Midland Railway in EM gauge

[Mrkirtley800]

It is a long time since I last updated this thread, but I have not been entirely idle. I have spent time completing the basic scenery in the station area. I was just finishing off when I slipped off my chair and hit a very unforgiving floor.

The result was a week in the hospital with operation to repair a lacerated arm and bruising from knee to shoulder.

I came home on Monday to the wonderful tender care of Olga, and aching all over. Needless to say I have not been near our railway, but with a heavily bandaged arm there is not a lot I could do.

At least I am now catching up with reading books which have been waiting for me for some time.

But, as they say, I will return.

Derek

[westerhamstation]

Hi Derek, i hope you are on the road to recovery from what sounds like a very nasty fall, All the best Adrian.

[Barry O]

Derek

 

sorry to hear about your fall. Now just get better and do what Olga says. You know she is right!

 

Best regards

 

Baz

[Mrkirtley800]

Thanks for your good wishes fellas, we are very fortunate to have some great neighbours who came to help.Although I went to hospital with paramedics, they took Olga and waited for hours until I was admitted.

Really must stop this prancing about at my age.

Derek

[lezz01]

Sorry to read about your fall Derek. I hope you are on the mend now and that Olga isn't too stressed by your misadventure. 

Best wishes Lez.Z.      

[Donw]

Very sorry to read about your fall. Take care.

Don

[ChrisN]

Derek,

Sorry to hear about your fall but pleased that you are on the mend.  Look after yourself.

[Lecorbusier]

Hi Derek.

I don't suppose you have a usable drawing of a Kirtley 700 class 0-6-0 and tender you can let me have do you? You and a few others on here have inspired me to have a crack at scratch building one and I don't have anything other than a GA drawing which is hopeless to work off. If not can you point me at one I can get hold of.

Regards Lez.Z.

I believe plans are afoot at LRM to release a kit of the 700 class next year .... if that is of any interest and you are not already in the loop.

 

John Redrup has advised that he is just waiting on the trial build of the tender for the design to be complete.

[Mrkirtley800]

Thank you for that info.

No, I wasn't aware of that, and will look out for it. I already have two Kirtley goods engines, so I will have to be very tempted to get a third. My little line will collapse under the weight of engines, I have got far too many already.

Derek

[Mrkirtley800]

Back again and in one piece. 

Two characters I have not yet mentioned are the Simpson sisters.  Now, both in their late forties and beyond the conventional marriageable age in 1908, they live together in a large house in extensive grounds quite near the station.  The house, together with a substantial legacy was left to them by their late father, a Bradford mill owner.

They are able to employ Herbert Ackroyd as gardener / handyman and his wife Elizabeth as cook / housekeeper for five days a week.  One other, fifteen year old Polly Parker is general dogsbody and gofer.

The sisters are able to pursue their own interests, Edythe is able to potter in her own private part of the garden whilst Beartrice, the elder by two years, takes part in village life, serving on committees, Parochial Church Council, Ladies Guild, Farmers Union and leads the Airedale Explorers, a walking group.  On a Saturday, one may see Beartrice stomping around the countryside like a storm trooper, followed meekly by the Explorers.

On this particular day, Beartrice has decided that they should have new hats and accessories, and she has paid a visit to Elizabeth Williams (milliners).  Whether Edythe will like the hat she has been bought is anyones guess, but no one argues with Beartrice.

In the pic, we see Beartrice coming out of the shop (she is the one in the black dress) followed by Sam Cook carrying the boxes, and walking at a respectful three paces behind Beartrice.

Sam Cook is the only person we have met who is passionately  interested in the railway, and as they walk to the Simpsons house, he hears a whistle of the stopping passenger train from Leeds (Wellington) but the whistle is not that of the usual engine.

Sam, having left school aged thirteen, was given the job of keeping the shop clean and sparkling, Elizabeth Williams being his mothers elder sister.  Now, seven years later, he is managing the shop with two young lady assistants.  He would dearly love to work on the railway but loyalty to aunt Lizzie and a generous wage keeps him firmly in the shop.

Having delivered the boxes he returns and looks in at the station, to see arriving the normal train but hauled by one of Mr Deeley's new compound engines.  It is number 1013 and was built in 1906, just two years before, and originally number 1008.  It became 1013 in the general renumbering of the Midland locomotive fleet, to allow the five compounds built  to the design of Mr.Johnson  to take the first five numbers 1000 to 1004.

It would appear the normal engine, an old Kirtley, had developed boiler tube problems and the shed foreman at Holbeck Sheds had sent this engine as replacement.

It was an unfortunate choice since the wheelbase was just too long for the small turntable at Kirkby Malham, so 1013 must be turned on the triangular junction.  Reversing over Hanlith Junction and taking the line to Grassington, gains the main line from Skipton to Leyburn just south of Grassington.  Running down to Rylstone South Junction, it can now get on to the line to Kirkby Malham.  The pics show it's progress.  I will do a schematic diagram of the lines in the area to show the various stations and junctions.

In truth, I try to give my engines a run occasionally.  1013 was built as a Christmas present for my eldest son back in 1973, when he was seven years old.  He wanted an engine to run on dad's layout.

It was built from a George Mellor (GEM) cast kit.  The kit was produced with the idea of using the Triang L1 chassis.  It didn't look right, too high, as I remember, so I cut the bodywork about, and scratch built the main frames (chassis) using a M005 motor.  Painted by Coachman Larry, it ran for many years and was the most powerful engine we had.  The motor eventually showed signs of wear, and I replaced it with a Ultrascale motor and gearbox.  It was built as it would have been in it's early days running on saturated steam.  It wasn't superheated until about 1920.

The engine fits the drawing pretty well, the only divergence is the driving wheelbase.  The compounds had a 9'6" (38mm) but the kit was made for the L1 10' (40mm).  I think it would have been too much of a job to change it.

Derek

Edited November 10, 2018 by Mrkirtley800

[Mrkirtley800]

Back again and in one piece. 

Two characters I have not yet mentioned are the Simpson sisters.  Now, both in their late forties and beyond the conventional marriageable age in 1908, they live together in a large house in extensive grounds quite near the station.  The house, together with a substantial legacy was left to them by their late father, a Bradford mill owner.

They are able to employ Herbert Ackroyd as gardener / handyman and his wife Elizabeth as cook / housekeeper for five days a week.  One other, fifteen year old Polly Parker is general dogsbody and gofer.

The sisters are able to pursue their own interests, Edythe is able to potter in her own private part of the garden whilst Beartrice, the elder by two years, takes part in village life, serving on committees, Parochial Church Council, Ladies Guild, Farmers Union and leads the Airedale Explorers, a walking group.  On a Saturday, one may see Beartrice stomping around the countryside like a storm trooper, followed meekly by the Explorers.

On this particular day, Beartrice has decided that they should have new hats and accessories, and she has paid a visit to Elizabeth Williams (milliners).  Whether Edythe will like the hat she has been bought is anyones guess, but no one argues with Beartrice.

In the pic, we see Beartrice coming out of the shop (she is the one in the black dress) followed by Sam Cook carrying the boxes, and walking at a respectful three paces behind Beartrice.

Sam Cook is the only person we have met who is passionately  interested in the railway, and as they walk to the Simpsons house, he hears a whistle of the stopping passenger train from Leeds (Wellington) but the whistle is not that of the usual engine.

Sam, having left school aged thirteen, was given the job of keeping the shop clean and sparkling, Elizabeth Williams being his mothers elder sister.  Now, seven years later, he is managing the shop with two young lady assistants.  He would dearly love to work on the railway but loyalty to aunt Lizzie and a generous wage keeps him firmly in the shop.

Having delivered the boxes he returns and looks in at the station, to see arriving the normal train but hauled by one of Mr Deeley's new compound engines.  It is number 1013 and was built in 1906, just two years before, and originally number 1008.  It became 1013 in the general renumbering of the Midland locomotive fleet, to allow the five compounds built  to the design of Mr.Johnson  to take the first five numbers 1000 to 1004.

It would appear the normal engine, an old Kirtley, had developed boiler tube problems and the shed foreman at Holbeck Sheds had sent this engine as replacement.

It was an unfortunate choice since the wheelbase was just too long for the small turntable at Kirkby Malham, so 1013 must be turned on the triangular junction.  Reversing over Hanlith Junction and taking the line to Grassington, gains the main line from Skipton to Leyburn just south of Grassington.  Running down to Rylstone South Junction, it can now get on to the line to Kirkby Malham.  The pics show it's progress.  I will do a schematic diagram of the lines in the area to show the various stations and junctions.

In truth, I try to give my engines a run occasionally.  1013 was built as a Christmas present for my eldest son back in 1973, when he was seven years old.  He wanted an engine to run on dad's layout.

It was built from a George Mellor (GEM) cast kit.  The kit was produced with the idea of using the Triang L1 chassis.  It didn't look right, too high, as I remember, so I cut the bodywork about, and scratch built the main frames (chassis) using a M005 motor.  Painted by Coachman Larry, it ran for many years and was the most powerful engine we had.  The motor eventually showed signs of wear, and I replaced it with a Ultrascale motor and gearbox.  It was built as it would have been in it's early days running on saturated steam.  It wasn't superheated until about 1920.

The engine fits the drawing pretty well, the only divergence is the driving wheelbase.  The compounds had a 9'6" (38mm) but the kit was made for the L1 10' (40mm).  I think it would have been too much of a job to change it.

Derek

Back again and in one piece. 

Two characters I have not yet mentioned are the Simpson sisters.  Now, both in their late forties and beyond the conventional marriageable age in 1908, they live together in a large house in extensive grounds quite near the station.  The house, together with a substantial legacy was left to them by their late father, a Bradford mill owner.

They are able to employ Herbert Ackroyd as gardener / handyman and his wife Elizabeth as cook / housekeeper for five days a week.  One other, fifteen year old Polly Parker is general dogsbody and gofer.

The sisters are able to pursue their own interests, Edythe is able to potter in her own private part of the garden whilst Beartrice, the elder by two years, takes part in village life, serving on committees, Parochial Church Council, Ladies Guild, Farmers Union and leads the Airedale Explorers, a walking group.  On a Saturday, one may see Beartrice stomping around the countryside like a storm trooper, followed meekly by the Explorers.

On this particular day, Beartrice has decided that they should have new hats and accessories, and she has paid a visit to Elizabeth Williams (milliners).  Whether Edythe will like the hat she has been bought is anyones guess, but no one argues with Beartrice.

In the pic, we see Beartrice coming out of the shop (she is the one in the black dress) followed by Sam Cook carrying the boxes, and walking at a respectful three paces behind Beartrice.

Sam Cook is the only person we have met who is passionately  interested in the railway, and as they walk to the Simpsons house, he hears a whistle of the stopping passenger train from Leeds (Wellington) but the whistle is not that of the usual engine.

Sam, having left school aged thirteen, was given the job of keeping the shop clean and sparkling, Elizabeth Williams being his mothers elder sister.  Now, seven years later, he is managing the shop with two young lady assistants.  He would dearly love to work on the railway but loyalty to aunt Lizzie and a generous wage keeps him firmly in the shop.

Having delivered the boxes he returns and looks in at the station, to see arriving the normal train but hauled by one of Mr Deeley's new compound engines.  It is number 1013 and was built in 1906, just two years before, and originally number 1008.  It became 1013 in the general renumbering of the Midland locomotive fleet, to allow the five compounds built  to the design of Mr.Johnson  to take the first five numbers 1000 to 1004.

It would appear the normal engine, an old Kirtley, had developed boiler tube problems and the shed foreman at Holbeck Sheds had sent this engine as replacement.

It was an unfortunate choice since the wheelbase was just too long for the small turntable at Kirkby Malham, so 1013 must be turned on the triangular junction.  Reversing over Hanlith Junction and taking the line to Grassington, gains the main line from Skipton to Leyburn just south of Grassington.  Running down to Rylstone South Junction, it can now get on to the line to Kirkby Malham.  The pics show it's progress.  I will do a schematic diagram of the lines in the area to show the various stations and junctions.

In truth, I try to give my engines a run occasionally.  1013 was built as a Christmas present for my eldest son back in 1973, when he was seven years old.  He wanted an engine to run on dad's layout.

It was built from a George Mellor (GEM) cast kit.  The kit was produced with the idea of using the Triang L1 chassis.  It didn't look right, too high, as I remember, so I cut the bodywork about, and scratch built the main frames (chassis) using a M005 motor.  Painted by Coachman Larry, it ran for many years and was the most powerful engine we had.  The motor eventually showed signs of wear, and I replaced it with a Ultrascale motor and gearbox.  It was built as it would have been in it's early days running on saturated steam.  It wasn't superheated until about 1920.

The engine fits the drawing pretty well, the only divergence is the driving wheelbase.  The compounds had a 9'6" (38mm) but the kit was made for the L1 10' (40mm).  I think it would have been too much of a job to change it.

Derek

[Mrkirtley800]

I seem to have pressed the key twice, please ignore the second  one.

Derek

[Compound2632]

Beautiful photos there - I especially like the last-but-one, view of the station with 1013 ready to depart. I'm guessing the photographer must have somehow managed to lug his camera up to a signal landing? (That and have developed an advanced colour process for 1908!)

[Mrkirtley800]

Beautiful photos there - I especially like the last-but-one, view of the station with 1013 ready to depart. I'm guessing the photographer must have somehow managed to lug his camera up to a signal landing? (That and have developed an advanced colour process for 1908!)

But,————— life was still lived in colour, even if it was filmed in black and white.

[Barry O]

I hope to get a chance to see you (and Olga) next Easter Derek. The layout is really blossoming... and lots of lovely Crimson Lake!

 

Baz

[MarkC]

To me, for what it's worth, the GEM Compound, and also the GEM 700/999 models, look absolutely fine as long as you don't put them next to, say, an Alan Gibson version, especially if you have some decent wheels on them. They were certainly 'of their time', but can still hold their own against many other kits. They're pretty good haulage-wise too - no surprise, really, given their weight...

[Mrkirtley800]

I hope to get a chance to see you (and Olga) next Easter Derek. The layout is really blossoming... and lots of lovely Crimson Lake!

 

Baz

You will be most welcome Barry. Just give me a bell.

Derek

[Mrkirtley800]

To me, for what it's worth, the GEM Compound, and also the GEM 700/999 models, look absolutely fine as long as you don't put them next to, say, an Alan Gibson version, especially if you have some decent wheels on them. They were certainly 'of their time', but can still hold their own against many other kits. They're pretty good haulage-wise too - no surprise, really, given their weight...

Yes, I would whole heartedly agree with you. Cast metal kits could never really compare with etched brass, but were and still are a good way to start off building your own locos. My first effort was a Ks coal tank, put together with a horrible glue called Pafra. The chassis was a solid block of cast metal and it took me a long time and a lot of effort to make it work. That was in the early 1950s.

George Mellor was a friend of mine. We used to meet for a chat every year at the Leeds show. He produced some very nice lever frames in brass. Very sturdy they were too.

Derek

[Mrkirtley800]

The scenic work at Kirkby Malham is progressing very slowly. Following my tumble, I was banned from the railway for a little while, but now I do an hour or so most days.

The basic scenery on the station boards is done and now follows the detailing. Whether I will ever get round to installing point rodding is really in the lap of the gods. There is quite a lot to do on the rest of the layout to keep me occupied for quite some time. Anyway, I am getting a bit fed up with scenics and am thinking in terms of a bit of loco scratch building, if just to relieve what has become for me a bit of monotony.

However, back to the recent work. I have built a fair bit of dry stone walling and the first two pics show the area around the signal box. The walls look a bit washed out in the photos, so a bit more painting is called for.

I have completed the road to the milk depot, at least as far as it is possible to do. Any drunken carter would soon find that Christopher Columbus was wrong about the earth being round, because very soon he would come to the edge and fall off into oblivion.

Finally, we see Herbert Ackroyd scything the long grass between the platform fence and the road to the milk depot. It must be one of the days he is not working for the Simpson sisters and Mr William Spencer, station master (known to the station staff as big Bill the b------) has asked him to do the job. In the pics, Herbert is raking up the first cutting. You might see his scythe against the fence.

Many years ago, almost on another planet, I assisted in the design of a new water works. It was a river abstraction plant and built in the middle of a large field. In the first summer the grass grew and the place began to look scruffy. The site was on a steep slope and our grass cutters could only do so much. So, we hired a man with a scythe. I was fascinated, it was almost like clockwork with the forward and backward movement. Seeing my interest, he offered me a go. I could hardly pick the thing up, and when I tried to cut the grass, committed the cardinal sin of letting the point dip so that it stuck in the ground. After a few attempts I gave up, and looked round to see the staff almost wetting themselves with mirth. However, I did keep a full set of toes.

I thought that scything was a thing of the past in recent years, like so many country pursuits, but I noticed in a magazine an announcement of the Northern Scything Championships taking place in Ribblesdale in July, and before you ask, no I didn't enter as a competitor.

Derek

Edited December 4, 2018 by Mrkirtley800

[westerhamstation]

Hi Derek, lovely set of pictures and glad to hear that you are on the mend. All the best Adrian.

[Rowsley17D]

I like the drystone walls Derek. How do you do them?

[Mrkirtley800]

I like the drystone walls Derek. How do you do them?

Hello Rowsley. It is just small pieces of Das piled up. I use PVA to stick all in place.

I start with a line of stones along the bottom, stuck to the ground, then just build up,the wall.

It is OK sideways on but looking at the end gives the game away. So to do it properly it should be two or three stones wide.

The walls I have put on Kirkby Malham would fall down at the first puff of wind.

For painting, I use Humbrol enamels. Fairly dark grey base then dry brushed with white and finally, when all is dry, run a dilute black down through the stones. It’s all pretty basic stuff really but does give a good effect.

Derek

[Regularity]

Hello Rowsley. It is just small pieces of Das piled up. I use PVA to stick all in place.

I start with a line of stones along the bottom, stuck to the ground, then just build up,the wall.

It is OK sideways on but looking at the end gives the game away. So to do it properly it should be two or three stones wide.

The walls I have put on Kirkby Malham would fall down at the first puff of wind.

 

Hence the PVA...

[Mrkirtley800]

Now, why do you think that a Highland Railway Jones Goods engine in the short lived Stroudley livery of 1894, should be pulling a Bradford (Market Street) to Kirkby Malham stopper in 1908, right in the heart of Midland territory?

Many years ago, seems like 150 now, in the 1970s we spent a great deal of time on pleasant weekends camping in the Yorkshire Dales.  For our annual holiday, we toured Scotland, again camping.  One of our favourite areas was on the north east coast at Dornoch.  During our visits we kept coming across long abandoned track bed and the remains of stone bridges crossing the many streams.  The station building was still standing in Dornoch but put to other uses.  We were, of course, in the area served by the Highland Railway.

Olga became quite interested in the railway, and when we saw a postcard of the Jones Goods in the 'improved engine green' livery she was hooked.  We did consider building a small HR branch terminus, but that never materialized. 

During a visit to the Newcastle show, we bought a part built kit of the Jones goods.  It was being built to 00 gauge, but I rather think problems occurred on curved track, with the outside cylinders interfering with the bogie swing. 

It had been well assembled and the bodywork took very little effort to complete.  However, I threw the main frames (chassis) away and built one to EM gauge standards.  The middle driving wheels were flangeless as on the full sized engine, but the bogie had to be modified.  The bogie frame was cut in to two pieces, and the second bogie axle runs in vertical slots with sideplay restricted so that the wheels would not touch the cylinders.  The leading bogie axle is actually a pony truck and pivoted as far back as it was possible.  The engine could be seen regularly on our Canal Road layout, where some of the curves were down to well below 3' radius.

When it came to finishing off, I intended to paint it LMS plain black, or Highland Railway sea green, but oh no!  Olga insisted on yellow as in the photographs of the preserved example.  According to J.A.N.Maskelyne, one time editor of Model Railway News, the first two or three of these engines sported this livery, but only for a few months in the 1890s, before reverting to the dark green.

The lining out took forever.  We had visited the Railway museum in York to photograph the Stroudley livery and try to match up the base paint colour.

I have to admit now, that this engine lives most of the time in a box.  It will not fit on the Kirkby Malham turn table, but I do enjoy  giving it a run now and again.  Although the engine runs well, the motor will. perhaps, be replaced at some point in the future, it is certainly 1970s technology.

If I were starting my modelling career again and wished for a change, I think I would consider the Highland Railway.  It operated some very attractive locomotives, and the Jones Goods was the first 4-6-0 wheel arrangement in Britain.

Finally, may I wish all RMWebbers, wherever they may be, and whatever they are modelling, a very Happy and productive New Year

Derek

Edited December 28, 2018 by Mrkirtley800

[Compound2632]

It does blend in rather well with the Midland structure colours and the overall palette of the picture!

 

I have wondered whether the M&GN Gorse Green livery was S.W. Johnson's tribute to Stroudley - they, along with Dugald Drummond, were colleagues on the North British Railway in the impoverished 1860s. I imagine trying to keep things going there forged youthful bonds that lasted a lifetime. Johnson's son James (briefly Loco Superintendent of the GNoSR) married Drummond's daughter Christine.