Penhayle Bay

[Gwiwer]

British Railways Board                           

 

PUBLIC NOTICE

 

WITHDRAWAL OF RAILWAY PASSENGER AND FREIGHT SERVICES

BETWEEN PENHAYLE BAY and TREHELIGAN; also the St. Agnes and Ponsangwyn branches

 

The Western Region of British Railways hereby give notice that on and from a date to be specified but not later than Easter Monday 17^th April 2017 the railway passenger and freight services on the Penhayle Bay Railway will be withdrawn.

 

PENHAYLE BAY and TREHELIGAN stations will be closed to all traffic.

 

PONSANGWYN goods depot will also close to all traffic.

The line between Treheligan and St. Agnes will also close to all traffic.

 

The Secretary of State for the Environment has consented to the above closures which will take effect EARLIER than the date stated if circumstances so require.

 

It appears to the British Railways Board that the following alternatives exist in the general area:

         Llanbourne Station

         Newton Broadway Station

 

Bus services in the area are also operated to and from Newton Broadway station. 

 

If objections are received to this proposal negotiations may be entered into with person or persons willing to ensure the future of all or parts of the Penhayle Bay Railway.

 

BY ORDER – CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER 

Edited September 22, 2016 by Gwiwer

[westerner]

What's next then?

[Andrew P]

Great and TERRIBLE NEWS all at once Rick, Hopefully it will be Re Built in Blighty with TWICE the area, TWICE the running length, TWICE the number of Stations AND HALF THE RAIN DRIPS.  

 

All the best from Pencarne, (at least were spared closure at the moment).

Edited September 22, 2016 by Andrew P

[brianusa]

Like any other closure, it will be missed. One of the few layouts that were 'Favourites' and had to be checked out on each visit. Now the fun part of running trains on a rationalised layout could begin! No more double track, goods yards, no signaling problems just a long siding which will eventually be lifted and the land returned to nature.

 

Brian.

[SRman]

Great and TERRIBLE NEWS all at once Rick, Hopefully it will be Re Built in Blighty with TWICE the area, TWICE the running length, TWICE the number of Stations AND HALF THE RAIN DRIPS.  

 

All the best from Pencarne, (at least were spared closure at the moment).

 

I dunno ... I would have thought there would be twice as many rain drips in the UK!   ;)

[St Enodoc]

British Railways Board                           

 

PUBLIC NOTICE

 

WITHDRAWAL OF RAILWAY PASSENGER AND FREIGHT SERVICES

BETWEEN PENHAYLE BAY and TREHELIGAN; also the St. Agnes and Ponsangwyn branches

 

The Western Region of British Railways hereby give notice that on and from a date to be specified but not later than Easter Monday 17^th April 2017 the railway passenger and freight services on the Penhayle Bay Railway will be withdrawn.

 

PENHAYLE BAY and TREHELIGAN stations will be closed to all traffic.

 

PONSANGWYN goods depot will also close to all traffic.

The line between Treheligan and St. Agnes will also close to all traffic.

 

The Secretary of State for the Environment has consented to the above closures which will take effect EARLIER than the date stated if circumstances so require.

 

It appears to the British Railways Board that the following alternatives exist in the general area:

         Llanbourne Station

         Newton Broadway Station

 

Bus services in the area are also operated to and from Newton Broadway station. 

 

If objections are received to this proposal negotiations may be entered into with person or persons willing to ensure the future of all or parts of the Penhayle Bay Railway.

 

BY ORDER – CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER 

Further alternative services are available from Pentowan, Polperran and Indian Queens Halt...

[DougN]

Great that everything is now being resolved and congrat's on the positive decision.

 

Sad to see the end of the line for this picturesque part of the coast line. I am sure that the pleasurable hours spent with the"bay" will be remembered and I hope it won't be too long until we see the area seeing a new station opening.

 

No doubt prior to the last train there will be a gathering to see the last trains run and no doubt there will be a large number of RMwebers in attendance and those watching from the web! I am positive SRman, PCM, myself and a number of others will be there on the special occasion... we could even cool a beer or 2 for the day!  

[Peter Beckett]

Hi Rick,

I must have missed something. Why the closure? PM if necessary.

 

Peter

[stewartingram]

Anybody want to join a Penhayle Preservation Group?

 

Stewart

[Gwiwer]

Anybody want to join a Penhayle Preservation Group?

 

Stewart

Yes please!!! Now there's an idea; may I please be Member No.1?  I might also have to see about a "Penhayle in Preservation" photo shoot.  Watch this space

 

Hi Rick,

I must have missed something. Why the closure? PM if necessary.

 

Peter

 

Nothing was missed Peter

 

This is recent, not entirely unexpected and I have made a few passing remarks which might be considered broad hints since wheels were set in motion.  SWMBO has been appointed to a senior position at Kew Gardens, London and also responsible for their country site at Wakehurst Place in Sussex, which was only confirmed earlier this week when I took her phone call at 2am advising she has been formally offered the appointment subject only to Kew being able to obtain a visa for her (on the grounds she is a world expert in her field and all other candidates were less suitable) and finalising of contract details.

 

The closure notice was drafted as soon as she was asked to attend a face-to-face interview most expenses paid; they don't do that for an Australian unless there's a very good chance of success.  A very few people were in on developments privately before it became official.

 

As I shall therefore be following her to a future home somewhere in the London area I cannot maintain the layout nor can it be dismantled to come with me.  Having been added to piecemeal over eleven years it also won't come apart nicely though some scenes could be preserved as static exhibits or form dioramas.  I intend to strip the layout of most reusable pieces such as signals, lights and buildings though a serious offer for all or part of the layout would include what is normally featured in the photos other than the rolling stock.

 

Some rolling stock will be offered for sale through this site, eBay and privately.  Most surplus items will be those of more recent classes, design or livery.

 

Penhayle Bay has given me a very great deal of enjoyment, has taught me about patience and persistence in the face of many obstacles and I have self-taught myself numerous skills the most apparent of which is arguably the weathering.  It will continue to give me and all its followers and fans the same enjoyment in the weeks, and the few months, still to come.  If I have one slight regret about closing it now it is not that it has to go but rather that the D600s, a project which has had my continuing support through all its twists and turns, have not arrived in time to be a part of it.

[St Enodoc]

Yes please!!! Now there's an idea; may I please be Member No.1?  I might also have to see about a "Penhayle in Preservation" photo shoot.  Watch this space

 

 

Nothing was missed Peter

 

This is recent, not entirely unexpected and I have made a few passing remarks which might be considered broad hints since wheels were set in motion.  SWMBO has been appointed to a senior position at Kew Gardens, London and also responsible for their country site at Wakehurst Place in Sussex, which was only confirmed earlier this week when I took her phone call at 2am advising she has been formally offered the appointment subject only to Kew being able to obtain a visa for her (on the grounds she is a world expert in her field and all other candidates were less suitable) and finalising of contract details.

 

The closure notice was drafted as soon as she was asked to attend a face-to-face interview most expenses paid; they don't do that for an Australian unless there's a very good chance of success.  A very few people were in on developments privately before it became official.

 

As I shall therefore be following her to a future home somewhere in the London area I cannot maintain the layout nor can it be dismantled to come with me.  Having been added to piecemeal over eleven years it also won't come apart nicely though some scenes could be preserved as static exhibits or form dioramas.  I intend to strip the layout of most reusable pieces such as signals, lights and buildings though a serious offer for all or part of the layout would include what is normally featured in the photos other than the rolling stock.

 

Some rolling stock will be offered for sale through this site, eBay and privately.  Most surplus items will be those of more recent classes, design or livery.

 

Penhayle Bay has given me a very great deal of enjoyment, has taught me about patience and persistence in the face of many obstacles and I have self-taught myself numerous skills the most apparent of which is arguably the weathering.  It will continue to give me and all its followers and fans the same enjoyment in the weeks, and the few months, still to come.  If I have one slight regret about closing it now it is not that it has to go but rather that the D600s, a project which has had my continuing support through all its twists and turns, have not arrived in time to be a part of it.

Congratulations to Sharon, and good luck to both of you Rick. As you are well aware, Wakehurst is not a million miles from the Bluebell... (actually there's a Wakehurst not far from here in Sydney but never mind).

 

Anyway, if you make it North of the Murray before you go you would, as you know, be very welcome to have a play with the Mid-Cornwall Lines.

[Revolution Mike B]

Good Luck to you and your Wife, Rick. I've really enjoyed following the progress of this thread and it'll be a shame to dismantle it but hey ho, onwards and upwards.

 

Mike

[brushman47544]

As I shall therefore be following her to a future home somewhere in the London area I cannot maintain the layout nor can it be dismantled to come with me.  Having been added to piecemeal over eleven years it also won't come apart nicely though some scenes could be preserved as static exhibits or form dioramas.  I intend to strip the layout of most reusable pieces such as signals, lights and buildings though a serious offer for all or part of the layout would include what is normally featured in the photos other than the rolling stock.

 

So you're not planning to remove it in one piece (bits of house and all if necessary) and ship it intact in a 60' container then? Apparently shipping containers half way round the world by sea is dirt cheap if the transport cost element of new models prices is to be believed.

 

But seriously, it's been enjoyable and informative to follow the story of Penhayle Bay. For me as a hydraulic fan it's been especially helpful to me to see your weathering of locos and how you've so successfully modelled Western Region operating practices.

 

My nephews went to school in Kew and it's a lovely area, although the traffic can be a pain. Just make sure if you decide to live in that area that your house is above Thames flood water levels.

[Gwiwer]

Congratulations to Sharon, and good luck to both of you Rick. As you are well aware, Wakehurst is not a million miles from the Bluebell... (actually there's a Wakehurst not far from here in Sydney but never mind).

 

Anyway, if you make it North of the Murray before you go you would, as you know, be very welcome to have a play with the Mid-Cornwall Lines.

 

With an as yet undefined deadline in the coming months I shall make every endeavour to include a final trip north of the Murray.  There are several ports of call I would wish to pay respects to before leaving these shores including your own.  By return if you can manage another trip south of the Yarra then the railway will be here for now and I expect until at least some time early in the new year.  

[Gwiwer]

So you're not planning to remove it in one piece (bits of house and all if necessary) and ship it intact in a 60' container then? Apparently shipping containers half way round the world by sea is dirt cheap if the transport cost element of new models prices is to be believed.

 

But seriously, it's been enjoyable and informative to follow the story of Penhayle Bay. For me as a hydraulic fan it's been especially helpful to me to see your weathering of locos and how you've so successfully modelled Western Region operating practices.

 

My nephews went to school in Kew and it's a lovely area, although the traffic can be a pain. Just make sure if you decide to live in that area that your house is above Thames flood water levels.

If only it were possible to even consider moving it lock, stock and barrel!  It won't dismantle nicely because it was never built with the intention to take it apart.  It was built, firstly, to see if I was even capable of doing such a thing and then grew piecemeal with extra bits bolted on as I went.  Both stations are astride board joins for example though Penhayle Bay might come away as a solid unit because it is also on risers above the main boards which might hold it all together.  If it is possible, once we know the size of our future home, to bring even a little bit it would be that though not the surf beach.  Just the station and the small beach below it.

 

Thank you for the generous comments on WR operations.  Much appreciated.  And your comments regarding Thames water levels are also duly noted.  

[pwr]

Rick

 

You might be better off living in Sussex - houses are bigger than what you would get for the same price in London!

 

Looking forward to you starting again!

 

Paul R

[Gwiwer]

I stand to inherit 50% of a house in Sussex and could buy out the other 50 though who knows when it might become available? Factor in the annual season to London and the unreliability of Southern, plus the important detail that my wife cannot stand on crowded trains and it levels the field somewhat.

[Gwiwer]

In much the same way as happened across BR in the 1950s - 1970s life goes on almost as usual after the closure notice is posted.  Trains still run.  Things get done.   There's just the sense now of "Is it worth it?"

 

So I fixed a shelf above the control area for the Dapol signals as I had always intended; I may yet even tidy up around the area and paint it!

 

 

And I fixed the track down over the repaired fiddle yard board.  There's a noticeable hump as a train goes over it but everything so far has coped without protest.  There's still no motor for this point though I do still intend to fit one.  A swift repaint of the black and blue areas is in order at some point in the near future too.

 

 

Trains are once more able to run the full circuit of the layout vie either the main lines or the fiddle yard.  Here's the view from the dunes.

 

 

And lineside at the clay dries 

 

 

There's still plenty to come from Penhayle Bay in its final months

 

[Andrew P]

Lovely pics Rick, good to see it's NOT having the hammer treatment just yet.

[Gwiwer]

Not just yet Andy.

 

Events have to unfold over which we have little or no control but I confidently expect Penhayle Bay to be running into 2017.  Though not very far into 2017 and perhaps with a cut-off date in February for practical purposes of packing everything I can and dismantling what cannot be packed.  

 

Most of the quite extensive locomotive fleet will be kept.  The coaching sock will be cut back to offer one train in each livery and formation where currently I can muster, for example, two complete 12-coach Mk1 rakes in both maroon and blue-grey without including vans or sleeping cars.  In future a single 7-coach rake of each might be the most I can keep.  Early candidates for disposal will be the IC-livery Mk1 rake, some of the Pullmans and possibly the NSE rake.  

[Gwiwer]

"Penhayle in Preservation" was suggested somewhere.  I like the idea and it gives me an excuse to present parts of the collection not normally used or ever seen.  

 

Here's a somewhat eclectic line-up at Ponsangwyn waiting for the crowds to appear.  Some regulars, some occasional visitors and some which might never have been seen here before.  Just like many a showing at a preserved line, in fact.

 

 

Two iterations of the long-lasting Hornby 0-4-0 module.  "Tolgus Tin" is an actual location near Redruth and which was once served by the mineral tramway network.  The CR saddle tank is of course Caledonian Railways in style and livery but was given to me thinking that the initials might mean "Cornish Railways".  It's been out once or twice but has never turned a wheel under power.

 

 

Guest appearance representing the GWR by the Harry Potter fake Castle which was purchased at the insistence of my wife who has never taken any interest in it since.  Waiting to offer rides up and down the yard using the old goods shed as a boarding platform.

 

 

Meanwhile on the main line a very unusual pairing is seen at Treheligan; an SR motor luggage van and the Devon Belle observation car!  Only in preservation

 

 

The main line service is worked by a West Country light Pacific with an all-Pullman rake while in the bay the shuttle train down to the shed has the MLV on one end, a pair of Network SouthEast-livery Mk2 coaches and a class 73 electro-diesel on the other end seen here.

 

 

At the other end of the shuttle service the 73 has stopped alongside the stone wall beside Ponsangwyn yard.  

 

 

Its unusual train adding to the overall scene

 

 

The class 17 "Clayton", only one of which survives in reality, is attached to a couple of demonstration goods wagons including the GWR "Toad" brake assigned to Hayle.

 

 

The 0298 class (Beattie well-tank) is as usual on a short "Wenford Goods" demonstrating the typical and famed Wadebridge - Wenford Bridge workings with mineral, china clay and general goods wagons.

 

30585 is one of two survivors of this class both of which are in working order.  One of the Wadebridge trio failed to reach preservation but the great majority of the type failed to reach even the 20th Century let alone the 21st.

 

 

Steam locos of very different lineages amble gently up and down the yard

 

 

The GWR is also represented by an LT-liveried pannier and the later BR-WR by a green-liveried Western poking out of the shed.  There's a BR standard 2-6-2T tucked in behind the pannier too.

 

 

The MLV arrives on an other shuttle from the main line at Treheligan towing its pair of NSE coaches and Olton Hall masquerading as Hogwarts Castle prepares for another shuffle up the yard.

 

 

The steam-hauled Pullman train out on the main line passing Treisaacs Farm

 

 

I hope there's no lamb chops on the menu!!!

 

 

In the other direction and representing the BR blue era (though with a mixed rake of Mk1 coaching stock in tow) a class 43 Warship approaches Treheligan

 

 

On the St. Agnes branch a pair of blue/grey bubblecars offer the service looking as though they have done so every day for years.  

 

 

This pair alternated with a green car kept between trips in the loco loop

 

 

The green DMU also towed a Hawksworth parcel van in a demonstration of tail traffic which was once very common on branch lines and was sometimes seen at speed on the main lines too.

 

 

Finally one more demonstration freight this time behind a class 35 Hymek and on the main line through Penhayle Bay.  

 

 

A varied rake of preserved private-owner wagons with another GWR "toad" brake bringing up the rear.

 

 

"Penhayle in Preservation"

 

Edited September 27, 2016 by Gwiwer

[stewartingram]

I said Preservation in jest I admit, but good to see Rule 1 being used, just to make sure it still works!

 

Stewart

[Markeg]

Hi Rick,

 

Thanks for the 'memories.'  I have enjoyed your posts of your layout and such.

All the best on your move to the old dart.

Look forward to seeing what you do next.

And just maybe I should make it down south of the river (Yarra) to check it out before being dismantled at a BRMA gathering.

 

regards

Mark

[Gwiwer]

I said Preservation in jest I admit, but good to see Rule 1 being used, just to make sure it still works!

 

Stewart

 

 

I took it in jest Stewart but I also liked the idea and might use it again before the end.  There's a fair few Southern steam locos which were collected with something else in mind but which would fit a Rule 1 theme day.  

The layout was built primarily for me to enjoy and have fun and that's what I shall do in its closing months.

[Gwiwer]

Hi Rick,

 

Thanks for the 'memories.'  I have enjoyed your posts of your layout and such.

All the best on your move to the old dart.

Look forward to seeing what you do next.

And just maybe I should make it down south of the river (Yarra) to check it out before being dismantled at a BRMA gathering.

 

regards

Mark

 

A few weeks or months yet Mark.  I should still be running until early in 2017.  If you happen to make it "south of the Yarra" then PM me first to check my availability.  I work most weekends and those I am rostered off seem to conicide with someone else's BRMA meeting.  But where there's a will there's a way and the layout is open for anyone to enjoy by prior arrangement on a convenient date.

 

I have a few thoughts as to what might be next.  But what it is and when it happens will be dictated by the constraints of our future home.  Where that is, how permanent and how big (or small) has yet to be discussed.