Midland Railway in EM gauge

[Mrkirtley800]

At least extending beyond the bridge means you can add the signal off the branch, proving that the Midland did have signals and facing points...

 

 

 

 

Derek needs some more nice light green ones...

##***£*&*#*@ to your green ones

[Mrkirtley800]

I meant to say that the signal on the branch is situated on the wrong side of the line. It is there so that the signalman in his box can see the setting of the signals. I was once told that this is necessary.

Derek

[Regularity]

Yes, he has to be able to confirm the setting.

[Mrkirtley800]

At last, after about nine months, the layout is in one piece. I will have to take the last scenic board (board 10) down again to finish off some scenic details, notably the dry stone walling. Once that is done I can allow some bushes and shrubs to grow.

The first train to run after all that time, is the early morning 'milk train', starting at Kettlewell at 05.30, and calling at Grassington and Hanlith Halt, picking up the full milk churns, before finally arriving at Kirkby Malham at 06.25. There the milk vans will be shunted into the milk dock for loading the full churns from the Craven area.

Finally, the fast passenger train will arrive and the milk vans attached. One van will is destined for Bradford and will be detached at Skipton. The other will go on to Leeds, where it will find it's way to Bell's Dairy.

I have to admit, that first run was anything but successful. The track is very dirty and the loco wheels require a good scrub, so the journey was a bit jerky.

The whole layout needs a bit of a clean up, but sadly I am finding it very difficult to reach over to clean the track. It has to be done very slowly and piecemeal. But, we will get there.

So, that then is Kirkby Malham. It has taken me just under four years to convert from Canal Road, a secondary main line, continuous run, to my little branch terminus. The basic scenery is finished with just some walling to do plus some more work on the village area.

I have rather too much stock, where have I heard that before? but I am able to ring the changes from time to time. As far as the locomotive department is concerned, again I can pick and choose, but the staple will include an 0-4-4T, a 4-4-0 tender loco and several 0-6-0 goods engines, mainly 2F's.

I have had a kit for a 3F loco and tender on the stocks for years, so perhaps I can finish it off.

Derek

[KNP]

Very effective and real looking.

[Mrkirtley800]

Here are the other piccies I had meant to include on my last posting. The 'puter decided to play it's own game and refused to do what I told it. Just like the children used to do.

The lack of a back scene is very obvious, and that must be one of my priority jobs.

Derek

Edited April 4, 2018 by Mrkirtley800

[Worsdell forever]

When are the green engines coming out?

[Donw]

The whole thing has turned out really well Derek.

 

Don

[Mrkirtley800]

When are the green engines coming out?

Paul, I don’t think Great Western engines would quite fit in on a North Yorkshire branch line.

Derek

[Andrew P]

Derek, the whole thing is a credit to you, especially as you weren't well for most of the re build. That first pic from today through the Bridge is awesome, and the I hope you can now get the Track cleaned and enjoy the running.

 

All the best.

[Mrkirtley800]

Thank you Andy, model railways have kept me reasonably sane over the years, plus the fellas I have met on RMW. Having something to do and report it on this thread does concentrate the mind, and I never had time to think about painful joints. That is, until I did something silly and my knees/hips let me know about it.

With things to think about and to work out how to do a job has got to keep you occupied and keep the pain under some sort of control.

Derek

[Mrkirtley800]

Of course, it doesn’t really need to be said, but had I not had Olga with me, no amount of modelling could have saved my sanity.

She has been a wonderful support, and now she has to do most of the work in our home, even to putting out the dust bins. I do all the washing up, as I can sit down to the drying of the pots, but anything standing up like hoovering, I just cannot do it..

I might add, it is absolutely frustrating. In the first year, 2010, following a botched operation, I did no modelling and just watched tv, endless repeats of Midsomer Murders. It is no surprise I went into depression, although I have always told the doc, I don’t do depression, it happened and I am not ashamed to admit to shedding tears of frustration.

Now we are back on a normal keel, and enjoying my modelling, the best is yet to come.

Derek

Edited April 4, 2018 by Mrkirtley800

[Andrew P]

Of course, it doesn’t really need to be said, but had I not had Olga with me, no amount of modelling could have saved my sanity.

She has been a wonderful support, and now she has to do most of the work in our home, even to putting out the dust bins. I do all the washing up, as I can sit down to the drying of the pots, but anything standing up like hoovering, I just cannot do it..

I might add, it is absolutely frustrating. In the first year, 2010, following a botched operation, I did no modelling and just watched tv, endless repeats of Midsomer Murders. It is no surprise I went into depression, although I have always told the doc, I don’t do depression, it happened and I am not ashamed to admit to shedding tears of frustration.

Now we are back on a normal keel, and enjoying my modelling, the best is yet to come.

Derek

WONDERFUL Derek.

[lezz01]

Hi Derek.

It all looks really wonderful mate. You have to look really far and wide before you find someone who's modeling skills are anywhere near yours mate. I really wish I had the space to do a Midland steam era layout but I don't. Never the less you have constantly inspired me to continue in the hobby despite my own health issues. I suffer with Bipolar as well as PTSD and a bad ticker and whilst I'm no where near as skillful as you watching your progress has kept me going and also inspired me to help others as much as I can. Now that I have my storage issues sorted out I can start to get to a stage where I will put myself out there and share my efforts as well.

Regards Lez.Z.    

[Mrkirtley800]

Thank you for that lezz01 and Andy. Don’t forget, I started with playing with trains when very young, during the early part of WW2. My modelling as such started in the early 1950s, when there was very little to go at, just Hornby Dublo three rail, Graham Farrish, and later Triang. I had a Trix Twin set, but what I had were 0-4-0 tender locos purporting to be Princess Elizabeth or Flying Scotsman.

So, if you wanted a balanced loco stud, you had to build it yourself. It was in the mid 50s I discovered EM gauge, so off I went scratch building engines. They were not very good.

In 1959 I was taking my finals in chemistry in September. It was a wonderful summer and as a break from chemistry, I built my first really successful loco, the Midland class 3 4=4=0 with a bogie tender. I did the work outside, using a soldering iron heated by a blow lamp.

After the exams I got a new job in Stafford, and later took my loco to show a friend. He expressed a desire to do something like that, and the outcome was that we built a Midland class M each over about a year, working in his garage. He got the bug and started to build a LNWR G2 0-8-0. I left to take up another job in Scarborough, and over the first year (now being married) started building a model of Grassington station. I joined the local railway society and very soon Fred was coming to see my layout, which by now had three or four scratch built locos. He said he wished he could do something like that but felt he couldn’t. I offered to teach him, and we built a loco each over about a year, he built a LNER J27 and me a NER class P2., After that he was away, building all the models he had previously dreamed about.

So really, most people could do what I do. It takes a bit of skill, a bit of confidence and a lot of patience.

Nowadays modellers have a head start with all the wonderful models on offer, and you don’t have to do a lot of scratch building to produce a pretty decent layout.

I scratch build because I enjoy it.

Derek

Edited April 5, 2018 by Mrkirtley800

[islandbridgejct]

...

Now we are back on a normal keel, and enjoying my modelling, the best is yet to come.

...

 

I'm hoping that means we actually have a chance of seeing your build of the junction between Kirkby Malham and the S & C mainline.

 

In the meantime, I'd love to see another series of pictures of the daily routine at Kirkby.

 

Alan

[v8cpt]

Here are the other piccies I had meant to include on my last posting. The 'puter decided to play it's own game and refused to do what I told it. Just like the children used to do.

The lack of a back scene is very obvious, and that must be one of my priority jobs.

Derek

 

 

 

That 4-4-0 has certainly done some miles over the years Dad!!!!!!

[Mrkirtley800]

Probably more” scale” miles than the full sized version.

[danstercivicman]

Great looking layout

[Mrkirtley800]

I have to admit to losing a bit of mojo of late, due mainly to the continuing chilly weather and the cranky knees, which are becoming crankier by the day.

However, I found a horse drawn bus on the net, made by Lledo. It is just what I have been looking for, to stand in the vicinity of the station awaiting passengers.

The story goes like this. An omnibus service runs between the villages, meeting trains at Kirkby Malham. The service goes under the rather grand name of the Craven Transport Company (cTc) and is owned by Ephraim Ainsworth. The grand name consists actually of just two vehicles, the horse drawn bus, and a delivery dray, usually in the charge of Ephraim's son, Joseph. During the summer 'season' the bus meets trains twice a day to run to Malham, so that the sightseers coming from the cities to visit Malham and its cove and Gordale Scar can take the bus. The distance from the railway to Malham is a little over two miles, but the bus sees plenty of customers not wishing to walk.

The service did extend to Skipton station, however Ephraim is of short temper and had a serious argument with the station master, and was banned.

Nowadays, the bus runs to Bell Busk station on the line between Skipton and Hellifield, and a distance of seven miles from Malham.

It is the longest seven miles I know, having gone to Malham with the boys club from Leeds, we left it a little late to cover the distance in order to catch our train. We had to almost sprint the full distance to be in time. That, of course, was before my knees decided to rebel.

So, the bus looks about right. I will add rails around the upper deck and down the steps, and give it a repaint, replacing the destination board for a more appropriate one.

All I need now is Ephraim.

Bell Busk, by the way, is on the line built by the 'Little' North Western Railway. The line extends from Skipton to Lancaster and Morecambe, as well as forming the 'jumping off' point for the Settle and Carlisle. Some of the stations are of half timbered construction and are really pleasant little buildings. I copied the shape of one of the bridges over the line, to form an arch between the lounge and dinning room at home.

The Midland leased the Little NWR for 999 years in the 1850's.

Derek

[Mrkirtley800]

I am starting to run the layout once more after a bit of a layoff. Seems a waste to be indoors when the weather is exceptional, but after a little sun I would rather be in shade.

our pics today are to do with exchange traffic, in the form of milk vans. The early morning local from Kettlewell runs down the valley collecting milk in churns in two milk vans. These are detached at Kirkby Malham and will be 'picked' up by passenger train bound for Leeds (Wellington Road) The pics today show the milk vans being left in the milk dock, and having been loaded, are attached to a passenger train. The main subject is the train, hauled by a Kirtley 800 class 2-4-0 running over the last board to have any form of scenery to be added.

This board will come down again soon to have the signal mechs installed and scenery to be finished off.

The pics seem to be a bit dark and I have tried to lighten them up a little.

There is one carriage missing from the usual train. Unfortunately, one of the bogies fell apart, necessitating bringing my tube of evostick into play.

Derek

Edited May 8, 2018 by Mrkirtley800

[Compound2632]

Is that second milk van a North Eastern vehicle, perchance?

[Compound2632]

Oops double post. I'll edit this to say, the droplights in the double doors are unMidland but otherwise it's very like a 25' fruit & milk to D418. The first van looks to be a 25' parcels van, D20. Please excuse my compulsive carriage-spotting. 

 

The 800 Class is a lovely engine too.

 

Idyllic as ever.

Edited May 8, 2018 by Compound2632

[Mrkirtley800]

The second van is supposed to be one of the Midland 25’ vehicles. It came as an etched brass kit many years ago. No idea who produced the kit, but I think they are probably long gone.

The first van is one of the Trevor Charlton sets of parts. It is normally a 25’ parcels van but doubles up for any other type of vehicle.

Many years ago, I built a L&Y six wheeled slatted milk van and finished it in grey. When exhibiting at a show, I was shunting the van, when a voice came from the back of the spectators informing me it was the wrong colour. It should, apparently, have been two shades of brown and lined out in gold or yellow. So I never argue about rolling stock these days.

That L&Y van is still grey.

Derek

Edited May 8, 2018 by Mrkirtley800

[Mrkirtley800]

Incidentally, the 0-4-4T in the fist piccie is getting on in years, just like most of my engines. I built it about 1971 ish, and took it to Coachman Larry when we were on holiday in north Wales in 1972. He painted and lined it and here it is, still looking good.

Doesn’t time fly?

Derek