Penhayle Bay

[SRman]

The Melbourne lines I am on (Belgrave/Lilydale) were running Sunday timetables for the public holidays: that meant trains every 10 minutes during the day. Not bad at all.

[Gwiwer]

Same here - a train every 10 minutes through most of the day, every 20 minutes early and later.   And very busy they were, too.

[St Enodoc]

Same here - a train every 10 minutes through most of the day, every 20 minutes early and later.   And very busy they were, too.

Sunday timetables in Sydney too.

[Gwiwer]

Penhayle Bay has usually had a Christmas Day special train often formed of unusual stock and traction.  That didn't happen this year because work got in the way.  Since then I have been steadily getting into the significant tasks of stripping and rebuilding the sun-damaged Treheligan station and of fitting the shade-cloth.  Both are still works in progress.

[Gwiwer]

An update as this layout has slipped somewhat under the radar of late.

 

Various domestic projects have had to be attended to ranging from scoping the works and going to tender for bathroom renovations through to rebuilding the lattice-walled cat run / shade area at the back of the house.  The latter included a tricky and time-consuming removal of its former shade-cloth roof and replacement with lattice, and the renewal of time-served and broken lattice fence-toppers along our back boundary.  

 

Combined with the need to earn a living those tasks have meant work on Penhayle Bay stopped and is only now about to re-start.

 

The state of play is currently that the new roof has proven itself weatherproof and the shade-cloth inner "liner" is one-third fitted.  Once that is fully in place I can proceed to clean the layout and run trains.  The rebuild of Treheligan station will take longer than I expected and will proceed as and when I have time.  A few more bits and pieces have been ordered today from Gaugemaster for this project.  

 

As time permits I hen plan to rewire the layout in a manner which will allow operations in the various yards to be entirely segregated electrically from the main lines.  At present there are limitations on what I can do because the layout was built (and will remain) DC controlled but without any isolation beyond that obtained from insulfrog points.  I have developed as a modeller over the years and can improve on that now.  Any future point replacements which become necessary may also feature electrofrogs as I have some in stock though this would only happen if a point failed and required replacement.

 

I also intend to investigate whether it might be possible to reduce the gradient on the St. Agnes branch line which currently limits the stock able to use it.   Some of that which goes up will pulse coming down on low power / speed due to BEMF (I am told) and an easier gradient would reduce that and allow more variety by enabling some trains which slip to a stand to then "go all the way".  

 

Penhayle Bay is entering its 11th year as a completed circuit.  As outdoor layouts go it is holding up remarkably well and might yet serve fifteen years under the Australian sun.  Testament indeed to those components - still about 75% of the original as built - which have endured in conditions somewhat beyond their design parameters.

Edited February 15, 2016 by Gwiwer

[brianusa]

Missed the 'Bay. Hope to see it up and running soon.

 

Brian.

[Gwiwer]

I did get some track cleaned up today and ran a couple of tests with recently-arrived locos.  

 

The Isle of Wight O2 looks good and runs well though seems to have some oily patches on the tank sides which show through the weathering powder.  The diminutive nameplate on this is a user-fitted (but supplied) item and was fiddly in the extreme to get straight and without glue leaks.

 

 

 

 

The freshly-weathered Heljan class 33 has also been test-run to my satisfaction.

 

 

 

I promise more action as soon as I can get the tracks cleaned and have a couple of hours spare outside!

[P.C.M]

I do like that Crompton top weathering job Rick.

 

Cheers Peter.

[Waverley West]

I do like that Crompton top weathering job Rick.

 

Cheers Peter.

 

Seconded Peter. That funny looking loco with a chimney on the top looks very nice too. 

[Gwiwer]

Despite favourable comments I decided the 33 needed a little more roof grime.  It has therefore been treated to a coating of hairspray (as fixative) and some more grimy black.  The result is seen posed on the viaduct with an other recent arrival in the shape of the latest Bachmann green BCK which this time around is in more or less the right shade of green.  I have an earlier one which is almost mint - literally in terms of both its condition and colouring!!!

 

[Andrew P]

Excellent weathering Rick, that Crompton is the bizzzz,

[Gwiwer]

The shade cloth has finally been fully fitted to the new roof and is successfully diffusing the worst of the sunlight and bringing a slight reduction in temperature across the layout.  It does also cause some mottling of the light at times but I can live with that more happily than I can live with ongoing blistering temperatures and warping of everything from plastic structures to the ballast and road surfaces.  Time will tell how they now hold up.

 

Currently the main lines and Treheligan sidings are open for traffic and if I cleaned the rails everything would be except for the down platform loop at Treheligan.  I can run trains tomorrow to mark St. Piran's Day.

 

For now here's a few "classic" views of a Western on china clays taken with the assistance of some spots of sunlight between today's clouds while I tested the track.

 

 

 

Edited March 4, 2016 by Gwiwer

[ian]

What a lovely effect the clouds have given to those scenes. Proper job , Rick.

[Gwiwer]

Gool Peran Lowen.  Happy St. Piran's Day from Cornwall in Australia

 

The entire roof now has its inner ling of shade-cloth.  St. Piran's flag still proudly flies above the layout.  The rebuilding of Treheligan station as a result of sun damage is in progress.

 

 

To mark the national day of the Cornish I arranged a line-up of five types associated with that part of the world.  Representing, approximately, the five decades I also offer on the layout are:

 

1960s : a class 42 Warship

1970s : a class 52 Western;

1980s : a class 37 (sometimes nicknamed tractors);

1990s : a class 66 (nicknamed sheds or ying-yings);

2000s : a class 57 which, because it was rebuilt from a class 47, also represents the 1970s and 1980s.  

 

 

 

 

[St Enodoc]

Gool Peran Lowen.  Happy St. Piran's Day from Cornwall in Australia

Seconded, from the same part of Cornwall in a different part of Australia.

[Marcus 37]

Hi Rick

Some really great pictures there Rick. Really love the Western on the clay hoods with the superb lighting effect. Also the weathering on that Crompton is spot on.

Nice selection of motive power in the last picture. For completeness, the 57's have been nick named "Body Snatchers" for obvious reasons.

Cheers

Marcus

[janner]

Gool Peran Lowen.

[P.C.M]

Happy St Piran's day Rick.

Nice line up too. Good to see the progress on the roof and station area.

 

Cheers Peter.

[Gwiwer]

Happy St Piran's day Rick.

Nice line up too. Good to see the progress on the roof and station area.

 

Cheers Peter.

 

 

Thanks Peter.  There's a fair way to go on the station rebuild which involves also rebuilding the roadways and rewiring the lighting.  But I can run trains and the sunlight isn't quite as intense nor as hot as it was.   Must fix up a date for another open house sometime soon as well even if the rebuild isn't completed.

[P.C.M]

Thanks Peter.  There's a fair way to go on the station rebuild which involves also rebuilding the roadways and rewiring the lighting.  But I can run trains and the sunlight isn't quite as intense nor as hot as it was.   Must fix up a date for another open house sometime soon as well even if the rebuild isn't completed.

Hi Rick,

Always up for a meeting, how did you go early in the week with the hot weather it would have been a good test.

 

Also after some real train info so will send you a PM.

 

Cheers Peter.

[Gwiwer]

So far so good Peter.  I'm tidying up the scenes which look a bit bleached and worn.  The heat hasn't been as bad though I've remembered to move trains into shade after blowing up the DMU!  There's some new street lights in the mail for the road bridge area and when they are in I can get on with the station rebuild.  PM replied to.

 

Cheers

Rick

[Gwiwer]

And in other news the quest for worthwhile ongoing upgrades continues.  I have ordered three Dapol motorised home signals which will become the first on the layout to be operable directly from the panel as opposed to set by hand or kit-built fixed arms.

 

These are, provided they are suitable, destined to become the Penhayle Bay Down Home and Down Starter and the Up Starter which doubles as section signal towards Darras.  These are the one in the sand dunes and the one set at an odd angle by the 'box and "wrong side" at the platform end on the down road (the latter so placed because of the reverse-curved approach and the need for good sighting by train crews); the up starter is a long way off the platform end and almost opposite the one often seen in "sand dune" shots.  

 

There's a reason for this arrangement as there always is with signalling.  Up trains approach the station through the tunnel and around a sharp bend.  The gradient increases from level through 1:50 to 1:36 off the platform end which is a challenge for drivers of all trains never mind the heavier ones which often call there.  The home signal (before the tunnel and on the cliff section) is also fitted with a distant arm at fixed caution to remind drivers of the low speed limit ahead (40mph) so as I don't need the distant arm to work that signal will not be replaced with a working one.  The starter is well up the bank allowing stopping trains to draw up to the signal and have as little as possible of the "tail" back in the tunnel.  It also means the locomotive has a better chance of getting away without slipping.  There is no separate section signal forward to Darras because the line speed increases to 70mph once clear of the summit meaning trains get clear fairly quickly.  To have another stop signal in that length would mean it having to be just beyond the next tunnel therefore out of sight until too late to stop.  I could always use a banner repeater before the tunnel and might eventually do so.  But for now the one signal fulfils two functions and while a little unusual it works for me.

 

Darras is a small box inspired by Largin and the signals are (currently dummy) traffic lights with the crossover not normally used.  In the real world this location could be switched out much of the time with the signals in automatic mode.

Another quirk of modelling geography means that longer down trains calling at Penhayle Bay, where the short platforms only accommodate 3½ coaches, must draw through the tunnel and stop at the section signal beyond unless the starter is "on".  Drivers have a clear view back around the headland to the platform and can see the guard's flag / lamp; they could not do so if stopped in the tunnel and if stopped at the starter then only the first one or two passenger coaches might be platformed of a train up to 14 vehicles in length.  Trains formed of 4 or fewer vehicles, unless the leading ones are all vans, must stop in front of the starter.  

 

It's all in the local Sectional Appendix

[nerron]

And in other news the quest for worthwhile ongoing upgrades continues.  I have ordered three Dapol motorised home signals which will become the first on the layout to be operable directly from the panel as opposed to set by hand or kit-built fixed arms.

Good luck with these,The first two I ordered (LMS) were defective.On the home both the light and actuation were non-operative and on the distant the light worked but not the actuation.The replacements worked and I have now added another three which are all fine.Probably, as is all too common these days, a quality control issue.I am now looking forward to the arrival of the bracket signals.

Edited March 14, 2016 by nerron

[St Enodoc]

And in other news the quest for worthwhile ongoing upgrades continues.  I have ordered three Dapol motorised home signals which will become the first on the layout to be operable directly from the panel as opposed to set by hand or kit-built fixed arms.

 

These are, provided they are suitable, destined to become the Penhayle Bay Down Home and Down Starter and the Up Starter which doubles as section signal towards Darras.  These are the one in the sand dunes and the one set at an odd angle by the 'box and "wrong side" at the platform end on the down road (the latter so placed because of the reverse-curved approach and the need for good sighting by train crews); the up starter is a long way off the platform end and almost opposite the one often seen in "sand dune" shots.  

 

There's a reason for this arrangement as there always is with signalling.  Up trains approach the station through the tunnel and around a sharp bend.  The gradient increases from level through 1:50 to 1:36 off the platform end which is a challenge for drivers of all trains never mind the heavier ones which often call there.  The home signal (before the tunnel and on the cliff section) is also fitted with a distant arm at fixed caution to remind drivers of the low speed limit ahead (40mph) so as I don't need the distant arm to work that signal will not be replaced with a working one.  The starter is well up the bank allowing stopping trains to draw up to the signal and have as little as possible of the "tail" back in the tunnel.  It also means the locomotive has a better chance of getting away without slipping.  There is no separate section signal forward to Darras because the line speed increases to 70mph once clear of the summit meaning trains get clear fairly quickly.  To have another stop signal in that length would mean it having to be just beyond the next tunnel therefore out of sight until too late to stop.  I could always use a banner repeater before the tunnel and might eventually do so.  But for now the one signal fulfils two functions and while a little unusual it works for me.

 

Darras is a small box inspired by Largin and the signals are (currently dummy) traffic lights with the crossover not normally used.  In the real world this location could be switched out much of the time with the signals in automatic mode.

 

Another quirk of modelling geography means that longer down trains calling at Penhayle Bay, where the short platforms only accommodate 3½ coaches, must draw through the tunnel and stop at the section signal beyond unless the starter is "on".  Drivers have a clear view back around the headland to the platform and can see the guard's flag / lamp; they could not do so if stopped in the tunnel and if stopped at the starter then only the first one or two passenger coaches might be platformed of a train up to 14 vehicles in length.  Trains formed of 4 or fewer vehicles, unless the leading ones are all vans, must stop in front of the starter.  

 

It's all in the local Sectional Appendix

Sounds good Rick.

 

When you get them, may I suggest that you increase the width of the stripes on the arms to about 3 mm? They look faintly ridiculous with such narrow stripes. Oddments of black or white transfers work well and the appearance will be transformed.

[Gwiwer]

Sounds good Rick.

 

When you get them, may I suggest that you increase the width of the stripes on the arms to about 3 mm? They look faintly ridiculous with such narrow stripes. Oddments of black or white transfers work well and the appearance will be transformed.

 

 

Thanks.  I fully intend to repaint the arms themselves.  I am a fan of the short arms (as still used at places like Worcester Shrub Hill) and prefer the later round silver-painted posts myself though longer ones were more common.  The Dapol ones appear slightly too long to me and might even get shortened a smidge.