Burngullow Lane. - On the main line through Legend Land.

[LDM34046]

Incredible layout. I'm loving the images provided so far! Keep them coming!

 

The weathering in particular by Grimey Times is nothing short of a work of art!

[TrevorP1]

The other day it shocked me to realise that it's nearly two months since I posted an update on here, so just in case anyone might think that Doctor Beeching has been at it and closed all railways in miniature Cornwall I'd better write a line or three.

 

It's been pretty nippy in these parts and the railway building takes a fair while to warm up (the mega insulation seems to turn it into a fridge in winter) also, due to the Covid lockdown I found myself doing far too much on the railway and it was in danger of becoming a 'job', not a hobby. This made it seem like the ideal time to take a planned break from the actual railway. So, I've found myself getting into selling on excess 'stuff' of all kinds on E Bay and helping Carol turn our spare bedroom into her 'craft room'.

 

Nevertheless, a Boplate wagon and a BR refrigerated van have been built for the Falmouth goods, plus the pair of Coopercraft cattle vans that have been kicking around for a couple of years as well as two more china clay wagons. On the building front I decided to follow Stoker's recommendation of using sponges to apply the rendering on the cottages. I was quite wary of this but gave it a go and I must say I'm glad I did. Thank you Stoker.  Windows and other odds left to do plus weathering the roof - when I work up the courage! - but the building is getting there. In the foreground, 'Trelowarren Cottages' also obviously need attention at some point to remove the out of the box look. Trains ran yesterday for the first time since November and happily everything worked without a hitch. I've got to say I'm quite pleased with this little scene which caught my eye.

 

More soon. Hopefully in less than two months!

 

 

 

Edited April 4, 2022 by TrevorP1

[St Enodoc]

3 hours ago, TrevorP1 said:

just in case anyone might think that Doctor Beeching has been at it and closed all railways in miniature Cornwall

Don't panic! I'll keep the flag flying...

[TrevorP1]

I'm trying to work through a list of 'Things That Should Have Been Done Ages ago'. Fairly high on that long screed was a pair of injectors for 1006. A couple of castings, a piece scrap etch, some copper wire plus burned fingers produced this. Once cleaned up, painted and fixed to the chassis under the cab I hope they will pass muster.

 

 

The exhaust injector sits a scale inch or so low but hopefully a tweak of the bracket will fix this. A crew will take their places as well.

 

 

Edited April 4, 2022 by TrevorP1

[drduncan]

On 18/02/2020 at 10:59, St Enodoc said:

Stick with the Parksides Trevor. The Ratio ones, like the Bachmann RTR, have the roller-bearing axleboxes that are really too late for your (our) period.

Converting the Ratio clay hoods is easy. I used MJT W-irons (which don’t need soldering) with either MJT or 51L cast axle boxes/springs.

I found HMRSPaul’s website invaluable for examples of all the W iron axle box combinations- including different types on the same wagon!

 

(you can do similar things to Parkside or Airfix/Dapol 16t minerals - another identical wagon type that was far from identical in reality)

 

DrDuncan

[TrevorP1]

On 31/01/2021 at 09:08, drduncan said:

Converting the Ratio clay hoods is easy. I used MJT W-irons (which don’t need soldering) with either MJT or 51L cast axle boxes/springs.

I found HMRSPaul’s website invaluable for examples of all the W iron axle box combinations- including different types on the same wagon!

 

(you can do similar things to Parkside or Airfix/Dapol 16t minerals - another identical wagon type that was far from identical in reality)

 

DrDuncan

 

 I'll have to give that a try. There are plenty more clay wagons needed! The Ratio version in the photo below has had a Cambrian RCH chassis grafted in. It's a bit of a bodge but OK from a distance. I would like to try something better though, so thanks for the tip.

 

The photo shows progress on the clay dry so far. The next stage will be the pillars etc along the front followed by painting, internal detailing and then the roof. Only the loading floor will be visible from from normal viewing angles hence the roof supports on the drying floor. At the far end, opposite the tree, clay will be piled high ready for loading to disguise the compromised end. Fruitless negotiations for 10' of next door's garden have prevented me building a longer linhay...   The GW fruit van helps the disguise a little I hope. It was cut out of a goods train after a hot box and then forgotten. Once the contents had been disposed of it was purloined as a store for dry tarpaulins...

 

 

The settling tanks will be partly visible from certain strenuous photo angles so there is a suggestion of these at the back. The problem of merging these into the back scene will have to be tackled, although I have a friend who is an accomplished artist and model railway enthusiast so once lockdown is over some bribery and corruption over a pint or two may take place!

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 4, 2022 by TrevorP1

[Tankerman]

On 24/11/2020 at 23:32, Stoker said:

This is a topic that makes me wish I'd taken photos of the Cornish cottage models I'd built over the years rather than just giving them away to people!

There's two types of cement renders common in Cornwall, one is spray render which produces a very textured finish, the other is a flat render that's been applied with a trowel. The row of houses at Burngullow have a flat render, which is just a mixture of sand, cement, and water, so your "texture" in 4mm scale would be builders sand shrunk 76 times! That'd be so fine that in 4mm scale (about 13 microns) it'd be basically invisible. If you want a point of reference, that'd be the equivalent of 1500 grit sandpaper.

Hope this is of interest regarding the cement rendering. There was, maybe still is, a third type of cement rendering which was used quite a lot, at least in West Cornwall, both pre and post WWII, which was known as pebble dash.

 

A slightly wetter mix flat render was applied with a wooden plastering trowel known as a float and then small round pebbles, carried in a container, were flung at the cement render with a trowel, this partially embedded them into the cement rendering. My father, who was a local builder in Penryn, used it a lot as he maintained that it broke up the raindrops and painting wasn't needed as the pebbles virtually covered the rendering.

 

[TrevorP1]

Having returned 1006 to the railway and taken the above photos I've found the irresistible urge to play with the trains... so not a lot of new practical work has gone on. However, thoughts turned to the operating sequence which is slowly developing and it's expansion to include trains which ran later in the day. It's nice to include an ECS working and the 'oddball' 7:20pm Penzance which ran with a Siphon, 2 non corridor coaches plus a BCK and SK from the Cornish Riviera. There will also be room for the TPO when I get round to building it!

 

I've been controlling myself well on the loco front and have lately managed to sell far more than I've acquired. Having decided not to go for a Bachmann 94XX, nor the Dapol Mogul (yet!) and with misgivings about some of the features on the ModelRail 16XX I found myself weakening with a 64XX turned 74XX from EBay. I 'won' the auction at just over £100 and if it turns out to be as nice as it looks in the photos I'll be pleased. It will become St Blazey's 7446 of course. The only photos I've seen of this loco working were taken in St Blazey yard. Maybe there was an operating reason for that but it's appearance elsewhere seems far more likely than a 94 running up to Drinnick Mill! I have the urge to find a NuCast 16xx to build but at the moment the time it would take is better spent elsewhere. Before my wallet could escape back to the desk drawer I also tapped a few keys which will see an Accurascale Manor arrive later in the year... That, and 18000 from Rails will be enough this year.

 

In amongst all the above I've managed to 'acquire' shingles as well! The effects seem to come and go but a decent nights sleep is a rarity. I hated to bother the doctor in the current climate but the good lady took matters out of my hands and rung him for me. I'm now on 2 lots of pills, one of which is a pain killer which can make you drowsy. I'll report back when the 74XX arrives - If I'm awake 

Edited February 15, 2021 by TrevorP1
Typo

[Denbridge]

1 hour ago, TrevorP1 said:

Having returned 1006 to the railway and taken the above photos I've found the irresistible urge to play with the trains... so not a lot of new practical work has gone on. However, thoughts turned to the operating sequence which is slowly developing and it's expansion to include trains which ran later in the day. It's nice to include an ECS working and the 'oddball' 7:20pm Penzance which ran with a Siphon, 2 non corridor coaches plus a BCK and SK from the Cornish Riviera. There will also be room for the TPO when I get round to building it!

 

I've been controlling myself well on the loco front and have lately managed to sell far more than I've acquired. Having decided not to go for a Bachmann 94XX, nor the Dapol Mogul (yet!) and with misgivings about some of the features on the ModelRail 16XX I found myself weakening with a 64XX turned 74XX from EBay. I 'won' the auction at just over £100 and if it turns out to be as nice as it looks in the photos I'll be pleased. It will become St Blazey's 7446 of course. The only photos I've seen of this loco working were taken in St Blazey yard. Maybe there was an operating reason for that but it's appearance elsewhere seems far more likely that a 94 running up to Drinnick Mill! I have the urge to find a NuCast 16xx to build but at the moment the time it would take is better spent elsewhere. Before my wallet could escape back to the desk drawer I also tapped a few keys which will see an Accurascale Manor arrive later in the year... That, and 18000 from Rails will be enough this year.

 

In amongst all the above I've managed to 'acquire' shingles as well! The effects seem to come and go but a decent nights sleep is a rarity. I hated to bother the doctor in the current climate but the good lady took matters out of my hands and rung him for me. I'm now on 2 lots of pills, one of which is a pain killer which can make you drowsy. I'll report back when the 74XX arrives - If I'm awake 

The nucast 16xx is still available from Nucast partners. There is a thread for this partnership within rmweb which contains the latest contact details.

[TrevorP1]

15 minutes ago, Denbridge said:

The nucast 16xx is still available from Nucast partners. There is a thread for this partnership within rmweb which contains the latest contact details.

Thank you for the tip. I’m thinking that maybe it might be worth getting one ‘in the bank’ now even if I don’t start it for a few months. 

[Halvarras]

4 hours ago, TrevorP1 said:

It will become St Blazey's 7446 of course. The only photos I've seen of this loco working were taken in St Blazey yard. Maybe there was an operating reason for that but it's appearance elsewhere seems far more likely than a 94 running up to Drinnick Mill!

 

In amongst all the above I've managed to 'acquire' shingles as well!

 

7446 must have occasionally escaped St Blazey yard as page 80 of 'The Great Western Railway in Mid Cornwall' (author Alan Bennett, Runpast Publishing, 1992) has a photo showing it shunting  the sidings at Carne Point, Fowey. The photo was taken from the autocoach directly behind 1419 (what else?!) and although itself undated page 82 suggests 22/9/59.

 

I wish you a speedy recovery from shingles, my wife suffered an attack 3 years ago and it can be quite nasty. Get well soon, as they say!

Edited February 16, 2021 by Neil Phillips
Found the likely date

[St Enodoc]

13 hours ago, TrevorP1 said:

Having returned 1006 to the railway and taken the above photos I've found the irresistible urge to play with the trains... so not a lot of new practical work has gone on. However, thoughts turned to the operating sequence which is slowly developing and it's expansion to include trains which ran later in the day. It's nice to include an ECS working and the 'oddball' 7:20pm Penzance which ran with a Siphon, 2 non corridor coaches plus a BCK and SK from the Cornish Riviera. There will also be room for the TPO when I get round to building it!

 

I've been controlling myself well on the loco front and have lately managed to sell far more than I've acquired. Having decided not to go for a Bachmann 94XX, nor the Dapol Mogul (yet!) and with misgivings about some of the features on the ModelRail 16XX I found myself weakening with a 64XX turned 74XX from EBay. I 'won' the auction at just over £100 and if it turns out to be as nice as it looks in the photos I'll be pleased. It will become St Blazey's 7446 of course. The only photos I've seen of this loco working were taken in St Blazey yard. Maybe there was an operating reason for that but it's appearance elsewhere seems far more likely than a 94 running up to Drinnick Mill! I have the urge to find a NuCast 16xx to build but at the moment the time it would take is better spent elsewhere. Before my wallet could escape back to the desk drawer I also tapped a few keys which will see an Accurascale Manor arrive later in the year... That, and 18000 from Rails will be enough this year.

 

In amongst all the above I've managed to 'acquire' shingles as well! The effects seem to come and go but a decent nights sleep is a rarity. I hated to bother the doctor in the current climate but the good lady took matters out of my hands and rung him for me. I'm now on 2 lots of pills, one of which is a pain killer which can make you drowsy. I'll report back when the 74XX arrives - If I'm awake 

I'm very pleased with mine:

 

 

[St Enodoc]

11 hours ago, TrevorP1 said:

Thank you for the tip. I’m thinking that maybe it might be worth getting one ‘in the bank’ now even if I don’t start it for a few months. 

I've had a Nu-Cast 2021 "in the bank", waiting to become 2182, for about 30 years now...

[TrevorP1]

10 hours ago, Neil Phillips said:

 

7446 must have occasionally escaped St Blazey yard as page 80 of 'The Great Western Railway in Mid Cornwall' (author Alan Bennett, Runpast Publishing, 1992) has a photo showing it shunting  the sidings at Carne Point, Fowey. The photo was taken from the autocoach directly behind 1419 (what else?!) and although itself undated page 82 suggests 22/9/59.

 

I wish you a speedy recovery from shingles, my wife suffered an attack 3 years ago and it can be quite nasty. Get well soon, as they say!

 

Thank you Neil. That book is in my library - photo found. I expect many of us have a good library with all kinds of interesting or useful photos/information but for the problem of finding it when needed!

[TrevorP1]

1 hour ago, St Enodoc said:

I'm very pleased with mine:

 

 

 

That's very nice John. 

 

It'll be interesting so hear what you make of your 16XX when it arrives but the more I think about it, the more I want to build one. It will be nice to have at least one loco on the railway that I can say, "I built that". Having said that, for what it is  I'm pleased with the successful and extensive bodgery on the County. I think it looks far more like the real thing now although still lacking in some areas. 

[Halvarras]

6 hours ago, TrevorP1 said:

 

Thank you Neil. That book is in my library - photo found. I expect many of us have a good library with all kinds of interesting or useful photos/information but for the problem of finding it when needed!

 

How true - luckily I remembered it was in an A4 softback book which narrowed it down a bit! Interesting how depots often had just one example of a steam type - maintenance, spares and driver knowledge meant this rarely if ever happened with diesels, at least mainline types. At the same time St Blazey had only 7446, Truro down the road had just 7422, rarely photographed but the Cornwall Railway Society website has a pic of it at the Newham branch terminus (with THREE 'Toad' brake vans!) This branch was once the nearest stretch of railway to my home and overlooked by my primary school, at a distance - but for this photo I'd have believed that this line was worked exclusively by '4575' 2-6-2Ts. Was the use of 7422 a mistake? Possibly - rumour has it that, despite pannier tanks being banned from the St Ives branch, 9748 was once sent down it in error! 

[St Enodoc]

15 hours ago, TrevorP1 said:

 

That's very nice John. 

 

It'll be interesting so hear what you make of your 16XX when it arrives but the more I think about it, the more I want to build one. It will be nice to have at least one loco on the railway that I can say, "I built that". Having said that, for what it is  I'm pleased with the successful and extensive bodgery on the County. I think it looks far more like the real thing now although still lacking in some areas. 

Ah, I didn't order a 16xx for exactly that reason. I built a Nu-Cast one many moons ago and as it still works and looks good I didn't see the need to replace it. I bought  a 64xx to convert as I hadn't built the kit by the time the RTR one came out. I also bought two 42xx to replace my Cotswold one, which to be frank I hadn't built terribly well. 

Edited February 17, 2021 by St Enodoc

[Andrew P]

Hi Trevor, I've just been reading through some parts of your thread and was fascinated to read your reasons for changing from the Grampus Road  plan to Burngullow. I hope you don't mind, but I have saved both plans into my Track Plan ideas folder, for future use / ideas etc.

I'm hoping to start a new project in the coming Months, based on a combination of parts of both of your Plans. I have a little more length, 15ft, but only 7ft wide, and my project will be based on the 90's, so Single and Double headed 37's, Silver Bullets and Tigers etc. I look forward to watching your progress with interest.

[TrevorP1]

6 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Ah, I didn't order a 16xx for exactly that reason. I built a Nu-Cast one many moons ago and as it still works and looks good I didn't see the need to replace it. I bought  a 64xx to convert as I hadn't built the kit by the time the RTR one came out. I also bought two 42xx to replace my Cotswold one, which to be frank I hadn't built terribly well. 

I must keep up!  

[TrevorP1]

On 17/02/2021 at 09:29, Andrew P said:

Hi Trevor, I've just been reading through some parts of your thread and was fascinated to read your reasons for changing from the Grampus Road  plan to Burngullow. I hope you don't mind, but I have saved both plans into my Track Plan ideas folder, for future use / ideas etc.

I'm hoping to start a new project in the coming Months, based on a combination of parts of both of your Plans. I have a little more length, 15ft, but only 7ft wide, and my project will be based on the 90's, so Single and Double headed 37's, Silver Bullets and Tigers etc. I look forward to watching your progress with interest.

 

Sorry I missed this yesterday Andrew. I'm blaming the 'happy pills' (as Carol calls them) prescribed by the Doc for this wretched shingles business.

 

Feel free to copy as you need. They are based on what was there in 'real life' although not exact.

[TrevorP1]

I was rather pleased when my eBay 'win' arrived this morning. It is nicely weathered and runs beautifully on the rollers. I have ordered a chip and plates for 7446 - matching the weathering will be a challenge. The loco had a crew but they must have had a rough trip because I found them taking refuge on the cab floor! No matter because they were both in poses 'hanging over the side' and I prefer my crews keeping their eyes on the job.

 

Excellent work by the previous owner. I really must try to learn weathering like that...

 

 

 

Edited April 4, 2022 by TrevorP1

[Andrew P]

8 hours ago, TrevorP1 said:

 

Sorry I missed this yesterday Andrew. I'm blaming the 'happy pills' (as Carol calls them) prescribed by the Doc for this wretched shingles business.

 

Feel free to copy as you need. They are based on what was there in 'real life' although not exact.

Thanks for that.

I meant to say, I feel for you with Shingles, I had it when I was 26, just 5 days after starting a Commission only job, 6 weeks and no pay, and a lot of pain.

Get well soon.

Edited February 18, 2021 by Andrew P

[St Enodoc]

5 hours ago, TrevorP1 said:

I was rather pleased when my eBay 'win' arrived this morning. It is nicely weathered and runs beautifully on the rollers. I have ordered a chip and plates for 7446 - matching the weathering will be a challenge. The loco had a crew but they must have had a rough trip because I found them taking refuge on the cab floor! No matter because they were both in poses 'hanging over the side' and I prefer my crews keeping their eyes on the job.

 

Excellent work by the previous owner. I really must try to learn weathering like that...

 

That's very nicely done.

[TrevorP1]

Time for another update. Lots of little things done lately:

• Another batch of 10 Modelu lamps painted - I didn't lose a single bullseye this time!  
• 6870 smokebox plate,
• Renaming my King to 6026 King John after the one that allegedly made it to Truro on the CRE after multiple diesel failures.
• Fitting windows and doors to the low relief cottages.
• Preparing a couple of Hornby Centenaries and a Bachman Sunshine BCK for use - metal wheels, Hunt couplings and putting the interior right on the BCK- as it came some unlucky first class passengers rode in the toilet...
• Plus even some maintenance and track cleaning.

(I love lists, they make you look busy!)

 

This week I felt the urge to get on with a bit more scenic work. Some static grassing has been done on the St Austell side of the steel bridge plus I've been fiddling with the site for the disused station on the Truro side - inspired by Burngullow but there the similarity ends. The signal box is the mock up left over from Grampound Road. On this side of the line will be the foundations of a demolished station building. There will be a pathway down to the site as in the real location. The mess this side of the building base is hot glue - I'd run out of any kind of sensible filler and I wasn't in the mood to stop! 

 

The curve here is far, far sharper that I'd like but it's not too obvious looking side on. The china clay branch disappears behind the box. It's a bit more 'rustic' than the line to St Dennis was at the time. Maybe more like the Lansalson Branch... Eventually there will be a back scene in place.

 

Edited April 4, 2022 by TrevorP1

[St Enodoc]

2 hours ago, TrevorP1 said:

Renaming my King to 6026 King John

Good choice.