Launcestow model railway

Launcestow is my model railway, nowhere near complete, it sits on a 6x4 baseboard in my conservatory built using Peco Code 75 Finescale track, is DCC controlled using a Hornby Elite controller.

The layout is based on a fictional village that would be in North Cornwall, the name is a combination of Launceston and Padstow, the fictional village would have been located near Delabole, it is set as being on the North Cornwall line as if it hadn't closed in 1966 (like the real thing), using artistic licence the line would have been an extension of the Network Southeast area on the West of England line.

A Brief History of Launcestow and Its Railway

Tucked among the soft hills and winding lanes of North Cornwall, a short distance from Camelford, lies the small yet steadfast town of Launcestow. With its origins reaching back to the Norman conquest, the town is centred around the Church of St. Armond, a rugged granite structure whose Norman tower still commands the valley below. For centuries, Launcestow served as a quiet agricultural hub—its weekly market drawing farmers, miners, and fishermen from miles around.

The arrival of the railway in the summer of 1893 changed Launcestow forever. Opened as part of the ambitious North Cornwall Railway, the town’s two-platform station linked it directly to Padstow in the west and London Waterloo via Exeter and Salisbury to the east. A branch line to Tintagel, constructed shortly afterwards, brought with it an influx of visitors eager to see the legendary birthplace of King Arthur, as well as freight traffic from the quarries and coastal trade.

Though the Beeching closures of 1966 swept away much of the rural network, Launcestow’s line endured—saved, as the locals like to say, “by the skin of its teeth.” Today, under the diligent management of Dane Withe, British Railways maintains a proud, if modest, service through the town. Steam gave way to diesel, but the rhythm of trains arriving and departing through the morning mist still feels timeless.

Life along the line is anything but dull. Travelling Ticket Inspector Tony Deeley, a familiar sight in his navy uniform and ever-present thermos of tea, patrols the carriages between Padstow and Exeter with a watchful eye. Known for his sharp memory and dry Cornish humour, Deeley has become the quiet terror of fare dodgers across North Cornwall—though even he admits that keeping one step ahead of Tim O’Thee, Launcestow’s most notorious local rogue, is a challenge all its own.

Back in town, PC Spearfish of the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary keeps a steady hand on local order, assisted by the efficient and ever-curious WPC Doris Mansell. When the day’s work is done, both can often be found at the Rowntree Arms, Launcestow’s venerable public house. Owned by the Launcestow Brewery and run by Simon Rowntrees, it serves not only as the social heart of the town but as the unofficial committee room for every matter of importance—from parish gossip to railway timetables.

Launcestow today remains a charming anomaly: a town where steam-era habits still echo down the platforms, and where the whistle of the morning train mingles with the toll of the Norman church bell—a living bridge between Cornwall’s past and present.

Follow my Facebook page for the regular shenanigans of the antics that the locals get up to.

The layout is being built in a way that I can operate it in any era from the 1960's to the late 1980's.