St Enodoc

There are three photos of the Dutch coaster Hoendiep of Hoogkerk at Charlestown in 1967 at the following URL. It is not beyond the realms of possibility that these were taking when we were actually staying at the Pier House. http://www.shipspotters.nl/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=2159&start=5

Thanks Rick. If I do go ahead then that is the most likely source.

Thanks Brian. If I ever get to build a representation of Tregissey it will probably look something like Charlestown, with the clay discharged down the wooden chutes into the ships below. We used to stay at the Pier House Hotel for our summer holidays in the late 1960s when Charlestown was still a working port - long before Poldark was on TV! Watching the coasters being warped in and out of the harbour and through the sea lock was fascinating. Most of the coasters were grey - many of Dutch registration - but there were some that were bright blue and were named Lady S..., for example Lady Sylvia or Lady Sandra. The Artitec/Langney Models kit would be a good starting point for a model.

Decisions, decisions... The prototype passenger service between Lostwithiel and Fowey was worked by an 0-4-2T and an autocoach. My venerable Airfix pair will work between Pentowan and Polperran, so do I need to get a Heljan AC Cars railbus to run between Porthmellyn Road and Tregissey? Answers on a postcard please.

You have captured the nondescript grey colours to perfection.

If you want a busy BLT, try Newquay.

Ha ha, I shudder to think what's in Barnsley water...

The L-girders for Porthmellyn Road are now in place. This revealed that this side of the room is 5 mm shorter than the opposite side. Less than 0.1% difference isn’t at all bad I think. The narrow section at the Down end will be off stage and will carry the two main lines as they start to fan out into the Penzance loops, and also the Up Refuge Siding and Carriage Siding. In the 1950s these trailed into the Up Main, but to save space mine will trail into the connection between the Branch platform and the Down Main as did the prototype in later years. The L-girders along the fourth wall will take a little longer and a little more thought for two reasons. First, they include the dropped section for Nancegwithey Viaduct, and secondly they need to make provision for the lifting flap across the entrance door. More on this in a future post. In other news, a black Bachmann 64xx pannier arrived this week from Kernow. This will be modified to represent 7446 of St Blazey depot, as seen in an undated photo by Brian Butt on page 82 of “Great Western Steam in Cornwall”, and will replace a still-unbuilt Nu-Cast kit. The mods will involve removing the electrical boxes from each buffer beam and what I think is a battery box from under the bunker. I will modify the cab-bunker join to a right angle rather than a curve, but I don’t intend to replace the “solid” tank supports at the smokebox end with the “open” ones that were fitted to the prototype. Numberplates, a TCS EUN-651 decoder and DG couplings will complete the job. 7446 will work alongside 1664 on the Wheal Veronica china clay trip working, and eventually 2182 (another still-unbuilt Nu-Cast kit – if I wait long enough an RTR version might appear) will join them. Edited to correct senior moment regarding kit manufacturers.

I'm not sure that I understand Bunnings' modus operandi. Our nearest store has a saw to cut panels, but doesn't stock 9 mm marine ply. The next nearest stocks the ply, but doesn't have a saw. To find both together means going to a third, more distant, store. Fortunately, that is close to where my rugby match was today so I came home with enough ply to complete the Paddington and Penzance loop boards.

Well Peter, if the sheet was bust it's no wonder the dirt got in. Whose bust got in with it though?

Interesting point about the Kings Tony. When 6000 appeared in 1927 it was named after the reigning Monarch (King George V), and the remainder were, as you say, named in reverse chronological order. Following the death of King George V, 6029 was renamed in May 1936 from King Stephen to King Edward VIII; and, following the Abdication, 6028 was renamed in January 1937 from King Henry II to King George VI. 6027 was never renamed, presumably because our present Monarch is a Queen not a King. As a Swindon man, my late boss Mike Casey was always proud to say that he was born in the same year as the King class.

For some reason Gateshead locos always seemed to be muckier than those from other East Coast sheds. This was certainly my experience with Deltics and 47s in more recent years.

Well, as a subset of the Straits Settlements maybe, but my model of Singapore is an A3 (on topic for this thread, although I believe it was named for a racehorse not the island). Australia and New South Wales were Jubilees, although Sydney was an Atbara.

That's a bit harsh on Singapore, although I concede that your time there was about 20 years before mine, and things there change by the week let alone over two decades.

Thanks Anthony. It's getting closer to 50 years not 30, which is a little unnerving. I will certainly be writiing about the trains themselves in due course - once the layout is far enough advanced for more of them to come out of their boxes.

Over the years I have been distracted by a few good ladies... and a few bad ones as well

Back from a very enjoyable Forestville exhibition, at which I spent much of my time playing trains on NSRMA's Dungog layout (see http://www.nsrma.com.au/layouts.htm#Dungog). I also bought an NCE SB5 smart booster before the AUD/USD exchange rate goes any further the wrong way. This is part of a staged upgrade plan, which will see the replacement of the existing entry-level Power Cab system by the SB5. Later I will move into radio control once the new layout has progressed sufficiently to justify it. With three signalmen and two yardmasters on the Mid-Cornwall Lines there won't be much room for more than six drivers, so the SB5 with its capacity of six throttles will be adequate without going to the extra expense of the full Power Pro system.

Very good Baz. I think the main giveaway is the lining. Hornby's BR passenger lining always looks very dull and the black seems to look more prominent than the orange. edited to correct spelling

In the Northern hemisphere, Autumn marked the traditional start of the railway modelling season. Here in Sydney the first day of Autumn brought temperatures of 36 degrees - the hottest March day for 11 years apparently - followed by a drop of more than 10 degrees, gales and thunderstorms. Not much got built this weekend - only one short L-girder frame that wasn't worth photographing on its own. Next weekend is the North Shore Railway Modellers' Association exhibition at Forestville (http://www.nsrma.com.au/exhibition.htm) so I might get some wagon kits under way, more DG couplings made or even start a copperclad point on the BRMA demonstration stand. On the other hand, I might just spend the weekend nattering and playing trains. After that the rate of progress will be limited during the new rugby season, but I do want to try to get all the frames up and some baseboard tops laid before the BRMA Sydney area group meeting in early May. Moving trains will probably be confined to the current St Enodoc though.

Jez, can you actually see the back when it is in place on the layout? If you can't see it at all then just leave it as plain plastic sheet. If you can "sort of" see it but only at an oblique angle by craning your neck then make it a plain wall with no doors or windows.

Rick, you've got me thinking (dangerous...). The junction for this branch probably wouldn't have been at Grampound Road itself, due to the geography, but more probably near where the main line crosses the River Fal. So some possible names for the junction might be Resugga Castle, Trenoweth, or St Stephen's Coombe. There would certainly have been a station at Grampound itself, so Grampound Road might have had a different name - Trewince, or Ladock Road (in which case Probus and Ladock Halt might have been just Probus). Trewithian would, of course, have been the junction for the aforementioned Gerrans and Portscatho Joint... Back to reality, or my version of it anyway, so out to the garage now to cut up some of the timber I bought earlier. I have to say, though, that today's sausage sizzle wasn't as good as some I've had.

Tony, this is good stuff and very much in line with my own aims, which as you know are more inclined towards operation than construction. For my layout (see the link below) I have generated a sequence based on the Summer 1952 service (= WR-speak for working) timetable for a Friday and Saturday. Even by cutting out approximately half the real trains and applying my rule whereby passenger trains are 60% of the length of their prototypes, I still need well over 200 coaches to work the sequence. I for one would like to see more discussion of why and how we operate our layouts in our particular way, alongside all the excellent constructional conversations that go on. Good luck with the bookazine - and make sure Warner's send enough copies down under!

So what are you waiting for Rick?????

It turns out that the blocks I am looking for are called Fixit blocks, not KD blocks. Either way, they don't seem to be available in Australia so I have just ordered 100 from the UK using eBay. Total cost including airmail is GBP 7.60. Otherwise, little recent progress on account of a week's holiday in Singapore to celebrate the Lunar New Year with Veronica's family. This weekend should see some action though with another trip to Bunnings to buy more wood for L-girders.

Or even St Enodoc he says modestly...