resulting cut gave me two templates, one convex and one concave.

 

At the Porthmellyn Road end, there will be a slight reverse curve at the same radius that will flow into the sharper curves round the corner. At 12000 mm radius I’m not going to bother with transitions between the reverse curves, but there will be transitions at both ends of the corner curves. This is partly for visual effect (and I will probably add some superelevation too) but mainly as a way of increasing the track centre spacing to preserve the clearance between trains on the curve taking account of throw.

 

Having done all this I thought it was time to see how things would look at full scale, so I dug out some point templates and set up the four points where the Up and Down Through lines connect to the Down end of the Paddington loops.

 

Although this is strictly temporary, as the cork needs to be laid before actually setting out the tracks, it was nice to see that what was drawn on the plan translated to full size satisfactorily.

Edited July 22, 2023 by St Enodoc
images restored

[St Enodoc]

The weather was quite cool again today after a fairly violent cold front passed through last night, giving a good dump of snow on the ranges but only some heavy rain and a bit of soft hail where we are. Nevertheless, thanks to reverse-cycle air conditioning, the railway room was warm and cosy, so I laid all the 3 mm cork in the three corners of the off-stage area where the pointwork for the storage loops will go.

 

I started at the Down end of Paddington by laying a full-sized sheet of cork in the corner. In the end I couldn’t find a water-based contact adhesive at a sensible price so I stuck (sorry!) with ordinary Aquadhere interior PVA, which I spread on the plywood before placing the cork on top. I pressed the cork down using a hard rubber roller that I bought from an art shop. I don’t know what its intended use is, but it is ideal for this sort of job and for laying track.

 

The next sheets needed to be trimmed to match the baseboard edges. I cut them about 10 mm oversize at first and glued them down in the same way as for the first sheet (making sure there was a fillet of glue between the butted edges of the sheets). When the glue had dried I trimmed the edges back with a Stanley knife.

 

The 3 mm cork ends at a point where all the loops are plain straight track. This area will be filled in using the 2 mm cork sheets.

 

At the corner where the Paddington and Penzance loops overlap I followed the same process, but here I needed a short extension where the connection from the Up Through track to the Penzance loops and the king point for the loops themselves will go.

 

At the up end of Penzance the cork stops short of the location of the throat points for the time being. I need to build the next baseboard tops, for the Down end of Porthmellyn Road, before I can go any further with the cork along this side of the room.

 

On all these photos you can see some markings on the edges of the baseboard tops. These tell me where the locations of the tangent points for the Up and Down Through tracks are, so that I can transfer them to the top of the cork without having to set them out all over again.

 

If you look closely at the layout plan, you will see that I have marked the places at Paddington and Penzance where the cork changes from 3 mm thick to 2 mm thick. If you look even more closely, you will see that I have also drawn in lightly the curves across the viaduct and lifting flap, transitioning into the approach to Porthmellyn Road. The main lines through Porthmellyn Road itself will be straight, and I have drawn these in lightly as well.

 

Next weekend should see the 2 mm cork laid and the centre lines of the Up and Down Through tracks marked out. After that I will have no more excuses not to lay some track.

Edited July 22, 2023 by St Enodoc

[acg5324]

Are you covering everything in cork first? Do you then cut out the track bed after the track goes down or leave the cork as it is?

[St Enodoc]

Are you covering everything in cork first? Do you then cut out the track bed after the track goes down or leave the cork as it is?

Andy, for the loops everything is covered in cork as the boards will be to all intents and purposes full of track, so I won't be cutting anything away. In the scenic areas it will be different - watch this space!

[St Enodoc]

This was a more productive weekend than I had expected. One reason was that my rugby match was cancelled due to the wet weather on Thursday and Friday (one of my theories as to why the Wallabies often struggle in the Northern Hemisphere is that they are not brought up to play in the wet and mud, because at the first sign of a black cloud over the Blue Mountains the councils close all the ovals. Barry O of this parish might remember a match at Leeds University where we had to stop every 10 minutes to clear the snow off the lines) and the other was that things went very smoothly with no real cock-ups.

 

So, to avoid having to go shopping yesterday I popped in to the Castle Hill model railway show. This is always a friendly compact show, run by the Hills MRS. I bought a few bits from the second hand stall as well as having a good natter with some mates. Some decent layouts too.

 

In the afternoon I laid the 2mm cork at Paddington and Penzance and left it to dry overnight before trimming back the edges today.

 

 

Here are two photos of the fully-corked Paddington and Penzance baseboards, before I got to work with the straight edge, squares and templates.

 

The first job was to transfer the tangent points to the top of the cork, using the marks I made last weekend as guides. Once I’d done that, I set out the curves using the templates and then joined up between the curves with the straights. As I haven’t got a 5 m long straight edge, I used a builders’ chalk line (the same one that was so useless for making the 12000 mm radius template) stretched between the two tangent points at the end of each straight section. I inked over the chalk marks to leave nice straight centre lines for the track.

 

 

The first photo shows the Up and Down Through centre lines at the Down end of Paddington and the second shows the Paddington throat with the centre lines marked for the pointwork pictured in last Sunday’s post.

 

This photo shows how the top-of-rail height for the SMP track on 3 mm cork (on the left) matches the Peco track on 2 mm cork on the right. The fishplates are Minitrix N gauge ones which are perfect for SMP bullhead rail but just needed to be eased out a touch for the Peco FB rail.

 

Tracklaying at last! Here are the first two yard lengths, at the Up end of Penzance. One is SMP, the other Peco. I fix my track down using a water-based contact adhesive, which accounts for the white blobs where it hasn’t dried yet.

 

At 1645 AEST on Sunday 19/7/15 the first test train moved under its own power on the Mid-Cornwall Lines – a very satisfying moment.

 

I plan to lay the Up and Down through tracks right round the Paddington and Penzance loop areas before getting back to woodwork for the Porthmellyn Road baseboard tops. After that I will have to build the structural skeleton of the viaduct before I can complete the basic double-track continuous run.

Edited July 22, 2023 by St Enodoc
images restored

[Barry O]

Yes Northern Hemisphere rugby players are far hardier than the Wallabies! Snow was OK for rugby but having umpired cricket earlier this year with a brief snow shower (it was in Hull) its no good for cricket!

 

Layout coming along nicely - I hope to see it in the "flesh" in about 18 months time!

 

baz

[St Enodoc]

Yes Northern Hemisphere rugby players are far hardier than the Wallabies! Snow was OK for rugby but having umpired cricket earlier this year with a brief snow shower (it was in Hull) its no good for cricket!

 

Layout coming along nicely - I hope to see it in the "flesh" in about 18 months time!

 

baz

You and Mrs Barry O will be most welcome.

 

I once played an evening cricket match in Glasgow when the snow was driving straight down the pitch. Trying to pick out the ball in that wan't easy. Then of course there was the famous match betwen Derbyshire and Lancashire at Buxton in 1975 where snow stopped play.

[P.C.M]

Hi John,

You are making some good progress, looking forwards too a lot more track laying.

 

Cheers  Peter. 

[St Enodoc]

Hi John,

You are making some good progress, looking forwards too a lot more track laying.

 

Cheers  Peter. 

Thanks Peter, so am I. I am itching to get some main line trains out of their boxes and give them a run. I think the official "first train" will be the Cornish Riviera, but whether with a Castle or a Warship on the front I haven't decided yet.

[Gwiwer]

Thanks Peter, so am I. I am itching to get some main line trains out of their boxes and give them a run. I think the official "first train" will be the Cornish Riviera, but whether with a Castle or a Warship on the front I haven't decided yet.

 

Both together wasn't unknown

 

Remember the WR usually maintained the GWR practice of coupling the assisting engine "inside" so which ever way you want to play it couple accordingly!

[St Enodoc]

I laid a few more yards of track on the Down Through this weekend. The track now extends from the Penzance throat to the start of the fans at the Up end of Paddington, a total of six yard lengths so far.

 

This photo shows the full length of the straight section of the Down Through at Penzance – just over three yards of Peco with a yard of SMP in the distance at the Down end and two yards of SMP behind the camera at the Up end.

 

At the Paddington end I marked out the centre lines of the innermost tracks on both standard fans, as these will both branch off the Down Through itself. This will make life easier when I cut out the short sections of track to be replaced by pointwork.

 

Here is the Down Through at Penzance again, but this time looking Up. I couldn’t resist getting the Cornish Riviera coaches out of their boxes and placing them on the track.

 

On summer Fridays in the 1950s the prototype Cornish Riviera loaded to ten coaches between Plymouth and Penzance, so by following my usual rule of making passenger and parcels trains 60% of the prototype train length the model train is six coaches long. From the left there is a BSK, a CK, an RU, an SO, an SK and another BSK.

 

The coaches are all Bachmann Mark 1s of course, with the Kernow Models limited edition providing the two BSKs, the CK and the SK. The Kernow pack includes enough coach nameboards for all six coaches. I pored through Keith Parkin’s BR Mark 1 Coaches book to work out the correct position for the boards on each coach type. At the moment the intermediate couplings are still tension locks, but I will replace these with the Bachmann “hose” rigid couplers in due course.

 

Next weekend I will dig out a suitable loco and fit the headboard so that I can run the whole set up and down. Strictly for testing purposes, as I am sure you all understand.

Edited July 22, 2023 by St Enodoc
images restored

[St Enodoc]

Today I laid the rest of the Down Through as far as the Paddington throat. There is no wiring yet, just the fishplates and crocodile clips from the SB5, but test trains were able to travel successfully the 14 yards or so from one end to the other, then back again. I did drive rather gingerly as there is no fence behind Penzance yet to stop derailed vehicles crashing to the concrete floor below.

 

The Down Through track centre line at Paddington is 30 mm from the wall, which gives plenty of clearance for throw as trains enter and leave the straight sections.

 

The Cornish Riviera Express at Paddington. The loco is by Bachmann and needed very little detailing, with DG couplings and etched nameplates being the only additions. This loco replaced an earlier Mainline model, to which I had added quite a lot of detail, but even with two motor bogies it was never a great runner. That was the loco mentioned and pictured in post #24, being D816 on one side and D823 on the other. Its replacement does not suffer from this dual personality.

 

A close-up of the front of the train. The headboard is by Fox, while the headcode is from the old Formil-MPS range produced by John Lythgoe of Northallerton. I have yet to see anything better. I’ve actually got the headcode wrong – I think it should be 1C30 for the Down train and 1A81 for the Up. The other end shows 9B25, replicating a well-known picture taken at St Blazey by Dick Riley on 12/7/60 – seven months out of period for the Mid-Cornwall Lines though.

 

The SK from the Kernow limited edition pack, with the Cornish Riviera Express nameboard fitted above the windows – otherwise straight out of the box.

 

Having tested the extended Down Through today I might bring forward the radio conversion of the NCE system, as it was a little tricky seeing what I was doing using a tethered throttle from almost 10 m away.

 

The next job is to lay the Up Through at Paddington and Penzance, after which I will complete the baseboards at Porthmellyn Road.

Edited July 22, 2023 by St Enodoc
images restored

[brianusa]

Trains on tracks - getting there!

 

Brian.

[St Enodoc]

Not much action this weekend for various reasons, but I did get the Up Through laid in the storage loops. Now I've got the hang of it I managed to lay about 12 yards of plain track in three hours. As the Up Through doesn't really look all that different from the Down Through I didn't bother taking any photos.

 

Veronica's brother and his family are staying next weekend, so apart from showing some moving trains to the nephews (and, if the weather is fine, possibly setting up the Tri-ang Big Big Train on the patio) there won't be much action then either. When normal service resumes I will lay the joists and ply for Porthmellyn Road.

[Barry O]

you can run a train in September ---- 40 years on from our first day at The University of Leeds as Mechanical Engineering students!

[Anthony Ashley]

John,

 

Very neat and tidy base boards. The addition of track is a very exciting development and am sure inspire greater determination to get on and run some train. I have been interested in the Cornwall area as my grand father's originated form this part of England. I am therefore looking forward to scenic development and the running of the  Riviera Cornish Express. Looking very good. Keep up the good work. If you want some help I am happy to provide some labour for you.

 

Regards,

 

Anthony Ashley

[St Enodoc]

you can run a train in September ---- 40 years on from our first day at The University of Leeds as Mechanical Engineering students!

Yes and it's been downhill ever since

[St Enodoc]

Yes and it's been downhill ever since

While looking for something else I found my 1975 diary - Freshers' Conference on 29 September and a Mike Harding concert on the 30th. Happy days.

[St Enodoc]

 

 

 

 

Yesterday was dry, bright and quite mild in the afternoon, so after we had finished our BBQ lunch I set out a somewhat tortuous loop of Big Big Train track round the patio with a loop on one side. The idea was that Isaac (6) and Irvin (3) could drive a train each, one passenger and one goods. Unfortunately, the gradient on the patio was too steep for one of the locos to get up it at all (I think the rubber driving wheels have become hardened on this one and lost their ability to grip the track) even with brand new Duracells, while the other could manage four wagons but not the two coaches. As a result, we could only run a single goods train. A pity, but we still had a good hour or so of fun before the boys decided it was time to do something else.

 

The two plastic locos lying on their sides are both over 50 years old. They belonged to my brother and me when we were small and my aunt found them earlier this year when clearing out her loft. They've both lost their cowcatchers and various other bits but, remarkably, all the wheels are still there.

 

I got some work done on the layout today after Vincent and the family had left for the airport. I fitted the joists and laid the ply for Porthmellyn Road as far as the curve at the Up end. The ply here will need cutting so that each track (there are three – the Up Main, Down Main and Down Goods Loop) can be superelevated by about a millimetre on the outer side. The cant will be applied by wedging a piece of 40 thou plastic sheet between the joists and the ply where the track is canted fully. The natural twist of the ply will provide a smooth cant gradient.

 

I didn’t take any photos of today’s work, as the ply looks pretty much the same as that at Penzance and Paddington before the cork and track were laid.

Edited July 22, 2023 by St Enodoc
images restored

[Barry O]

Proper train set!

[St Enodoc]

Proper train set!

Yes, and if you are a good boy you will be allowed to play with it next time you visit.