Grogley Junction - Another idea

Since coming back from Cornwall I’ve been thinking about my Grogley Junction project. Spending time on the Camel Trail walking the line from Grogley Junction to Polbrock and beyond has really fired my imagination for the project.

In my collection of photographs of the line I have one of an O2 passing in front of some cottages with the river Camel in the foreground. To me it is one of those photographs that, along with photographs of Beattie Well tanks passing between the cottages at Hellandbridge, typifies the feel of this line. Until my visit to the location I could not place where the photo was taken as it is constantly referred to as being at Grogley. In fact the cottages are Grogley side of the road-over bridge at Polbrock. Finding the location and discovering from Andrew Jones survey that there was a continuous check rail though the reverse curves leading to the Polbrock road bridge, made me question whether I could include this section of line in my model of Grogley Junction. Unfortunately I would need something like 60 feet in length to model the whole section of line from Grogley to Polbrock in 4mm.

Considerations I’ve been trying to take into account over the last few weeks are: how far I want to bend history to suit my own ends; how much time the project might take; and the space I have available. As it seems to be taking me an eternity just to complete a little test track it would seem any grandiose plan of a large junction station with freight marshalling yard is way beyond my capabilities, not just in the space I have available, but also time I would have to get the model to an acceptable stage of completion in my life time.

Part of my time on the Camel Trail was spent photographing the bridges at Boscarne with thoughts that I might end up building a model of Boscarne Junction. Other thoughts have taken me to consider using the track layout at Boscarne Junction as a template for my Grogley Junction. This would mean that, in my alternative universe, Grogley Junction will be worked in a similar way to Boscarne Junction but with the addition of a few sidings. The extra sidings would be used for the marshalling of goods traffic for the different branches radiating from Grogley. If all goes well, the space I could have available to build this model is 23ft x (just under) 9ft. Taking off about 4ft each end for hidden sidings leaves me 15ft in length to try and do this fictitious junction justice.

Above is my initial attempt. The area that I've mapped out is drastically compressed in length and width compared to the actual location. I've also hacked a large section out between Grogley and Polbrock to bring the cottages, in the above photo, into the area to be modelled. I would be trying to replicate the scene in the photograph above looking from point A on the plan. After all the compression the hope is that the model can capture the feel of the valley and it would still be recognisable as Grogley/Polbrock. I'm also hoping I don't offend the locals too much with the butchering of their landscape...

The numbers on the plan are the metric heights above sea level. The track bed is about 10 metres above sea level. In 4mm scale the highest point at the back of the model would be about 20 inches above the track. At the front each side rise to approximately 7 inches. In the centre of the model the viewed is over the river and meadow to the track on a small embankment. The baseboard width is about 4.5 ft and, with the reverse curvature, will no doubt cause me some headaches to build.

So is this it...?  I doubt it, as the above is still a very rough and no doubt over the course of the next year I'll be reworking the plan many times while I'm trying to prove my modelling capabilities with Tredethy Wharf. The applying of information learnt from Andrew's survey in 1972, rail lengths, type of chairs and sleepers per length, into the track plan will also need to be undertaken. I also realise I have a lot to learn about the goods workings in the area and how my fictitious spin on the line would affect these workings and the need for the extra sidings.

Grogley Junction might still be a 'pipe dream', however, I do like the feel of the above plan and in my head it is creating some great images. I've now just got to stop dreaming/planning and get on with Tredethy Wharf...