Lower Rose Goods

[steve howe]

The rock face behind the loading bank is a bit of an old chestnut to overcome a distinct lack of space, however my consolation is that the real location is against a steeply sloping valley side which would have required substantial excavation to make room for the sidings. I decided to use plaster casts of real rock to create the faces. This is a summary of how they were made:

 

The local rock is a slate-shale which if a good piece is chosen has perfect miniature strata.

 

Latex rubber, obtainable quite reasonably from better Art suppliers, is brushed on in thin coats. Depending on local conditions, each coat needs to be dry before the next is applied, in a warm room this is normally about an hour. I had my rock specimens on top of the woodburner where the rubber dried in about 20 minutes!

 

About 8 hours and around 10 coats of latex later. The upper three pieces have yet to be unmoulded, the lower two show the specimen and the mould. Interestingly quite a lot of the rock pigment (iron) soaked into the rubber.

 

A selection of moulds and casts, I used Plaster of Paris for the casts which sets in about 10 minutes and can be un-moulded in less than half an hour.

 

The site ready to receive the casts.

 

The end of the loading bank is curved, just to make things awkward.

 

Making rocks go round corners is a good trick if you can do it.....A suitable mould was trimmed to fit

 

Plaster was mixed and applied as evenly as possible

 

 

Now begins a waiting game.....

 

There's a critical moment when the plaster is in a 'cheesy' state.....

 

With all the dexterity of a five fingered ferret, the mould and plaster is quickly manouvered into place and pressed gently against the substrate.

 

After a few hours the mould can be peeled away.

 

Various casts in place, I used tile grout to fix and fill the casts

 

The plaster needs to dry before painting. Here a wash of raw sienna and raw umber has been applied as a base coat.

 

 

Further applications of watercolour and the beginnings of damp and vegetation appearing.

 

Hopefully some more grass might grow soon if this mild weather keeps up

 

 

[steve howe]

The trouble with experimental modelling is the results are never guaranteed. Sometimes things work out better than expected, other times it can all go disastrously wrong...

 

I had the notion that the coal merchant’s yard (lately expanding into oil sales) would be partially paved with setts (or cobbles depending which side of the North – South Divide you are on) and that these would be relatively pristine at the entrance around the yard office, but would become increasingly buried and damaged the further down the yard you went until in the coal area itself there would be just an occasional hint of them showing through under layers of mud and coal dust.

 

All this seemed a suitably Arty challenge to reproduce something reminiscent of station coal yards of my youth along with ramshackle tin sheds and piles of coal shored up with old sleepers and planks. Recently  I have made setts using DAS modelling clay formed on plaster moulds as discussed in the link higher up this thread and they have been quite effective, however the downside of this method is that the DAS sheet has a thickness which needs to be allowed for, and I had already made up my ground levels with card packing before this idea hatched. What was needed was a thin sheet that could be stuck to the card foundation and I hit on the idea of casting the sheets of cobbles in latex rubber which could be trimmed and fitted to suit without adding too much additional thickness.

 

Accordingly liquid latex was brushed over the mould and left for 24 hours.

 

The disturbingly flesh-like membrane was peeled off and left to cure. Latex shrinks considerably over time before it cures fully so I left the casts for a week before using. The shrinkage can be appreciated from the photo.

 

The skins were cut to shape and stuck down with PVA liberally brushed on and the whole left to dry. So far, so good. After applications of thinned Tamiya Buff and black acrylics allowing the natural colour of the latex to contribute, it all looked quite promising.

 

 

In a push to get the coal yard moved on I applied coal dust and ground pastels fixed with Johnsons Kleer, and when dry, all that was needed was a liberal wash of thinned matt black to blend all together. And here’s where the whole thing  went breasts skyward. Within about 5 minutes of application I heard an ominous fizzing and crackling from the rubber sheets followed by each sett individually ballooning upwards like so many fermenting pustules in a scene from Alien.

 

Ten minutes later and the whole sheet had erupted...

 

Clearly the white spirit in the paint had reacted with the rubber and caused it to expand in spectacular fashion. I ought to have known this because it is common knowledge that petrol destroys rubber so presumably other solvents will as well.

 

There was no solution, so it all had to come up including the card substrate and be remade in DAS casts which is why you are reading this now instead of a fortnight ago....

 

 

The DAS casts were finally fixed in place and coloured with a wash of raw umber and raw sienna. When dry the setts were ‘grouted’ with dry Polyfilla and the surplus blown off and set with a spray  of clean water.

 

Final weathering and grot in the form of finely sieved coal dust, ash and a wash of thinned matt black paint brought the surface to a suitably grubby finish.

 

 

 

The square hole is the site for the yard office which is nearing completion along with sundry sheds and lock-ups. Lower Rose yard is not noted for its architectural heritage...

 

And just to show some things do get finished, the road bridge is in place with the first application of vegetation.

 

Hopefully a bit more on the buildings in a day or two.

 

 

[Stubby47]

That's quite a spectacular failure - possibly a technique to be stored for a future project where bubbling ground work is required.

 

Good to see you're almost finished (!), just like me...

[steve howe]

That's quite a spectacular failure - possibly a technique to be stored for a future project where bubbling ground work is required.

 

Good to see you're almost finished (!), just like me...

 

Ah yes, but I still need to find out if it works....

[46444]

Morning Steve,

 

Just read through the whole post.  This is going to be a really fantastic layout.  

 

The scenics are brilliant and I'm watching with interest.  Some nice techniques being used too.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

[steve howe]

Thanks for that Mark. As someone remarked earlier, its a lot of trouble to go to for three sidings...! but I rather like the very 'ordinary-ness' of the period railway scene, and the fact that there were scores of these wayside yards and sidings all over the system; often neglected, largely overlooked, but going about their everyday business quietly serving the local community.

 

Lower Rose Goods owes more than a nod towards Wenford Bridge which I discovered in the last years of its working life, very weedy, rusty rails and a couple of solitary wagons sitting rather forlornly in the sidings, but absolutely reeking of atmosphere. Impossible to recreate on a preserved railway, it was the balance of gentle dereliction against a still functioning utility that created a delightful picture of the last vestiges of a fast disappearing railway system. One train a day... I don't think Lower Rose will ever be exactly gripping to operate, or even to watch... but as Talking Heads  put it:

 

'Heaven is a place

where nothing,

nothing ever happens'

 

Whatever floats your boat I suppose!

 

Steve

Edited September 19, 2021 by steve howe
correction

[46444]

Thanks for that Mark. As someone remarked earlier, its a lot of trouble to go to for three sidings...! but I rather like the very 'ordinary-ness' of the period railway scene, and the fact that there were scores of these wayside yards and sidings all over the system; often neglected, largely overlooked, but going about their everyday business quietly serving the local community.

 

Lower Rose Goods owes more than a nod towards Wenford Bridge which I discovered in the last years of its working life, very weedy, rusty rails and a couple of solitary wagons sitting rather forlornly in the sidings, but absolutely reeking of atmosphere. Impossible to recreate on a preserved railway, it was the balance of gentle dereliction against a still functioning utility that created a delightful picture of the last vestiges of a fast disappearing railway system. One train a day... I don't think Lower Rose will ever be exactly gripping to operate, or even to watch... but as Simply Red put it:

 

'Heaven is a place

where nothing,

nothing ever happens'

 

Whatever floats your boat I suppose!

 

Steve

My sentiments exactly Steve. I think you've described what your trying to achieve nicely and something I can certainly relate too.

 

Keep the posts coming.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

[Mikkel]

Thanks for making these experiments Steve, we all learn and benefit even when it goes wrong. And thanks for the link to your moulded DAS sheets, I'm off to read up on that.

[bcnPete]

more than a nod towards Wenford Bridge which I discovered in the last years of its working life, very weedy, rusty rails and a couple of solitary wagons sitting rather forlornly in the sidings, but absolutely reeking of atmosphere.

Completely agree and that's what was my inspiration for my slow burner 7mm extract...when I can get back to it.

 

Fascinating post Steve - thanks for sharing and we have to try these things as sometimes they work and other times we go full circle back to our original thoughts...welcome to the 'lets rip it up and have another go' club

[steve howe]

In between wiring and struggling to get anything to run over my battered rails, I've been amusing myself with a few small buildings to adorn the yard. As Lower Rose is a pretty nondescript sort of place, the buildings have been deliberately kept low-key - no fancy good sheds here! the basic facilities comprise lock-up sheds and a weighbridge based on the remaining example at the site of Shepherds station where the Treamble Branch left the Chacewater - Newquay line.

 

Standard GWR lock-ups. based on drawings in 'Great Western Architecture' (Vaughan OPC) and thanks to Tim Venton for sending me a dimensioned sketch of the goods shed at Camerton. Nothing to say really about construction - Slaters corrugated styrene sheet throughout.

 

The coal merchant's office, I wantd to get something that suggested a pre- War timber and asbestos framed building which I seem to remember being still quite common into the late '50s and '60s. Basic construction in 0.5mm card with paper overlays and sticky label window frames. Finished in watercolour.

 

The coal merchant has gone into Kerosene distribution requiring a set of sheds for storage of cans and housing the pump. Here the Can Store. Construction as for the GW sheds.

 

I'm not sure that a rural outpost like this would have had such an elaborate storage facility, there was considerable discussion on this when I raised it on the Scalefour forum recently, and the general consensus was that most merchants would have taken delivery of oil in 50 gallon drums which would then have been dispensed into smaller cans. Although someone did send me a drawing dated 1919 for a small oil depot selling both Kero. and petrol at Newport and I used this to base the tin sheds and the hose arrangement used for pumping out from tank wagons. My excuse is that the numerous hotels and Guest houses around Perranporth would have placed a heavy demand for oil so the merchant installed a tank for bulk deliveries......the tank is an old boiler which I'm told would be quite prototypical before Regulations were tightened up on bulk storage. Quite whether the Inspectorate would have been so happy about the close proximity of the tank to the rails is another matter.....

 

All the buildings still need bedding in and final detailing and weathering.

 

And finally, some stock has actually arrived!

 

One of the regular locomotives and the weigh bridge in the background.

 

The lack of time before the Helston Show this weekend has meant a few decisions had to be taken, namely the planned installation of Alex Jackson couplings on the stock and magnets on the layout  was just never going to happen, so this has meant that we are still fumbling around with 3 links, this in turn has meant that operation from the front is not possible due to the narrowness of the viewing slot so the control panel has been adapted for operating from the rear; the consequence of which means the planned backscene cannot be used, so unfortunately the layout will not be as 'contained'  as I would like.

 

Hey Ho...

Edited April 24, 2015 by steve howe

[queensquare]

Been following this thread with great interest Steve. After a great weekend at Helston last year with JG and Wadebridge I shall miss this year, we are at the RMWeb members day in Taunton. Hope to catch up with you and the new layout soon.

 

Jerry

[46444]

Loads of lovely atmosphere with those buildings Steve.

 

Must say it does look good and I bet it's a great layout to operate.  

 

All the best with the show at the weekend.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

[Stubby47]

Looking forwards to seeing this over the weekend - just don't ask me to help with the 3-links...

[sjrixon]

I'll re-iterate the other comments. It's looking really good, I love the over busy yard. You need plenty there to justify lots of different stock and wagons moving around. Makes the operation much nicer.

[Tim Lewis]

Only just found this - very nice..

 

I wonder whether your 'disaster' with rubber and white spirit might be a useful technique for representing where tree roots are causing heave of tarmac etc.  Probably a bit difficult to control though.

[Penlan]

In between wiring and struggling to get anything to run over my battered rails, 

Seeing this on Saturday morning at Helston, I had the impression it was some of the white metal chairs on the point(s) that seemed to be causing slight lifting of wheel rims etc., not battered track.

Certainly where the treads where being lifted, the 'white metal' of the chair tops was clearly seen.

I know your not using them again, but I think a little bit of work with a needle file will help with what's already there.

[steve howe]

Seeing this on Saturday morning at Helston, I had the impression it was some of the white metal chairs on the point(s) that seemed to be causing slight lifting of wheel rims etc., not battered track.

Certainly where the treads where being lifted, the 'white metal' of the chair tops was clearly seen.

I know your not using them again, but I think a little bit of work with a needle file will help with what's already there.

 

Your'e quite right Sandy, the chairs have been a problem from day 1 and I have fettled most of them, just a few still need attention. It was the first time the layout had had an intensive running session, and its interesting how unexpected things crop up, like the power leads to the cassettes not being long enough when a short engine cassette was used on its own.... By and large, given it had only been rather hurriedly tested with one loco and a couple of wagons, it performed pretty well, (especially considering most of the stock running during the Show had not turned a wheel in anger for over 20 years!) and has thrown up a list of minor fettling jobs which, collectively should make a huge difference to the general running. The main job before it ever goes out again is to get rid of the 3 link couplings in favour of AJs, I find that not only do 3 links cause fatigue and stress especially towards the end of the day, it also seems as soon as you start fiddling about with a hook, people lose interest and walk away. Auto coupling and uncoupling maintains the attention and helps the 'suspension of disbelief' as Cyril Freezer once put it (although I doubt he ever built any AJ couplings!)

 

A most enjoyable weekend and thanks to those RMWebbers who came and said hello. Progress on LRG will slow somewhat over the Summer as gardening (my main passion) takes over, but watch this space!

[Penlan]

....... The main job before it ever goes out again is to get rid of the 3 link couplings in favour of AJs, I find that not only do 3 links cause fatigue and stress especially towards the end of the day, it also seems as soon as you start fiddling about with a hook, people lose interest and walk away. Auto coupling and uncoupling maintains the attention and helps the 'suspension of disbelief' as Cyril Freezer once put it (although I doubt he ever built any AJ couplings!)

 

A most enjoyable weekend and thanks to those RMWebbers who came and said hello. Progress on LRG will slow somewhat over the Summer as gardening (my main passion) takes over, but watch this space!

First of all be mindful, I've been exhibiting or working behind layouts for 45+ years, thus I've slowly come to my senses over various aspects of exhibiting... Not all, but some.

I couldn't work out if you had magnetic bottom links on the couplings, although I think the shunting pole was a hook.  I have both hooks and 'earth' magnets onthe end of Penlan's shunting poles - attached to strong lighting LED torches.  And magnetic bottom links - But I'm introducing auto-couplings, slowly, on the end of block units.

The lighting from that single, short, flouresent lamp would not have helped either, especially as there was no cover to keep the light out of your eyes for the whole day - I have my lighting boxed - been there, got the shades.

I also find I've always got the wrong bi-focals on at any given time.

I looked at AJ's, but have gone down the P4me type, similar to AJ's RMWeb Archived at http://www.rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=16787 - DON'T go to the P4me web site, it's now likely to activate your anti-virus software.  I bought the AJ fitting kit (the bit that slots over the buffers for location), altered the wire slot to be a little bit off centre, and no problems.

'Cheddar' had the AJ's working at the show.

BTW - Deepest Cornwall ?, as you can see I'm west Cornwall, the very edge of Europe... 

Edited April 27, 2015 by Penlan

[steve howe]

A Day in the Life of Nowhere

 

It’s been a while since we wandered down the lane and gazed over the bridge at the great nonentity that is Lower Rose Goods sidings, and modelling progress has slowed considerably due to other seasonal pursuits. Recently re-reading Paul Karau and Chris Turner’s inspirational 2 volume history on the Watlington Branch, made me realise how life on these rural branch lines went on unchanged for years, following a simple routine dictated by the seasons with a predictable reliability one could be forgiven for thinking would last for ever.

 

I thought it would be interesting to try and picture how the daily routine for Lower Rose might appear to an observer visiting in the early 1930’s. So here is a glimpse of a typical day in early summer; the short burst of activity heralded by the arrival of the daily freight train followed by long hours of torpor interrupted only by the buzz of bees, the warbling of skylarks and the occasional customer arriving to collect or drop off their goods.

 

The real Treamble Branch was timetabled to ‘run as required’ since traffic was always thin at the best of times. However had the line been extended as proposed, it would have certainly attracted more revenue earning traffic including milk, and as such would have warranted at least one regular freight service a day. The usual working was scheduled as part of the 08.05 ex. Newquay to Truro goods train which is where we start our typical day.

 

George Worrall was the goods clerk at Lower Rose in the late 1920s – early 30s and he lived at Zelah a few miles east of Goonhavern. George would cycle to Shepherds station arriving in time to catch the goods train and help with shunting.  Wagons for Treamble and Lower Rose were sorted and the remainder of the train left in the yard. Typically there would be a couple of  covered vans containing small goods for local traders; one or two loads of coal for Trevails the local merchants;  empty mineral wagons for working onwards to Wheal Hope along  with a wagon of steam coal for the pump there. Occasionally loads of aggregate or building materials would be sent down to Trevails siding, and about once a month a tank of kerosene for their oil business. In Springtime, empty cattle wagons, ventilated vans and even old milk vans would be pressed into service for the seasonal broccoli and cut flowers.

 

George would stow his bike in the brake van and travel with the Guard for the short trip down the branch. It must have been a pleasant interlude on this warm summer’s morning; the quiet clicking of a freewheeling 45xx running downhill through the woods at Rejerrah, blue haze from the chimney drifting back over the train, dappled sunlight catching the nearby stream and illuminating the haze of bluebells beneath the trees.  The two men would take the air on the open verandah observing activity in the fields and discussing the progress of runner beans or early potatoes. Arriving at Treamble loop, any wagons for the sidings there would be dropped off for shunting on the way back, and the train continued to Lower Rose.

 

On arrival, the train would come to a stand at the end of the loop and the locomotive was uncoupled. While the Guard worked the points to allow the engine to run round its train, George would walk forwards to unlock the yard office and get the all-important ‘brew’ going. Any small goods left outside the lock-up sheds would be checked in and the paperwork for the departing wagons collected ready for clipping to the solebars.  A ‘siphon’ milk van would have been left empty from the previous days working, and since early morning a steady stream of farmers in carts and vans bearing churns from the surrounding district would have been arriving to off load. George would check the churns and record the sender before making sure they were safely secured in the van.

 

A pip on the whistle announced the return of 4554 propelling the brake van to pause at the yard entrance while the crew consulted with George as to the order of shunt. The usual procedure was to place the brake van at the end of the middle siding and assemble the departing wagons to it, occasionally a few open mineral wagons loaded with broken rock or an empty coal wagon from Wheal Hope would already have been left in the middle siding which would need to be moved and reattached. The last van to be coupled, nearest the engine, was the siphon with its load of milk.

 

The departing wagons would then either be left in the middle siding, whilst the locomotive returned to the end of the arriving train, or, if that siding was needed, drawn into the up loop. The locomotive then propelled the arriving wagons to their appropriate positions beginning with an empty siphon for tomorrow’s milk, coal for Trevail’s yard and covered vans for the loading bank. By this time the kettle in the yard office would have boiled and the obligatory ‘brew’ would be taken before the train departed leaving the yard to slumber in the sun. 

 

George would check the waybills on the incoming wagons and enter them in the receipt book, he would then unlock the vans and store the contents in the lock-up sheds that constituted the goods facilities, record the items, make out the postcard notices to the recipients and calculate any charges due.  Any large or heavy items that George could not manage alone would be left until the recipient arrived to help with their unloading.  During the morning the local carrier would arrive with his van to collect any small items for outlying customers and this would be another opportunity for George to brew tea and set the world to rights. The occasional customer might arrive either to collect or dispatch items; local farmers would come to collect corn or other feedstuffs delivered in one and a quarter hundredweight sacks; or, more rarely a consignment of livestock would be dealt with. Temporary hurdles were kept at the end of the loading bank to make pens for these animals, and it was George’s job to see that they were adequately supplied with water and feed during their stay.

 

Unloading goods, completing the paperwork and dealing with customers usually kept George occupied until lunchtime when he stopped for a pasty. It was not unknown, in busy periods, for a second train to be required, and this would usually arrive just after 2.30pm mainly to collect perishable goods like seasonal vegetables and flowers. The empty vehicles for this traffic having been left by the morning train. On a normal day, the afternoon could drag and George would often pass the time clearing weeds around the lock-up sheds or refilling the oil in the yard lamps. Occasional relief would appear in the form of the platelaying gang who had a hut at Lower Rose and this would be an opportunity for an exchange of news and gossip, but the afternoons, in the winter months especially, could be deadly.

 

The yard office was officially open to the Public between 8.00am and 4.30pm, but goods would often be brought in outside those hours. In the winter George’s last job before he went home was to light the yard lamps, this task was especially important for dark mornings when milk was being loaded from 4.30am onwards.

 

Duties done, George would lock up the office, post the notices of receipt to customers in the box at the yard gate and cycle home.

Edited June 9, 2015 by steve howe

[Donw]

Only just discovered this sat in the motorhome very close to the site of Treamble terminus. Not much to see from the footpaths/bridleways. We have walked the paths which run either side of the proposed line which it looks like it would have come through Stampas Farm. Lovely project and a very nice area.

Don

[d600]

Hi has there been anymore progress on layout

[steve howe]

Hi has there been anymore progress on layout

I'm afraid major house renovations, and serious landscaping in the garden has rather pushed modelling off the agenda this summer   However I'm hoping to get cracking on the scenic details this Autumn and I have almost cracked the Alex Jackson coupling. But I easily get sidetracked, like planning a cameo addition depicting the arrangements at Wheal Hope mine, terminus of the mineral extension...light FB rail, weedy ash ballast, working Cornish beam pump....any suggestions for modelling stone sleeper blocks would be received with much interest  !

 

Thanks for your interest,

 

Steve

[Stubby47]

For stone sleeper blocks - you could make a couple of masters, from a stack of card covered in car body filler, then get/make resin casts.

 

Stu

[Gordon A]

Hi Steve,

 

Could we have some more pictures of Lower Rose goods please.

 

Gordon A

[steve howe]

Hi Steve,

 

Could we have some more pictures of Lower Rose goods please.

 

Gordon A

 

 

Lower Rose got put on the 'back burner as other projects (mostly garden related!) overtook. However I was told by our Exhibition Manager on Wednesday night that it is wanted for our Club show next April, so I hope to resume work shortly after I've retrieved it from the Clubroom where it has been living rent-free for a few months!

 

Steve