Trerice was Iain Rice’s final working layout, a compact and exquisitely composed model of a fictional Cornish clay dries scene. Built to P4 standards and set around 1960, it drew on the landscape and atmosphere of the Wenford Bridge branch but placed its setting on the invented North Cornwall Minerals Railway. The layout represents the culmination of Iain’s cameo-layout thinking and of his long-running fascination with the Cornish clay industry.
Origins and Evolution
Iain first conceived Trerice in the late 1980s as a traditional layout representing Trerice (Retew), a real location on the former Cornwall Minerals Railway near St Dennis. The Mk1 version was intended to serve as a testbed for pointwork construction to support his book An Approach to Building Finescale Track in 4mm.
To that end, the layout included numerous complex formations, including a semi-outside single slip, three-way points, and diamond crossings. However, these track features were out of keeping with the character of a lightly laid industrial branch. The result, Iain later wrote, was unconvincing, unrealistic, and largely unworkable. Although it was useful as a photographic prop and did help demonstrate track-building methods, the Mk1 layout never fulfilled its potential as a satisfying model.
Some stock was carried forward from the first version into a second attempt, referred to informally as Mk2, but this too was short-lived. Around the same time, Iain and Don Leeper developed the Hepton Wharf cameo, and the idea of cameo layouts took firmer shape. The concept of Trerice began to evolve accordingly.
The final version, the one most modellers now recognise, emerged in the early 2000s. By then, the geographical setting had shifted. No longer tied to the real-world location near Retew, Trerice was reimagined as part of the fictional North Cornwall Minerals Railway, situated on the upper reaches of the River Garrick, a made-up watercourse flowing from Bodmin Moor. This shift gave Iain greater freedom to explore composition, atmosphere and motive power without the constraints of strict historical accuracy.
The final cameo layout retained some physical elements from the earlier versions, including salvaged pointwork, but the design was now more focused. It reflected a process of simplification and refinement, shaped by lessons learned from the earlier attempts and by Iain’s growing interest in minimal, immersive presentation. The scene became tighter, the trackplan more plausible, and the setting more strongly imagined.
Design and Construction
The finished Trerice measured 56.5in long by 22in deep, with an additional 27in for the fiddle yard. It was built as a self-contained cameo layout, with baseboard, lighting and fascia forming an integrated whole. The baseboard was a ply-skinned block beam with a 4mm ply deck and integral lighting pelmet. The fascia created a proscenium arch around the scene, giving the layout a theatrical sense of enclosure.
The layout stands on simple wooden trestles, designed to be placed on a standard table, raising the trackbed to a comfortable viewing height of 51in. This arrangement was practical for both home use and exhibitions, and the height encouraged a natural, eye-level perspective of the scene, helping to immerse the viewer in the landscape and composition.
The scenic area depicts a single-ended clay dries yard served by sharply curved track. Earlier versions used a sector plate, but Iain abandoned this in favour of hand-built turnouts better suited to the confined space. The final track layout included two wye points and a sharply curved tandem turnout at the yard entrance. All were built using C&L components and surface-mounted stretcher bars. Track was laid on foam camping mat underlay, using soldered droppers and riveted sleepers.
Lighting came from a single 5ft 35W fluorescent tube mounted in the fascia. The layout stood on simple wooden trestles, raising it to a viewing height of 51in. Point control used basic lever actuators with microswitches for polarity. A built-in transformer supplied low-voltage power, and the whole layout could be operated using a plug-in handheld controller.
Scenic Treatment
The clay dries building was based on structures at Crugwallins, Trewitha and Rosevean. It was constructed from foam-core board clad with hand-scribed watercolour paper to represent stonework. Iain applied small fragments of real Delabole slate rubble to suggest repairs and give the surface a natural variation in texture. Roofs were finished with strips of self-adhesive labels cut and layered to resemble traditional slates. Corrugated iron was formed by pressing copper foil over a ridged template. All materials were painted by hand using muted acrylics in tones of grey, brown and slate blue.
The archway at the end of the yard represented an old road bridge leading to the fictional village of Tregarrick. It acted as a visual break and implied a continuation of the railway beyond the modelled scene. The banks around it were thick with hedgerow, bramble and tangled undergrowth, reflecting Iain’s memory of exploring the lanes and clay pits of Cornwall as a teenager. This part of the layout created a strong sense of place and helped root the composition in a believable landscape.
The backscene was painted in a soft palette to suggest depth without drawing attention to itself. Its tones were chosen to complement the scenery rather than dominate it. Distant tree lines and a pale sky hinted at a specific geography without needing to define it.
Ground cover was built up gradually using real stone fragments, fine scatter materials and natural earth pigments. Closer to the buildings, the textures became finer and more blended. Moss and foam fibres gave the impression of damp, soft ground typical of clay country. The colours and textures were carefully layered to suggest a well-used but weathered location where time and industry had left their mark.
Setting and Operation
Iain imagined Trerice as lying up the valley from the port of Tregarrick on the North Cornwall Minerals Railway. The layout depicted the upper end of a clay branch, where a single-ended siding served a small dries complex. The scenic exit under a stone bridge helped suggest continuation beyond the modelled scene without needing to specify a destination.
Train movements are simple and reflective of light industrial traffic. Locomotives typically included an ex-GWR 1366 class dock tank, a Beattie 2-4-0WT well tank, and several variants of the 57XX pannier. A Ruston DS88 diesel occasionally emerged from the fiddle yard, representing a shunter from a nearby brickworks.
Rolling stock consisted mainly of ex-private owner open wagons, BR diagram O13 clay wagons, and Palbricks. Many were carefully built, compensated, and weighted for reliable running on the layout’s tight curves. All featured finescale couplings and detailing in line with P4 standards.
Operation was deliberately undemanding, designed for quiet enjoyment rather than constant activity. The layout accommodated solo operation and rewarded short, purposeful shunting sequences. Iain referred to it as “therapeutic,” returning to the model after retiring from the fire service and appreciating the calm satisfaction it offered.
Legacy
Trerice stands as one of the most refined examples of the cameo layout concept. It embodies Iain Rice’s core modelling values: strong sense of place, carefully judged composition, credible operation, and evocative scenic treatment. The layout is rooted in personal memory and long experience, rather than adherence to a single strict prototype. It represents the final evolution of a concept that had travelled with him for decades.
The layout distils many ideas that Iain explored in writing, particularly in his development of the cameo philosophy. Trerice demonstrates how a modest scene can be composed with care to suggest a wider world beyond the baseboard. The lighting pelmet, viewing height, scenic framing, and understated colour palette all serve to focus attention and build atmosphere. It remains a practical demonstration of principles discussed in his books and articles.
Although modest in size and ambition, Trerice shows how a layout can resonate deeply when the pieces are chosen with care. It stands as a reminder that railway modelling need not be about scale or spectacle to be successful. What matters is coherence, authenticity and craft.
It is, as Iain once said, the kind of layout you build for yourself. A layout that needs no justification beyond the fact that it pleases its builder and offers quiet satisfaction in its operation and presence.
Trerice is now in the care of Jerry Clifford and continues to be exhibited, allowing modellers and enthusiasts to enjoy the layout firsthand. Its preservation ensures that Iain’s ideas, craftsmanship and philosophy remain visible and influential for future generations.
More Information
- Rice, Iain. “Whatever Happened to ‘Trerice’: A Tragedy of Errors in Three Acts… Mise en Scène.” Scalefour News, no.134, September 2003, pp. 12-13.
- Rice, Iain. “What Happened to Trerice in the End: The Second Act in a Tragedy of Errors in Three Acts.” Scalefour News, no.135, December 2003, pp. 10-11.
- Rice, Iain. “What Happened to Trerice in the End: The Final Act in a Tragedy of Errors in Three Acts.” Scalefour News, no.136, February 2004, p. 11.
- Rice, Iain. “A Tryst with Trerice.” Scalefour News, no. 137, May 2004, pp. 24-26.
- Rice, Iain. “Trerice the Cameo.” Model Railway Journal, no. 213, 2012, pp. 43-50.
Epilogue
Trerice was never about size or spectacle, but about distillation. It brought together decades of thought, trial, and revision into a single, composed cameo that balanced atmosphere, operation, and storytelling. As Iain Rice’s final working layout, it carries the weight of a modeller who knew what he valued most: believable settings, careful composition, and the quiet pleasure of a railway that feels alive yet unforced.
In its preserved form, Trerice is more than a model — it is a statement of philosophy. It reminds us that the best layouts are not always the largest, nor the busiest, but those that are most coherent and personal. In that sense, Trerice is both an end point and a legacy, a model that will continue to inspire long after its creator has gone.