Mid-Cornwall Lines - 1950s Western Region in 00

[St Enodoc]

Today I spent most of the day at Forestville on the BRMA demo stand, so I managed to complete the basic construction of all the remaining three china-clay wagons, which was satisfying. By basic construction, I mean that the modified kit elements are all finished. I still need to fit the coupler mounting blocks and couplings themselves, add some lead under the floor, paint, varnish, transfer and weather all four wagons. I should be able to do that in good time for our running session next Saturday week, which will mean that all three short clay trains and the long clay train can run in their final formations - although I haven't built the third light pannier (2182) yet. One of the 57xx/8750 class can stand in for the meantime as the CCE (me) has given special dispensation for the increased axleload.

 

Spoiler alert!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Windy Welly, the result turned out as was expected before the match, although by a somewhat unexpsected path. The second Test, starting on Friday in Christchurch, should be interesting too.

[Harlequin]

Newquay is currently "re-branding" itself "Love NQY"...

https://lovenqy.co.uk/

 

They seem to be trying to go up-market: Business Improvement District manager Mark Warren said: "People need to look at Newquay in a different light because we've really moved on."

 

So no more shops selling fluorescent plastic tat and no more inebriated stag and hen parties. 😆

 

Edited March 3 by Harlequin

[St Enodoc]

Just now, Harlequin said:

Newquay is currently "re-branding" itself "Love NQY"...

 

Business Improvement District manager Mark Warren said: "People need to look at Newquay in a different light because we've really moved on." They seem to be trying to go up-market:

https://lovenqy.co.uk/

 

So no more shops selling fluorescent plastic tat and no more inebriated stag and hen parties. 😆

 

Hmm. We shall see.

[St Enodoc]

Here are a couple of photos from Forestville, both taken by (and copyright of) @Jesse Sim:

 

Jesse's own workstation is to the far left of the photo, on my right. In the foreground, on my left, Lee is making some 016.5 Talyllyn Railway wagons from his own 3D resin prints. At the back, with the visor, @RudderC is assembling an 0 gauge etched brass wagon kit while on the right @RodneyV is trying to persuade some fine fellow to join BRMA...

 

Here's my workstation after the four wagons were assembled.

 

A good weekend for all concerned.

 

[Oldddudders]

1 hour ago, Harlequin said:

Newquay is currently "re-branding" itself "Love NQY"...

https://lovenqy.co.uk/

 

They seem to be trying to go up-market: Business Improvement District manager Mark Warren said: "People need to look at Newquay in a different light because we've really moved on."

 

So no more shops selling fluorescent plastic tat and no more inebriated stag and hen parties. 😆

 

Did I hear they want to reduce on-street parking, much to the consternation of traders? One shop sells big gas-cylinders - not allowed on public transport!

[TrevorP1]

1 minute ago, Oldddudders said:

Did I hear they want to reduce on-street parking, much to the consternation of traders? One shop sells big gas-cylinders - not allowed on public transport!

 

From memory of a news article I think the gas cylinder chap was in Penryn but same applies...

 

The same article, which was concerning the 'Mid Cornwall Metro',  also quoted a chap a saying that the new service would make no difference to folk in the Falmouth area because if you lived in Falmouth why on earth would you want to go to Newquay!*

 

*Don't shoot the messenger please! :) 

[Oldddudders]

1 minute ago, TrevorP1 said:

 

From memory of a news article I think the gas cylinder chap was in Penryn but same applies...

 

You're quite right! Sherry tends to watch Spotlight while we recover from the excitement of Richard Osman's House of Games! I was only half-listening, not watching. In fairness, most nights the tv is not on after that. 

[Gwiwer]

Good to see Penhayle Bay mentioned. A layout which seemed to strike a chord with a lot of people and inspire some of them. 
 

I would still like to be able to re-create it in some form but until the lottery pays out enough to rent a small industrial unit I doubt that will happen. 
 

The rolling stock, some of the buildings and the one scene I was able to keep are safely stored here now. 
 

Penhayle Bay was itself inspired by Carbis Bay, Hayle, St Erth, Redruth, St Germans Viaduct and Marley Tunnel, all bar the last being in Cornwall, plus a recalled daydream of my school days in which trains would run above a sandy beach before passing through a station and emerging from a tunnel into a completely different scene.
 

Which, in the end, is what I built.
 

Many images on RMW have been lost to server failures / “upgrades” and to third-party hosting issues such as the Photobucket fiasco.
 

Those posted to the Facebook page all remain there.
 

For anyone unfamiliar with the layout try these links

 

 

 https://www.facebook.com/penhaylebay

[Tankerman]

On 03/03/2024 at 08:53, St Enodoc said:

 

 

Don't forget that Pentowan is inspired by Newquay, so "refined" probably isn't the correct term.

Especially during the Liverpool and/or Glasgow weeks.

[Tankerman]

23 hours ago, TrevorP1 said:

 

From memory of a news article I think the gas cylinder chap was in Penryn but same applies...

 

The same article, which was concerning the 'Mid Cornwall Metro',  also quoted a chap a saying that the new service would make no difference to folk in the Falmouth area because if you lived in Falmouth why on earth would you want to go to Newquay!*

 

*Don't shoot the messenger please! :) 

In my teenage years and living in Penryn, now very long gone, the reason for visiting Newquay in July and August was to meet the 'young ladies' from the Midlands and North.😀 

[Oldddudders]

4 minutes ago, Tankerman said:

In my teenage years and living in Penryn, now very long gone, the reason for visiting Newquay in July and August was to meet the 'young ladies' from the Midlands and North.😀 

I did a Sunday afternoon jaunt down the branch a few years back. On the return trip to Par there seemed to be a group of such girlies, rather smartly turned-out, not necessarily from north of Bristol, though. Possibly the residue of a hen-weekend. And these days, I infer that almost any sizeable town-centre on Saturday night is the scene of oodles of young girls, typically a bit under-dressed, out clubbing. In Torquay, charitable people called Street-Pastors take pity on those who are over-inebriated or in agony from wearing unsuitable footwear, with flip-flops being donated. 

[St Enodoc]

I'm in a slightly melancholy mood today - not because it's St Piran's day, which is always a reason to raise three cheers - but because the (real) Cornwall Resignalling Project has resulted in the closure of more of the remaining manual signal boxes in the Duchy.

 

Truro closed last Tuesday with Par and Lostwithiel following on Monday this week.

 

Anyway, here in Mid-Cornwall I've fitted the coupler mounting blocks and stuck some lead under the four china-clay wagons, so if the weather is decent tomorrow I'll spray the underframes black and brush-paint the bodies bauxite.

[Annie]

5 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

 

Truro closed last Tuesday with Par and Lostwithiel following on Monday this week.

They never should have let them convert to the narrow coal cart gauge.

[chesterfield]

China clay article is RM january 1965

[St Enodoc]

33 minutes ago, chesterfield said:

China clay article is RM january 1965

Correct! That article by C J Peacock was one of several things that sparked my interest in modelling the railways of Cornwall.

 

Did you work out what the other book is?

[chesterfield]

no but I did cheat about the RM😊

[St Enodoc]

7 minutes ago, chesterfield said:

no but I did cheat about the RM😊

Fair enough!

 

The other book is David Larkin's "BR Standard Wagons - A Pictorial Survey", published in 1979. It's one of a series covering pre-nationalisation wagons, private-owner wagons, departmental wagons and general parcels stock. My copies are all very well-thumbed.

[St Enodoc]

It was a beautiful morning for spraying, about 20 degrees and no breeze, so I masked and sprayed the black underframes on the china-clay wagons and left them to dry. Later, I painted a first coat of bauxite on the bodies.

 

It was while doing this that I remembered why I don't usually build anything in batches of more than three, as by the time I came to the fourth wagon I was bored and my brushwork wasn't as neat as it should have been. That won't really matter, as I'll need to touch up both the black and the bauxite on all four wagons anyway before going further.

 

As I've discussed with a couple of folk, I'm tempted to finish one of these in pristine, unweathered, condition, as though it had just been overhauled at St Blazey. If it doesn't look right, I can always weather it later.

 

What does the team think?

[Barry O]

7 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

It was a beautiful morning for spraying, about 20 degrees and no breeze, so I masked and sprayed the black underframes on the china-clay wagons and left them to dry. Later, I painted a first coat of bauxite on the bodies.

 

It was while doing this that I remembered why I don't usually build anything in batches of more than three, as by the time I came to the fourth wagon I was bored and my brushwork wasn't as neat as it should have been. That won't really matter, as I'll need to touch up both the black and the bauxite on all four wagons anyway before going further.

 

As I've discussed with a couple of folk, I'm tempted to finish one of these in pristine, unweathered, condition, as though it had just been overhauled at St Blazey. If it doesn't look right, I can always weather it later.

 

What does the team think?

Good idea.. just like the real thing..

 

Baz

[Oldddudders]

4 minutes ago, Barry O said:

Good idea.. just like the real thing..

Indeed. Some of you weatherers do a cracking job replicating the dingy, dirty, careworn look very well. But every wagon had its own 'life', perhaps unlike the block-train MGR sets of later times, so some variation in condition is much more authentic, and so some wagons would be rather smarter, as the builder intended. 

[Gwiwer]

On 05/03/2024 at 05:06, St Enodoc said:

because it's St Piran's day, which is always a reason to raise three cheers

I have to admit mild disappointment in the level of enthusiasm for St Piran locally. 
 

The children’s dance was lovely but only one of the hundred or so in the crowd was attired in the “full Cornish” kilt and all. And it wasn’t me. 
 

There was a bit more enthusiasm come 9pm as all four pubs were doing a fair trade and the Trelawney Shout was raised. 

[GMKAT7]

Good morning St Enodoc (John),

 

My copies of the attached are well-thumbed too, part of my wagon reference books along with later Dave Larkin editions, the Geoff Kent 3-part series and John Hayes' 4mm coal wagon book.

 

Acquired from a bookshop in Crewe around 1979-1980 time, when I was but a young apprentice in the works :)

 

I still enjoy building wagon kits, even with the delights of Rapido etc RTR wagons.

 

Cheers, Nigel.

[aardvark]

On 05/03/2024 at 16:06, St Enodoc said:

I'm in a slightly melancholy mood today - not because it's St Piran's day, which is always a reason to raise three cheers - but because the (real) Cornwall Resignalling Project has resulted in the closure of more of the remaining manual signal boxes in the Duchy.

 

There appears to be an article in  the March issue of The Railway Magazine.

 

Edited March 7 by aardvark
proofreadinf is not my superpower

[Dunsignalling]

21 hours ago, GMKAT7 said:

Good morning St Enodoc (John),

 

My copies of the attached are well-thumbed too, part of my wagon reference books along with later Dave Larkin editions, the Geoff Kent 3-part series and John Hayes' 4mm coal wagon book.

 

Acquired from a bookshop in Crewe around 1979-1980 time, when I was but a young apprentice in the works :)

 

I still enjoy building wagon kits, even with the delights of Rapido etc RTR wagons.

 

Cheers, Nigel.

 

There are three others in the series, one on pre-nationalisation wagons, one on Private Owners, and one on BR Departmental stock.

 

I acquired mint copies of all five at a show back in the nineties for possibly the best tenner I ever spent.

 

John

[St Enodoc]

33 minutes ago, Dunsignalling said:

 

There are three others in the series, one on pre-nationalisation wagons, one on Private Owners, and one on BR Departmental stock.

 

I acquired mint copies of all five at a show back in the nineties for possibly the best tenner I ever spent.

 

John

I didn't bother with the PO wagons volume at the time. If I see a copy at a sensible price, I might buy it for completeness.