RichardS

Bosmelin will be a railway in a landscape. The track layout will be laid on a spine of baseboards with the main scenic sections added around it in a jigsaw manner. This has several advantages regarding space, manoeuvrability, weight, access and so forth. The visual experience is crucial and the jigsaw enhances this by avoiding continuous join lines. Joins being disguised by field hedges and banks for example in a random pattern. To evaluate how large the spine boards need to be and how they need to be arranged – the track alignment is not straight – I am building a mock up of one section. At Boscarne the B&WR was built on a ‘shelf’ above the river thus the hillside rises behind the line and falls away quite steeply to the valley floor in front of it. Thus the spine boards will be open topped construction. The known unknown I face is how wide these boards need to be as there will be the start of the scenery each side of the tracks. The mock up will hopefully demonstrate how things will appear. I’ve used 5mm Foamboard (Hobbycraft) in a gider style for this fixed together with PVA and Solvent Free Grab adhesive (Screwfix). Here is a picture of the first stages of construction.

Although Oby (see previous posts) is bubbling away my main project is and always has been a layout called “Bosmelin” and it is this that I shall be progressing in 2019. I have found the history and operations of the Bodmin & Wadebridge Railway, which linked the two towns after which it was named, particularly interesting. My library of books about the line and related magazine articles has grown over the last decade while the release of several ready to run models that were prototypical to the line mean that making a model of the line is quite feasible. With Wadebridge at the western end of the line and Bodmin at the eastern there were three other mid-line locations of interest. Travelling from Wadebridge the first of these was Grogley Junction where the short goods branch to Ruthernbridge diverged from the ‘main line’ – a generous description for what was essentially a backwater branch line. The next location was the Junction at Boscarne named after a hamlet in the Parish of Nanstallon. Boscarne Junction was where the B&WR coincided with a short branch line from Bodmin (GWR.) This facilitated through running from the main GWR Plymouth to Penzance line at Bodmin Road albeit with a reversal midway at Bodmin (GWR.) Linked to Boscarne Junction and effectively under the control of Boscarne Junction Signal Box was the third junction at Dunmere where the B&WR split into two arms; the one to Bodmin (LSWR) and the other to the goods only terminus at Wenford Bridge. As can be seen Boscarne Junction was a pivotal operating point on the line which had originally been opened in 1834 to transport sand gathered from the estuary of the River Camel at Wadebridge to a series of ‘wharves’ at various villages along the line. The sand was used by farmers and landowners to improve the soil in their fields and in practice was unloaded more or less where it was needed – while the wharves were used for other goods. In the early days granite from the De Lank Quarry on Bodmin Moor was regularly carried from Wenford Bridge – the blocks being conveyed to the terminus down an incline from the quarries. Later, china clay from the Wenford Dries just south of the terminus was the primary freight carried on the line – most being taken from Boscarne Junction along the GWR lines to the deep water port at Fowey on the south coast of Cornwall. In the early days clay was also shipped from Wadebridge and Padstow. Ball clay from the pits in North Devon also found it’s way over B&WR metals having been transported to Wadebridge via the North Cornwall Railway. The line from Boscarne Junction to Wadebridge survived as a freight only line until the 1970s after which the china clay from Wenford Dries became the only goods carried until the pits on Bodmin Moor were closed. Today the Bodmin & Wenford Railway Ltd – the principal standard gauge heritage line in Cornwall – runs trains between Bodmin General (ex GWR) and Boscarne Junction. Next time I’ll explain how ‘Bosmelin’ fits in to this.

Although Oby (see previous posts) is bubbling away my main project is and always has been a layout called “Bosmelin” and it is this that I shall be progressing in 2019. I have found the history and operations of the Bodmin & Wadebridge Railway, which linked the two towns after which it was named, particularly interesting. My library of books about the line and related magazine articles has grown over the last decade while the release of several ready to run models that were prototypical to the line mean that making a model of the line is quite feasible. With Wadebridge at the western end of the line and Bodmin at the eastern there were three other mid-line locations of interest. Travelling from Wadebridge the first of these was Grogley Junction where the short goods branch to Ruthernbridge diverged from the ‘main line’ – a generous description for what was essentially a backwater branch line. The next location was the Junction at Boscarne named after a hamlet in the Parish of Nanstallon. Boscarne Junction was where the B&WR coincided with a short branch line from Bodmin (GWR.) This facilitated through running from the main GWR Plymouth to Penzance line at Bodmin Road albeit with a reversal midway at Bodmin (GWR.) Linked to Boscarne Junction and effectively under the control of Boscarne Junction Signal Box was the third junction at Dunmere where the B&WR split into two arms; the one to Bodmin (LSWR) and the other to the goods only terminus at Wenford Bridge. As can be seen Boscarne Junction was a pivotal operating point on the line which had originally been opened in 1834 to transport sand gathered from the estuary of the River Camel at Wadebridge to a series of ‘wharves’ at various villages along the line. The sand was used by farmers and landowners to improve the soil in their fields and in practice was unloaded more or less where it was needed – while the wharves were used for other goods. In the early days granite from the De Lank Quarry on Bodmin Moor was regularly carried from Wenford Bridge – the blocks being conveyed to the terminus down an incline from the quarries. Later, china clay from the Wenford Dries just south of the terminus was the primary freight carried on the line – most being taken from Boscarne Junction along the GWR lines to the deep water port at Fowey on the south coast of Cornwall. In the early days clay was also shipped from Wadebridge and Padstow. Ball clay from the pits in North Devon also found it’s way over B&WR metals having been transported to Wadebridge via the North Cornwall Railway. The line from Boscarne Junction to Wadebridge survived as a freight only line until the 1970s after which the china clay from Wenford Dries became the only goods carried until the pits on Bodmin Moor were closed. Today the Bodmin & Wenford Railway Ltd – the principal standard gauge heritage line in Cornwall – runs trains between Bodmin General (ex GWR) and Boscarne Junction. Next time I’ll explain how ‘Bosmelin’ fits in to this.

I think this is what you seek. https://www.udeuschle.de/panoramas/makepanoramas.htm I kept it in my favourites.

I do know Tim Horn as he makes his workshop available to the North Norfolk Area Group of the S4S for meetings. He is a thoroughly decent hard working one man band, family man and a railway modeller too boot. His workshop is always full of orders and work in progress. He does all his own design work afaik and develops prototypes of new boards which he refines through various manifestations. I know because I've seen all this. I cannot beleive he would knowingly ignore a customer - but having heard him refer to 400 emails to look at it is easy to see how one could get overlooked. Of course every retailer/manufacturer has the right to ignore correspondents and some do - their businesses seldom prosper. Tim seems to be increasingly busy so that speaks volumes.

What tosh. Batch size should have no bearing on the quality in fact one would expect worker boredom to be less with smaller batches - a change is a good as a rest etc etc. Greater concentration. Secondly just because a good is made in China is also not a indicator of low quality unless there is some perception at work here. Many Chinese products are of the highest order. Whether the QC is due to the lack of clout you suggest Hornby might have we can but speculate upon. I would suspect it is more a cultural issue within Hornby itself. To suggest that products bought here must be expected to be lower quality is an attitude I find quite bewildering. Second rate may be good enough for you but it ain't good enough for me and most others. And - a general point - I also cannot understand the desire to return faulty good to the manufacturer. It is the retailer's responsibility to rectify faults on new goods. Don't let mail order retailers avoid their duties to you - their customers - else some will just exploit that attitude. Remember they are the ones who have made about a 100% mark up on the product for acting as an intermediary only if they are bypassed for after sales service. It's money for old rope if you go back to Hornby instead. And you wonder why products are dear? I cannot believe some of what I've been reading in this thread.

Yes. Yes. Too many retailers are product ignorant. I had to explain to a 'specialist' TV retailer the other day what HLG is and why its important with regard to future HD broadcasts. Product ignorance is all too prevalent these days. Plus I would expect even an average shop assistant to spot holes where something is missing (the handrail in the example). If they can't do that one questions a) their employability and b) the motives of their employer. Yes. I want a product that is complete and working on delivery not one I have to send back. I don't think anybody has actually mentioned 100% product integrity for obvious reasons. Having worked in and managed customer service in one way or another all my life - the last thing any sensible decent manufacturer or retailer wants are returned goods and complaints. Avoiding the vast majority of these is down to mindset, training and a little effort. I suspect a lot of people on this forum have no experience of the dire state of British manufacturd goods (British Leyland for eg) or the lousy service given in most places in the 70s for example. Present day is in my experience by and large much better fuelled by global competition in goods and labour but there is no room for complacency. It's so easy to slide back into mediocrity.

The first port of call should be the retailer as that is who the contract of sale is with. By passing the retailer and referring straight back to the manufacturer is letting the retailer off the hook. If you get a faulty car you go back to the dealership not the factory. The retailers will have more sway in getting the manufactuer to improve quality. Make work for the retailers who in turn will make work for the reps. Nobody likes complaints (reps more than anybody) If you accept shoddy work - you'll only get more of it. Quality is a mindset. If something is done it can be done right or it can be done wrong. Doing it right is less costly than doing it wrong if the latter needs rectifying. But it might be cheaper if the buyers don't come back. Better quality doesn't automatically mean higher prices as the latter can mean less sales especially in things like model railway items. If a retailer - any retailer - disregards customer satisfaction, change retailer. They'll soon get the message. Yes I know all about economies of scale but that doesn't apply to most retailers - the last thing they want is complaints. Bachmann were renown for cheap sales at shows. They had so many due to returns for quality issues. They don't have so many now. They improved their QC. (as confirmed to me by one of their reps) Basically they had to. (Unless customers just gave up and accept their failings and I was told porkies by the rep - but I doubt that)

I doubt those buying say a new car and found switches for example missing would feel inclined to wire in their own replacements. Different scale same principle. A product should be complete as advertised when sold. The role of the retailers here must also be questioned though. In a face to face sale then any omissions can be dealt with immediately but surely for mail order they are checking the goods before despatch. If not then surely they should. It is quite normal for British consumers to habitually accept second rate goods and services lest they be forced to complain. Stiff upper lip and all that, don't make a fuss. This trait really is bad as it allows suppliers to get away with things. Even if, as they explain, other buyers are happy to accept incomplete goods I am surprised they are, presumably, happy to still pay full price especially if they are then happy to effect their own repairs. The manufacturers and retailers must be laughing behind their backs. Of course this is a principle and the 'happy to repair and pay full price' group make their own choices but by doing so they send a message that others may not subscribe to. Incomplete goods should be returned or at least sold as seen at a discount. By accepting incomplete goods some purchasers are being taken as mugs by manufacturers and retailers who can safely ignore the QC that others expect. The OP is quite right.

Thanks '247' :-)

Presumably the date is known?

<p>I’ve been contemplating whether planting a fictitious station at Oby would be in context with the other railways in that part of Norfolk. Although I’m happy with a make believe scenario I still like to think it will be plausible. This is one reason I have a liking for ‘might have been’ subjects. Oby was never a might have been.</p> <p>Imagine, therefore, my delight when reading ‘The Norfolk Railway – Railway Mania in East Anglia 1834-1862’ by John Barney, pub. Mintaka Books 2007, to find reference to ‘The North Coast Continuation Railway.’ Running from Reedham to North Walsham via Acle this speculative proposition was not heard of again after 1845 – there being no actual demand for a line such as the NCCR.</p> <p>This is my sort of prototype but a quick look at the map suggested that – in the absence of any details of a potential route – my choice of route would miss Oby. However at this time of course the Great Yarmouth and Stalham Light Railway that later formed the eastern end of the M&GN and which would not be opened until 1877 was not a consideration.</p> <p>The Island of Flegg – <a href="http://www.fleggisland.co.uk/Villages.html"rel="nofollow">http://www.fleggisland.co.uk/Villages.html</a> – would therefore, be an ideal destination for a branch line. I imagine this branch would have left the NCCR and crossed the River Bure in the vicinity of Upton on the west bank and Oby on the east bank. Oby Staithe would be the first station on the branch.</p> <p>Plausible? I think so.</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <a href="https://thersr.wordpress.com/2018/12/27/plausibility/"class='bbc_url' rel='nofollow external'>Source</a>

I’ve been contemplating whether planting a fictitious station at Oby would be in context with the other railways in that part of Norfolk. Although I’m happy with a make believe scenario I still like to think it will be plausible. This is one reason I have a liking for ‘might have been’ subjects. Oby was never a might have been. Imagine, therefore, my delight when reading ‘The Norfolk Railway – Railway Mania in East Anglia 1834-1862’ by John Barney, pub. Mintaka Books 2007, to find reference to ‘The North Coast Continuation Railway.’ Running from Reedham to North Walsham via Acle this speculative proposition was not heard of again after 1845 – there being no actual demand for a line such as the NCCR. This is my sort of prototype but a quick look at the map suggested that – in the absence of any details of a potential route – my choice of route would miss Oby. However at this time of course the Great Yarmouth and Stalham Light Railway that later formed the eastern end of the M&GN and which would not be opened until 1877 was not a consideration. The Island of Flegg – http://www.fleggisland.co.uk/Villages.html – would therefore, be an ideal destination for a branch line. I imagine this branch would have left the NCCR and crossed the River Bure in the vicinity of Upton on the west bank and Oby on the east bank. Oby Staithe would be the first station on the branch. Plausible? I think so.

Just a comment on this. I was talking to one of the Hornby designers at Peterborough and mentioned scanning. They prefer not to scan as this records all lumps, bumps dents and other unwanted features which all need to be 'cleaned up' to make the drawings. This chap said original drawings were preferred but he also described measuring the Ivatt City of Birmingham himself. Another problem with scanning he described is the uniqueness of each engine as they are essentially handbuilt and seldom match drawings exactly. He cited the Grange where every photo that was examined showed a different shape to the firebox cladding. Cue the that's the wrong shape brigade. An interesting conversation.

Hi Clive, I'm afraid I still don't understand. In the first post you say: Therefore layouts w(h)ere there is little movement can become very well modelled dioramas not model railways. And you re-aver this in the later post. Categorisation infers that if there is extreme movement it is a model railway and if there is no movement then it is a diorama, but you are talking about 'little movement' inferring there is some but that this soon moves into the diorama spectrum - when? how? why? There must be a threshold where the exhibit is one or the other in your opinion - or in fact. But this doesn't matter because irrespective of anybody's opinion the layouts on show belong to their owners and/or the operators/demonstrators and shown in the way they want them to be. Customer's either like it or lump it. To expect the owners/operators of specific layouts to change things to meet the whims of the observers - the views of which are as disparate as 'leave and remain' - is unrealistic and unfair. The layouts have been invited by the organisers because of the way they are not because of the way customers would like them to be/think they ought to be. If the customers don't like them and tell the organisers then the latter have a decision to make about next time. An opinion expressed is not just an opinion - it is lobbying for things to become as we would like or to change hearts and minds; why else express it? What other value does it serve? (Rhetorical questions)

So Clive are you suggesting a movement threshold over which a 'scale model thing' qualifies as a model railway. Personally I thanks that's a stupid idea but I'd be interested as to how the scheme would work.

An excellent iniative. No doubt some will carp. But bringing in new participants is the only way to sustain our hobby into the future. Change will ensue c'est la vie.

I didn't visit Warley this year but reading the posts of those who did I am puzzled by the 'lack of movement' complaints. If the lack of movement is due to operator lassitude or negilgence then such complaints are fully justified. But any movement must be considered in the light of the layout owner's intention. That is to say 'what are they showing you?' This hobby is a 'broad church' and just because a layout is highly rated does not mean you will like it. With 90 layouts on show there should be something for everybody although much will not be to one's taste. There was a comment about Sidmouth's trackplan limiting operation. But it's a model of Sidmouth - a very fine model - So that's how it has to be. If the plan was altered it wouldn't be Sidmouth any more. Liverpool Lime Street is obviously run to a timetable and that's what it's meant to show. There's more to a model railway than moving trains although that's what some prefer of course. While some timetable compression can be beneficial my personal view is that we as onlookers should try to understand the motives of the layout's builders before making too many judgements. And as ever if you don't like what's being exhibited move on or, better still, build a layout to demonstrate what you like and put it on show at Warley. And yes I have seen both Sidmouth & Lime Street eleswhere. While trains weren't moving I enjoyed studying the scenery, buildings and so forth - all parts of a 'model railway.' (No dinosaurs or daleks thank goodness ;-) )

Frankly, I think you should have either pushed back or better still smacked him one - surreptitiously of course. It's no good being polite with these morons. Never stay silent always belittle them. You shouldn't have to stop going because of a lout. It is he that should be discouraged.

Nope ebay requires the vendor to make sale entries etc etc. What I'm suggesting is an online sales agent who does all the vending relieving the manufacturer of this so he/she can concentrate on production, despatch and after sales. It's not the same as a shop as a shop holds stock. My suggestion may not be a good one but to make online sales of cottage industry products easier for all there needs to be out of the box (as opposed to rtr) thinking. There might already be a similar model in another field or an existing platform available. It just needs some imagination and people with the right skills to develop a solution.

I thought Mainly Trains stocked the items. What I'm suggesting is a virtual shop were orders are simply collates and sent to various suppliers to fulfill. Payments would also be with the virtual shop who would disburse less a commssion. It's only a thought. Something radical is needed else small suppliers get drowned in their own online presence and entangled in the web of IT. (See what I did there?

This is an interesting situation and is repeated elswhere. The trials and tribulatuons of those trying to deal with the new C&L being particularly well dissected. Maintaining a comprehensive e-commerce website is a time consuming activity and one which one-man bands may not be able to undertake as well a produce their products. Some of the proprietors also seem less IT able or inclined and this may be due to age or simply inclination. Meanwhile customers are increasingly familiar with on-line shopping, e-commerce, paypal etc. And one muses whether the 'one-man bands' themselves use such systems for their own purchases. Overall the situation is one ofchange.It's not always easy. What should concern us most is how the young who we want to adopt the hobby but who are growing up in an ever increasingly 'e-world' and don't understand the old ways and have no reason to adopt them otherwise can make a commitment to the hobby. It is very easy to complain that goods, suppliers, and service do not meet our expectations while seldom understanding the dynamics of the business involved. It is far harder to suggest real solutions and most of us do not. Could it be time for an Amazon style 'front-end' for small suppliers to be created - at a cost yes - which acts as a clearing house for the cottage industries and removes the e-commerce burden? It's just an idea. Small suppliers undertake their activities to make a living not to keep all customwrs happy. After all there are only so many customers they can cope with. Once they make and sustain that living there really is little motivation to expand which will incur all sorts of costs and further business complexities. And I suspect a few disatisfed comments on a forum (understandable) are not going to damage them too much if otherwise they have a sound business model which meets their needs. Alternatively perhaps they need more competition. ;-)

Thanks for explaining that PJ. Now I understand where you are coming from. I would say however that membership of a society is not an irrevocable step. After all lets say it's £25 pa which is say six pints of beer or 12 bottles of coke or 4 Burgers. But everybody's situation is different and my example is not a judgement or meant to sound dismissive but simply an illustration. I don't have much disposal income now and have to take care with recreational expense but I must say that I have found my membership of the Scalefour Society helpful - although I will admit I am tempted to look at the EMGS now. Best wishes with whatever you decide.

It would Steve, but I don't think the person whose posting I didn't understand made any overt reference to differential pricing being a factor in his thinking.

That would be an argument for joining but if you wanted to buy it then joining the society in the first place would have the same outcome. PJ's trigger for buying the track and perhaps joining the society would be their decision to sell it to the general public. If they don't sell it to the general public he will not join the society in order to buy it. I'm not sure what the advantage is here. I must be missing some subtlety in the argument or something.