dunwurken

https://www.railadvent.co.uk/2024/04/scotlands-jacobite-steam-train-services-to-resume.html Resuming on 15 April but using what?

Page 284, RM December 1954, 'Quintublo'. This was a small circle of model railway in the garden of Peter Allan’s works manager. It was entitled ‘Quintublo’ and was a small German made clockwork toy PD picked up one Christmas for 5/6d. PD reckoned its scale was approx. one half millimetre to the foot hence Quintublo. It consists of a clockwork motor mounted inside an enclosed box. The clockwork motor through two pulley wheels and an elastic band with tags which engage with pins projecting down from the locomotive and its two coaches. The track on which the train runs consists of a continuous slot matching up with the elastic band underneath. It still exists in the grounds of Craig Castle in a most awkward spot for getting a photograph. The P D Hancock Collection has the key, the clockwork motor still works however the elastic band must have perished over the years and the train is non-operational unless finger power is used. Malcolm 1954.The garden railway with a train in the tunnel mouth can just be seen above 'Alistair' and the open wagon. by Malcolm MacLeod, on Flickr Quintublo now in grounds of Craig Castle by Malcolm MacLeod, on Flickr

Do you mean this: - . RM 1953 March - CMR Weedkiller Train by Malcolm MacLeod, on Flickr

Firstly apologies for the delay in replying. To start by way a little scene setting. The first edition of Narrow Gauge Adventure was published in 1975 and repeats much of what had appeared in the RM articles. However two points of caution. I suspect much of NGA was written late 1960's/early 1970's and sometimes the RM articles and book can differ in detail. The build history of the layout falls basically into three parts: 1: 1950's and the turning back of the clock to 1912 with the layout undergoing almost continual alteration and extension. 2: Following the "voice of doom" and the demolition of version 1 of Craigshire version 2 appeared circa 1960/1 and 3: Early 1970's (some doubt as to exactly when) version 3 appeared and with only minor alteration existed until the final dismantling in 1987 when to accommodate his ailing mother PD moved from an upper floor tenement flat to a nearby bungalow. However his mother died either shortly before or after the move. I understand PD himself retired at about this time he himself being dogged by ill health (nevertheless he lived until 2011!) The 1975 edition of NGA covers Craigshire versions 1 and 2 only. The 1980 edition is the 1975 book with an extra chapter added covering version 3 of the layout. PD was always fiddling away however what photographic and physical evidence there is suggests no major work was undertaken post 1979 and indeed some jobs such as easing the curve at Craig CMR station to enable 'Alistair' to access the full length of the platform were never completed. Lacathedrale if you pm me with your home e-mail address I can provide you with the additional chapter. Another item I can provide you with is an index to the published articles which we think covers all the published articles from 1948 onwards and will help you track down the articles describing the third version of the layout starting with 'A Warehouse at Craig' in the December 1974 RM through to 'A Farewell to Craigshire' in February 1993. Again if you do not have copies of the relevant RMs to hand then I should be able to provide copies or you can go onto the RM website if you have an RM subscription. All the colour photographs published in the RM [except April 1954] are of the 3rd version of the layout and all were taken in 1979. Unless anyone knows different Craig Castle and Dundreich are the only two large chunks of Craigshire which still exist and I would only be repeating what is on the E&LMRC website and printed in the 'Whatever Happened to Craigshire' article in the April 2015 RM if I was to go on to describe post 1987 happenings. By the way 2024 is the 75th anniversary of the Craig and Mertonford Railway [Charter granted 6 July 1949) and the locos 'Moira' and 'Duncan' have now permanently joined the E&LMRC P D Hancock Collection bringing the total number of C&MR locos in the Collection to seven. Malcolm http://elmrc.org.uk/p-d-hancock/ http://elmrc.org.uk/the-p-d-hancock-collection/ http://elmrc.org.uk/dundreich/

As I am somewhat tied up with grandchildren and birthday parties for the next few days it will be next week before I have time to dredge the memory cells and come up a with reply to your question. Narrow Gauge Adventure had two editions 1975 and 1980. Which edition is it you have been reading? Malcolm

Another car gets taken out.

Very succinctly put. About 10 years ago I thought there was going to be an increase in interest in historical model railways as Borchester, Buckingham, Craig and Mertonford etc. appeared to be re-emerging from the shadows however the 're-birth seems to have been short lived though happily all three layouts have secure homes. I have heard that the Manchester Club for their 100th anniversary in 2025 propose devoting part of their annual exhibition to the history of railway modelling. Hopefully this might inspire more retro and historical modelling. Malcolm

P D Hancock made use of some of these embossed card coach sides. The first Craig and Mertonford coach was built using Great North of Scotland coach side - see copy extract below Extract from C&MR Coaches research by Malcolm MacLeod, on Flickr Amongst the various spares that were inherited by the Edinburgh & Lothians MRC's PDH Collection were a number of coach sides and instructions for three coaches IMG_3479 by Malcolm MacLeod, on Flickr IMG_3486 by Malcolm MacLeod, on Flickr IMG_3485 by Malcolm MacLeod, on Flickr IMG_3483 by Malcolm MacLeod, on Flickr Regretably none of the Hanson coach[es] have survived and I have no additional information on Hanson's range. Malcolm

Great photos as usual Eric. After a few years break I am at last getting to grips with a number of long outstanding projects, a K4, appropriately MacLeod of Macleod and I also have a GEM Glen kit. Can I ask what chassis you used on your locos? Trust you are keeping well. Kind regards Malcolm

Would they be undersized to a scale 5'2" ? Malcolm

Apologies, got my L1 classes mixed up. I was mistakenly thinking of the SECR / Southern L1 class rather then the LNER L1 🙄 You may well be correct Mark. As I said earlier I had one of these kits in the 'to build' drawer and only now getting round to making a start on building it. It was only the availability of the Hornby K1 chassis that got me wondering if I might be able to save myself the trouble of building the kit chassis by substituting a r-t-r chassis. Thanks to all for your input. Malcolm

I note what you say regarding slidebars, crossheads etc however the DA kit comes with a brass etched chassis and valve gear. Why the Hornby L1 wheels? The K4 had 5' 2" drivers, the K3 had 5 ' 8" drivers and if my memory serves me correctly the L1 had 6 ' 8" drivers. Regards Malcolm

Have had one of these kits in the 'to build' drawer and now getting round to making a start on building it. When the kit was produced there was little option but to build the chassis which came with the kit but the availability of the Hornby K1 chassis has got me wondering if I might be able to save myself the trouble of building the kit chassis by substituting the Hornby chassis. Anyone already gone down that road? Malcolm

Not much information on this one at Barbaraville in Easter Ross but at least no one was injured. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-67524238 Malcolm

Thank you gentlemen. It was, as I now see, my error in the search criteria that was throwing up a lot of dross!!