coachmann Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 If I was starting again I would be tempted into 7mm. There must be something in the air Derek.... I keep thinking in terms of a 7mm 'Manor' or a 28XX and the pleasures of shunting with 3-link couplings I can actually see! 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrkirtley800 Posted October 11, 2015 Author Share Posted October 11, 2015 Don't Larry. You are tempting me Derek Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrkirtley800 Posted October 11, 2015 Author Share Posted October 11, 2015 OMG Derek Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold ChrisN Posted October 11, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 11, 2015 Thank you for your nice comments David. I have spent so much time in the Dales, if I didn't get it somewhere near correct I would think I was going somewhat loopy. Come to think of it, the family think that anyway.. Don, I have used the Walkabouts to test the '0' gauge locos I built for my son. They do perform superbly, and that bit of extra weight works wonders. If I was starting again I would be tempted into 7mm. Jock, I think you are right. I rather like the big canopy. Think I will keep it. Derek Derek, I like the canopy too. Why on the arrival platform rather than the departure platform? Is that because if it is raining they can wait in the waiting room or on the train, but on arrival it gives them a nice dry feel? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrkirtley800 Posted October 13, 2015 Author Share Posted October 13, 2015 Hi Chris, yes the canopy is really there by accident. It was made for the island platform on Canal Road and it sort of stayed when Kirkby Malham came into being. I agree it is a bit over the top for the arrivals but there is no room on the departure side, so if I don't scrap it, I am stuck with it. Making it caused a bit of grief so I am reluctant. Anyway I quite like it. A few more piccies of the station area. Really must do something about those baseboard joints. Comes with using old boards. The station name board on the departure platform is not yet fixed permanently. You may notice a cart at the side of the stables at the rear of the station in one of the views. This is one of the local farmers loading up horse manure from the heap. Many railways had manure wagons. As the saying goes, there is (was) a lot of it about! The morning goods has just arrived behind a Kirtley. There are one or two gremlins still lurking on the railway, but gradually they will be killed off, no doubt, for others to take their place. One of the main problems is that everything is so dirty. I need to get down to giving the track a good old clean and everything else a hoovering. Next thing I want to do is finish off the fiddle yard, and make a start on the village area. All the pics were taken by the Ipad. I have been surprised at it's versatility. Derek 17 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 Excellent pics Derek, its all looking really nice from this distance, just a nice uniform colour. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Donw Posted October 13, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 13, 2015 They are good pictures of a good layout. I really like this. Don 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
v8cpt Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 That ipad camera is surprising really good actually!!!! Layout looking good! I have a lot to live upto dad!!! However more than happy for you to live your 7mm dream on the new layout down here 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock67B Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Derek, I'm with Andy on the overall atmosphere you have created - the sense of a slight sepia tint in the images, adds to the feeling that you are depicting a scene from history that is no longer possible to experience. Above all, it makes this layout completely unique, and a bit like John Flann's 'Hintock', or the famous Buckingham, instantly recognisable as your work! I confess that I am in awe of the modelling skills that produced it, and could only dream of approaching that level. Thank you so much for sharing it all with us, I found the turntable tutorial most instructive for instance! Kind regards, Jock. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsforever Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 What a brilliant layout its good to see the Midland in model form you have captured the feel of the real thing keep up the good work. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrkirtley800 Posted October 14, 2015 Author Share Posted October 14, 2015 Thank you Jock, and the other fellas for encouraging comments. It really is just practice. Laying track, building stock and yes, even locos is 90% patience and determination and 10% skill. I was lucky in that my dad was a sheet metal worker and taught me how to solder and work in metal. He used huge soldering irons with killed spirits (Bakers fluid) as flux and a great stick of solder and could do the most delicate of jobs. He was also adept at run lead joints in the plumbing system. But what he always said to me was that the most difficult part of any job was making a start. Fortunately in our hobby, if you tried a bit of scratch building and it went pear shaped, the cost is not too damaging. My first Midland scratch built loco was a 1400 class 2-4-0, one of Johnson's classics. I was very proud of my creation and put it on the mantle shelf. Perched on a stool, I suddenly realised it was wrong, the boiler sloped down form back to front. Disappointing - yes, but I was determined to do better next time. Next time was the 700 class 4-4-0 with a bogie tender, and that is still running. Larry's paintwork really makes it. There was no holding me then. Perhaps the best example of determination is a friend I first met at the Scarborough Railway Society. He was a keen model railway enthusiast but said he could never build anything. He had a very deep knowledge of all things LNER and NER, so I suggested he came to our house on regular visits and we would scratch build a loco together. He chose a J27 0-6-0, so every Tuesday evening for months we were busy and at the end he had his loco and at the same time I had a NER class P2 (?) anyway later LNER j26. It was like releasing a spring, there was no stopping him and I lost count of the locos he built. Later he started modelling in '0' gauge and amassed a superb collection of stuff, all LNER. Sadly he died a few years ago, but he was building to the end. Derek 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Barry O Posted October 15, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 15, 2015 Crimson Lake elegance! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrkirtley800 Posted October 18, 2015 Author Share Posted October 18, 2015 Thank you Barry. It has been a quiet weekend on Kirkby Malham. I have been doing a spot of painting (railway models) so there is not a lot to show for it. I have, however, done a bit of shunting, really a fault finding exercise and took just a couple of piccies, one being the Kirtley goods on the turntable and the other a low level shot towards the shed. Having said that, I can't load them. Will try again later. I am trying to finish off all the little jobs before major work on some baseboards. This will require boards to be taken out so that I can work on them on my bench. However more of this anon. Derek 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrkirtley800 Posted October 19, 2015 Author Share Posted October 19, 2015 Is there a problem with "image editor" or is it my 'puter? Don't seem to be able to access it. Derek Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrkirtley800 Posted October 19, 2015 Author Share Posted October 19, 2015 (edited) Here are the two pics I had meant to post last night. For some reason or other I cannot "get" image editor. However, by saving into 'paint' I could reduce them below the 1meg limit. The pointwork in the second pic looks to have sharp curves, almost toy like, but it works out at a nominal 4'6" Derek Edited October 19, 2015 by Mrkirtley800 15 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highlandman Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 This is a wonderfully evocative piece of modelling. Very reminiscent of Mr Jenkinson and Co. If only I had the skill to build track like yours and then worry how sharp the curves look. That track level pictures look super. Please please, post more of this wonderful layout. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock67B Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 Here are the two pics I had meant to post last night. For some reason or other I cannot "get" image editor. However, by saving into 'paint' I could reduce them below the 1meg limit. The pointwork in the second pic looks to have sharp curves, almost toy like, but it works out at a nominal 4'6" Derek Honestly Derek, that track looks a lot better than lots of the images on 'big jim's thread 'Down by the tracks with Colas'! The foreshortening effect of the lens as much as anything. I personally feel that it looks incredibly realistic. Kind regards, Jock. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrkirtley800 Posted October 21, 2015 Author Share Posted October 21, 2015 (edited) Thank you Highlandman and Jock. The track is all made with EM Gauge Society wooden sleepers, brass rivets and rail. There is really nothing much to building track and plain turnouts. OK double junctions, slips and scissors crossovers are a bit more tricky, but model railway scratch building is not rocket science. I wrote about my friend from Scarborough - his name was actually Fred. I just pointed him in the right direction on track building and that was that. He was building pointwork as if there was no tomorrow. In 1965 I started building a 75% scale model of Grassington station, a place I knew very well as a lad, spending weeks in the area camping with a boys club from Leeds. Grassington layout was a double slip, single slip and point in a row. I decided if I couldn't build a double slip, I may as well give up on my dream. I used copper clad sleeper strip and it took me a long time, using car feeler gauges to establish clearances, but in the end, it worked and was still working when I scrapped the layout twenty years later, It was probably the best I have made simply because of the care I took. If you would like me to go through track building I will be happy to do so, although better modellers than I have described point building on RMW on a number of occasions. On the second pic, the one nearly at track level, most of what you see has been scratch built. The terraced houses along the back are Metcalfe - slightly modified and the yard boundary wall is Linka, one or two vehicles are kit built but the rest is from basic materials. As I have said many times, with my modelling, it is 90% patience and perseverance and 10% skill plus a dash of confidence, and with practise, confidence will grow. Derek Edited October 21, 2015 by Mrkirtley800 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrkirtley800 Posted October 23, 2015 Author Share Posted October 23, 2015 (edited) Been busy with other jobs during the last few days, but still managed to get a bit done. Concentrated on the loco facilities and modified a 'Mikes Models' Midland water crane to stand outside of the shed. Also got around fitting doors and drain pipes to the shed. It has been waiting for these for about fifteen years. The shed was based loosely on Leicester West Bridge and looking at photos of the prototype, showed inward opening doors. If I fitted those there would not be room for even the smallest of engines, hence doors opening outwards. I must do something about those wonky air vents. Just a few pics before I take the board down and build up the ground level. The loco is a modified Craftsman etched kit for an open cab 0-6-0T. Derek Edited October 23, 2015 by Mrkirtley800 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock67B Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 Derek, Those little details going in add so much to the overall atmosphere - I've been gathering images of 'shed clutter' for that reason. Coming on apace now! Kind regards, Jock. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Donw Posted October 24, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 24, 2015 Derek I would agree with your comments about scratch building but add one other factor 'practise' Have a go and if your first efforts are not good enough have another go. Don 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium t-b-g Posted October 24, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 24, 2015 I think you are being your own usual very modest self there Derek! I can understand how you see your modelling as I see mine in exactly the same way. Skills can be improved over time by using them regularly and there is nothing that most modellers do that couldn't be done by anybody with a little dedication and the will to learn. What you have got is a little extra something. A touch, a feel for colour and composition that lifts your layouts to another level. Perhaps that is down to observation of the real thing and maybe people can learn that too but in all honesty, the level of realism that you have got there is right up there with the very best. The view of the Kirtley loco on the turntable brings Tom Harland's "Bramblewick" to mind and I can offer no higher praise than that. Lovely stuff and pre-grouping EM too! Tony Gee 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrkirtley800 Posted October 24, 2015 Author Share Posted October 24, 2015 Thank you so much, Tony. Don't forget I have been at it for a long time, and believe me, some of the stuff I have turned out I wouldn't throw at the cat. It also helps modelling something I know. I have spent literally years in the Yorkshire Dales, so have got used to the colour, and yes, I am happy with what I have got. But I remember people who have gone before like Malclom Crawley and the Manchester fellas and that puts me in my place. Derek 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrkirtley800 Posted October 24, 2015 Author Share Posted October 24, 2015 I was never entirely happy with the two large angled nameboards opposite each other. I am not sure, but I think in some of the photos I have seen, the angled boards are on the approach end of the platform and a plain board on the departure end. Anyway I am posting a pic with the new plain board and hope for some comments from folks who might know. I have studied literally thousands of old photographs of all things Midland and thought, foolishly, I knew something about it. When push comes to shove, I know very little. The writer of books about the NER, Ken Hoole was a fellow member of the Scarborough Railway Society. I used to throw all sorts of questions at him when building some NE locomotives and rolling stock, and for many of the answers he had to go away and look them up. He was forever saying "these railway modellers!!" Two other piccies are of the buffer stop end where a bit of village will be. It shows how much I will need to build up the ground level. The station master's house is a Metcalfe kit used on Canal Road as a temporary measure. It has lasted many years, but I must get round to scratch building one. Some years ago Olga and I had a trip up to Ribblehead station. The idea being so I could measure up the station master's house and make a model for C.R. For this job I had made a twelve foot pole marked out in black and white bands showing feet. The thing was hinged so it collapsed into three foot lengths for ease of carriage. Unknown to me she took photos of me with this damn great pole wandering about. Of course the family found them hilarious. Derek 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold DaveF Posted October 24, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 24, 2015 (edited) I've always thought the angled boards were the running in boards at the approach end of a platform and the plain ones at the departure end. I think there is something in a book or magazine I have - Midland Record or Midland Style perhaps? - I'l try to have a look. David Edited because I can't spell my own name today Edited October 24, 2015 by DaveF 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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