Andrew Young
Member
Good evening. Having been a lurker on here for some time, thought it about time I added something.
Despite being involved with club and group layout projects over the years, I’d started a few layouts of my own but never completed one. Always stalling when getting to the difficult bits.
In June 2022, my grand plan layout had stalled when at the 7mm NGA Annual AGM and Exhibition my then three year old daughter was captivated by a small layout with a scenic area of just 4ft by 2ft. Encouraged by my wife, I embarked on building a cameo layout of a similar size. The result is ‘Wheal Ponder’ a 7mm scale narrow gauge Cornish line serving a china clay works with an offshoot to a brick works and granite quarry. Set in the 1930s, it’s a home to the several locos I’ve built over the years, mainly my trio of Fletcher Jennings 0-4-0 tank engines.
The track plan is a copy of Iain Rice’s ‘Trerice’ layout. The layout was finished sufficiently to appear at the 7mmNGA AGM & Exhibition in Burton June this year.
Shall share a few photos and details of the layout if people wish.
![1274B2E7-0F56-4674-8451-A7F100DBD428.jpeg 1274B2E7-0F56-4674-8451-A7F100DBD428.jpeg](https://www.westernthunder.co.uk/data/attachments/221/221878-283954180af137b3e6002fba6be1b195.jpg)
Overall view of the layout. I usually sit on a stool in front of the layout to operate at home. With a brew, I’ll happily shunt a couple of trains over an hour or so and then go do something else. There’s no arch across the front due to the need to make the viewing height suitable for me (6’ 3”) and much shorter visitors to the attic, namely my daughter.
![696D7016-7E11-49B8-90E5-B5F91C887629.jpeg 696D7016-7E11-49B8-90E5-B5F91C887629.jpeg](https://www.westernthunder.co.uk/data/attachments/221/221879-0d6305996d5b8e469c04b63e8d18d9a1.jpg)
‘Sir Jasper’ on a granite train. The first of my FJ tanks, all built using 3D printed bodies and all different, this was the prototype and uses a modified Branchlines Talyllyn chassis kit.
![F8DA789B-3584-4D49-A6E6-93C02DB8AA4E.jpeg F8DA789B-3584-4D49-A6E6-93C02DB8AA4E.jpeg](https://www.westernthunder.co.uk/data/attachments/221/221880-54281b4d79744e19599b9e4d643102af.jpg)
‘Annabel’ one of the later pair running on the excellent Dapol B4 chassis shunts the clay dry. The wagons are Chivers kits, when I first saw Trerice in MRJ, I thought that a narrow gauge version using these wagons would be ideal.
![FC3F0A17-DA7B-4CD8-BBEE-EEFEE8643856.jpeg FC3F0A17-DA7B-4CD8-BBEE-EEFEE8643856.jpeg](https://www.westernthunder.co.uk/data/attachments/221/221882-d25a07a90b1b98894a8137468b5c974a.jpg)
‘Quarry Maid’ runs round its passenger train. The line has origins as a horse worked tramway and the Iconic Rail Corris carriage kits fit in nicely. These were the catalyst for including a passenger service.
Andrew
Despite being involved with club and group layout projects over the years, I’d started a few layouts of my own but never completed one. Always stalling when getting to the difficult bits.
In June 2022, my grand plan layout had stalled when at the 7mm NGA Annual AGM and Exhibition my then three year old daughter was captivated by a small layout with a scenic area of just 4ft by 2ft. Encouraged by my wife, I embarked on building a cameo layout of a similar size. The result is ‘Wheal Ponder’ a 7mm scale narrow gauge Cornish line serving a china clay works with an offshoot to a brick works and granite quarry. Set in the 1930s, it’s a home to the several locos I’ve built over the years, mainly my trio of Fletcher Jennings 0-4-0 tank engines.
The track plan is a copy of Iain Rice’s ‘Trerice’ layout. The layout was finished sufficiently to appear at the 7mmNGA AGM & Exhibition in Burton June this year.
Shall share a few photos and details of the layout if people wish.
![1274B2E7-0F56-4674-8451-A7F100DBD428.jpeg 1274B2E7-0F56-4674-8451-A7F100DBD428.jpeg](https://www.westernthunder.co.uk/data/attachments/221/221878-283954180af137b3e6002fba6be1b195.jpg)
Overall view of the layout. I usually sit on a stool in front of the layout to operate at home. With a brew, I’ll happily shunt a couple of trains over an hour or so and then go do something else. There’s no arch across the front due to the need to make the viewing height suitable for me (6’ 3”) and much shorter visitors to the attic, namely my daughter.
![696D7016-7E11-49B8-90E5-B5F91C887629.jpeg 696D7016-7E11-49B8-90E5-B5F91C887629.jpeg](https://www.westernthunder.co.uk/data/attachments/221/221879-0d6305996d5b8e469c04b63e8d18d9a1.jpg)
‘Sir Jasper’ on a granite train. The first of my FJ tanks, all built using 3D printed bodies and all different, this was the prototype and uses a modified Branchlines Talyllyn chassis kit.
![F8DA789B-3584-4D49-A6E6-93C02DB8AA4E.jpeg F8DA789B-3584-4D49-A6E6-93C02DB8AA4E.jpeg](https://www.westernthunder.co.uk/data/attachments/221/221880-54281b4d79744e19599b9e4d643102af.jpg)
‘Annabel’ one of the later pair running on the excellent Dapol B4 chassis shunts the clay dry. The wagons are Chivers kits, when I first saw Trerice in MRJ, I thought that a narrow gauge version using these wagons would be ideal.
![FC3F0A17-DA7B-4CD8-BBEE-EEFEE8643856.jpeg FC3F0A17-DA7B-4CD8-BBEE-EEFEE8643856.jpeg](https://www.westernthunder.co.uk/data/attachments/221/221882-d25a07a90b1b98894a8137468b5c974a.jpg)
‘Quarry Maid’ runs round its passenger train. The line has origins as a horse worked tramway and the Iconic Rail Corris carriage kits fit in nicely. These were the catalyst for including a passenger service.
Andrew