A mixed-scale single-board exhibition layout

Porthgarrow is coming along fast with all the time and resources I can muster.  Its first exhibition (of two so far booked) is in just ten days' time on Saturday 29th July at the Twickenham & District MRC Open Day.  Details supplied on request of anyone's in the area and fancies a visit.  

There is a lot still to do but it will get there.  

The station building is structurally complete with the canopy added.  The platform is fenced and some greenery is growing behind that fence.  The track is fully ballasted.  The land is being built up as fast as glue dries on one piece and the next can be added.  So far the route down to the beach is well under way and the cottages are permanently sited.  

Rolling stock is being rusted and weathered in spare moments.  The first of now two Baldwin narrow-gauge locos has been heavily rusted and will act as the spare.  On display as a withdrawn and rusting hulk but an insurance policy and spare traction should anything go wrong with the other, more recent arrival, during exhibition.  The reason for choosing the later acquisition for normal use is that it is a DCC sound-fitted version obtained at a very advantageous price.  The layout is DC but the basic "chuff" function still works.  That's good enough for me.   

Ah yes.  The beach.  That will be a bolt-on outrigger attached to the front.  I built the base frame yesterday and have started painting the woodwork today.  At this stage the scene exists only in my mind but Cinderella will be at the ball looking her best.  No pressure there then!

Oh - and did I mention that amid all this frantic activity I have had to spend time preparing to move house?  Two months ago we hadn't even seen the property but on Friday we dxchange contracts and a week thence we complete and will be on the way back to living in Cornwall.  No pressure there either!!!  

It's all go.  

And of course, you will be expected to decorate the place as soon as you arrive!

The layout is looking good.

Terry

col.stephens said

And of course, you will be expected to decorate the place as soon as you arrive!

From “Post #288,257”, 20th July 2023, 9:44 AM

Ah no.  The place is in near-perfect order with nothing to do.  Fully renovated within the past five years and showing no signs of wear and tear since then.  We have now parted company with the deposit and exchange contracts tomorrow.  Completion is confirmed for next Friday.  That's all been quite quick and we are not quite ready to move just yet.  We shall be around the London area until at least early September but preparing the new place.  A handrail needs fitting to the staircase where there is none at present.  A couple of windows need easing slightly.  A good friend in the area who trained as a boat-builder and is very handy with most woodworking tasks will probably manage those for us.  

The Domestic Authorities have decreed that despite having slightly more space overall than we do now that the lower ceilings in the cottage preclude the use of the current arrangement.  I have a double cabin bed over the workstation / layout fiddle yard but that will have to become a conventional-height bed without the railway.  I am in discussion with the good folk of Hayle Railway Modellers with regards giving the bigger layout a home in their clubroom.  I get to keep the single-board Porthgarrow, the weathering kit and a little rolling stock at home.

No room for a shed outside?

Terry

col.stephens said

No room for a shed outside?

Terry

From “Post #288,263”, 21st July 2023, 6:23 AM

Yes there is a shed outside. But it is really only a tool shed, is unlined and unpowered. None of those prevent occupation by the railway authorities but anything in there would need to be box-file sized.

The house is officially ours now. Title changed when contracts exchanged yesterday. Completion is next Friday. We shall be collecting the keys the week after. 

But first there is the Twickenham MRC Open Day a week from now. The main board is about 80% complete. The outrigger board was built in the last couple of days and will have the beach scene added tomorrow.

No pressure!  

There 'e go my 'ansome. Back home to Cornwall. So pleased for you both.

Work continues at a fair old rate.  Having lost two of the few precious remaining days before the exhibition to necessary other tasks - namely buying a house, insuring it and changing the car paperwork - I am even more time-poor. 
 
The lighting will almost certainly not be wired before next Saturday. One of the legs decided enough was enough this morning and wrenched itself out by the screws from its under-board fixing. I may need to invest in a trestle table for short-term support.  I don’t have enough resin for the beach and harbour; supplies are coming from Camborne but the scene cannot now be built until Thursday afternoon at best for show 36 hours later. 
 
But the skips are now all weathered (all 21 of them), nine - the normal load - are loaded for “from quarry” trips, nine remain empty for the “back to quarry” runs, two are broken into skip and frame for effect and one is a spare for the siding.  The narrow gauge rails are rusted with the standard gauge to be done later today. More gaps in the land have been filled. Bits and bobs of final detail have been included with more to add while I wait for something else to set, dry or whatever. 

Poop poop... no pressure then... looking good so far

 Long Time No See.

I've been away on other sites and doing other things.  More on those elsewhere.

Returning to Porthgarrow ….. the layout moved successfully from London to Cornwall and has been installed in the Hayle Railway Modellers clubroom.  Here it has been tidied, cleaned and prepared for exhibition and has been out twice this year already.  It is due to appear once more in November after which I shall consider its future.

In brief I have completed to my satisfaction the scenic work across both gauges, installed a "roof" with strip lighting to contain the scene and to avoid any reliance upon room lighting at shows.  I fitted working platform lights and a signal but the step-down voltage regulator I wired up either didn't do its job or something else was amiss as no sooner had I powered up and the lights came on then they went off.  The whole lot had blown from over-current.  They are rated at 9V, I had them fed through a 12V - 3V step-down but they till popped.  So no "on-board" lighting then.  The same issue prevented me fitting the planned festoon lighting above the beach.  Followers of my work from a while back might recall I am no stranger to fancy lights!

Two 00-9 steam locos now feature with one being sound-fitted; that chuffs happily away on DC but I don't get the full range of control.  It does however nicely wheeae and ease into motion when powered up and then chuffs nicely.  That has impressed more than a few exhibition visitors.

A selection of OO stock is presented on the standard gauge.  This was to have had a run-off track as an outrigger to the main board but it has proved too flimsy to fit and operate reliably.  There is also no space for it in the car when the layout, trestles and stock are loaded.  A compromise has been reached whereby the OO is powered and working but simply enters and leaves through the tunnel and is caught (hopefully!) by the Hand of God before it nose-dives to the floor.  As the trains are reastricted to one or two coaches anyway the effect is barely noticed by the viewing public.

Porthgarrow was a much-admired exhibit at the recent two-day event staged by the Falmouth & Helston MRC where it drew significant attention from professionals and traders.  It also gained a lot of attention at HRM's own open day last weekend.  The most frequent comments noted the level of detail, the use of two gauges within one scale and the effective use of three different levels in such a small space.  One trader even took photos of their own ecenic products in use for promoitional purposes; as they said to me it was "the best use of their water products" they had ever seen.

 

Some nice weathering there Rick and good to see you back here posting again.

Seconded  



Ed

That mineral line has come out very well Rick.