Mulgabill

My understanding is that the loading gauges were there to facilitate the checking of individual wagons. However there is, I suspect, a tendency for that being confused with the simplistic expectation that each train departs through the gauge. But normally the outer ends of the gauge are lifted up, and only lowered when a wagon in doubt of being out of gauge is passed thorough. If my memory is correct (very dubious assumption), Lawrence hill station (Bristol) had its weighbridge and loading gauge on a siding which could hold only 2 or 3 wagons. TONY

My understanding is that the loading gauges were there to facilitate the checking of individual wagons. However there is, I suspect, a tendency for that being confused with the simplistic expectation that each train departs through the gauge. But normally the outer ends of the gauge are lifted up, and only lowered when a wagon in doubt of being out of gauge is passed thorough. If my memory is correct (very dubious assumption), Lawrence hill station (Bristol) had its weighbridge and loading gauge on a siding which could hold only 2 or 3 wagons. TONY

My understanding is that the loading gauges were there to facilitate the checking of individual wagons. However there is, I suspect, a tendency for that being confused with the simplistic expectation that each train departs through the gauge. But normally the outer ends of the gauge are lifted up, and only lowered when a wagon in doubt of being out of gauge is passed thorough. If my memory is correct (very dubious assumption), Lawrence hill station (Bristol) had its weighbridge and loading gauge on a siding which could hold only 2 or 3 wagons. TONY

My understanding is that the loading gauges were there to facilitate the checking of individual wagons. However there is, I suspect, a tendency for that being confused with the simplistic expectation that each train departs through the gauge. But normally the outer ends of the gauge are lifted up, and only lowered when a wagon in doubt of being out of gauge is passed thorough. If my memory is correct (very dubious assumption), Lawrence hill station (Bristol) had its weighbridge and loading gauge on a siding which could hold only 2 or 3 wagons. TONY

And to keep you on the straight and narrow, don't forget that Helston Station had its ownstench pipe. Re the brocolli, I think that cattle waggons were favoured, but it was common for multple extra trains to be required. At times of peak additional demand, almost any available vehicle would be pressed into service. TONY

Good to see your progress continuing, and I wish you all the best for 2024. In most cases you are now well ahead of my progress, having got rather bogged down with the build of Levenporth for my grandsons. With regard to the question of Milk trains. I'm fairly sure that I read somewhere that Milk from all of the Lizard Was collected, and taken to a large milk depot at Lostwithiel, for onward transport by rail. Both before and after nationalisation. On my "cartoon" I have chosen to ignore that, and have the small milk loading depot added to the goodsyard. With your "history", I would say it could be argued that most of the milk would avoid your station, but some smaller flows, in churns, could be served by the branch. There was a comment about serving Plymouth, rather than London. My thoughts are that when considering some smaller urban areas, you first need to think What was the status quo, before the railways arrived. Its most likely that would have continued to be the norm. ( e.g. There are a lot of dairy farms in Devon, which would be well placed to continue to supply Plymouth). Once you have found the balanced solution for your layout, we could consider, again, what constitutes a rabbit van, and where would that have worked to? (London or Birmingham? ). And with what frequency? Indeed Live traffic, or already butchered? TONY

I don't know this to be true, but I thought loaded would run with a passenger brake, at passenger timings. The return empties, could return as freight, as long as there was time to maintain the next departure time, full. Or maybe I've overthought this??? TONY

My first employers! So I will share the relevance, the company was set up in Bristol, to supply The GWR / Brunel with Creosote, for timber treatment. Tony

Sorry to intrude, but the pic is at the opposite end of the tunnel. A notable oddity, is that the distant signals were generally "off", as both refered to the 2 Soudley crossings, which were normally closed to road traffic. as illustrated here on Helstonish. TONY

Keep up Phil, There were 2 on the last up working. Odney then worked an ecs back to MD, whilst Earlystoke remained at BL. Possibly to facilitate loading for a departure, by road. Cheers TONY

Balance of pics. TONY

Hi Phil This might help - Print out on A4 Cut around outside of each strip. Cut Slots to 1/2 height. Paint or colour (Black) Fold each strip in alternate directions, then interlace A & B strips together I cut End blanks from thin card, and used concertinas on both coaches. This was a shut down project, but having worked all this out, and handed copies around when our club had an (aloud) outdoor meeting, I put aside and haven't finished. You can use this as a basis for other patterns. I found a coach end-door useful to trim The bellows profile. All the best TONY Coach Corridor Connections..svg

How about Bristol There and Back Again Lane, or Zed Alley (Halt) TONY

Ah the former Foot-warmer store! That reminds me, do we have answere for the other 2 quirks of Helston What diagram are the ex Midland hoppers, and more importantly is there a 4mm version available? And what is an appropriate size / type of van, for the Rabbit van? Otherwise keep up the good work, I'm still watching. TONY

Been there, done that, and quite suitable for applying to this thread. It happened when said, nearside wheel, met a slightly sunken manhole, on the lefthand bend of Chittening Bridge. (Over the Avonmouth - Filton line). Apparently that unreliable piece of British Leylands product, was shared with the E type Jag. Those were the days! TONY ps I too was in that traffic on the M5 yesterday, without the benefit of Taunton show to look forward to. But if I'm a good boy, I might get to Torbay, plus Sth Devon, and maybe Peco. (Must try to listen more carefully to dates, that are bandied around, by the Boss)

More good work there, John. At first glance, I thought you'd got hold of a 1950s Brock-ly crate. All the best TONY

How about a mix of PVA + Exterior filler + water. Applied with a 1" brush, and variations in proportions to taste. Sounds a bit bohemian, but can be fun, and effective. TONY

The important thing, is that you should be happy with the result. In the case of the pic quoted, I would say that it bears out my comment, that the rust colour of rail, now tends to be a redder colour than my recollection of the 50s /60s. Foxy was standing on 21c rails. I believe in steam age the rails were a duller brown. But as I say you need to find a match with your inner vision. One thing is certain, nobody will be able to say you are wrong, as there was, and is, such a diverse range of evidence. All the best TONY

As you might expect, I will come in from a different angle. When starting on Helstonish, I happened to see some comments from Jeff of Gill Head fame here. He used a certain Dulux sort of coffee coloured emulsion, as base for his greenery. Having followed suit, I realised that it was quite close to my recollection of rusty rail colour in the late 50s / early 60s. i.e. a dull dark brown, rather than the redish brown usually found in rust paints now. Therefore I now lay the track, and paint it all with said paint. This takes away the plastic look of the trackwork, and gives the basic rust to the rails. Ballast then gives the definition to the track. This can the be followed with some dry brushing of sleeper, and washes of black/brown. For my money too many layouts are spoiled by over enthusiastic detailing of the track parts. I'll hang my devils advocate hat up now........ All the best TONY

Andy thanks for the prompt. The last few months seems to have been a constant , recurring, round of Dr's, dentist etc, appointments. Sometimes relieved by work on the grandsons layout. (Baseboards and tracklaying). That at least has progressed, albeit slowly, and we are now on the verge of wiring. We have also become volunteers at the West Somerset Rly, (Blue Anchor). All of the forgoing means that the railway room has rather been a few passing visits, usually to get tools, or materials. I read your post yesterday, as we packed to return from the caravan, and intended to respond promptly from home. 24hrs later is the first chance! Having been told grandsons were going to see Britannia or Braunton on the mainline. Hence todays visit to Glos Model Railway Club got canned, and subsequent dinghy races also fell to an enthusiastic pairs visit, to Helstonish. However this means I can report all was pretty good at probably the fist proper running session in about 4 months. (If I ignore some problems with derailing on the fiddle yard approach). The boys both took many pics of the session, which I have not had a chance to download, but I will share some, once I have them. I have not as yet sourced a camera, to replace the one wrecked in the storms earlier in the year. Once i have seen yet another Dr who will report to DVLA, hopefully I will still have driving license, and the shorter days will bring more modelling time. Meanwhile I am consoled by the fact that I can, from tomorrow, at least try to help somebody who has a post covid DVT. Not good if you are a farmer, and can now barely stand, even with crutches! Meanwhile do keep posting re your Helston, I love to see the care and enthusiasm you bring to your project, even if the electronic stuff goes way over my head. All the best, to you, and all who pass this way. TONY

Hi John - for once something I have a (very) little experience with. I did spend nearly a year in a plastic fabrication co, and might just remember a little of the techniques. 1) Acrylic sheet does not like heat, so keep your drill bit cooled, by dipping in water, frequently. 2) Drilling is also inclined to chatter, which in turn causes stress fractures. These in turn can lead fractures later. Where I worked new drill bits were treated with a file, to rempve the sharp edge on the tip. Slow drill speed, with an "old" bit, should achieve similar results. (and don't push too hard). All the best TONY

Paul The tanks look very nice, and quite modern. So can I make a couple of, hopefully helpful, observations. Have you ensured your bund walls will hold the contents of the tanks it contains? What is the reasoning behind the extra height wall at the far end? That would be wasted money / materials, as without a dividing partition wall, the added height could not add to the capacity. Also, for a "modern" installation, lessons had been learnt, and good practice would see all pipework routed over the brickwork. That avoids compromising the integrity of the bund. Of course, if you had old, riveted tanks, which had been there for years, then almost anything goes. I'm sure they will look good once in place, all the best TONY

For the avoidance of doubt, I'm not commenting. But if I was, you couldn't read it anyway. I have replied to our earlier pm correspondence, which you couldn't see. I've tried sending it again, and I've tried replying to your message saying you received nothing. But seemingly you didn't see that either. All I was after was your choice of a Wednesday in June! All the best TONY ps I've also tried turning myself off and on, at least twice, to no avail!

Have just resent as a quote from Mondays message. Hope it makes sense,,From (a confused) Dursley Donkey!

Hi Rob, just in case you missed it, I pm'd you yesterday. All the best TONY