Roseladden Restored

[steve howe]

Roseladden Restored

Someone, (it may have been Cyril Freezer) once wrote “There are few sadder sights than a neglected model railway”. I could think of plenty, but from the point of view of the enthusiast of our oddball hobby, I can empathise. Hours of care, patience, enthusiasm, frustration and aspiration lost under a thick layer of dust and fluff; broken buildings and faded landscape; the boards like as not used as a convenient dumping ground for domestic detritus. Many ‘trainsets’ are consigned to the skip or bonfire and even those models recognised of some value, historic or otherwise, are not always safe; the late Jack Nelson returned home from work one day to find his wonderful LNWR dioramas dumped in his front garden when Liverpool City Museums decided they no longer had need of them.

Many years ago, in the days of the Wooden Money, when P4 was regarded with suspicion by the mainstream railway modelling fraternity, and some of us were a good deal more idealistic than we are now; a rather eccentric P4 layout called Roseladden Wharf did the rounds at various exhibitions. This was my first essay into P4 and began as the classic ‘yard of track and a turnout’ test track which just kept on growing. The final incarnation was some 12’ of run-down wharfside and sidings drawing its inspiration from various Cornish mineral railways and the numerous hidden quays on the secretive tidal estuaries of South Cornwall. During its early life between 1976 -82, the layout became part of a larger magnum opus devised by the Falmouth MRC where it formed the approach to a terminus station allowing for a more varied programme of trains. Under this guise it appeared in a series of articles in the now defunct ‘Your Model Railway’ magazine in 1982. For those who may remember the layout from this time and for the benefit of those who have come along since, here are a few surviving pictures of it circa. 1982 taken by Brian Aston Ian Cavill and Pat English.


The cottages and inn that form the central focus of the layout




The twin warehouses based on the well-known but long demolished Bodmin & Wadebridge Railway buildings




When the layout was connected to the Falmouth Club's section, Roseladden sported a passenger service. The auto coach was a scratchbuilt vehicle by the late Ken Budd


The only surviving photo of the engine shed in situ. It was based on the well known example at Moorswater on the original Liskeard & Caradon Railway. I have no idea what the bogie iron Mink is doing in the shed road, nor why there is an ex-Highland Railway brake van in the foreground!


The slip and fishermen's cottages at Roseladden


Scratchbuilt boats (which miraculously have survived) under the bridge over the slip.










General views down the layout with the locomotive shed in the distance

When I moved to Yorkshire to take up a college course a little later, Roseladden came with me and, with the benefit of more space in my student flat, I constructed a new board to conclude the original layout and replace the Club section. In this form, thanks to Steve Flint and the Hull MRS, it appeared at the Hull exhibition in 1983 and thereafter at a string of shows around Yorkshire and Lancashire. As a student, new to the area from deepest Cornwall, I was, and remain, touched by the warmth of welcome I received both as a member of Hull MRS and wherever the layout appeared at exhibitions around the North.

A permanent job with much travelling, and a tiny terraced cottage in York meant no time or space for the layout and after lengthy shenanigins with the Royal Institute of Cornwall, who asked to have it to display in their refitted museum and then let it languish in a damp basement for several years, the Falmouth MRC took it under their wing and continued to exhibit it locally during the early 1990s. Problems with premises eventually led them to sell it (and tell me afterwards!) to a local nonP4 enthusiast and thereafter it disappeared for many years.

Sometime after my return to live in Cornwall in 2006 a colleague in the Falmouth club drew my attention to a piece in the model press advertising Roseladden for sale. From memory the seller was asking a lot of money for what by now was an old layout, almost certainly in need of refurbishment. Again, it disappeared from the scene and I gave it no further thought. Until this Spring, when a lady contacted the club with the offer of some model railway equipment belonging to her late husband. I volunteered to call round and was astonished when she opened her dining room door to reveal Roseladden Wharf, in pieces, laid out on the floor! It seems her husband had bought it a few years previously but had done nothing with it before he passed away.

It was a strange moment seeing it again after a gap of some 25 years but a brief check revealed that it was largely complete although in a terrible state. As the Club was already heavily committed to its existing projects there was no scope to treat it as a club layout so it came home with me. Fortunately I had room to accommodate it and eventually it was re-erected in my new railway room.

Close inspection revealed the extent of the ravages of time. The layout had suffered considerably. All of the buildings were damaged to some degree, some beyond viable repair. Some of the buildings had unaccountably been removed but I found them in a cardboard box along with sundry other details. The scenery and foliage which had survived was faded and compacted, a thick layer of dust and sticky grey fluff covered everything. I heard later that one of its previous owners had kept it under his bed, which would probably account for the large amount of cat hairs among the fluff! But the baseboards and track appeared undamaged apart from a few loose rails at baseboard joins. During its tenure with Falmouth MRC it had been rewired by Pat English to accommodate Pentrollers and remarkably the control panel was still complete and undamaged. But overall it was, initially, a depressing experience.

A few days to reflect and gather inspiration along with a wet half-term week spurred me to start sorting out the technical gremlins which turned out to be surprisingly few, mainly loose wires in the control panel and sticky point motors. Roseladden was built in the early 1980s using techniques recognised as standard at the time; chipboard baseboards on 2”x1” timber, H&M point motors and heavy timber supports. I set to and built a new set of lightweight legs with integral levelling feet to replace the heavy timber frames which had been hinged to the baseboards. These new supports were designed to be erected independently so the boards (which are very heavy) can simply be lifted into place.

The rails seemed to have become coated with corrosion, a phenomenon I have never seen with nickel silver, and this took some removing. I resorted to a Peco track rubber despite my aversion to using abrasives on rails, followed by the polishing mop in my flexible drill. For the first time in many years the rails actually gleamed! A few more hours to re-fix loose rails, lubricate point motors and adjust tiebars and the moment of truth could not be put off any longer. My time-worn 57xx, a loco built originally to work Roseladden, was selected for the honours and to my amazement apart from a short dead spot caused by one faulty microswitch, the loco traversed the whole layout without falter. Much encouraged I set about replacing lost chairs, a whole section of continuous check rail that had been removed and re-set vulnerable rail ends with reinforced copper paxolin sleepers.

The Pentrollers were removed, I can’t get on with them, and their sale added to Club funds. The replacement Gaugemaster feedback panel controller supplemented by a Gaugemaster hand-held unit to replace the Pentroller Rover is fine for the slow action shunting moves we need.

In this thread I hope to chronicle the on-going restoration and development of the layout. There will be changes: the whole layout is somewhat idiosyncratic, but some parts are more so than others! I hope, in the light of experience, to rationalise the scenic elements and bring the layout slightly closer to prototype fidelity without fundamentally altering the character of the scene and to even consider extending the depth of the model to represent more of the surrounding village.

Lets hope it won't take another 30 years!

[Andy Y]

A pleasure to see this again Steve and I look forward to seeing the 'makeover' (strewth I hate that word!).

[Jack00]

Astonishing detail! And great photography to accompany it.

 

Falmouth MRC is that still at Treluswel these days steve?

 

Jack.

[John B]

Steve -

 

Great to hear this fabulous layout is back in your hands. As a youth in Yorkshire in the 80s you and your layout provided me with the inspiration and impetus to "go P4" and generally seek finer standards in my modelling, for which I'm very grateful. (You even let a nervous then-17/18yr old have a go at a couple of shows IIRC - Beverley and Hull probably). It's always been one of my favorites and fondest memories, and I'll be delighted to see it's revival.

[John B]

[Afterthought]

 

Somewhere, I'm pretty sure I have a photo of the engine shed. I'll have to a) see if I can find it; b ) see if it's worth posting...

[DLT]

Hi Steve,

 

Delighted to hear that this historic layout has "come home", and I look forward to following its restoration, and possibly to seeing it exhibited again?

 

I remember watching and admiring it greatly at a show (Plymouth most likely) many years ago, and trying to get our Exhibition Manager to invite you to our show. As he was a P4 hate-er I never succeeded!

 

All the best,

Dave.T

[signalmaintainer]

A delightful tale and a topic I'll follow closely. I could imagine that Mr. Flint at RM might even be looking for an article or two in the future -- "Roseladden Reunited" or some such title.

[Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71]

Lovely, good luck with the restoration.

 

Dave

[steve1]

Steve - I remember that at a show back in the mid-1980s, you very kindly let me operate Roseladden while I was 'off-duty' from duties on Holcombe Brook. (Another layout that has recently been restored.) I hope your restoration is similarly successful!

 

Just to add another strand to the skein, I too joined Hull MRS when I moved to Yorkshire and can echo your comments about the welcome I received at the time.

 

steve

[PhilH]

I shall be watching this with interest - I like 'I'd like to live there' layouts!

[devondynosoar118]

Good story and will follow with interest, even if it is "wrong side" of the Tamar! Must have been pretty robust to survive at all over all that time.

[Judge Dread]

Was it 1983 Steve, how time flies. I can remember you being a member of the Hull MRS like it was yesterday, strange how now I cannot remember what I did yesterday! I look forward to seeing you at a show again but if that involves me having to travel some 400 miles to Cornwall then so be it. "Proper Job!"!

Regards, John Wass.

[steve howe]

Astonishing detail! And great photography to accompany it.

 

Falmouth MRC is that still at Treluswel these days steve?

 

Jack.

 

The Falmouth MRC moved from Treluswell about 4 years ago as the building it occupied was scheduled for redevelopment, in actual fact it was falling down around us! Thanks to the new University arriving in Penryn and the general renaissance going on in Falmouth, permanent premises of the sort we need are now beyond reach. Consequently the Club was forced to move further out and we now have a converted barn at Gunwalloe just south of Helston. Unfortunately the move proved too far for some of the Falmouth members who have formed themselves a group in Falmouth. The original Falmouth Club however continues to thrive with five layouts on the go, excellent well-equipped clubroom and workshop facilities. Might be a bit far from Newquay Jack, but then I travel from Goonhavern these days and its not too much of a hassle.

[Jack00]

Ah yes...I remember the talk about moving from the old club facility.

I'm near Camborne these days...I used to live in Falmouth and was a member of the club along with my late Father for a number of years.

 

I saw a layout from FMC at the Hayle show back a few months ago with 2 members I recognised.

 

Thanks for the info Steve.

 

Jack.

 

 

[DLT]

What a stupid, bigotted, narrow-minded and ultimately self-defeating approach: quality modelling is quality modelling, P4 or not.

Cutting down on possible exhibits at a general model railway show just because of the track and wheel standards has one possible benefit: it provides a classic example of cutting one's own nose to spite someone else's face...

Whilst you may be right, Simon, it was a long, long time ago (in a galaxy far far away) and the person concerned is long deceased. Thinking back the anti-P4 feeling refered to (and there was a lot of it about at the time) was mostly due to a personality-clash with an equally forthright and outspoken proponent of the scale.

Cheers, Dave.

[Andy C]

Good to see this layout again - it was one of those layouts that when I came back into the hobby in 1979/1980 its was one of those which inspired me that the scenery, attention to detail and composition of a layout was more important than trying to cram as much track as possible onto a baseboard, and that a successful layout is the sum total of its parts. Looking forward to seeing its rebirth.

[Allegheny1600]

Hoorah!

Another P4 layout to be refurbished! I shall observe with interest and hopefully pick up some tips and inspiration for my own project - good luck with it.

Cheers,

John E.

[johnarcher]

May I resurrect this thread to ask a question?

I remember Roseladden with affection, and would like to read the articles again.

The OP said there was a series in 'Your Model Railway' in 1982, yet I have just the last one which was in the Sept 1985 edition. I've looked at the contents of the Aug '85 one on a secondhand mags website and it's not mentioned.

Could someone with a better collection of old mags tell me when the other articles appeared so I can try and get hold of them?

 

I hope the refurbishment is continuing and going well.

[Martync]

May I resurrect this thread to ask a question?

I remember Roseladden with affection, and would like to read the articles again.

The OP said there was a series in 'Your Model Railway' in 1982, yet I have just the last one which was in the Sept 1985 edition. I've looked at the contents of the Aug '85 one on a secondhand mags website and it's not mentioned.

Could someone with a better collection of old mags tell me when the other articles appeared so I can try and get hold of them?

 

I hope the refurbishment is continuing and going well.

I had been recollecting Roseladden Wharf recently - I think I saw it at a Blackburn show in the mid/late 80s. The copies of YMR you want are July/Aug/Sept 85. Hope to see this layout again one day

[Guest Lyonesse]

Very interesting story, and I look forward to seeing the restoration.  The 1980s photos look great, btw.

[steve howe]

Thanks for your interest guys, the refurb. is progressing but I hope will pick up after April as I have to work on my current project http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/95206-lower-rose-goods/ in readiness for our Club show in April: http://www.hfmrc.co.uk/Events

 

Renovating an old layout can be fraught with dilemmas, how much to retain? what to upgrade? where should alterations be made to come in line with current technology? In my day job I worked with museum staff on a regular basis and conservators face the same questions although here there are usually strict policies in place to control how much intervention takes place. The question is more evident, I think, with the full size 'Heritage' railways where locomotives are regularly overhauled with new parts in order to keep them running. Whilst this is exactly what working railways are all about, it begs the question 'how much is actually 'historic' material? Shades of the Irishman's broom.

 

The Ffestiniog is a fine railway with immaculately maintained stock, but is a far cry from the narrow gauge slate railway the Preservationists took over in the 1960's. The Talyllyn similarly although it manages to retain something of the bucolic charm of the original. The Welsh Highland is, to all intents, a main line railway in miniature with modern stations, heavy duty track, signalling and operating systems. The only 'Heritage' aspect lies in that it runs locomotives powered by steam and vintage rolling stock over an historic route. The new Lynton & Barnstaple will be a wonderful tourist asset when its done, but with entirely new replica locomotives and carriages it will  effectively be a brand new railway.

 

With a few exceptions, our layouts are not museum pieces and Roseladden certainly isn't, so my aim is to try and retain as much character of the original as possible but replacing old with new where I feel the original could be improved on, in 30 intervening years I like to think my skills may have moved on a bit!

[Guest Lyonesse]

Steve:  You sound as if you have plenty to keep you busy and I guess some pictures and notes on the work you've started to do to Roseladden will come later.  But it would be interesting to see the state of the layout when you finally got it back, after all those years.