Signature Trains

Like most railway modellers I've got far too much rolling stock. I've reached the point where the limiting factor for for an operating session is the capacity of the layout, not the amount of stock available. In thinking of plans for future British outline layouts, I'm wondering how many trains you really need to give a representative selection of the trains for any specific location. This will determine how many storage roads I'll need in the fiddle yard (that's staging roads in American).

I'll take as an example the line that I've modelled before, and is likely to form the subject of any future British N-gauge layout I'm likely to build; the Cornish main line between Plymouth and Penzance. I'm most likely to model a location east of Burngullow. There's too little freight traffic at the far western end for my tastes, although I have considered the terminus of Penzance as a subject for a model.

I've identified the following six trains as the 'signature trains' that any model of the Cornish mainline will be incomplete without.

• Paddington to Penzance Inter-City
• Cross-Country Inter-City
• Plymouth-Penzance local
• Parcels
• Local china clay working
• Long distance freight

This is of course the bare minimum; with more space and rolling stock available I could easily double up on all of those. What follows is a the formation of those six trains for three different time periods, 1987-89 (the period I began modelling, for which I have the most stock), the post-privatisation 1999-2002 era, and turning the clock back to the 1976, the final year of the 'Westerns'. Most of the stock required for each of the three periods is from the collection I already own; but there are a few gaps, which I will use a guide for future purchases and kit construction.

1988

This is a couple of years after the start of sectorisation, when colourful new liveries such as Inter-City and Network Southeast began to replace the standard BR blue of the previous 20 years, but before all locomotives were strictly allocated to their owning sectors.

Paddington to Penzance Inter-City
This will be a 8 car HST set in Inter City livery.

Cross-Country Inter-City
Representing the Penzance to Edinburgh/Glasgow, this train will be a 9 coach loco-hauled formation, made up from a Mk2 aircon set. Since the train split/combined at Carstairs, it always ran with two brake vehicles. Liveries should be a mix of blue/grey and Inter-City, with an odd Scotrail vehicle to add even more variety. In 1988 this train was diagrammed for a class 47 during the week, replaced by a class 50 on Saturdays, but a 50 sometimes substituted midweek.

Penzance local
This train is one of the delightful features of the Cornish scene in the mid to late 1980s. With many HSTs cut back to terminate at Plymouth, and a lot of first generation diesel railcars dying of old age, local trains between Penzance and Plymouth were loco-hauled, short trains four or five Mk1 coaches, usually hauled by a 50.

Parcels
There were two afternoon parcels trains from Penzance in 1988/9. By this time the assortment of pre-nationalisation vans would have disappered, leaving the train made up of about 8 BR bogie vans, a mix of GUVs and BGs. Diagrammed for a 50 in 1988, although a 47 sometimes substituted.

Local china clay working
Perhaps the signature train for the area, 12 to 16 CDA clay hoppers, hauled either by one of St Blazey's allocation of class 37/5s, or by the unique 50/1 No 50149 "Defiance"

Speedlink long-distance clay working
In 1988 there were two daytime Speedlinks in Cornwall, a westbound working arriving at about lunchtime, often quite lightly loaded, and an afternoon departure that was usually heavier. These were both made up from a real mix of wagon types including ferry vans, PAA clay hoppers, bogie and four-wheeled slurry tanks, plus the odd oil tank, engineer's wagon, or HEA loaded with calcified seaweed. Haulage would be either 50149 (if it's not on the CDAs), or a pair of 37/5s. While there are signficant gaps in the range of available wagons, most notably the "Tiger 55" bogie covered hopper, there are enough different wagons available either RTR or kits to make up a representative train.

If more storage roads are available, the obvious extra trains would be the "Night Riviera", a heavy train conveying sleeping cars and motorail vans, which often produced a 50, and the Cornish Postal, usually a solid 50 duty. My rake of Farish TPO vans are in the livery used from the early 90s onwards, not strictly accurate for 1988, although I guess I could claim modeller's licence. After that, the obvious choices are a second Speedlink, and a summer Saturday extra formed with a Network Southeast livery Mk1 set.

1999-2002

This is the days of privatisation, with freight locomotives in EWS Red, and passenger stock wearing the colours of several different train operating companies. Although freight traffic had declined by this time, just about all the surviving workings ran during daylight hours.

Great Western Inter-City.
There is problem here in that Farish never did the 'flying fag packet' HST, and they only did the 1st and 2nd class in the earlier 'Merlin' colours, forcing me to nick the restraunt car and TGS from my Inter-City liveried set to complete the train. Either that, or I buy a whole new HST in the hideous 'Barbie' livery.

Virgin Trains Inter-City.
Bit of a dilemma over this one. One of the two choices is an HST set which unless I buy some more coaches will be made up from my IC liveried set behind a Virgin power car, with the Buffet and TGS that I took out to use in the GWT set replaced by two Virgin liveried vehicles. The other, perhaps more popular choice would be a 7 car VXC Mk2 set behind a 47, although the only suitable 47 I currently own is 47840 "North Star" in Inter-City colours.

Wales & West local
This will be a 2 car Farish class 158, either in Regional Rail Express colours, or Wales & West "Alphaline" colours.

TPO
The only mail workings in Cornwall to survive into the 00s were TPOs; I've assembled the approximate formation of the 2000 Cornish Postal, made up of five Farish TPO vans plus a PCV (propelling control vehicle) at one end, and a 'Super BG' at the other, both from Ian Stoate Models. Motive power will be either a RES 47 or the 67 I have on order from CJM

Local china clay working
This will be the same rake of CDAs as my 1988 sequence, but with different motive power. This train is the obvious candidate for my CJM EWS 66, although turning the clock back to 1999 would allow an EWS or Transrail 37 to do the honours instead.

Long distance clay working
This is a difficult one; the up and down Cliffe Vales are signature trains for this area, running during daylight hours in both directions. But there's no readily available model of the distinctive JAA 'Tiger 55' bogie clay covered hoppers. I might be able to scratchbuild one, but a rake of five or six (the minimum possible) identical wagons would be beyond me. Hence my nagging of kit manufacturers like Ian Stoate. Motive power will be either a CJM 60 (of which I have too many!) or a pair of 37s

1976

The long hot summer of 1976 was the final summer for the celebrated class 52 "Westerns", a class associated with the West of England main line thoughout their lives. Back in those days all long-distance trains were still locomotive-hauled, and all freight was still vacuum-braked. A different world indeed. Locomotives were much more 'common user' in those days, with the same locomotive working a class 1 passenger one day, and a local freight the next.

Paddington Inter City
Back in the 70s before the introduction of fixed-formation HSTs, west country trains from Paddington had Plymouth and Penzance portions. This meant there was no catering beyond Plymouth, and London trains in Cornwall were just six coaches, usually early Mk2s with a Mk1 BG.

Cross Country Inter City
By contrast, through workings from the north of England didn't split and quite lengthy formations ran right through to Penzance. The HSTs had yet to cascade Mk2 stock to these routes, so these workings would be Mk1s.

Local
In the 70s, most Penzance to Plymouth locals were DMUs, either class 118 suburban sets or class 119 or 120 cross country sets. I have unbuilt B&H kits for both of these, which have been sitting in a box for several years. They must be built! The 118 will probably be first, because the simpler livery (all over blue) will be easier to paint.

Parcels
Compared with the 1988 equivalent, 70s parcels trains had a heterogenious mix of stock, with a plethora of pre-nationalisation four-wheeled vans in amongst the BR BGs and GUVs. I already have some Lima BR CCTs and GW Syphons. I'll need to get a couple of Chivers' SR CCT kits, and perhaps try and build an Ultima SR passenger brake.

Local china clay working
This will be the rake of 26 OOV "Clayhoods" from Mevigissey Model Railways. They're not 100% accurate (being based on the Peco 10' wheelbase 5-plank wagon), but I ran into problems attempting to build the more accurate Parkwood kits; it was very difficult to get them square, and none of the ones I tried to build ran true.

Long distance freight
In those days it was strictly vacuum brakes stock, with clay wagons forming the bulk of the traffic. I've built up two dozen Parkwood 'Highfits', which use the Peco 10' chassis and therefore run properly. Add to this mix some VVV and WVW vans (also Parkwood kits), and some Peco 16t minerals, that's a nice long train.

Available motive power for is drawn from a pool of Type 4 power comprising three Ian Stoate Peaks (a split box 45/0, a 45/1 and a 46), a class 52 "Western", a blue 47 and a 50. Strictly speaking the 50, 50013 'Agincourt' is wrong for the date, being a refurbished example, but I've applied for the modeller's licence. Just about any of those can appear on any of the above trains, with the exception of a 'Peak' on the London train. As well as the type 4s, there are three class 25s available; these are confined to freight, either singly on the clayhoods, or in pairs on the long distance freight.

Additional trains to that lot would probably be more freight, most notbably a cement working made up from Farish prestflows. One signature working from those days that it's difficult to model is the milk traffic in the distinctive 6-wheeled tankers; to date nobody has made a satisfactory kit for these vehicles.