Phil Copleston

Not to fret, Tom. Mr Greenwood still has a nice King Arthur in special North Cornwall SR 'gold livery' to keep the 'never finish anything' faith alive.

Half-a-dozen photos of 'Wadebridge' at the Farnham (Aldershot) show last weekend. To be honest I didn't take many, mostly people this time as I was too busy operating 'Wadebridge' and helping Mark Fielder with his 2mm scale narrow gauge layouts, 'An Clár' and 'The Pizza', across the aisle! Anyway, here they are: And while the boys were away (at the 2mm Association AGM in a side hall on the Saturday) - the girls did play! Edna Greenwood (on the left) and Kim Clifford ('Mrs Queenssquare') take control... And that's it. While it was cool outside, in the halls it was sweltering. But we did enjoy ourselves. And the Nepalese Gurkha curries on both evenings were exceptionally good!

Blimey, David. I'm shocked. You do realise these are not goods wagons but people vans, don't you?

Hi Chris, I'd be interested in any number of your GWR Toplight coach kits (or parts thereof) if you still have some snuck away somewhere. Any length will do, but particularly the 57-footers. Any chance? I've been after some for a while as I missed out on the original batch. Do let me know either on here or PM me please. I shall also be at the AGM and operating 'Wadebridge' that whole weekend at the Farnham show. Thanks.

For some reason I appear to have omitted to upload my own pictures of our outing with John's 'Wenford Branch' last weekend. Sorry 'bout that folks. So here they are: The whole caboodle! Nearest is the familiar scenicked 'Wenford Bridge Goods Depot' with its working gantry crane and road vehicles - a proper functioning rail-head. Beyond that, Wenford Dries (china clay kilns), then Tresarrett Quarry loader and siding, and in the distance between John and Jerry, is Helland Wharf and road crossing. Round the corner (out of sight behind John) is Dunmere Siding. In all, plenty of 'shunting action' as the train proceeds on its journey down the branch alongside the River Camel. Just my sort of layout. Most inspiring. Looking back to the terminus, and (bottom right) the cut out which will accommodate a section of river and adjacent tracks in the woods. The temporary scenic jolt is quite startling! The real location: Wenford Bridge terminus (the farthest point from Waterloo) taken on 1st August 1935. In this photo are Mr Cawsey (Station Master at Wadebridge), Clerk Martin (Wenford), R.S.Manning (Acting Guard), the Driver and Fireman of Well Tank No.3314 (later BR No.30585), and the travelling shunter from Wadebridge. [photo St Breward History Group] The old 'Bodmine' layout's Dries as rescued from a decade or more stored in a damp outhouse. Still, with a bit of tidying up they will make a decent stand-in for the real Wenford Dries (which are way too big anyway). To the rear is the cut-out in the foam for the pans (settling tanks), and on the hillside above, possibly a mica-drag will be included (a zig-zag series of sluices and settling troughs to separate out the mica in the clay - an important by-product of china clay working. I keep encouraging John to include this vital part of a china clay dries 'suite' of processing infrastructure, but he may yet ignore me! The fire or stoke-house end of the Dries. T'other end of the Linhay (drying house) needs a chimney to complete the under-floor flue. The roof's eves are a bit wiggly after the storage abuse this building got, but I think this can be fixed. And besides, it has bags of character! The real location: Beattie Well Tank No.30585 shunts Wenford Dries in the 1950s [photographer unknown] Tresarrett Quarry loader. John originally had the loader on the far side of the mainline (as per prototype, I think), but changed his mind and swapped positions. And I think it looks much better this way round. You can see the scar on the baseboard of the former trackbed. The vertical conveyors to fill the hoppers will be served by a narrow gauge 'tub' line between the main and the siding. The real location: Wharfinger Mrs Smith, standing beside a brake van and wagons, during shunting at Tresarrett Siding on 1st August 1935. [photo St Breward History Group] The famous photogenic Helland road crossing on the branch. The Wharf (siding) lies behind the cottages. The real location: Helland level crossing with the Wharf beyond, on 1st August 1935. [photo St Breward History Group] And finally, a look back along the whole branch from Helland to Wenford. This certainly is "a whole railroad you can model", as our American modelling cousins would have it, and this is certainly what inspired John and is the basic concept behind the whole master-planned Bodmin & Wenford/North Cornwall layout of which this forms a part. Jerry's hands are creeping into the scene on left as he grabs a few shots at the end of the show. And that's it! We had a really enjoyable time operating the complete branch on its first public outing, and the visitors seemed to appreciate it too - a whole branchline to view, not just a station. Thank you John for kindly inviting me to play. And to Jerry for the good-humoured banter and joshing throughout the day. And very importantly, thanks to Edna Greenwood for the yummy homemade cake! Next outing will be John's 'St Blazey Roundhouse' (as appeared at the Warminster show back in June) on Sunday 5th November (a one-day show) at the Cornwall Model Railway Exhibition, Carn Brea Leisure Centre, Station Rd, Pool, Redruth, Cornwall TR15 3QS, open 10:00-16:00.

I was brought up never to touch someone else's models unless given express permision to do so. Same with layouts or anything else. By all means show your models, even let trusted individuals handle or closely inspect them. But the rule is "only touch if I give you permision". Simple. Anything else and they get a rocket!

Hmmm... I can see your problem. But having operated a fair number of DCC layouts over the years - from simple to complex - I find the wiring convolutions and constrictions of old DC layouts now seem quite baffling, antiquated and unnecessary. From your description of how the layout is intended to operate (from a train movement point of view) it would seem to me you'd be best off in the long term stripping out all this over-complex wiring and either put in a system YOU understand... or converting the whole layout to DCC. Then you can concentrate on running the trains, not worrying about which section switch has to be on or might conflict with another section. Or if the old wiring goes wrong, how on earth you can fix it. It's a personal choice, of course, and you may feel you want to retain as much of Bill's work as possible. But on the other hand, you've gotta live with it!

And Gauge 3 in a cameo too! As appearing in the current August BRM, p.82-84. Very unusual for such a large scale and rather spiffing!

Same for me (I've just turned 63) as for David. Though I have no concerns for the future of our hobby. I believe it has just changed its catchment base (no longer starting with trainsets for young boys), which is perhaps a revertion to a pre-war appeal to adult incomers looking for a craft-based hobby. And possibly attracting a greater ethnic and gender diversity (which we need). I do hope so anyway!

What a delightful film! Full of railway and personal charm. I wonder whether she ever received her inheritence? Edit: A Quick internet search shows that her real name (on her death certificate) was Carmen de Tesca von Dembinska, Princess of the Royal House of Lothringen-Rawicz. She had a son, Prince Adam von Dembiński who claimed he had won his legal case against the Polish government but had never been paid. This was an hereditary title of Count of Galicia from Emperor Josef II on August 2nd 1784. The title is now extinct. Just a little non-railway background!

Thanks for the clarification, Jerry. I suspected I probably hadn't got the details - only the jist - of the story right! Lovely shot of the guilty parties (plus an innocent Mr. Pooh) too, even though it wasn't really their faults. More animal and veg garden pics on this thread please! BTW, I keep my Millie Pooh and Tilly Pooh well away from my modelling efforts... even though Millie often kips on my workroom swivel chair. Awww bless.

John, I understand that Jerry scratchbuilt his original 'Mark 1' overall roof out of plastikard. It was good. But not quite good enough for Jerry. So years later he replaced this with a much more finesse version fizzed up from specially commissioned etchings - as per the one you see in my photo. Potential disaster struck when a year or two ago one of Jerry's labrador dogs sat on it, but fortunately the damage wasn't terminal (pun intended!) and he was able to effect repairs. Also, Jerry has had the roof support cast-iron columns cast in whitemetal copied from the originals. Superb! All-in-all this is quite magnificent work by Jerry. I am inspired every time I am ushered in to take a peek at recent progress on this 2-mil magnum opus.

Here's a snap I took of Jerry's imposing Bath Queensquare station building last weekend (during Larkrail) to illustrate the point. It may be over twenty five years old, but it is a magnificent model and "certainly sets the whole scene and purpose for making the rest of the layout".

Well, thanks anyway Chris. I appreciate there is a lot to sort out with etchings. All I need is the flat etched parts for a Dean Goods, not a complete and perfect "kit". All the rest I can sort out myself. Seems I will have to design and get my own etched. Personally, I find no satisfaction in a 3D printed model. Horrible material too. I like scratchbuilding, kit building and good old-fashioned model-making.

Chris, Ooooo... you have a 2mm Dean Goods etch artwork to hand? I'd prefer that to any 3D printed job - far more satisfying to make! Just the etch would do me, the round bits I can make myself. I'd be interested in a couple of sets. Please consider making these available as a set of 'scratch-aid' parts.

Righty-oh! It's now flagged in my electronic diary (really). Can't wait! BTW, I really think you should invest in a LARGER exhibition banner... punters might miss the existing one.

It looks good to me (on screen). I'm very inspired by your work. But I'd say the critical thing about scratchbuilding is keep your standards high. If you're not happy with the result, then reject it and start again. With scratchbuilding, costs are usually low (apart from time), so not a lot is lost. The real pleasures come from, a) the process of making it yourself, and b) being in control of the standard of the model (all aspects). Keep up the inspiring model-making!

Jerry, Good choice. Here's a photo of more red on the S&DJR. Another one for your bucket list...

Who? I just like Asian food. Yum yum!

Sadly not. Major cuisines only in this small town.

Practice your declensions all you like CK, it's still just a 'moot' point! Personally, a nice winter-warming Chinese would do me fine... as would a spicy little Thai or Vietnamese. Depends what's on offer...

Whoops! I thought there was something wrong with my rationale. Oh dear. Thanks Jerry.

Achem! Re. Castle tenders, see 'Locomotives of the Great Western Railway' Part 8: Modern Passenger Classes, page.H16, top right paragraph! But you only have a short modelling timeframe Jerry, as 5046 ‘Clifford Castle’ (built April 1936), was renamed ‘Earl Cawdor’ just 15 months later in August 1937...

I thought the 'tender' for Clifford Towers Castle was your work shed...

Hear, hear, John. Here are my pics from last night's group nosh... The Good Captain with his new eggy (ice cream) friend. A good time was had by all. Now lookin' forward to our next curried soirée in six months time!