Saturday Variety

It's All On Line No 391

St Michaels Mount (Marazion, Cornwall) is a picturesque place, now in the hands of the National Trust. It is only accessible on foot via a causeway at low tide levels. Otherwise you go by boat. Correspondent Peter (one Peter of many!) was intrigued to discover that trams once ran there.

The travel web site "Rome2Rio" is full of transport links to the tram. 

Peter picked it up via his on-line search seeking to discover if Penzance has, apart from operatic Pirates, ever operated trams.

Here are typical Rome2Rio results for a journey from Seaton, ideal for fbb.

By train (and bus and walk!)

By bus (and walk)

And by car

Rome2Rio suggest a drive time of two hours and nineteen minutes. Maybe HMG has built a motorway all the way since fbb went thataway?

Now, if your intellectual acuity is about the same as fbb's (or, ideally, a lot better) you will struggle to remember reading anything about trams to or on St Michaels Mount!

That's because there aren't any and never were!

What the Mount does have is a line, variously called a cliff railway, a funicular or a tram, which conveyed goods from the harbour wall (on the Island) ...

... (track now disused) via a junk yard in one of the harbour side properties ...

... and then into tunnel.

The shoreside bit can just about be spotted via Google Earth.

In the above picture it is lower left between the wall and the white building. The little truck can be seen parked in its little yard.

The tunnel wiggles underground up to the house, with an occasional grid over an access point (?) and well hidden in undergrowth.

The track reappears in the cellars of the big house atop the hill.

It is powered by a gurt big electric motor ...

... with far too many switches for such a simple set up.

These photos come from an on-line piece (see, it IS all on line!!) but with no detailed explanation of the pictures.

Is it a "funicular"? If so, it must have a passing place half way down for the two cars-on-on-rope to pass each other. If so, how does the operator get to it for recovery of derailments, maintenance of the track etc. etc.?

It might just be one car on an electrically hauled string; so more of a goods lift rather than a tram. Or a very extensive "dumb waiter"!

It is not accessible to paying visitors; the author of the piece had a special guide.

As it is both inaccessible and unusable by the public, you have to believe that Rome2Rio's search "bots" have found the word "tramway" somewhere and jumped to a very misleading electronic conclusion.

There is even some confusion as to how big the thing is. Here is Wikipedia:-

Gauge

Most details of this short line are uncontentious, but the line's gauge, which has not changed since it was built, is variously reported on line and in the literature as:

2 ft 5 in on an information board near the line in 2018.

2 ft 5+1⁄2 in The Railway Magazine.

4 ft 6 in in St Michael's Mount house publicity

But surely the National Trust is missing a money-grabbing trick. fbb reckons that there is room in the coffin-on-wheels for a couple of recumbent passengers all close and personal. At, say, £10 quid a go (single) there's money to be made. Hold on, it's the National Trust, so make that £20 a ride!

Thanks But No Tanks

Unusually, it is not a typical fbb misprunt. It should read "tanks".

The price appears to be £150 for a tank wagon! Except that it isn't. Revolution trains is only selling these good looking wagons, not in packs of three as has been the case for other Revolution wagons, but now in packs of FOUR!

fbb has contacted the company and their reply seems a bit dubious. They say they cannot make enough money selling wagons in singles; they say the price would be too high and they would therefore not sell enough. By selling four at a time they can make some money.

fbb doesn't buy it.

The number of modellers prepared to shell out £150 for four must be limited. Whereas there would be loads ready to part with, say, £39 for a singleton. But Revolution Trains won't budge,

So this beautifully detailed wagon will NOT make it into fbb's now incomplete collection.

But look at that underframe detail ...

... which you cannot see when the wagon is on the track!

And, talking of detail, this snippet popped into Pinterest recently and ...

... yes it is a model. The detail is superb but the evenness of the green foliage and cleanliness of the stonework on the cottages sort of gives it away.

More depressing snivelling from fbb, as he looks at his feeble efforts.

Island Nostalgia

This picture also popped up in Pinterest.

fbb is not good on dates but mid to late 60s seems about right. This Is Ryde Esplanade, before the bus station before the new bus station that is about to open, sometime.

The 20, a Ryde local to Elmfield, has long gone.

The 1A (Newport and Cowes) is now a 9 to Newport only

The 16 to Blackgang is now a 3 to Ventnor and Newport

Doesn't the simple green and cream look luscious and exude solid reliability?

Sigh!

No-view News from Norway?

So that we may all enjoy the scenery, the company has plonked a gurt big Viking boat across some of the windows.

For en fantastisk ide, herr Norwegin jernbaner.

It Arrived Yesterday ...

... and the old bloke will have opened it this morning.

What could it be? And why?

Does fbb have  clue ...

... or several clues?

What could fbb's self indulgent day be about?

Maybe these little clues will help??

And even one from Sheffield!

Let the feasting begin! Chocolate peanuts all round.

PLEASE NOTE : the last Piece of Potsdamer Platz Pontification will follow soon.

 Next Variety blog : Sunday 26th February