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Marly51
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I grew up in the Merchiston/Polwarth area in 1950s Edinburgh and was wondering if anyone had already modelled some of the old stations in that part of the city? I have just ordered a couple of Oxford N scale Edinburgh Trams with a view to including them in a future layout. I have a number of Stenlake books of old photographs of Edinburgh including one of the last trams and was amazed to see a photograph of myself as a two and a half year old girl in one of the images! I never visited Dalry Road Station but remember there being a door leading to one of the platforms in the Telfer Subway, which was on the route Mum and I took to church every Sunday. I am interested in modelling some of the smaller stations from an historical perspective and keen to see any models which have been created in the past or models which still exist.

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Two lovely Leith layouts - I seem to remember a layout based on South Morningside decades ago when Railway Modeller Magazine was black and white? I'll use this topic to research and explore the possibility of small layouts based on some of the old Edinburgh Stations.

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Someon on the e CRA forum is doing Barnton, I beleive.

 

Regards

 

Ian

Thanks Ian - just checked out the topic and I remember the old station buildings at Barnton when they were shops latterly. Last time I passed through Edinburgh, the Barnton Hotel had been razed to the ground. I am a member of CRA but not engaged on their forum yet. Lindsey mentioned researching old photographs and I have also wondered about copyright ownership of railway related images which are being sold online?

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An interesting thread topic. The general area interests me, & have looked at North Leith (Caley) in the past, as a possible 'plank' terminus.

 

I imagine you're already familiar with this website:

http://www.edinphoto.org.uk/0_edin_t/0_edinburgh_transport_-_railways_leith.htm#leith_north_station

 

- Prepare to lose a good few hours of your life if you're not!

Thanks Dave and 'yes' I have browsed this site often. I have also checked out old aerial photographs at the National Collection of Aerial Photography in Edinburgh. It is fascinating comparing the old photos with maps of the period to orientate the routes of the old railway lines. The character of the Edinburgh and Leith tenements, combined with the Union Canal, the docks and the railways provide endless options for creating model dioramas which capture the essence of the different eras of steam.

 

Marlyn

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One of the things which prompted this topic was finding the scale models of Edinburgh trams and also the Stenlake Books of old photos which are a good source for building references. The one relating to Merchiston by R.J.S. Wiseman was about the last trams.

 

post-33019-0-72379700-1519148295_thumb.jpeg

 

And here I am, aged two and a half,walking alongside the pushchair in Granville Terrace, with my dad, sister and cousin behind us, admiring the trams. Cousin Brian ‘allowed’ me to help him check he had all the pieces in his aeroplane kits - my earliest contact with modelmaking! The photo is dated August 1953.

 

post-33019-0-96435500-1519148651_thumb.jpeg

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That’s quite enough about the trams... now back to the railways. Edinphoto has the only photos of the Merchiston Station Buildings which I could find so far - Copyright George M.Staddon. http://www.edinphoto.org.uk/0_edin_t/0_edinburgh_transport_railways_gms_merchiston_42269.htm

There are more images of Dalry Road Station including this one by Peter Stubbs

http://www.edinphoto.org.uk/0_edin_t/0_edinburgh_transport_railways_dalry_road_backs_of_travellers.htm

Need to check with CRA archivist to see what station plans and elevations exist. I’ll probably build models of the station buildings first then produce a diorama/mini layout setting with fiddle yard to suit.

Next trip to Edinburgh I’ll check out both locations for reference photos. Merchiston Station was bounded by traditional tenements on the Harrison Gardens side and colonies buildings on the other (Edinburgh Colonies housing has an interesting history of its own).

 

post-33019-0-41788300-1519195164.jpeg

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Just had a memory of the Edinburgh & Dumfriesshire Dairy Depot (later run by Murchies?) which was located between the Merchiston and Dalry Road Stations. Another possible feature?

Few records exist for the dairy according to https://oldestscottishcompanies.wikispaces.com/Edinburgh+Dairies+Limited - reference to milk being ‘imported’ by train from Dumfries.

E&D also had a chain of shops - we bought our bread daily from the Polwarth Gardens shop (pan loaf and Edinburgh ‘plain’ loaf), milk was delivered each morning by horse and cart.

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Someon on the e CRA forum is doing Barnton, I beleive.

 

Regards

 

Ian

 

Yes  a friend of mine, I did the special bufferstops complete with Caley wagon buffers for it recently. I'll tell him he's been mentioned on here and he may post something.

 

Dave Franks.

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The old Angle Park Fire Station (Photo copyright Ian Scott) is an interesting line side building for a possible Merchiston Station layout. I know for a fact there were lovely old plans and elevation drawings on linen in the City Chambers Planning Department, which I copied back in the 1970s for a design project - I assume they are still accessible somewhere?

 

http://www.edinphoto.org.uk/0_STREET/0_street_views_-_angle_park_terrace_-_fire_station_1960s.htm

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Finally found some photographs of the Edinburgh and Dumfriesshire Dairy Depot at West Bryson Road, when it was owned by Kennerty Farms Dairies (not Murchies as I thought earlier). Unfortunately no images from the railway track side so will need to trawl through aerial photographs again to see if there is any detail which could be used to reconstruct the layout of the buildings, yards and loading bays.

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/cagiva1994/14459008847 Flickr photos by Steven S

 

Many traditional buildings including the Weston’s Biscuit factory and other small industrial buildings have disappeared over the last two decades to make way for housing schemes. The whole character of Fountainbridge and some areas of Merchiston has changed with university campus buildings replacing the old brewery, the rubber company, the railways - ahh the aroma of yeast, rubber and ‘Auld Reekie’s’ coal fires!

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On checking NLS website found some map detail of the milk depot on West Bryson Road which was serviced by sidings NE of Merchiston Station?

If it's any help, selecting the 25inch mapping gives you a wee bit more detail, although the drawing is not always to be relied upon. Should give you a flavour, though:

 

 

post-19592-0-07956700-1519313384_thumb.png

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If it's any help, selecting the 25inch mapping gives you a wee bit more detail, although the drawing is not always to be relied upon. Should give you a flavour, though:

I thought there was more than just the dairy - timber yard and stoneworks (maybe stone cutters and stone dressing for all the new building work beyond the city centre?) How many times we played in Harrison Park as youngsters! I remember where there were buildings, but the detail is not always there until you see the photos and plans if they exist.

 

Many thanks,

Marlyn

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Another layout ‘Longdrem and the Pinkhill Branch’ based on Edinburgh operations - the name derived from Longniddry to the east of Edinburgh and Pinkhill in west of the city. Pinkhill Station was the stop for Edinburgh Zoo. In the 1950s/60s a short cut to the Station was through the allotments from Balgreen Road. Nearby was also the ‘sheep field’ where the sheep were held before going to the slaughter house at Slateford.

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/18631-longdrem-the-pinkhill-branch/

 

I sometimes find it is easier to search online for older RMWeb posts - the search option here on the Forum didn’t return a result for this posting?

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And one of the other terminii... Some old and more recent photos. Still work in progress. Apologies for quality of images.

Just out of interest, was the dairy mentioned above the one that was the final destination of the early morning milk train into Princes St? If so, does anyone have any information about the rail vehicles used in the late 50s? Thanks

post-12232-0-59849200-1519601808_thumb.jpegpost-12232-0-26759800-1519601855_thumb.jpegpost-12232-0-12104800-1519602163_thumb.jpegpost-12232-0-69022100-1519602712_thumb.jpeg

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And one of the other terminii... Some old and more recent photos. Still work in progress. Apologies for quality of images.

Just out of interest, was the dairy mentioned above the one that was the final destination of the early morning milk train into Princes St? If so, does anyone have any information about the rail vehicles used in the late 50s? Thanks

attachicon.gif6F999C98-E697-436F-9C04-4B133BB87B0E.jpegattachicon.gif6C2848EC-EC19-4904-B493-C0A5F6EB3A3A.jpegattachicon.gifE979B5F5-C50C-40DA-9764-A76B458769A2.jpegattachicon.gif292EBDE7-1799-4555-87D9-0A2EE58C2278.jpegattachicon.gifF17D7ACB-339F-4E43-8DF4-6B52E9CFED13.jpegattachicon.gif2FABD4DD-02DD-4EF7-9F52-20CF5F8A1933.jpeg

Very impressive layout Ian! I’ve just started looking into modelling this part of the network based on personal memory and still to investigate details of goods and passenger operations. Kennerty Farm Dairy, took over E & D in 1973, and was then bought out by Wiseman Dairy in 1994. Hardly any company paperwork in existence from E & D period. Murchies Dairy operated from Lochrin Place - might be worthwhile checking them out as well.

 

Marlyn

 

Edit - apparently Murchies was also bought out by Wiseman in 1980.

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Found this RMweb topic on Midland milk trains http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/107038-midland-region-milk-trains/

useful reference. I was browsing online as well to find out typical milk train length and frequency of deliveries to a city like Edinburgh. If I were to model Merchiston Station, it would probably be N gauge (love to start modelling in 2mm FS but don't really have the skillset at present to scratchbuild anything other than buildings). I am considering a layout split into two modules with a fiddle yard either end. The Harrison Road bridge would provide the ideal board division with the industrial section (milk depot, timber yard, stone works and miscellaneous small industries) on one board and Merchiston Station with its low relief backscene of Edinburgh tenements and foreground Colony cottages on the second board. My challenge will be space limitation and scaling down from the real location with a bit of artistic licence. Will draw up an initial plan in AnyRail first.

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I've made a initial attempt at an N Scale plan based on Merchiston Station and the milk depot. However this one is 3m long x 30cm deep, which is too big for the current space in my workshop. Will keep working on it and start drawing up plans for landscape features and buildings as well.

 

post-33019-0-06337200-1519834416_thumb.jpg

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Jim and Charlie Connor’s ‘Harford Street’ Layout reminds me of the grittiness of post war Edinburgh, especially the industrial areas around Dundee Street. I would like to attempt to create a similar atmosphere for the Merchiston model.

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/9539-harford-street-original-layout-now-superseded/

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We still have snow drifts here, so decided not to dig my way to the workshop until there is a thaw. Been practising creating my own paper kit of a local station in Adobe Photoshop. After skewing the elevation photographs, then scaling them to size, there is the tedious job of editing out unwanted features and cloning stonework!

Discovered I can arrange to visit the Edinburgh City Historic Archive to research the Merchiston buildings - I might produce paper kits of these as well, if I have enough reference material.

http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/info/20249/edinburgh_city_archives

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