7mm Pencarrow - Cornish BR(S)

[Pencarrow]

Sorry I can't remember your plans for this - is it simple analogue control or digital control?

I think it depends on how you want to operate the layout and the sort of switches you intend to use. Again I really must update my Holywell Town thread as I've been sorting out the electrics as well but it's difficult to show any progress. All I can do is show what I have decided on. My intention was to use the MERG CBus system to operate the servo point motors. So I have little pcb mounted switches and LEDs, as the pcb is on a fixed pitched it was simple to draw this out in CAD and laser cut an MDF template of the layout.

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I wanted portability and with the CBus system I've used the standard ethernet connectors. So I've squeezed it all into an aluminium instrument box and I used the MDF panel as a drilling template for the aluminium box. I'll then using lining tape/lining pen or printed label to sketch out the layout plan.

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Just one option to consider - if you have a plan sketched out then I can cut it out in MDF for you - as long as it doesn't exceed A3 in size!

Many thanks Adrian, that's a very kind offer. As soon as I know what I'm doing and the switching plans are finalised, I may well be in touch.

How is the layout being worked? It's being wired as a two controller, DC cab control with 12 sections. The complication is that there's a master switch that kills the DC input and replaces it with DCC from an NEC controller.

Why both? Well, when building locos they aren't generally fitted with chips until all the bugs and shorts are ironed out. Also I would like the layout to be welcoming to visitors of both the DC and DCC variety.

Turnouts are going to be operated by Tortoise point motors on conventional DC using on-on switches.

The 12 sections switched via on-off-on switches.

There's probably about another 6 switches for signals and ground signals.

I'm going to use Dingham couplings operated by electromagnets. These will be wired back to a rotary switch to select the magnet and a push button to fire the juice.

I'm thinking at the moment of splitting the panel into 2 horizontal sections.

The top strip will have a mimic panel which also has the section switches plus LEDs to show which section is on which DC controller. The diagram will also label up the magnet, turnout and signal references.

Below, on the lower strip will be a strip of switches for the turnouts and signals mimicking a signal box lever frame.

Below is an earlier sketch up of the idea. The turnout numbering etc is wrong as I missed that there are two further crossings that only need a switch each not two.

The small grey circles in the mimic diagram are the section switch locations. Letters A-K the magnet positions. Numbers 2-19 the turnout and signal refs.



I do have another version with the corrected numbering, an extra FPL and few other tweaks but that's saved on the laptop not the phone.

 

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This is not in the same format as the panel but shows the location of the extra crossings (4&6) and FPL (5).



The numbering order isn't right yet for the lever frame...

 

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A bit last minute.com but I took 1 of the Pencarrow boards and a few bits and bobs down to Taunton on Sunday for the RMweb SWAG members day.





Chatted with loads of folk I know, a number of whom are also on here, and had a great time stuffing my face with pasties, pie and cake.

Bulleid and Betjeman don't look too impressed with the Railbus though...

 

[Pencarrow]

Pencarrow is based on a much compressed and rearranged version of Bodmin North. A few bits are fairly accurate but much of it falls more into the 'inspired by' category.

The lack of a 30m long space to do the job properly to scale does mean I've made some serious compromises along the way. Tony Wright wouldn't be impressed with the amount of compression used (or the fact I've not built a BR(E) mainline ;-p. )

As a result of my crimes against prototype fidelity there are a few areas I've struggled with getting to look right. One if these is the rear left corner of the layout where a lack of board width means that the bank, wall, road and buildings behind the yard can't be fitted in and there's a length of the layout between the grain store and the provender stores that ends too abruptly for my liking.

I've been mulling this over for a while, and perhaps for a bit too stuck on trying to make prototype features fit. Reality check, I'm building an 'inspired by'! With that in mind I've been looking for something to better finish the rear of the layout.

Flicking through books I looked again at the old Bodmin Wharf, the old B&W goods only terminus before it was rebuilt as a passenger station by the LSWR. The buildings below were a key part of the wharf but we're demolished by the LSWR prior to the new station layout opening on 1/11/1895.


These same few images are in just about every book and website covering the B&W.

So I decided to draw them up using a range of things to scale them such as the wagon wheelbase and height plus a guess at the height of the people in the photos. The full run of buildings is a good 40% too long so some amalgamation of the key features into a shorter set was undertaken.






Still some tweaking on the height of the ground the buildings sit on (a tad higher) and their orientation but I quite like them. The back story is that they, like the grain store, we're originally rail served prior to the site being remodeled by the LSWR who lowered the track levels - hence the buildings need to be a little higher.

There will be a path leading down to the station yard which runs between the grain store and the wharf buildings. Hints of a road will be visible behind the buildings.

One interesting element will be trying to guess how the buildings would have looked in the late 50s / early 60s period I'm modelling. That's c65 years after they were demolished. I doubt the bay windows and nice glazing would have survived...

I'll leave the drawing in place a few days to see how it sits with me.

 

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These are about the best shots I can find (small sections of larger photos) to illustrate what was actually in the corner I'm thinking of placing the wharf building in.






Depth-wise I could fit the hut, bank and wall in but... The wall and bank raising up left to right doesn't sit well with the provender stores (which are too close to the right) and despite trying a few things out in low relief, I can't get anything to work behind the wall to give an impression that the view continues. The eye does get drawn into the corner and there's nothing there.

Hence last week's thoughts about going off-piste and introducing a variation on the wharf buildings. Still quite like the idea, another play today perhaps?

 

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Had a rethink about Dave's suggestion of including the prototype third gable. It does fit if I leave the wall and gate off the rhs.



I think I'm going to make the building anyway as even if I don't use it here I do have somewhere else it could go.

The rear two tracks on the fiddle yard board aren't really for fiddling but form a pair of sidings worked off the main boards. As such I'm going to scenic them - ballast, green stuff and a backdrop of yard buildings. These could go there.

I'm also coming around to the idea that the backscene does not form a scenic break between the main boards and fiddle but goes around the back of the fiddle as well.

 

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Dave, I've dug the station building mock up (card again) out of the storage box and put it on the board so you can see how it all fits together...



Edit: looking at these photos a day later I do now think the wharf buildings help balance the weight of the station building and canopy.

 

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I've decided to use Wills sheets for the stonework. These are sanded flat and will have extra coursing added to better match what I can see in the photos.


The building is just under 2 Wills sheets wide so I've split the sheets at suitable places (door and window openings) so that's I get a join between the gables.



What I tend to do is glue the sheet to the plasticard and then cut the openings out from behind.

 

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And now in primer...

 

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Fantastic day out today down at Railwells. Never been before but really enjoyed it. Good selection of trade and not a poor layout to be seen anywhere - great modelling all around.

Anyway, the only reason I went down was to see John Greenwood's 2mm NCR and Bodmin empire. The rest if the show was a very pleasant bonus.

 

[Pencarrow]

Seeing John's Wadebridge empire enabled me to have a good look in 3d around the various groups of buildings, particularly the clusters of housing that bound the station. I've been looking for something to go at the rear of the layout on the right, leading away from the goods yard and up to the bridge. Backs of interesting houses particularly. My original plan was to use the row of terraced houses that are in loads of photos of Bodmin North. These ones:



But I was quite taken with these from Wadebridge...

 

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Progress on Pencarrow:


Yes, there's nothing there. Bizarrely this is actually moving things forward. All will come clear over the next few weeks...

 

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Sorted...



Swapped the white kickboards for some the door colour.

 

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By the way, in between battling with door frames, it sounds like my David Andrews N Class kit will be arriving this week. Could well be the last batch David is doing of these so I was pleased to get hold of one.

Any advice or tips on building a David Andrews kit from the collective?

 

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So, for the first time since August I've got the modelling gear out in the re-arranged train room to do some actual modelling. Taken ages to find everything again, with many modelling tools finding their way into the garage or DIY toolboxes.

Thought i'd do some work on these:

The only issue is I can't find my fag packet sketches. But then I remembered taking a photo and posting on here:



Obviously the originals will be found once the buildings are complete...

 

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A reminder of the prototype - demolished over 120 years ago...







So full of character...

 

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Been busy today getting the second wharf building ready for primer. Various odds and sods sorted out and the rendering finished off.

As ever photos in primer are great at spotting stuff you've missed. This is where I'm up to...






I did remember to mask the roof glazing!







And a close up of the render:

 

[Pencarrow]

Note to self:

Informative webpage for when I come to build the Parkside GWR AA19 van...

GWR Goods Brake Vans

 

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Hopefully that's the bay window done ready for a spot of paint.

 

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Next process is to apply a stoneyish base coat using my four favourite colours.



Randomly picking colours and doing a quick most of each for several repetitions. Tricky bit is trying to get roughly the same end colour on similar buildings.



I try to remember roughly how many passes of each I use. The cans are held a good 12-18" away and moved quickly. Some if the paint dries before hitting the model giving a gritty texture. Hence why other materials were masked.







I'm not overly bothered by the result at this stage as it's only the base for the later work to follow.