Luton Model Railway Club

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Further information

Penpoll Quay is a 7mm ('0' gauge Finescale) layout set  in the 1950s.  Penpoll Quay is a small Cornish quay on the River Fowey and gets its name from Penpoll Creek half way between Lostwithiel and Fowey.  Its position upstream from the major clay port of Fowey means that Penpoll Quay deals only with the smaller coasters involved with the shipping of china clay to other parts of the country and the Continent, all the large ocean going vessels being dealt with at Fowey.  The majority of the clay was loaded into small 5-plank end door wagons and covered by tarpaulins to keep out the rain; the higher quality clay was bagged and loaded into vans or, if these were in short supply, into standard opens and sheeted over.  The cranes on the jetties used grabs to unload the open clay wagons, but these could not completely clear the clay from the wagons so men with shovels had to complete the job. The vans, loaded with bagged clay, had to be unloaded onto the dockside and the bags put onto a sling which the crane would then swing over and into the ship's hold. The other traffic dealt with was inwards, coal brought in mainly from South Wales and taken back up the china clay branches to the dries, where the clay, piped down from the moors as a slurry, was dried.  St Blazey supplied the locomotives for the china clay workings in the area, mainly pannier tanks of various classes.  The only other classes used on the clay workings were the praires of both 45xx and 4575 classes and a pair of either 42xx 2-8-0T or 72xx 2-8-2T , which were rarely allocated outside of South Wales, for the heavily graded line through Pinnock tunnel to Fowey. The quiet routine is only disturbed by the need for the breakdown vans (ex PO wagons were often in poor repair in the 1950s) and the appearance of an Inspection Saloon.   More details of the layout, photographs and how it was built can be found in the October, 2010 issue of Railway Modeller.

Summary

Penpoll Quay - '0' gauge 7mm 1:43 Finescale

Period modelled - Mid 1950s British Railways Western Region

Layout dimension = 18 x 3ft (plus operating space at rear of 4ft minimum)

Transport costs are based on fuel for two cars. Three operators

This layout is currently available for exhibition, it has an insured value of £8,000 including operating stock

All electrical equipment used on this layout is fully safety tested and is traceable to the relevant standards where appropriate

Further information or exhibition booking enquiries may be made to: Mr J Saunders, email: warspite.hm2@talktalk.net

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