Bodmin Road- Feedback appreciated

[Flying Pig]

21 hours ago, Chimer said:

I don't know Bodmin at all, so have no idea whether my changes have destroyed the impression you were trying to convey, or made it inoperable (the branch platform is very short).  But I think it would be buildable ......

 

 

Map (1907) and signal plan. It's not a bad representation and could no doubt be tweaked further.

[DCB]

The branch platform is very short and swings around from the main line on quite a short radius curve.   Bodmin Road is on quite a steep gradient from the West yet the branch climbs steeply to cross the river towards the west.  Its a lovely station but with the climbing branch on the inside of the curve is absolutely the reverse of the model norm of low tracks on the inside high on the outside.   The exchange sidings on the model aren't worth having, as I understand  china clay trips over the branch were combined for main line freights.    Par is a better station as a basis for a model.  If the layout is built I would keep the branch separate and not link back into the main line, but then again there is no main line storage so you're stuck with one up and one down train until your giant hand reaches down and removes stock in the visible area.  That does not float my particular boat, which is usually Titanic or Brittanic like

[The Stationmaster]

11 hours ago, DCB said:

The branch platform is very short and swings around from the main line on quite a short radius curve.   Bodmin Road is on quite a steep gradient from the West yet the branch climbs steeply to cross the river towards the west.  Its a lovely station but with the climbing branch on the inside of the curve is absolutely the reverse of the model norm of low tracks on the inside high on the outside.   The exchange sidings on the model aren't worth having, as I understand  china clay trips over the branch were combined for main line freights.    Par is a better station as a basis for a model.  If the layout is built I would keep the branch separate and not link back into the main line, but then again there is no main line storage so you're stuck with one up and one down train until your giant hand reaches down and removes stock in the visible area.  That does not float my particular boat, which is usually Titanic or Brittanic like

Part of which (highlighted) leaves one rather obvious (to me at any rate) question - where did the wagons come from for the Mixed Trains leaving Bodmin Road on the Branch and where were they put when a Mixed Train arrived at Bodmin Road?   Answering my own question there was of course only one place where they could be put - those sidings.

 

As ever the use of a track layout depends very much on the period being modelled and the pattern of traffic working applicable at that time.  even in later years what would happen ifa trip for the branch was overload - where did the surplus wagons go waiting to be worked forward?

[leezer3]

13 hours ago, DCB said:

The branch platform is very short and swings around from the main line on quite a short radius curve.   Bodmin Road is on quite a steep gradient from the West yet the branch climbs steeply to cross the river towards the west.  Its a lovely station but with the climbing branch on the inside of the curve is absolutely the reverse of the model norm of low tracks on the inside high on the outside.   The exchange sidings on the model aren't worth having, as I understand  china clay trips over the branch were combined for main line freights.    Par is a better station as a basis for a model.  If the layout is built I would keep the branch separate and not link back into the main line, but then again there is no main line storage so you're stuck with one up and one down train until your giant hand reaches down and removes stock in the visible area.  That does not float my particular boat, which is usually Titanic or Brittanic like

 

Freight to Wadebridge via the branch lasted until the 2nd September 1978 in real life.

The Cornwall Railway Society website photos ( http://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/bodmin-to-padstow.html  ) shows that there was certianly a degree of van etc. traffic up to this point.

Also, there were the two rail connected businesses between Bodmin Road and Bodmin general at the premises that Fitzgerald Lighting now occupies. I don't have any immediate data on exactly when these stopped traffic by rail, but at a guess that would probably be early 70s at some point. Fitzgerald Lighting also ran VGA trains in the preservation era for a couple of short stints

https://bodmin-heritage-diesels.co.uk/home1/Freight.html

 

Either way, I suspect that the exchange sidings saw more use than you seem to think.

[Smardale]

After going down a bit of a rabbit hole (thanks to Leezer3's links) I really see the appeal of modelling this railway. I remember travelling on the B&W before Boscarne Junction was opened, and for years I've wanted to return since reading up on it's history.

Good luck with your project.

[Siberian Snooper]

ISTR Fitzgerald lighting were still  shipping by rail well into the 80's and possibly until the end of Speed link,  that helped save the line for the BSR.

 

 

 

[The Stationmaster]

16 hours ago, Siberian Snooper said:

ISTR Fitzgerald lighting were still  shipping by rail well into the 80's and possibly until the end of Speed link,  that helped save the line for the BSR.

 

 

 

They were - in fact their traffic - although far from substantial - helped the survival of a Speedlink service out of Cornwall.  I believe - albeit from what I was told so didn't see first hand - that they actually loaded theirtraffic into vehicles standing on the branch outside their factory as the original siding had gone by then.   The branch was also regularly used for the overnight  stabling of a certain 'special train' when somebody with a particular connection to the Duchy of Cornwall made his regular visits to the area and it wasn't until the early/mid 1980s that I, along with some other interested parties, spent a day or two investigating other possible sites in Cornwall for that purpose. 

[Siberian Snooper]

I  think that the spamcan Wadebridge was stood on the Fitzgerald siding for a period, whilst the Speedlink  traffic was still extant. So that could explain why the wagons were loaded on the branch. I don't know if the siding was connected or not.

 

 

 

 

[Guest Jack Benson]

Hi,

 

Is the available space just 11’x11’ (sorry to be old school) and are you building in 00 or N?

 

StaySafe

[leezer3]

That's about right, but very much subject to fudge factor.

 

I think ~11.5ft either way, but the walls aren't 100% straight and my tape is only 2m. 11ft was the reasonable conservative estimate.

00- I've got 25 years worth of collection here.

Over 40 Lima Class 47s (first model I ever bought as a child- 47 369 in two-tone green.......), and about 70 other assorted locos, HST sets, Blue-Grey Pullman etc. etc. No way I'm changing scale now, even though I sometimes regret this. If N had been available in the same way it is now when I started, perhaps things would have been different.

[Guest Jack Benson]

3 hours ago, leezer3 said:

That's about right, but very much subject to fudge factor.

 

I think ~11.5ft either way, but the walls aren't 100% straight and my tape is only 2m. 11ft was the reasonable conservative estimate.

 

I asked because I have a similar size space (16’x10’) and maybe my experiences may resonate with you. Click here for a link to the trackplan

16’x10’ isn’t a large space and you might consider looking at similar sized layouts if only to discover the restrictions associated with an even smaller space. Train lengths seem to be no more than a loco plus four with around seventeen to eighteen older wagons for goods. Other factors include the minimum ruling radius of 42” and Peco (others are available) curved turnouts really help with maximising the available length of station throat. You might want to look at Westerner’s Wencombe layout, it has a similar footprint and theme click here for the link  maybe it might give you some ideas.

 

Stay Safe

 

 

 

 

 

[RobinofLoxley]

If Chimer could solve the problem of the short branch platform he would be onto something. The worst part of the Chris Morris model was anything that exposed the enormous gaps required between stock and any concave platform, which seem to have been improved a lot on his plan

 

I doubt it would be acceptable but if the branch line was actually the line running right through the platform and the 'real' one made a siding that would do it. It just wouldnt have the fidelity, but as has been said, there will be a compromise somewhere.

Edited August 30, 2021 by RobinofLoxley
additions

[Chris M]

I'm re-posting the photos of my old Bodmin Road layout following a request message. It was 00 but it was built way back in the the 1980s so please don't be unkind about some of the naivety.  I am especially embarrassed by my backscene and would like to apologise for that.

 

 

 

 

 

[Chris M]

More

 

 

 

 

[Chris M]

And more

 

 

 

 

[Chris M]

Last lot!

 

 

This is how it looked when stored and the room was used as a bedroom.

 

I would still like to build another model of Bodmin Road, the station plan should be something like this:-

[cctransuk]

3 minutes ago, Chris M said:

I'm re-posting the photos of my old Bodmin Road layout following a request message. It was 00 but it was built way back in the the 1980s so please don't be unkind about some of the naivety.  I am especially embarrassed by my backscene and would like to apologise for that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It certainly captures the character of Bodmin Road (Parkway).

 

The only improvement since those days that you can now get a nice cup of tea / coffee in the signalbox (cafe).

 

John Isherwood - of Bodmin.

[Chris M]

Since then I have been thinking about doing Bodmin Parkway in N gauge as it is today. Just cogitating at the moment. If anyone might be interested and lives in the West Midlands area it might be possible to twist someone's arm to build it at Warley Club. I still think it would make a nice modern image model with it's combination of GWR trains on the main line and heritage trains on the branch. Here is my current thinking:-

 

This would be 10ft 6 in long and, with a low backscene would fit into most hatchbacks for transport. The station on this plan is pretty much correct to scale.

 

Even today, it looks good. These photos were taken about five years ago. I'm told the wonderful footbridge is going this year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 30, 2023 by Chris M

[RobinofLoxley]

I doubt that at 10 feet six many hatchbacks would take the layout. I have an Octavia estate and it will just take a standard door; most newer hatchbacks are shorter than that.

[Chris M]

2 hours ago, RobinofLoxley said:

I doubt that at 10 feet six many hatchbacks would take the layout. I have an Octavia estate and it will just take a standard door; most newer hatchbacks are shorter than that.

My plan is to use three baseboards so length isn’t a problem. To keep the depth of the three baseboards manageable for a hatchback I would keep the backscene low at about 6 in and make them fit together so that two of the boards will be no more than 13 in high and the third one on top would add another 9 in.

I worked out the dimensions required based on experience of transporting other layouts. The layout as planned will certainly fit into a gen 9 or gen 10 Civic and the current model Jazz. Probably wouldn’t fit into a Corolla because it is too narrow between the wheel arches.

My original 00 layout as seen above would fit into the back of an old Allegro estate. Not a pretty car but a functional shape.

[Geep7]

23 hours ago, Chris M said:

Even today, it looks good. These photos were taken about five years ago. I'm told the wonderful footbridge is going this year.

It'll be sad seeing that footbridge going. I doubt the replacement will look at least half as good as the current one.

Edited July 31, 2023 by Geep7

[cctransuk]

1 hour ago, Geep7 said:

It'll be sad seeing that footbridge going. I doubt the replacement will look at least half as good as the current one.

 

I thought that I'd heard that the footbridge had been Listed.

 

CJI.

[LBRJ]

32 minutes ago, cctransuk said:

 

I thought that I'd heard that the footbridge had been Listed.

 

CJI.

If it has been, it must be fairly recent an addition.

The signal box is listed though.

[cctransuk]

3 minutes ago, LBRJ said:

If it has been, it must be fairly recent an addition.

The signal box is listed though.

 

That may be what I recalled.

 

What is definitely true is that the footbridge was the subject of some extensive refurbishment in recent years.

 

Nothing changes - the arrival of the maintenance crew heralds imminent closure! ☹️

 

CJI.

[woodenhead]

@Chris M Whilst not prototypical trackwise, you could also do BR blue days you could mix HST, 50s and even a Western for 1976 plus Peaks, 47s and 25s for a very interesting layout.