'Porthminster' in OO Scale - Impressive GWR Model Railway
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- Опубликовано: 7 сен 2024
- Gavin Thrum's impressive Porthminster Layout that was on show at the June 2015 Model Railway Show at Greyhound Park, Angle Park, SA on Saturday 6th of June 2015.
Porthminster is set in the golden period of British Railways in the 1920s and 1930s. All models on the layout have been either hand built or kit built. This includes coaches, wagons and locomotives. Even the impressive Brunel Era Viaduct and mainline as well branch line stations have been hand/kit built.
Some of the locomotives featured:
GWR Star Class 4-6-0
GWR 28xx Class 2-8-0
GWR Pannier Tanks 0-6-0
GWR 2-8-0T
GWR 2-6-2T
I hope you enjoy!
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First time I have found your YT site. Lovely 'wooden Top' viaduct evoking the GW in Cornwall. Also good to see non-GWR Stock in a rake of waggons, some rose-tinted purists do not accept that all the Big Four (post grouping) railway companies hosted waggons from each other. It would not be out of place to see an LNER Sleeping carriage in Penzance during the summer timetable, which would have arrived via the Great Central at Banbury.
Glad you found us, Applecountry! Please do share our videos around. Yes, goods wagons did certainly travel around wherever they were needed, no matter the certain company territory. Interesting about the LNER sleeping coach though, might need to tell Gav (builder of layout) and John (owner of layout) about that. Would be interesting to see it on there though! Many thanks for watching.
Regards,
Caleb
Great video, thanks for sharing Celeb.
Many thanks Charlie! So glad you enjoyed! Gavin’s Layout is a true masterpiece by far. Gav is one of our best Railway Modellers in South Australia if not the whole of Australia! So much detail in everything that he does. You and him would get along famously. Thanks for watching again. Cheers Caleb
Hi Caleb, Wonderful video. Brilliant modelling and very enjoyable to watch. Thanks for posting....Cheers Greg
Thanks, Greg! Glad you enjoyed! Gav is one our best Railway Modellers in South Australia if not the whole of Australia! Very good at what he does and has won many awards. He’s building a new layout at the moment, an LNER themed layout set in the 30s I believe. Should be pretty impressive as always when it’s finished. Thanks for watching! Cheers Caleb
The larger gentry at the end of the platform @2.04 is impressive. Can't imagine what the semaphore messages are? ? ?
Hi Caleb, great video, enjoyed your footage here mate some very nice layouts, thanks for sharing, all the best, Paul
Thanks for watching, Paul! Yes it is certainly a beautiful layout by far. Gav did great with this layout and like all of his layouts it is superbly detailed. He's got an LMS layout called Wellingford and Bakewell Bridge, videos of that layout can be seen on the channel as well if you want to check it out? Here's the link! ruclips.net/video/PJ70UBV65mM/видео.html
You're more than welcome to check out any of our videos anytime. Plenty of great British Railway Modelling videos filmed in South Australia and Tasmania. Predominately the layouts featured on our channel are from South Australia where we live. Though, there are others featured from when our railway modelling group, the British Railway Modellers of Australia, go to conventions interstate. There was suppose to be a convention here in Adelaide this year but because of COVID-19 it has been postponed until next year. We were going to have Simon Kohler (Mr Hornby) come to our convention and speak to us members about various things. Last time the convention was in Adelaide, which was 2014, we had Phil Parker from the British Railway Modelling magazine come and give a few railway modelling workshops. His visit where he saw the massive layout's created by our members was featured in a BRM magazine back in 2014 or 2015, can't remember which issue it was but I remember seeing it. Stay healthy, Paul and thanks for watching.
Cheers Caleb
Excellent!
It is by far a truly magnificent layout. Glad you liked it! Cheers Caleb
TRACK TYPES & GWR SIGNAL RULES
Very nice layout, but there are one or two little technical issues ! Virtually all track in Britain in the GWR (pre 1948) era was Bullhead rail. As British companies were reluctant to adopt Flat Bottom rail, due to the known problem with Flat Bottom, of the narrow vertical web disintegrating due to rust by British weather !
Your layout appears to have flat bottom type track !
GWR Signalling. At 1:34 there is a signal arm with an "S" affixed. This is extremely rare, as it refers to a permission to allow a freight or light loco to move beyond the "Block Signal" to gain access to sidings, unusually sited in advance of the Block signal ! As a result the "S" arm would have to be positioned beneath the "Block signal" arm, not on a separate bracket. But I suspect you should have an arm with a circular ring on it, if you intend it to be for freight trains turning right !!!!
In the same shot at 1:34 the vertical post to the right of the Pannier tank, has a 5ft arm above a 3ft arm. The upper arm should refer to all types of traffic heading up the main, while the shorter 3ft arm beneath, implies a freight route turning to the right. Unfortunately this method of vertical display for multiple routes, was discontinued on the GWR from 1894 ! So I suspect the short 3ft arm would have been put on a small right hand side bracket, by your layouts era (1930's ?).
At 3:45 there is an impressive gantry which includes two distant signals (the yellow arms). Unfortunately the spectacle glasses have the wrong colours ! The upper "glass" currently painted red should be yellow, while the slightly smaller lower "glass" should be Caledonian Blue. (Blue glass in front of yellow oil lamp gives green). The two distant signals would of course be controlled by the NEXT signalbox up the line !
Distant signals NEVER showed a red. Because a Distant signal tells a Driver, if at clear/green (lowered), that he has a completely clear route through the next signalbox area, & ALL stop signals relating to the next signalbox area are of course showing clear. If the distant is at caution/yellow (Horizontal) then this warns the Driver that one or more of the Stop signals in the next signalbox area up the line, is at Danger, & he must bring his train under control & be prepared to stop.
This reveals the "Absolute Block" rules applicable to British Semaphore Signalled passenger lines. And reveals only ONE train may be on each "Running Line" within a whole Signalbox area, regardless of how many signals that box controls. In other words trains were specifically FORBIDDEN to follow each other from signal to signal, only from signalbox area to signalbox area.
This "Absolute Block" system was extremely safe in a mechanical era, but generally limited trains to roughly no more than one train every 6-10 minutes in either direction on a two track line ! It stimulated the advent of Multi-Aspect colour light Signalling (MAS), using Track Circuit Block (constant detection of train locations) on busy routes. The first test installation being Elephant & Castle (London) in 1929. First major application was the Southern Railways London-Brighton mainline when electrified at 660v DC 3rd rail in 1933.
TRACK SUPPLIES: Bullhead flexible finescale "OO" track & kit build points have been available for decades from specialist suppliers such as "SMP Scaleway" part of Marcway Models in Sheffield, and recently (2019) PECO have finally introduced a Bullhead flexible track with correct "OO" scale sleeper spacing's, along with a range of points. Both sources have websites.
SPECIALIST GWR BRASS SIGNAL KITS & COACHES : "Wizard Models Ltd" Barton-upon-Humber UK. Renowned for its "Model Signal Engineering" department, and "Comet Coaches" brass coach kit department & many other useful items not available anywhere else !
Website: Wizard Models Ltd.
Courtesy an ex BR Locomotive Mechanical Engineer.
Happy Modelling.
G’day James, many thanks for your amazing and in-depth insight into the world of signalling, certainly a fairly interesting topic. This is not my layout by the way, it’s my friend’s layout. I think in terms of the signalling on the layout, most are ratio kits or hand built GWR signals and are in a fixed position, not really showing deadly serious indications for operations as per say. Plus, it’s s exhibition layout too, I think most people wouldn’t even know one thing from the other of what the signals actually mean they just look good, and probably just want to see trains going around. But I get what you mean though.
I’ve always known Red and Yellow semaphores indicated (a calling on) indication, entering a section where another vehicle is occupying that particular road. We have the exact same setup in Australia too! Australian semaphore signalling was heavily influenced by British practice before certain American influences came into play. That’s where I associate the Red & Yellow indication from.
Regards,
Caleb
@@CalebsRailFilms I had noted it's an exhibition layout, which is my main reason for trying to help. As I had guessed the intricacies of British GWR signalling of the 1930's might be a slight problem to research "Down Under" !!!
GWR signalling is unlike any of the other British railway companies signalling. Even what remains today is peculiar to what were originally Great Western Railway routes. The GWR being the only company to refuse to change to upper quadrant types, as recommended by the Railway Safety Inspectorate in the 1920's ! So all GWR signals remained "Lower Quadrant", (except for a couple of experimental 3 position upper quadrant semaphores).
Red and yellow signals have nothing to do with a "Calling on" indication ! Red signal arms with a white vertical band are "Stop" signals, and always mean Stop when horizontal. The yellow arms with a fishtail V cut out of the end and a black vertical chevron are known as "Distant" signals. These are always controlled by the NEXT signalbox up the line, (hence the word "Distant") and simply tell the driver of the state of play through the next BLOCK area. If horizontal they told the driver one or more of the NEXT signalboxes Stop signals was at danger. If lowered by 45 degrees this told the driver he had a totally clear route right through the NEXT signalboxes BLOCK area.
On the gantry seen at 3:45 you have 4 "Calling on" arms. These are correctly painted horizontally red/white/red & are correctly smaller 3ft arms (The length of a semaphore signal arm also has important meaning). These "calling on" arms must NOT be lowered/cleared until an approaching train comes to a stand at the signal. They are very special in that they allow the fundamental rule of semaphore signalling to be broken. Which is only ONE train is allowed on each "running line" in the whole BLOCK area, regardless of how many signals each line actually has. The reason for the "Calling on" arm is therefore to allow (against all the normal rules) for a second train to enter an already occupied platform for the purpose of combining two passenger trains, a potentially very dangerous situation. So when the signalman lowers the calling on arm, this tells the driver. "You may proceed at a speed no greater than you have space to stop in. You must not assume the whereabouts of any other vehicles or blockage. And you must stop at least 10ft short of any blockage." The other rule for these signals was that it was forbidden to mix different types of train in a platform so a freight would NOT be allowed into a platform road containing a passenger train. Light locos were of course allowed to couple up.
So the only problem you have with your "calling on" arms is that they should be on the signal post approaching the station, not on the signal gantry for trains leaving !
I'm not just a Loco Mechanical Engineer ! I've worked for a number of railways around the World over the past 40+ years. Indeed I have even given talks to Chicago & North Western Railway train drivers on the basis of their own signalling. As they didn't understand they were using a rare method of Block working known as "Permissive Block". And yes I have even driven trains in NSW, Queensland, & NZ, amongst many other countries. And of course I'm also a railway modeller, with a large exhibition layout (60ft x 22ft) now nearing completion, for a Railway Museum I'm currently working with in Europe ! So hopefully this will give you a slightly better insight into GWR semaphore signalling.
Good luck with your very nice layout.
Happy Modelling.
Wow! beautiful! Big GWR fan here ;)
Certainly is mate. I am also apart of that category lol 😂. Love the GWR! I’m going to build a GWR exhibition layout myself, set between 1930 & 1935. Should be rather good when it’s finished. I’m aiming for this finished standard just like this layout. I’ve certainly got a few BRMA members who can help me out in building my first exhibition layout, including the bloke who built this layout, Gavin Thrum. Glad you enjoyed! Cheers Caleb
That bloke in the adidas jumper is a pretty good mainline driver. 😋
He sure is mate! Haha 😉
What a wonderful layout.
Very nice indeed, I've subbed
Like the new video.Thanks
This video is an oldie mate. Originally filmed in 2015 at the Adelaide Model Railway Show at Greyhound Park, Angle Park. Have come a long way since then in filming and I have learnt so much. Life is one of those great things, life long learning is key by far and the pursuit of excellence in what I do is at the forefront when filming for you lovely people across the world. Going to film more of Porthminster at a later date. Regards, Caleb
Love it
She’s definitely a beauty mate! Gavin has done an excellent job in creating this superbly detailed masterpiece. Absolutely gorgeous by far. Glad you loved the layout and the video. Cheers Caleb
Is it possible to find out whether the station is scratch built or a kit.
Great layout.
Thanks for showing.
Hi Steve, I believe it is scratch built by the builder. Gavin takes great pride in building most things on his layout from scratch. Although, there maybe some elements that are kit but I believe the station is scratch built. I can ask him if you would like? Let me know. Regards, Caleb
Yes please. If you would ask him I would be grateful. Fantastic layout.
Many thanks
Yes please. If you would ask him I would be grateful.
Fantastic layout.
Many thanks.
Hi Steve, the Penwith Junction station buildings are all scratchbuilt and based on drawings of Radley station. These were combined with the St.Erth station bay road canopy. The branch station building is a repainted resin model Hornby Skaledale R9666 which looked very similar to the original St Ives branch station building.
A lovely layout, but the lack of a back-scene rather detracts.
It is certainly a gorgeous layout by far. I do agree with your feelings on the back scene, it can be a little distracting though the exceptional modelling and scenery makes up for that. This layout was designed and constructed by my good friend Gavin Thrum who is one of the best Modellers in South Australia if not the whole country. He has one many awards for his exceptional modelling and skills in scratch and kit building. So glad you the love the layout. You should because it’s Great Western 😉. Love my Great Western layouts. Bee-utiful! 😍👌
when you going to show the layout did i miss it ? or was that supposed to be it ?
Do you mean my exhibition layout mate? If so, that’s still in the planning phase. This particular layout was built by a very good mate of mine Gavin Thrum. So don’t stress, it’s not my layout mate. My GWR 1930s is coming in the near future. I’m currently working on several other projects which have taken the bulk of my time. So, Greendale is on hold for now. Hope this answers your question? Cheers Caleb
Great layout, but my word you need a new fluid head on your tripod!
Yes, it is an awesome layout. Still in existence as well. Ha! This was on my first tripod lol. It wasn’t very crash hot. Unlike the one I have now which is a high-end one. It was filmed in 2015 just a few months after getting my first ever video camera. Learnt so much since then. A more up to date video of this layout is available here - ruclips.net/video/LSCK1ok0w7o/видео.html
Keep well.
Regards, Caleb