One point clay on a shelf...

Here we are again, talking about China Clay and track plans. Back in February I shared some thoughts on a Cornish themed Inglenook, based upon Ponts Mill...

66002 with china clay train, Golant Harbour, photo by Bob Shand.

This post was popular in terms of absolute 'reads' and garnered comments both here and on messages. What is it about Cornish prototypes and china clay... well after that scheme I found myself doing a little research into more recent operations and mulled over micro layouts based upon the unloading shed at Fowey featuring CDAs and a wagon traverser! After pre-ordering a few sets of the Cavalex CDAs in ECC blue and silver I found myself wandering looking for another shelf cameo to use these, and stumbled upon Crugwallins...

If you can excuse the pun of the blog title, this single turnout scheme fits in to the same footprint as my existing shelf cameo layouts (Pont-y-dulais and Kinross) as well as other schemes (such as Corkickle Brake and Claremont Paper). However, Crugwallins seems to have been squeezed between road and railway, the site was long and thin, photos reveal an in-house (Hornby) Sentinel used to shunt CDAs, but equally a BR Blue 08 would look at home... 

To give the feel of the cramped prototype as well as add some intimacy to the viewing I swapped the letter box for a pair of viewing windows. The loading canopy separating both views. In the left hand window the shunter is seen shuffling one wagon at a time forward into the loading canopy before being deposited in the other siding. The right window just offers a view of waiting wagons, small gaps between them offering glimpses of the old dries beyond. The contrast in activity between these two windows shows both the busy bustling shunter, whilst in balance the calmer, heavier, slower wagons are relatively still. Calm. Waiting for their time to come...

The layout is self contained, like Pont-y-dulais, and it's restricted nature offers other benefits. A layout that is a work of art to look at, to enjoy, to be able to start and finish in a short period, somewhere locomotives and wagons can be displayed as the key focus in their respective windows... another chance to scratch 'that itch', in this case the china clay itch I've had since childhood when my best friend Tim bought a Bachmann ready to run china clay hood with it's bright blue fabric hood with small white ECC logo... that wagon opened an interest that was fostered by books in the library and until now has never found an outlet. 

Let me know what you think, I offer a bespoke design and build layout service based upon the work you can read about here - let me work with you to develop you're layout brief and turn that into a workable, achievable scheme. Contact me on the website, Facebook or the forums for more information. In the meantime more soon...