Midland Railway in EM gauge

[Mrkirtley800]

Al, looking back at what we used to get up to makes me sweat.  We were all so innocent.

Derek

[Mrkirtley800]

After a bit of concentrated effort, the point work in the fiddle yard is up and working.  I had a bit of a problem with the two new points I built last week.  Using C & L sleeper strip for an easy build, and pin rather than stick them down.  I suddenly had a mysterious short circuit.  I spent ages looking at every sleeper, making sure it was properly gapped.  Eventually, having isolated the problem to one point - the first and therefor most important point -- naturally !! -- I took it up and then realised the copper clad was on both sides of the sleepers, so one or two of the pins holding the thing in place was shorting through --- doh!.

Anyway, I put a gap down the underside of the sleepers and replaced.  Still a funny short circuit, then realised the microswitch used to change over wasn't being thrown by the point and the arm had got stuck -- double doh!.  I began to think I was losing my touch.  All the points work OK now.  The H & M point motors are purely to change the points by hand, the microswitches are the little black boxes next to the tie bars.  The first two pics show the arrangement.  My apologies about the scruffy baseboard.

Moving down the track a little is where the main line curves  away from the corner.  I hope to put a limestone trans-shipment arrangement here as part of 'Kirkby Limes' a company with a quarry some distance away but where the stone is transported to the railway by a narrow gauge tramway, which, unfortunately, I won't be able to show.  Think Grassington - again.  Pic 4 shows the area from the overbridge at the end of the line.  I envisage a trailing point in the far right hand track with the usual trap points in place, with a line running along the back in a rock cutting before a couple of short sidings and a loop in the corner.  This will give me a chance to use my Midland 0-4-0 saddle tank loco.  Operationally, the loaded wagons will be brought into the station to be attached to a main line goods, empties being stored in a siding near the loco shed.

Finally a few shots of the first train, with the covered carriage truck containing his lordships car back from repair.  I have to admit, that first train was not an unqualified success.  I had a couple of derailments on the sharp curves, and the loco stuttered a bit.  The problem was that it had not been used for a couple of years, and the track was anything but clean and sparkling.  It has now been remedied.  At some point in my layouts, I try to have the railway on an embankment, or at least the ground dropping below track level.  So the next two pics show the only place I could go, apologies for the out of focus shots.  I would never be an Antony Armstrong Jones!.

The final pic shows the train in the station.  Another duff photo, I am afraid.  All the pictures I take show the enormous amount of work required to get the layout looking something like I want it.  Keep me going for years, trouble is do I have the years?

Derek

Edited June 5, 2015 by Mrkirtley800

[queensquare]

Only just discovered this but what a fabulous thread. Some beautiful modelling, the only thing that compares with all that wonderful Midland red is some S&D blue:-)

As others have said, the stories and anecdotes are every bit as entertaining as the modelling. I shall look forward to more tales and updates.

 

Jerry

[Barry O]

Aren't Kirtley 0-4-4T really beautiful in Midland red!

 

Baz

[Mrkirtley800]

 

Thank you fellas, yes, Barry, the crimson lake looks just right on the 0-4-4WT, all thanks to Coachman Larry.  Mind you he painted it in about 1972

Derek

Edited June 7, 2015 by Mrkirtley800

[coachmann]

Thank you fellas, yes, Barry, the crimson lake looks just right on the 0-4-4WT, all thanks to Coachman Larry.  Mind you he painted it in about 1972

Derek

You said at the time you could build me anything. Wow, so I became the proud owner of a 0-4-4-WT. Later on I sprayed the whole body in primer except for the cab sides. Then i applied Letraset transfers and etched the number by soaking the whole body in ferric chloride! I was on pins I can tell you but the only casualty was an eaten-away handrail. I had no interest in modelling, nevertheless I had the MR Well Tank, a scratchbuilt Stanier 2-6-0, and three Jap-Brass Union Pacific and Nickel Plate engines.

 

My cellulose crimson lake was mixed to match enamel paint from Derby Works by the firm of J T Keep & Sons. It was a beautiful shade, quite transparent that depended on the undercoat for its finish in true Midland fashion!

Edited June 7, 2015 by coachmann

[Mrkirtley800]

Still is a beautiful shade, Larry.  Just makes a loco look good.  This is the last one you did at Canal Road.  It is a Johnson slim boilered 2183 class (AKA class L),

Derek

[Roger Sunderland]

Being a Midland modeller myself, how I've missed this thread I've no idea. Wow, fantastic modelling Derek, the Trackwork flows beautifully and the buildings are superb - well everything is superb. Can't wait for further updates.

[Mrkirtley800]

This is the second loco you painted for me, Larry.  A 700 class which I built in 1959.  That was a glorious summer with wall to wall sunshine.  I was swotting up for my chemistry finals and as a bit of a break built the engine, using my parents concrete coal bunker as a bench, a vice in the shed and my dad's soldering iron which had to be heated with a blow lamp, killed spirits (Bakers fluid) as flux and a huge stick of solder.

I paired it up with a Triang tender from their Southern  L1.  Later I built the bogie water cart then packed it off to you.

This piccie is taken as it leaves Haw Bank No2 tunnel.

Derek

Edited June 8, 2015 by Mrkirtley800

[coachmann]

It is amazing to think that loco is still in service on your layout. That's very nostalgic Derek and sad also because all those years have passed so quickly. In 1959 your were swotting up for your chemistry finals while I had given up on Design Repro at Calico and had gone for the great outdoors on British Railway Parcels deliveries around Salford for the same money! I agree it was a good summer and I still travelled between work and home behind steam! After "work", life in the rock group brought its own pleasures! It was all so unreal at that age.......I trust you made the most of your days of freedom Derek!

Edited June 8, 2015 by coachmann

[Mrkirtley800]

You bet I did, Larry.  As I said earlier, having a Lambretta got us out all over the Dales.  Did a bit of cricket as well.

Derek

[Alister_G]

That's a beautiful looking loco Derek, and a perfect setting. I agree with Larry It's a testament to your skills that it's still running.

[Mrkirtley800]

Thank you very much Al.  The board carrying the twin tunnels and on which the 700 class is running is the last board of Canal Road proper, and it will form part of the new fiddle yard.  So, over the next few days will take that down and clear away everything above the board surface.  The tunnels are redundant now, the area around Kirkby Malham is fairly flat, or at least I don't remember any big hills until Malham is reached when we are in Craven Fault country, with all that magnificent scenery.  Gordale Scar, a pretty big cleft in the rock worn away by water (Gordale Beck) has been ruined by official vandals.  When I first went there with a school class outing back in about 1948, you had to walk right along a dry stone wall, otherwise you would get wet.  All the grassy level ground n the approach to the scar was full of springs bubbling up.  Once at the scar, it was great fun to climb up the very slippery rocks next to the waterfall.  The last time I went, and I think it will be my last, officialdom had constructed a path to the scar and worst of all put steps up by the waterfall.   How could they desecrate Gordale like that?  OK rant over.

The fiddle yard track will be SMP or similar, only the points are built using copper clad sleepers.  So, onward and upward.

Derek

[Donw]

Some beautiful locos there Derek. Even as a GW fan I have high regard for the midland locos. Glad you have sorted out the electrics. Test things as you go is the only way. One of our group of cable jointers was a skilled quick and very neat worker but rather lax on testing. Always seemed surprised when he had made an error.

Don

[Mrkirtley800]

Here we are again.  I have been working on the fiddle yard for the last few days.  I have already shown the first FY board with it's row of points.  The second board needed a fair bit of work to clear it.  Originally it carried the Haw Bank tunnels on my Canal Road layout, and pic 1  shows it as it was.

All the scenery and track had to be cleared -- quite brutally -- and pic 2 is a shot of the two FY boards coupled together.  The recently cleared board was in such a mess I painted it with white primer.

Over the weekend I laid fiddle sidings, six for the main line, three for the Grassington branch, and these are shown in the last two shots.

I have stopped about a foot short of the end of FY board 2.  I intend to have a number of loco cassettes on this bit so that a train coming in to the FY uncouples and the loco runs on to a cassette and can be turned easily without damaging the paint work.  The idea is that I will then have loco storage and to get an engine to the front of the train, it will run up a vacant track and reverse  into the relevant siding.

I have used flexi track for the FY  and pinned it down.  Makes for easy lifting if necessary.

The lengths of fiddle sidings vary between about 46" to about 60".

All that needs to be done now is to connect everything up, split the boards and put back in place.  I have already soldered the rails to panel pins each side of the board join, and now must cut the individual rails.  Hoping to have all this done and the FY in place for my birthday in ten days time.

Derek

[Donw]

No sneaky connection between the branch and the main in the fy. Worth thinking about if there is a quarry or a pit on the branch it makes it possible to run a train of loaded and a train of empties round in a circle saving unloading/loading.

Don

[Mrkirtley800]

That is worth considering, Don.  Many thanks, now why didn't I think of it?

Derek

[Mrkirtley800]

Not much to report this time.  I have been fixing little problems with the fiddle yard and wiring the boards together.  The FY fits along one of the long walls and into the corner.  Originally, these boards had track laid across the joint.  Now, I need to be able to take them apart so that I can work on them while sitting at my bench.  So, to make sure they were always aligned correctly, I fitted a pair of steel dowels (obtained from the EM gauge society).  Of course, I had already laid the track in the FY so provision of the dowels required very careful measurement.  Even so, I got it wrong and had to bodge the job (where is Andy when I need him).  Anyway after a bit of fettling the job was done.  DonW made a good suggestion that I lay a link between the branch and main line fiddle sidings.  I have measured up and will need to build a couple of points to fit.  This will be done when I can get some copper clad sleepering.

Pic 1 is testing of the whole lot whilst balanced precariously on my little bench. 

Pic 2  is the FY in place and

Pic 3 is with the bridge section in place.

Now comes an extended period of testing, tweaking and generally getting the whole thing working as it should.

Then, I can get on with the turntable.  I have bought some Mecanno  bits and pieces to work it, so we shall see how it goes.

Only then will I have a blitz on the scenic treatment.

Derek

[Barry O]

Derek

what would we do without our trusty H&M Duettes???

 

Baz

[Mrkirtley800]

Barry, that Duette was given to me by an old friend who thought he wouldn't need it any more.  I think he later regretted it  It is in constant use.  I use it to power my mini drill, for tracing faults with a 12v bulb or trying out trackwork with a loco.  Could not do without it.

Derek

[Mrkirtley800]

Today was a big day.  I started to recover some stock from boxes where it has been for over a year.  So far only goods stock.

Pics below show the FY with a variety of wagons waiting for locomotives. In amongst the wagons are a number of mom passenger carriage stock (NPCS).   Carriages will follow shortly.

Locomotives are still packed away.

The third pic is of a row of shops which will, I think, be on the opposite side of the road to the station entrance.  They could be seen on Canal Road, along the back scene.  The shops are modified Metcalfe Models products.  The first (on the left) is Ada Hardaker's Provision Merchant (now we called it a green grocers shop).  Ada Hardaker was my maternal grandma's maiden name, a name pretty synonymous with the northern counties.

The second shop is a dress shop - Williams - and is named after my mother-in-law.  When she was young (looking at old photographs) she appeared to be smart and stylish, so why not let her have a costumiers and milliners.

Third one is a crib of my paternal grand dad.  Somewhere we have a piccie of grand dad - a plumber and electrician by profession - standing at the door of his shop, big moustache and thumbs through his braces - you get the idea - playing the part of "lord of all he surveys".  Well, here he is.

The last in the row is my father-in-law, Syd Whiting.  He had a butchers shop in Stafford, retired in the  1970's.  If anyone on here lives in the town, it was in the Marston Road.  He sold the shop and the next owner turned it into a model (railway) shop -- how about that?  I haven't been to Stafford since both he and my mother-in-law died in the 1990's, so I have no idea what the shop is now or even if it is still there.

Derek

[Mrkirtley800]

Just a couple of shots of Canal Road.  The little corner shop is a modified Metcalfe Kit and is a copy of a photo of a shop run by my favourite auntie - auntie Mabel -- in the early years of the 20th century.   She was my mother's eldest sister and born in the early 1880's (she died in 1969 well in her 80's).  The photo shows auntie Mabel standing by the door, just having scrubbed the steps leading to the shop.  I have no idea what was on the news boards outside, so I have made mine to reflect current (1908) news.  That the Ascot Gold Cup had been recovered( it was stolen in 1906).

Another announces the launch of a new battle cruiser for the Royal Navy.  We were in a naval arms race with Germany at the time, and were building warships as quickly as possible.  By all accounts nearly bankrupted the country, but in the event, was probably worth it.

Another bit of news was about the Yorkshire cricket team winning another game.  During the years 1900 to 1910, the Y.C.C.C was very strong with players like Tunnicliffe, Holmes, Hirst and Rhodes, although  they did not always have things their own way.

The final pic is a Midland class M.  I scratch built it in 1962.  At the time, if you wanted a balanced loco stud, you had to build it yourself.  The drawing was from the April 1961 Railway Modeller, and a friend and I built one each in tandem.  Painted by Coachman Larry, it has been improved over the years with a better motor and gears.  Still a stalwart on my layouts.

Finally, won't be posting for a few days.  It is my 80th birthday tomorrow.  I just wonder where all the years have gone. 

Derek

[Donw]

Some delightful modelling you are a rather good all rounder so YCCC might have wanted you. Model layouts where there is a lot of stuff built by the owner are much rarer these days. It rather encourages me that you are still modelling at 80 it may take me to that age to finish the projects I have started particularly the loft layout. The buildings are very good.

Happy Birthday

Don

[wagonbasher]

Hi Derek

 

I am a stafford resident and I am reasonably sure I know where that is.

 

I remember the model shop not the butchers.

 

Give me a few days to check I'm correct and I'll put a photo up.

 

Although that model shop has gone, that little terraced street has seen a few model shops over the years. Tops trains is an excellent model shop and has been in the marsden road for a few years now.... Do pop in and meet Mike and Steve, you can find them on the web.

 

Andy

[Mrkirtley800]

Andy, I lived in Stafford 1961 to 1965, and was one of the founder members of the "new" Stafford model railway club.  The leading light (and organiser) was Gordon Brooke who had the energy to get the thing off the ground.  We built a club layout, a roundy on an (I think) 8* by 4' board.  Because Gordon favoured continental railways and had a fair collection of models, we built it for his stock.  Unfortunately, we id not allow enough clearance on the sharp curves for his long carriages and they clashed.  So operating it was, to say the least, interesting.

We showed the layout, can't remember where, but to get it to the venue put one end in the back of Gordons car, and three of us held the other end and walked  behind right through the town.  We must have been mad.

Later the shows were in the Borough Hall, and were quite good.

Like many clubs, there was a falling out over something quite trivial, although I had left Stafford by that time.  However, the club seems to be in good fettle now, with holding it's show in the Staffordshire Show Ground.

Derek