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Midland Railway in EM gauge


Mrkirtley800
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Don, it was just meant to be a stone loading arrangement. The idea was that the quarry was some distance away and the limestone carried to the rail head by wagons on a continuous 'rope'. As I said before, really modelled on the arrangement at Grassington. There the Skyrethorns quarry was, perhaps, a couple of miles away, and the trans-shipment shed served by wagons on an endless rope. On reaching the shed, the wagons ran up an incline and I believe there was a wedge which lifted the rope off the wagons. They then ran forward to discharge the stone into waiting railway mineral wagons below.

I could tell quite a few stories about certain boys - yes me amongst them- stealing rides on the empty tubs on their way back to the quarry. An extremely dangerous practise which would have the modern day health and safety gurus descending in droves, but when you are13 years old, these things don't occur to you.

My main regret is that I did not take more notice of the things happening around us, and take piccies with my crude old camera, well my dads actually.

Derek

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Such behaviour was quite normal, I met an old chap on the TalyLlyn his dad had worked on the railway. He with other young lads would ride slate trucks down the incline to Abergernolwyn when work had stopped for the day.

 

Have you visited the site of Threshfield Quarry there are some old bits of trucks and track there?

Don

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  • 2 weeks later...

Derek,

Lovely images as ever, and I happen to think the walls look very realistic, and so well worth the painstaking effort!

Good to read that you are getting some professional help with the aches, hope it continues to improve,

Kind regards,

Jock.

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Derek

 

just to prove some of us are totally mad  I have just been fitting a dcc decoder to this

 

post-7650-0-86880600-1449931550_thumb.jpg

 

It belongs to one of our members - its has its faults but it is pretty.

 

Technically it has a Digitrax DN136D decoder in the boiler - I have rewheeled the tender and added some proper pickups to get it to run sweetly.

 

So dcc fitting can be done in some  of the Midlands' finest.

 

Baz

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Derek

 

just to prove some of us are totally mad  I have just been fitting a dcc decoder to this

 

attachicon.gifjohnson 2-4-0 for Cliff (1280x479).jpg

 

It belongs to one of our members - its has its faults but it is pretty.

 

Technically it has a Digitrax DN136D decoder in the boiler - I have rewheeled the tender and added some proper pickups to get it to run sweetly.

 

So dcc fitting can be done in some  of the Midlands' finest.

 

Baz

 

What a beautiful engine!  Victorian and Edwardian engines were just special, and this model captures all that.

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Very nice, Barry. Those small Johnson engines are so elegant. My first scratch built Midland loco was a Johnson 2-4-0 1400 class. I was so proud of it until I realised the boiler sloped down from back to front. I gave it away, but determined to do better next time. The next time was my class 3 with the bogie tender and which is still working 56 years later.

Derek

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Hi there 

Guys you keep referring to No. 67 as a Johnson but its a Kirtley 800 class in Deeley condition. Originally a Derby built loco, it would probably have started life in green as No.139. One of my favorites alongside the 156's. Although the 2-2-2's also have a romantic "pull". I just love these little midland engines. Keep the MR flag flying guys ^_^

Regards Lez.Z.   

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LezZ, you are dead right, that is a Kirtley designed 800 class. Kirtley died in 1872 leaving the Midland with some reliable and, for the time, powerful engines. The 800 class, like most of Kirtley engines, were built on the lines of a Victorian battleship, -- pretty solid and long lasting, and quite good looking with their tall bell mouthed chimneys and flat plate smokebox doors. When Johnson came along and fitted those engines with his own design of boiler mountings, they became things of elegant beauty. Perhaps this is why they are referred to as Jonson engines.

When I became interested in the Midland 1n the 1950's, I bought Hamilton Ellis's book, and there on the frontispiece was a picture of a 800 class on a train of six wheeled clerestories. From that moment on I wanted one. Eventually in about 1970, I acquired a drawing by J.N.Maskelyne, editor of the Model Railway News. The drawing was done to fill a certain size of paper and worked out at something like 8.33mm/foot.

Out came the slide rule, and the thing was built. I completed it in about 1972 and off to Coachman Larry for a paint job, and here it is working on Canal Road. If you have seen these pics before, I do apologise. I don't keep a record of what I post on RMW.

I also love the Kirtley singles and did intend to build one of the 30 class which, I believe, were the largest of his single drivers. Not having a drawing, I processed a photo to 4mm/foot, and bought the wheels. here it stopped, and I still have the wheels.

I often used to build engines from taking measurements from photos, when no drawings were available.

My mate back in 1967 desperately wanted a Q6 0-8-0 (he was a NER enthusiast -- takes all sorts!!). Kits for these locos were a long way off, and not having a drawing approached the late Ken Hoole who produced a side on photo which we had processed to 4mm/foot size. The loco was built and I thought looked the part. Sadly my friend died, but his Q6 lives on.

Derek

post-6110-0-58702900-1450223840_thumb.jpg

post-6110-0-73639700-1450223889_thumb.jpg

Edited by Mrkirtley800
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Derek,

I think every aspect of both images show an exceptional standard of model engineering, and doubtless it is still running smoothly, which probably can't be said of the ready-to-run locos available at the time. You may have mentioned it before, but is that still Larry's original paintwork?

Kind regards,

Jock.

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Hi guys.

I think the Johnson engines are the prettiest locos of the time, if not of all time. The singles and the 4-4-0's were just about the most beautiful things that ever turned a wheel. Kirtley built purposeful looking locos. Johnson took over when he died and made them all look just drop dead gorgeous and Deeley beefed them up and lost some of the aesthetics in the process. Some of those Kirtley 2-4-0s lasted into the 40's as I'm sure you know. He was clever with it too, just look at the convertible engines he built when the Midland took over the Bristol and Gloucester! Total genius!

Regards Lez.Z.       

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Derek,

I think every aspect of both images show an exceptional standard of model engineering, and doubtless it is still running smoothly, which probably can't be said of the ready-to-run locos available at the time. You may have mentioned it before, but is that still Larry's original paintwork?

Kind regards,

Jock.

Yes, Jock, all the locos and carriages that Larry painted are still untouched and just as they were, apart from the dreaded layer of dust. The six wheeled carriages are also Larry's work. Those six wheelers, by the way, are old CCW wooden parts from the 1940's and 50's. They were made up for me by a friend in exchange for me building and re-furbishing locos for him. He was a S&DR modeller and very good too.

The two 25' vehicles in the second pic are my work. Painted using rattle cans. The colours match quite well in the flesh, but show big differences in photographs. Strange!

Derek

Edited by Mrkirtley800
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My mate back in 1967 desperately wanted a Q6 0-8-0 (he was a NER enthusiast -- takes all sorts!!).  Kits for these locos were a long way off, and not having a drawing approached the late Ken Hoole who produced a side on photo which we had processed to 4mm/foot size.  The loco was built and I thought looked the part.  Sadly my friend died, but his Q6 lives on.

Derek

 

Yes, it lives on sat on my shelf, needs a bit of work doing but solid as a rock.

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I remember your friend who modelled the North East Derek. He was with us when our two family's travelled on the K&WVR circa 1972. I recall he queried why I had painted his B1 buffer shanks red instead of black, so I was able to poiint out something he hadn't been aware of. Truth to tell I hadn't either but I always work of photos when doing commission work unless told to do otherwise. Glad the paintwork has stood the test of time. i suppose it should do considering the cellulose was formulated for the motor trade. The crimson lake on your locos was mixed to pattern by J T Keeps. It was very transparent and had to be sprayed on top of a special undercoat that I labelled 'purple stain', which went on top of grey primer.  Red Oxide car primer was quite useless for keying to brass and aluminium in those days. Later on ICI mixed the crimson lake for me. It is more opaque and it does not depend on red oxide undercoat, in fact I spray it straight on top of Halfords Acid 8 etch-primer these days. Your revised layout is coming on well and yet it is managing to retain the old look that you created all those years ago. As someone else commented, it has the ambiance of David Jenkinsons later layouts.

Edited by coachmann
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I remember your friend who modelled the North East Derek. He was with us when our two family's travelled on the K&WVR circa 1972. I recall he queried why I had painted his B1 buffer shanks red instead of black, so I was able to poiint out something he hadn't been aware of. Truth to tell I hadn't either but I always work of photos when doing commission work unless told to do otherwise. Glad the paintwork has stood the test of time. i suppose it should do considering the cellulose was formulated for the motor trade. The crimson lake on your locos was mixed to pattern by J T Keeps. It was very transparent and had to be sprayed on top of a special undercoat that I labelled 'purple stain', which went on top of grey primer.  Red Oxide car primer was quite useless for keying to brass and aluminium in those days. Later on ICI mixed the crimson lake for me. It is more opaque and it does not depend on red oxide undercoat, in fact I spray it straight on top of Halfords Acid 8 etch-primer these days. Your revised layout is coming on well and yet it is managing to retain the old look that you created all those years ago. As someone else commented, it has the ambiance of David Jenkinsons later layouts.

Yes Larry, they were the good old days. It wasn't often that Fred was wrong about LNER/ NER

Derek

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Isn't it marvellous?  Every loco I build later comes out as RTR or a kit.  My Kirtley 800 class was eclipsed by a kit, albeit a Jidenco kit shortly after I finished it.  My 0-6-0 well tank, scratch built over a lot of years, was seen in kit form, as was the 0-4-4 well tank.  I don't need to mention the Deeley Compound or the class M 0-6-0.  OK the RTR 2F has a belpaire boiler.

Then there was the LNER P2 Cock o the North, built from an etched brass kit, now produced RTR by Hornby.  I bought (cheaply) a partially built kit for a GNR large Atlantic, built it and when I got it run in, is one of my best runners, now coming out in RTR form.  Do you think someone somewhere is trying to tell me something?

Derek

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Morning Derek,

There is always something of interest on your thread, I am now more informed about early Midland locos than I have ever been. I thought Larry's post was lovely, demonstrating as it does the long term friendships formed within this hobby. I am astounded by the amount of work you had to do Larry, just to arrive at the correct shade of a given colour! Derek's models stand testament to just how worthwhile the effort was - still looking so good after all this time. The advent of the modern airbrush, and the availability of the 'right' colours might have made the job easier, but I question whether they will stand the test of time like yours!

Thanks for sharing this cameo with us mere followers gentlemen,

Kind regards,

Jock.

Edited by Jock67B
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