Layout Name: Wheal Imogen

Location: Cornwall

Period: 1987

Scale: 4mm / P4 OO

Size: Approximately 4ft by 2ft scenic wedge, with

Inspiration: The layout is inspired by the smaller china clay branches which survived in operation until the end of the 1980s.  In particular the branch to Ponts Mill, with a flavouring of Carbis Wharf thrown in. 

Track: Will be fully hand built using a mixture of plastic and ply sleepers along with Exactoscale chairs.  All track will be designed in Templot.

Stock: Is a mixture of DCC fitted RTR locos (Bachmann Class 37s and Peaks, Hornby Class 08s and 50s) along with a mix of detailed RTR and kit built freight stock.  All of which appropriate for the modelled year.  There will be a capability to eventually expand the running stock to operate in 1984, 1987 and 1996 due to the relatively minor differences in the structures between these dates.)

Details: The centre piece of the layout will be the clay driers, incorporating an automated top loader for loading hopper wagons and an area intended for loading bagged clay into vans.  To maximise the operating capabilities a second structure containing a clay slurry loading pump will form an additional spur.  Other ancillary buildings will complete the scene, along with a canal running along the front of the layout between the siding / through line and the yard.

Presentation: While the final form of how best to present the layout is still rather up in the air (pending the final decision on the track plan and its associated impact on the shape of the boards).  The intention is to use an integrated curved front fascia matching  the curve of the canal / branch track.  This in turn would also support the lighting rig.  The back scene will feature a sweeping curve blending in the corners and the transition into the wedge shape. 

Rough Sketch of the track plan

This is not to scale, and the alignment between the yard and the through line needs a lot of work.  I think this is more of an ideal situation which will need to be adjusted due to the constraints of space.  The site is intended to be located at the bottom of a valley (again following the prototype of Ponts Mill) thus explaining the compact nature of the works. 

On Monday I fly out to Sevilla for the week.  I will be bringing the Templot laptop will be coming with me, with the intention of trying out a few options of different track plans in the evenings after work.

There's not a great deal of physical evidence to see at the moment as baseboard construction is at an early stage, and the philosophy for the layout's design will become clear in due course. So, to be going on with, and show that I have actually done some thinking, if not much actual work, on this project, here is the 'Rationale' to set the context for what I hope will be this Winter's project.

Whether it gets finished in time (or ever!) for the Organiser's deadline will remain to be seen!

The Red River Valley Light Railway

Part 1

A Little Real Background

The Hayle Railway was an early railway in West Cornwall, constructed to convey copper and tin ore from the Redruth and Camborne areas to the sea  ports of Hayle and Portreath. Coal, sand and lime, along with domestic commodities were carried inland.

It opened in 1837, and carried passengers on its main line from 1843. The ‘main line’ had several  branches: Tresavean, serving the mines around Carnkie and Wheal Buller on the slopes of Carn Brea; Portreath, connecting the line to the busy sea port on the north Cornish coast; Roskear, a short branch serving ore processing mills at Roscroggan and the important boiler making factory of Holman Bros. on the outskirts of Camborne; and the North Crofty Branch serving the Dolcoath and North Crofty mines. This branch was opened on 23rd December 1837 and together with the other mineral branches in the area remained standard gauge throughout its life.

It is this line that forms the basis of this particular flight of fancy. The North Crofty Branch left the main line by a trailing junction just east of Camborne station and ran through the mining landscape heading in a generally northerly direction.  At only 48 chains (0.6 miles) long, the branch was more of a twig on the main system, however it served some of the most prosperous mines in the area; at  17 chains along the

branch was Cooks Kitchen Siding, a loop which handled the traffic for the nearby mighty Dolcoath mine. At 37 chains was Tuckingmill Mileage Siding which handled coal traffic. Here the line crossed the main Redruth to Camborne road at the summit of East Hill (and from 1902 the tracks of the Camborne – Redruth Electric Tramway) to serve North Crofty Mine. The track north of the road was  removed in 1937  and the branch was closed entirely on the 1st December 1948 and dismantled on the 7th November 1949.

Diagram Ctsy. Cornwall Railway Society

The line terminated at North Crofty mine in an area known as Tolvaddon overlooking a shallow valley marking the course of the infamous Red River. This stream derived its name from the iron oxide and ochre waste generated by the numerous mining and ore processing works along its course. These operations used the river as a source of power in their processes and as a convenient means of disposing of the polluted water once it had served its purpose. Generations of Cornish residents will remember the thick red water making its way down to the sea at Gwithian beach and the great plume of sediment spreading out across St. Ives Bay. Nowadays, following extensive environmental measures, the Red River runs clear, and has subsequently been adopted as a nature reserve.

The dune system, which stretches between Hayle River in the west, and the Red River to the east on the southern side of St.Ives Bay, was worked for centuries for both sand and mineral deposits, and a large sand quarry operated until recently at Gwithian beach. After the First World War, and with the development of more efficient extraction methods, it was considered worthwhile re-working the mineral rich sediment brought down by the stream for tin and copper along with other metals which had been lost by the older, more primitive ‘streaming’ methods. Subsequently tons of ‘slimes’ as they are known in Cornish mining, were dredged for re-processing at an extensive streaming works just inland of Gwithian beach. 

And now some fiction...

In my alternative universe, a new company – Red River Aggregates & Minerals Ltd, was established sometime around 1890 with a view to exploiting the sand deposits for building and agriculture. Around the same time the Light Railways Act had just been passed relaxing the stringent processes of getting a railway built in the hope that more rural and otherwise less economically rich  areas could be connected to the main railway system. The Management of the RRA&M approached the GWR, then the owners of the North Crofty Branch, with the proposal that they (the GWR) extend the Branch along the Red River valley to Gwithian Towans in order to facilitate the removal of the sand and dredged minerals. The GWR saw little profit in such a limited traffic, particularly since the history of Cornish mineral extraction is littered with supposedly lucrative schemes, which, in reality, turned out to be anything but, and accordingly the proposal was rejected.

Undeterred, the RRA&M sought its own Light Railway Order and set about constructing a private line which ran from the GWR’s sidings near the main road at North Crofty mine and followed the course of the Red River all the way to Gwithian beach. Here they erected machinery for extracting and grading the sands, along with loading silos where the sand was discharged directly into railway wagons. Further negotiations with the GWR allowed an end-on connection to be made to the North Crofty  Branch with exchange sidings from where their wagons could be worked back to the main line.

Click on the map to enlarge

The Red River Valley Light Railway was built to standard gauge to facilitate through workings of wagons without the need for laborious trans-shipment, although a 2’ gauge system connected the sand quarry with the processing plant. Track was very light flat-bottomed rail spiked to sleepers obtained second-hand from the GWR and, with little in the way of earthworks, and the ease of working in the sandy terrain in the valley, the line was completed in less than a year and opened in 1898. The Company invested in one steam locomotive, a Hudswell Clarke 0-4-0 saddle tank, and around a dozen 8 ton wagons acquired secondhand from the Cambrian Railway.

Traffic was moderate, and trains ran as required amounting to around 100 tons of sand a week being shipped out, mainly for agricultural use.

Tourism in Cornwall, particularly in the more industrialised areas, was still in its infancy in the early 1900s and the little sand-carrying railway went about its business largely unnoticed. However, locals looking for a day by the seaside, began using the empty wagons returning to the sand pit as an impromptu means of getting to the coast at Gwithian which boasts a particularly fine stretch of golden beach some three miles long. In the opposite direction the rocky cove and island of Godrevy with its lighthouse, made famous by Virginia Woolfe, and the magnificent 200ft high cliffs at Hell’s Mouth made for good coastal walking. The Company was prepared to turn a blind eye to this practice until an intrepid travel writer published a piece in the national press about his trip to Gwithian Sands by …..‘an archaic little railway – one rides in the empty wagons! such primitive fun for a trip to the seaside!’

Given the rising interest in visiting the coast, the RRA&M began to consider if they might not have un-tapped potential in their railway enterprise. In 1903 they undertook modifications to the trackwork at Gwithian to re-align the run-round loop alongside a low platform and erected a basic  wooden and corrugated iron building which served as a booking office and waiting room. A wooden tea hut was also added and two rather basic carriages were acquired from a horse tramway in the North of England which was being electrified.

Whilst the lower terminus may have had some picturesque appeal, located as it was among the sand dunes and within sight of the sea, (if one ignored the sand processing apparatus and streaming works nearby), the upper terminus situated amid industrial wasteland did not, and the company applied to the GWR for running powers over the North Crofty Branch to a more convenient location. As other traffic on the branch was light and relations with  the RRA&M were amiable, the GWR agreed to allow trains to run as far as the sidings at Tuckingmill. Here  the Company  built a platform  with a wooden ticket office and waiting room adjacent to the main Redruth – Camborne road.

The upper terminus was conveniently situated close to the main road, (later to become the A30), above Tuckingmill, a mining village that had grown to become a suburb of Camborne, and which was served by the newly opened electric tramway, making it reasonably accessible to day trippers from both towns. Unfortunately, the trams did not serve either town’s main railway stations, so visitors from farther afield faced a complicated journey by train, foot, tram, and foot again. To overcome this the RRA&M hired a horse bus to ferry passengers to their station from Camborne, a service that continued during the summer months up to the outbreak of the Great War, but was never resumed thereafter.

Thus the railway was poised to enter the summer season of 1903 with a passenger carrying service. Advertisements were placed in various periodicals, national railway timetables and the Press. The first trains ran on Whit Saturday 1903 and with the promise of tea and buns at the beach, the service was highly popular, so much so that the original timetable was abandoned over the weekend and the train shuttled back and forth almost continuously.

In time, the railway settled into a more sedate routine. It was always intended that the passenger ‘trips’ would only operate during the summer months, there being little reason for anyone to need to use the line other than to visit the beach. So services began at Easter, were suspended again until the Whit Bank holiday, whereafter trains ran daily every two hours until dusk.  Trains also ran on Sundays, much to the disapproval of the local Wesleyan community, but nonetheless were well patronised especially in the afternoons by those seeking respite from interminable Chapel services.

During the summer it became clear that one locomotive was inadequate to manage both the passenger and the more lucrative minerals business, and so a second engine was purchased, second hand, from a firm of Contractors. This was a neat 0-6-0 Manning Wardle ‘I class’. These locomotives were highly popular with civil engineering contractors for their reliability and rugged construction. The Company constructed a locomotive shed and workshop on their own land close to Roscroggan stream works, and erected covered accommodation for the carriages along with water and coal facilities.

Passenger services were suspended during the 1914-18 war, and resumed in the summer of 1919. A third locomotive, a  'Terrier' class 0-6-0 was purchased from the London & South Western Railway which was busy rationalising its fleet of small tank locomotives. This engine proved popular with the crews for its increased haulage power and quick acceleration,and was used extensively during the summer months. Sand and mineral traffic continued as before although the metalliferous mining industry in Cornwall had been in terminal decline for years and many of the stream works along the Red River were falling into disuse. The electric trams ceased in 1927 but bus services now at least served the mainline railway stations, and tourist traffic in the 1920s and 30s increased markedly, largely due to the vigorous publicity campaigns run by the GWR promoting the scenic attractions of the Cornish coast. The line even got a mention in Bradshaw’s Guide – the terminus with its tea shack at Gwithian being described as “Primitive, but tea!” The railway continued to provide a viable summer passenger service to the coast for tourists and Sunday trippers alike up to the outbreak of the Second World War when services were again suspended and, with the track in a poor state, lorries took over the sand transportation, and the line was quickly reclaimed by nature.

Plan of Proposed Layout

and yes, that is going to be the baseboard...…….

So what is the project?

The astute (or just literate) will have gathered that the layout will be called Nampara for Hendrawna. It will be Cornish, GWR and mixed gauge. Those priding themselves on their intimate knowledge of BBC costume drama may conceive of a link to the recent Poldark series . This would be incorrect (I'm too young to have seen the first rendition and too skeptical of TV adaptations of books I've enjoyed to watch the second). Those priding themselves on a knowledge of Winston Graham's Poldark novels to see a link would, however, be correct.

Being an admirer of the wonderful flights of fancy that formed the basis of Iain Rice's descriptions of his North Cornwall Mineral Railway (concept modelling I believe is the correct term) here comes what, in a kind light and with eyes half closed against the glare of brazen falsehoods, might pass for the history stuff.

The origins of the line

In the early 1850s, inspired by the onrushing (sic) progress of the Cornwall Railway, Sir Henry Poldark, son of the late Sir Ross, decided that his mining and associated ventures in the vicinity of the family seat at Nampara would benefit from connection to the national rail network, especially as hopes in the area that the Treffry tramways might reach the area had been dashed. The building of a railway from Nampara south towards Truro and both the West Cornwall Railway and Cornwall Railway was not just vanity - the continued success of the extensive mining ventures depended on reducing their costs - especially that of coal. Therefore a line from the harbour at Nampara to the various tin (to the southwest around St Annes), copper and lead mines running to the south east and east. 

Poldark agitated and pestered until he had sufficient interest in a scheme for a branch line from the Cornwall Railway just east of Truro to reach his land at Nampara, where he undertook to develop more suitable quays for the exporting of tin, copper and china clay that across an open beach. Work started on the line in 1858 and by 1862 was open for goods and passengers, with the Cornwall Railway undertaking to work the line.  The stations at Idless and then at Callestick & Marazanvose - a station that the locals joked had a name as long as the railway that served it - could pass passenger and goods trains, while there was a smaller station at Chynoweth.

Relations with neighbouring lines

When the line was proposed it was opposed by the Treffey tramway (from Par to Newquay) who could recognize competition when it saw it (and later took an equally dim view of a another broad gauge intrusion, this time in the shape of the Newquay and Cornwall Junction Railway which was built from Burngallow towards St Dennis but only got as far as Napean before running out of money).  Happily, the Treffey trustees were unsuccessful in the face of Sir Henry's determination and his railway to Nampara went ahead as he intended. 

When the Treffey tramway was rebuilt as the Cornwall Mineral Railway between 1873 and 1874 a branch was authorised from St Dennis junction to meet the Newquay and Cornwall Junction Railway (now part of the Cornwall Railway and the Associated Companies = GWR)  and as part of the authorization it was agreed that not only would the line be mixed to St Dennis and even Newquay, but that the Treamble branch would be extended a couple of miles from the area of Shepherds to meet the Nampara Railway at a junction at Perranwell.  From this point the Nampara railway would lay a narrow line to its harbour at Nampara and give the CMR running powers over the mixed portion only of the line.  It was a nice bit of quid pro quo, but the CMR saw little value in actually doing their broad gauge bit of the agreement and after a salvo of lawyers had been unleashed on them in 1875 in order to get them to do something towards laying the broad gauge rail could only frustrate plans for mixed gauge from St Dennis to Newquay by laying the rail in such a way that it couldn't be used! Unfortunately for the Nampara Railway Sir Henry was a decent chap and had laid the narrow rail, making the line from Perranwell Junction to Nampara a mixed gauge line

The line was, much to its promoters' relief a moderate success, and this helped it weather the county's banking crash in 1866. Indeed, in the mid 1870s the line was extended a short distance to serve an additional new quay. To get his own back on the CMR Sir Henry did not lay a narrow rail on all parts of the new quay extension, limiting the utility of the facilities for the CMR.  With the collapse of the mineral trade shortly after the new quays were completed the CMR was leased to the GWR in 1877. With lower harbour duties than at Par and Newuqay, the link to the CMR actually allowed the Nampara line to poach traffic (especially China clay) from the CMR - much to that line's intense annoyance, but with no break of gauge to complain about opportunities for CMR petty revenge were limited.  

From the outset the line was worked by arrangement with the Associated Companies (ie GWR).

Industry and Traffic on and along the line.

However, the Nampara line fulfilled its promise of lower costs for the mines.  More importantly, the mines remained an important source of traffic for the line - not just coal in, but also timber and machinery, while ore went out. The lower costs helped the copper mines in the area survive the collapse in copper mining in the late 1860s and early 1870s.

Lead mining was also very important in the area by the mid nineteenth century - in fact in the area had the two most productive lead mines in the country - West Chiverton and East Wheal Rose. To consider East Wheal Rose (up the mixed gauge branch to the CMR0 between 1845 and 1885 it produced 48,200 tons of 62% lead ore, 212,700 ounces of silver and 280 tons of zinc ore and the savings in costs allowed to keep working despite an increasingly unfavourable economic climate in the 1880s and 1890s. Between 1859-1886, West Chiverton produced around 45,800 tons of lead ore, containing over 33,000 tons of lead and over 1.24 million ounces of silver, not to mention 22,676 tons of zinc ore and 15 tons of copper ore. Between 1863-1874 the mine paid £157,000 in dividends for a purchase price of £30,000. The line also allowed the development of lead smelting close to the mines, maximising the profits that could be realised - the unrefined ore commanding a much lower price than lead ingots. 

China clay, although not a product of the area, is a significant sourced of traffic on the line thanks to the lower harbour dues making it a more attarctive exporting point than Newuqay for traffic on the CMR lines, but with its broad gauge, it provided a handy outlet via Truro for the traffic from the china clay workings on the former Newquay and Cornwall Junction Railway.

Fish was another stable of the line. Like St Ives further west, Nampara was saw considerable landing of fish, not just Pilchards, but others - most of which headed south as perishable traffic to Truro to join the express workings to the east and ultimately London.

The line and its route.

The terminus of the line at Nampara is constrained by the high ground inland and the sea. The result was a long thin set of facilities in three groups. At the farthest point of the line is the 1870s new quay extension. This consists of a pair of BG sidings and a pair of narrow (standard)  gauge sidings as well as a loop. However, due to the poor relations with the CMR, a clause was inserted that only standard gauge engines owned by the harbour company (a separate concern to the Nampara line) were allowed onto the new quays extension.  This clause has persisted into GWR leasing/ownership of the CMR with the result that the exCMR 1392 class engines (and others) cannot pass onto the new quay lines, while the board gauge engines can. The next group of facilities are centred on the station proper and the old harbour.  The goods and loco facilitates for the station are a few yards further inland along the line. Fortunately, gentle curvature of the line as it approaches the station gives Nampara signal box a good sight line of the goods loop and engine shed and the outer home and ain to loop points are within the prescribed distance by the BoT so a second box is, at the moment, unnecessary.  

Nampara station signal diagram.

Once out of Nampara the line heads south and about 1/2 a mile along the line is a set of sidings to serve the Lesiure groups of mines, before continuing to Perranwell Junction, where the mixed gauge line ends and standard gauge to the CMR diverges  from broad and heads east. A couple of chains west of the junction there is a siding serving the New Chiverton Mine, and a few chains east of the junction on the standard gauge is a siding for North Chiverton.

Heading south the now broad gauge line continues for about a mile before a lengthy siding serving West Chiverton and Wentworth Consols mine diverges. Another half a mile sees the first passing station, Callestick and Marazanvose. This station is not only a block post on the line and generating agricultural traffic for the line, but it has several sidings devoted for mines lying to the west of the valley. It is also the summit of the line. The line now falls towards Truro.

About 1/4 of a mile south of Callestick, the line crosses the A30 at a level crossing, before arriving at the small station of Chynoweth. This station has a loop and siding for general merchandise - but a few chains further south along the line lies yet another siding serving the Garras mine.  A mile further south of Chynoweth station is the station at Idless - the lines second passing point and again serving mines in the close area as well as the agricultural trade. The line joins the Cornwall Railway just east of Truro.

And now..

The date is now 1891, and within a year the line will be converted to the Stephenson's narrower gauge.

Back to harsh reality....

The layout's modeled area will be 6'6" (2 x 3'3"x 24" baseboards) with a cassette fiddle yards at the left hand end and a sector plate (probably) at the right, with the cassette FY at the operating end representing the rest of the GWR network and the sector plate at the right hand end representing the 1879 new quay and its associated three sidings.

[NB viewing side is from the bottom of the above trackplan]

Alongside the quay will be 3 sailing vessels, all 2 or 3 masted ketches or schooners, so the viewer will be looking through or round masts and rigging to see the layout. Control will be DCC for locos with conventional 12 volts dc operating servo driven points/signals. The layout will be constructed from 50mm extruded polystyrene sheets

Back to the even harsher reality of stock for the layout....

I reckon I'll need as a minimum :

1 preferably 2 SG locos.

1 preferably 2 BG locos.

3 'narrow' 4 or 6 wheel coaches: Brake 3rd, Composite, Brake 3rd (T20, U4, T38/T49) or Brake third, third, brake composite (T20/T38, S9, U22)

3 board gauge 4 or 6 wheel coaches: Brake 3rd, Composite, Brake 3rd (T51 ng body on bg frame, U20 bg body, T64 ng body on bg frames)

4 BG open wagons

1 BG closed van

2 BG china clay wagons

1 BG brake van

4-6 SG open wagons

2 SG closed vans

3-4 SG china clay wagons

1 SG brake van

2 BG 6 wheel fish trucks

2 SG fish trucks.

So not a lot. Currently none of the above has been completed (although T29, U4, S9, T49 have been started and I've the etches for the T38 and T51). I'm also learning Inkscape to produce the U20 and T64 coach sides either by laser cutting or silhouette type cutter, but as yet I have access to neither.

As to locos, an Alan Gibson 1076 ST buffalo is well advanced, and I've also started a Cotswold 2021ST. Board gauge will have to be a convertible 1076 (if I can find drawings) or the BGS 3501 2-4-0T kit, neither of which I have yet.

Wagons: BG probably mostly scratch built (I've started on my first BG open wagon) with the addition of the BGS mink kit and David Geen 3 plank open. SG, a coupe of backdated (and corrected see Railway Modeller Nov 2016) coopercraft 4 plank opens, a couple of David Geen 3 plank wagons, Ratio iron mink (backdated of course), a David Geen wooden mink, and an ABS outside framed brake van.

As to the scenery, I originally imagined it to be typical Cornish fishing village rising up from the retaining wall behind the station. However, given the amount of architectural modelling this will require I'm starting to get cold feet and instead I'm thinking along the lines of a scale compressed (perhaps to 1:87) Nampara house in the rear left corner, cliffs in the centre with mining spoil on top and a disused beam engine house (perhaps to 3 or even 2mm) peaking over the spoil. To the right as the land falls toward the sea the start of Nampara village atop the retaining wall - perhaps 3 or 4 terraced cottages in the vernacular style. This will mean I'll have more time for...

The ships.

This is likely to be the hardest part. 1 ketch (c 75ft) and 2 schooners/brigs (@ c100ft-200ft each). I've got drawings, and lots of photos thanks to two excellent books, B. Greenhill's The Merchant Schooners and W. Slade & B. Greenhill's Westcountry Coasting Ketches. I've started marking out the frames on Inkspace to produce a cutting file. At least I'll only have to do from the waterline up as it will be high tide on the model! I'm also wondering about whether any 1:150 model ship kits might be able to provide a suitable hull for modification.

And I'm both time and cash poor, just to make things easier. But Gareth has rashly promised to make a BG loco, however, I think that means I've still got to buy the bits.

So how can you help? (if you want to...)

If you have turned an SG 1076 into a BG one I'd love to know who you did it.

If you have any BG coaches drawn up as cutting files for a laser/silhouette cutter and are prepared to share, I'd love to talk to you.

If you have any ideas on how to speed up the ship construction, or on possible (low cost) donor hulls, please let me know.

If you know where I can get sheets of 50mm extruded polystyrene cheaply (I was shocked at the cost in the local DIY shop), I'll be extremely grateful.

Entry form has been submitted so here are the details for those interested.

Scale: 4mm to 1 foot

Gauge: EM

Size: Scenic section 6 ft x 1 ft (fiddle yard extra)

DCC control with sound (in moderation)

Sprat and Winkle auto couplings

Hand built pointwork using C&L components

The layout will depict the early 1930’s GWR in Herefordshire and will be based on the Golden Valley Railway which ran from Pontrilas to Hay on Wye. In the model the line from Pontrilas never made it to join the Midland Railway at Hay on Wye so will terminate a few miles after Dorstone station in the fictitious location of Hembourne.

The station building will be based on that at Vowchurch, with only other buildings being a ground frame cabin and a yard hut.

Motive power will be a GWR 517 or 48xx/58xx tank and the line ran a number of mixed goods and passenger trains so plenty of shunting opportunity and something a little different.

Work so far consists of building the excellent baseboards kits from Tim Horn, just the blank canvas you need.

The layout will be a simple freight-only shunting plank-type affair, using standard Peco Code 75 and RTR stock.

Scenically, I've not yet decided on what/where I want to base it.

Ok, so I now know that this competition entry will be an improved version of the armaments store first discussed here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/45743-armaments-store-shhhh/

Further thoughts and plans will be added as I think about them.

Oh, and I've kept the name, sort of.

The fact that everything will have to be scratch built is a minor obstacle. Deciding on a scale might be a problem, but using Alan Butler's figures means any scale is possible. The big problem is the horses. A steam loco was tried in 1826, but was withdrawn rather quickly - usual problem of broken rails. However, it was two years before Stephenson's Rocket.

But the sight of an early steam loco, crossing a horse drawn train has a certain fascination, and will challenge the perceptions of some people who have fixed ideas of trains in Somerset!
Here is a copy of the deposited plan, superimposed on the modern (1902!) map. Interesting that Mill Lane was built by the S&D.

There is a demonstration wooden edge railway at Beamish, but the waggons on that are similarish. The distance from the tunnel mouth to the bridge at the bottom of the lane is about 8' in 4mm, so there will be some compression.

Here is a flavour of what I am aiming at:

The theme of the layout will be 'The Presteign goods with added Pecketts'.

This photo shows the approaches to Atlanta station, illustrating the spidery impression of lightweight rail and broad gauge trackwork. Note in particular the "double slip" in the foreground, consisting of two stub points, laid end to end.

This photo illustrates a stub point that I found on a narrow gauge line in New Jersey. I have an idea how to build a simple two way point, but cannot, at present, see how you would align the centre track of a three way. If anyone has any bright ideas, I am open to suggestions! 

Just for comparison, main line motive power from the 1860s!

Best wishes

Eric  

To summarise, a small canal-side wharf served by a short branch of the North London Railway from the line running south to Broad Street Station. I'm envisaging the branch separating somewhere in the area of Haggerston station and then running the short distance to the wharf at street level. Set in 1903 and modeled in P4 the layout features small tank engines and goods wagons in fairly narrow confines. The trackplan is a slightly lengthened version of Iain Rice's Hepton Wharf, having been reset to the inner city.

Progress to date can be found here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/122023-queensbridge-road-wharf/

Sheffield Grimeside, a glimpse of Industrial Sheffield in the '50s featuring MSW electrics, Sheffield trams and buses in 4mm, EM for both trams and railway sections.

We being  group of three modellers who really first made contact through RMweb.... since then we've all become pretty friendly despite none of us living 'round the corner' from each other...we'll all be involved to some degree with this project.

A Sheffield layout has been gestating for a while but this competition has given it the impetus to actually get our fingers out.

It will be a learning curve for all of us....I've wanted to do something in EM for a while...this is first time ever away from 16.5mm for me, so girder rail tram track in EM should be fun.....!

One item that it will be built round is one of Dave Shkespeare's Tetley Mills buildings, I've been trying to work this into a project for a while...this time to a degree it's based round this.

So more northern grot from myself, but hopefully a bit different.

Not much to show as yet bar a pile of wood....but stock has been in build for a short while....this is one of the road vehicles on its first test....this has been 'EMed' as it features a scratchbuilt front axle to get away from the too narrow HO look!

There are a number of things in prep too the tram fleet will feature a number of 3d printed bodies for the Sheffield fleet.

David Lane has kindly agreed to stage a further display of Cameo competition entries at Railex 2020, and so we are keen that these entries carry on building, as there are some really good ideas and great layouts under construction. Any entry that withdrew due to time constraints is welcome to carry on for consideration for the 2020 show, but we stress this is not a new competition open to any new entries.

The standards have been really high, and the variety of ideas wonderfully varied, as we can all see from the great variety of threads here on RMweb. The judges job has been genuinely very difficult and all of the entries were considered to be of a high standard.

I would also like to particularly thank Andy York and Warners for very generously hosting this Cameo section of RMweb for entries, which has added hugely to the fun of the whole thing and also been incredibly useful in sorting through all of the great ideas and superb modelling. Thank you Andy.

Broadly speaking, there are 8 in the final shortlist, 11 not shortlisted, and the 19 standing outside of the competition. The initial entry was staggering at something like 95 entries. It is difficult to be completely precise as not all original entries responded to requests for information earlier in the process.

If anyone has any queries about any of this, then please do contact me.

So a big thank you to all of you, on behalf of Iain Rice, Gordon Gravett, Chris Nevard and myself!

And see you at Railex....

Simon Castens

1950's wayside station.

4mm OO gauge.

Size; Scenic section-120cm x 40cm. Fiddles yards, 2x 90cm x 26cm. All base boards will utilise table tops kindly manufactured by IKEA.

Ready to run stock. Ready to plant buildings. PECO Code 75 track and points.

The scenic section will draw inspiration from Combpyne on the Lyme Regis branch and feature a loop and a couple of sidings.

Things will be kept as simple as possible.

A few photos of a couple of mock ups to give a feel for the project along with the proposed track level station building and a couple of prototype images.

Rob

The layout will be shewn in a ‘coffin box’ measuring 4’6” x 18” x 18” and will be built to P4 standards. There will be small fiddle yard shelves at either end measuring some 16”x16”. Viewing height is likely to be circa 4’6”, though the layout will be capable of being set up on a table top.Although this is going to be an exhibition layout, it will be set up at home so I can play trains. It may also allow me to test stock being built for other projects. The whole layout will fit comfortably in a car and be operated by two people.

In truth, this is an idea I've been toying with for some time as I'd like to have a small layout at home that I can play with whilst I'm building Cheddar. 

I have actually made a start on it but just hadn't got round to posting anything yet. The challenge gives me the perfect opportunity!

I thought that this little layout is probably more suited here on this thread, it’s more of a cameo/Diorama style layout, it being only 5ft long by 18”.

its sort of still in development and although I model EM LYR, this was built with and for the Grandchildren ‘ to get them off the I pad ‘.

It  is also  an excuse to get the Iain Rice thing out of my system, I have grown to like the GER, ever since the writings of a Barlow & Rice back in the day ‘East Suffolk Light’ and all else that followed thereafter.

i have come to brain freeze at present, wondering how I can develop the right side of the layout beyond the Bridge.

everything that is modelled there is temporary, so we could exhibit it locally in what looked like a complete set scene.

I would love to here your comments and ideas as to how I might develop this area.

the scene is very loosely 1970 ishhh.

I’m also using Kdees permanent magnets, AMR handheld controller through a home made power box contains a Gaugemaster transformer.

for interest, I have uploaded photos from its beginnings, to we’re are now.

Pete

A Cameo Layout is one where:

• The 3D modelled scene is combined with a 2D backdrop.
• Complementary fascias, wings and other display aids set off the modelled scene.
• Carefully considered and built in lighting provides natural illumination for the modelled scene.
• Necessary offstage areas or staging tracks are built in to the layout.
• Support structures display the model at a "natural" viewing height.
• Necessary electrical and mechanical "gubbins" are built in to the layout.

In summary, the underlying criteria are that it should be easy on the eye, easy to move, and require only a single plug to power it.

The book is readily available from all decent railway booksellers, here is a link to its description and details on my own website:

http://titfield.co.uk/Shop.htm

Simon Castens

I haven't heard from a number of you who look as if you are still in, if you have not already done so then please respond as requested ASAP in order to remain in the competition!

Simon Castens

Creating Cameos Competition

Judges 

Iain Rice, Chris Nevard, Gordon Gravett

26^th April 2018

Dear Cameoteers

Thank you very much for taking part in the Creating Cameos competition, we hope you are enjoying planning and building your models. 

We had a very healthy response covering a wide range of scales and ideas, and we have been impressed with the imagination and ingenuity of all entries. Thank you very much to everyone who has joined in, whether you are still “in” or not. We are sure that the idea of cameo layouts will go beyond the end of the competition and that further projects and models will result in the future, so thank you all again for your participation.

The judges are getting together to consider entries and start shortlisting towards the end of May 2018. Following this process there will be further consideration of shortlisted entries in advance of a final selection. This will lead to the final display of entries at the “Railex” show at Stoke Mandeville stadium in May of 2019.

We already know of some entries that have withdrawn and of course quite a few of you are documenting your building and experiences online through the RMweb and Western Thunder forums.

In order to move on to the next stage in the competition please could you now contact us with a statement of how you are getting on with your entry, specifically:

1.) Are you still “in” and the final name of your entry and its scale.

2.) Summary statement of what your entry is; prototype, inspiration, the thinking behind it, any noteworthy features.

2.) Projected completion date of your entry.

3.) Current state of completion, expressed as a “percentage of completion” together with any notes or comments you wish to make.

4.) Evidence of progress so far, include pictures, sketches and a plan of the finished cameo, to include fiddle sidings, yards and any other protuberances. If you are documenting your build online, then feel free to provide the URL or location of the pictures of your progress rather than sending them directly in response to this letter.

5.) Anything else you’d like to say about your entry or the competition.

6.) Confirmation of your preferred/contact email address.

Please could everyone respond to this letter by the end of Sunday 20^th May. Please note that response to this letter will be a condition of continued participation in the “formal” aspect of the competition.

Please respond by email to cameocomp@wildswanbooks.co.uk or by post to Cameo Competition, 3A Upper Lambridge Street, Bath, BA1 6RY.

Thank you very much for your participation and we look forward to hearing from you!

Simon Castens

For and on behalf of Iain Rice, Gordon Gravett and Chris Nevard

My previous attempt at building a model railway was a bit on the small size...so with bigger ambitions and a burning desire to create soemthing I got back into my comfy armchair and did nowt for ages...although I did buy a book on Jackson couplings and another on Cameo layouts...

My good friend Mr Pourcy Mane introduced me to the Cameo competition with his 'Effit works' madness, not to be out done I got out of the armchair and sat back down at the computer chair and decided to start with some research...

My results can be seen here...https://www.flickr.com/photos/159486954@N02/favorites...as you can see I've done a lot of looking at pictures...including this trio...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswissernie/39399904845/in/album-72157690450489312/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswissernie/26424904628/in/album-72157690450489312/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswissernie/39399904535/in/album-72157690450489312/

A model based on Raisby with the quarry loco shed at its centre was slowly developing in my head and I would have continued with the reseach had it not been a reminder from the Cameo competition organisers asking if I was still on the planet...Having done nothing but research I had to get out of the computer chair...so I stuck some sheets of paper together, drew some lines on them...and proud of my result, I rolled it up and took it down the pub. The pub wasn't that impressed so more paper, more lines and more sticky tape has resulted in the following plan...

...lets see how long I can stare at this before the gaffer wants the kitchen table back and I decide to start cutting some wood...

...to be continued (I hope)...Garmondsway btw is the posh name for Raisby which is the posh name for Kelloe (Kella) Bank Foot...hopefully all will be explained.

Layout Name:           Black Drake Wharf

Scale:                       7mm O Gauge Finescale

Size:                         Scenic area - 5ft x 19in

Staging:                   Cassettes

Layout Type:            Industrial / canal wharf

Era:                          Mid 1930s

Control System:       DCC - NEC Powercab

Operation:                From front of layout

Sound:                     On board DCC loco sound, ambient background sound using cube speakers mounted behind the facia pelmet

Baseboard:              Integrated plywood board, cabinet / facia & curved backscene

Lighting:                   Angled LED Strips behind facia

Stock:                       Mix of detailed RTR, kit built & some scratch built

Industries:                Bakery, Canal Interchange, Small Engineering Manufacturer (these may be subject to change)

Photos of left hand & right hand views show current construction. Track is laid & ballasted, wiring and point control has been completed. Scenic work is just commencing.

Also to remind continuing builders and those entrants that were not shortlisted (you all know who you are) that you are invited to visit to show as guests of Wild Swan.

I have deposited a list of names with David and team so just say who you are and what your entry was at the show pay desk and you will be presented with a complimentary ticket to the show.

I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible over the weekend!

Simon

PS "participation plaques" not yet sorted out, but they will be.

Bleat Wharf

{ Ex-S&DJR Goods only branch }

British Railways 1955- 1962

Bleat Wharf is a small inland quay 'somewhere in Somerset' and is at the end of a spur off the Highbridge branch of the S&DJR, set in the 1950s.

Goods only, the area is run down and approaching closure. Traffic is mostly vans or covered carriage trucks serving the few remaining quayside businesses. Services run as required and haulage is provided by wheezy ex-Midland 3F tender locos with the occasional 4F or 1P 0.4.4T.

The origins of the name' Bleat Wharf' are not what you might expect. The name evolved from the original name for the area, 'Scheepswerf' which is Dutch for 'Ship yard or boatyard'.

In the early years of the 19th Century, Jan Van Der Plank, a Dutch shipwright set up a small boatyard in the area. The boatyard closed when Van der Plank returned to Holland following his retirement in 1840 but the name for the area was adopted by the locals.

With the arrival of the railways to the area in 1850, a short branch from Highbridge Whard was created to what later became known as Bleat Wharf, named after Ebenezer Bleat, a local business man and importer of manufactured goods. Other cargoes handled early on were minerals and agricultural items, including livestock.

Both world wars saw extensive use made of the wharf and few original buildings remain with successive alterations being made over the years. During the Second World War, a number of tin buildings were erected by the Royal Air Force who operated a couple of Air Sea Rescue launches from there to patrol the Bristol Channel.

Moving along to the period modelled, the main industry is ' C K Maddocks ', a small precision engineering firm who took over the buildings previously occupied by the RAF in 1944/45. The original buildings of Maddocks were bombed in January 1941 by a lone Junkers 88, later brought down over the Bristol channel by Pilot Officer Stein of 263 Squadron flying a Westland Whirlwind out of Exeter.

After the war, things settled down and a general air of peaceful neglect descended on the wharf.

Maddocks continued to be a well respected producer of quality engineering but freight traffic was light, running as required by the time of the period modelled.

Overall size of the layout is now confirmed and will be 7ft x 2ft.

Baseboards will be my now usual IKEA shelfage.

Track will be PECO Code 75.

Buildings will be a variety of Ready To Plant from Bachmann and Hornby.

Locos will, as mentioned above, be ready to run Midland types from Bachmann. Rolling stock will also be ready to run. All stock buildings etc will be weathered accordingly.

A photo or two from Sheep Lane taken by Norman Lockhart in August 1960, illustrates the atmosphere I am looking to recreate on Bleat Wharf

Rob.

To need a large estate car for an 8ft long layout, that takes an hour and a half to erect and over an hour to take down made me think that the next offering will need to be more portable.

There was also a mad suggestion floated that the 2019 Taunton meet be a cameo event, so it would be nice to have something waiting in the wings, in case the idea catches on.

The intention this time is to just have three or four pieces, a one piece stand and two or three boards, dependent upon a choice between three Tim Horn 900 x 300 boards or two Grainge and Hodder 1200 x 400 boards.

I know I have no chance of winning, I don’t consider that to be the purpose of the entry, I just want to push my modelling to the limit, and one small building rather than 10 or more big ones on the layout should give me the chance to get the detail right.

Scale will be 7mm, the subject, an exact scale model of a complete Network Rail station and platform.

The only real area that might count against it being classed as a cameo is that there will only be one track, this goes against the requirements of an interesting operational aspect, it could probably be better described as a working diorama, but I intend to use the cameo to tell a story, and the history of the station and line.

In addition to scratch building the track and building I shall hopefully have time to scratch build the three classes of motive power that have appeared between 1994 and the present day. These trains will run in and out of the station, with a possible further two on display that are relevant to the story.

Just putting a marker in at the moment, its currently only a fag packet sketch and a scaled up Google Earth plan, full site survey and detailed design works are to be carried out over the next couple of weeks, and greater detail can the be fleshed out once I have selected the appropriate baseboard combination.

I'm off to get a very minor hand operation on Friday, so the couple of days when I won't be driving or modelling can be spent getting the details fleshed out a bit.

Peter

The track plan is that of the basic Inglenook which is being built on a Tim Horn 4ft x 15 inches base board.

The track plan may vary during construction.

The track will be built to P4 standards. I have bought an assortment of LCut building parts for the main industrial buildings.

Gordon A

Layout Name: Louville Lane (provisionally)

Size: Scenic board 5ft x2ft

Fiddle yard 3ft6x2ft

Scale 00 peco code 75 track

Desciption: Front and lower part Diesel stabling point, Upper part parcels platform and bay platform (Bitsa station)

Rationale: The GWR did rebuild not only Paignton station before WW2 but combined it with Torquay making a new multiplatform station Torbay Central.

Why the provisional name; I spent several Holidays in the early 50s in the Louville Caravan park behind Goodrington Sands.

Time period: 1963-65 Green and maroon Hydraulics.

Plans if you've not seen them in my Kingsbridge Regis Thread

1st a quarter scale model when it was 6ft long with long radius points

Now contracted to 5ft using medium points

Full size plan

and a couple of photos of the parcels and bay area hopefully showing hoe the bitsa station idea works.

Building will start in the early autumn, so for the time being there may not be many posts.

A 4mm scale EM gauge layout. The layout is set on the GW Tavistock branch at around the 1930s date.

Layout size 2400 x 750 mm plus fiddleyards etc.

Phil and I had one or two discussions on what to do for the challenge, Phil said there used to be a clay dry at Shaugh Bridge which used to take it's clay up to Shaugh Platform by horse and cart, why don't we make it rail connected, but we will leave the mainline above the river at the front and put the dry a bit lower so that you have too look down at it a bit. OK said I, go away and Templot it. Phil was back within a couple of hours with the first incarnation, it wasn't to bad, but we thought it lacked a little operationally, well said Phil there was a mill a bit further down stream I'll put a siding in for that, we might have too use Slartibartfasts powers and do a bit of Terra forming too make it fit. Phil did and to save confusion we would call the Layout "Dewerstone", which is a local land mark a little further up stream.

Further up dates and a track plan when I can add attachments.

Steve

I have bought the book and I am reading it in great eagerness. I love Ian Rice's writings and musings and have been inspired by his and others in the wild swan series. About 10 years ago or so, I built a 009 layout that was circular, called the East Hants Light Railway. It depicted a narrow gauge light railway that connected the market towns of Petersfield and Alton. My skills and attitudes towards modelling have changed dramatically since then, as has my exhibition experiences.

I have come to the conclusion that I lack the finesse to make superb rolling stock. I am great at detailing etc, but I just can't get the blighters to run smoothly or efficiently. There are only so many kits that you can throw in the bin. Therefore, highly detailed rtr is the approach I now take. Fiddling around with couplings is also a bugbear, so will be using tried and tested methods.

Track building is also a problem for me, so I will be using detailed rtr.

What has come a long way is my scenic efforts. I happened to be at an exhibition where the Gravetts were giving scenic demos. They have now hooked me on postiche and static fibres.

What I am proposing is a depiction of a terminus on the line. I want it to run superbly. I want it to look as if I have built the stock and track myself, but have cheated, however, the heart of the cameo, as mr rice so clearly puts is that exquisite and intricate detail within the scene. It will be 009 and the line is a 2'3" gauge.

I hope that this is ok and in the spirit of the competition, whilst allowing for my modelling skills and limitations.

Matt