dunwurken

To clarify when referring to myself not being aware of any reference to a loco such as this I should have added "in the articles and book on Craigshire and the C&MR by P D Hancock".  You may be correct there may well have been an article by someone else.   It does vaguely look familiar.

Malcolm

I looked at it and thought the same but I am not aware of any reference to a loco such as this.

Malcolm

15 hours ago, Donw said:

 

With three different versions of Tingewick no wonder there was confusion. Actually the most imressive thing was the sheer amount of modelling Peter did over those years. Very little from commercial sources yet he achieved a lot in those years.

 

Don

This may appear to be a rather simplistic observation  but I do think, despite longer working hours, they had more time to devote to their hobby because, in those days, they did not have the distractions caused by TV and social media.  Just think how much more time you could devote to your layout if you switched off your TV, computer & phone.

5 hours ago, t-b-g said:

 

One of the lovely things about having Buckingham is that I have a layout that has probably had its history recorded better than just about any other layout and it is complex history that has many twists and turns.

 

I still come across variations or items on the layout that were never written up or illustrated, or descriptions of arrangements that may never have actually existed.

 

The layout has a proper "story" and picking your way through all the published information to get to the truth of how and why things happened is a fascinating part of having the layout.

I agree with you 100%. The most fascinating part of my work with Craigshire was all the research and attempting to make sense of sometimes conflicting stories connected with Lord Craig and the CMR especially as PDH seemed quite capable of making it all up as he went along.   What appears in Narrow Gauge Adventure does not always agree with what appeared in the RM articles despite the book largely being a cut and paste of earlier RM articles!  You do of course realise the two PDs 😇😇are sitting up there looking down on us and having a good laugh at our expense.

PDH was just short of 60 when the 4mm scale Craigshire was dismantled. In the following 20 or so years he moved onto the never completed 7mm Craigshire and developed an extensive garden railway.  He had lost interest in the 4mm version and although sections were stored in his loft they were merely used as a source of spare parts for the 7mm layout.  (I am currently repairing the 4mm Craig Castle.   One distinctive feature of the castle found in use as a lighthouse on the 7mm layout.  It currently lies in the castle courtyard awaiting its restoration on the gatehouse tower.)

Malcolm

6 hours ago, martin_wynne said:

 

It's no good telling other people what they should post. If you want to steer a discussion back on-topic you have to do it yourself by posting something on-topic.

 

Here's something half-way on-topic: Who in the hobby has done the most to inspire you?

 

For me I always go back to P. R. Wickham's "A Book of Model Railways" (1949).

 

I got out my time-worn copy to make some scans, and seeing the familiar pages again I spent a happy hour transported over 60 years back in time. Imagine the effect of stuff like this on a boy who thought model railways were what you could see in the Hornby-Dublo catalogue: 🙂

I hope that's got the topic back a little bit.

 

Martin.

Thank you Martin for getting back on topic.  Regrettably I had nothing new to add to the topic hence I resorted to a heartfelt plea.

My apologies if I came over as trying to tell people what to post.  I would never tell anyone what they should or should not post - I thought I was only making a plea to get back on topic and not ruin this excellent thread with a spat about exhibition  insurance.

In case there is any doubt about my inspiration it was P D Hancock.

Malcolm

This is a topic about oldest inspirational layouts NOT exhibition insurance.  Can we get back on topic, PLEASE! 🙏

1 hour ago, Compound2632 said:

 

I can tell you from bitter family experience (Princes Street, Edinburgh, 1994) it wasn't easy.

It was always easy to meet in Edinburgh, you always met under the clock at Binns (now the Johnnie Walker Centre) You would never meet at the top of the Waverley Steps for fear you would get blown away before your companions arrived 😆

Malcolm

1 hour ago, MarshLane said:

 

@t-b-g, @Laurie2mil

Rich

That last photo of the goods passing the junction.  I think the engine driver and signalman are in for  a rollicking; the train is signalled for the branch but the has taken the main line. I thought Buckingham had interlocking but am obviously wrong or was it just tempremental electronics?

6 hours ago, DLT said:

 

I still often look back at these.

Locos from both lines are held in the 009 Society Heritage Collection.

Malcolm

6 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Of its kind, yes - but I don't think it had a huge influence on British-style layouts.

I would agree that it probably did not have a huge influence on this side of the pond.  That said it left its mark on P D Hancock and the later version of the Craig and Mertonford had the backscene behind Dundreich extended up to almost the ceiling however there was no lower extension to the floor.  The upward scenic extent of the layout is not always evident from the published photographs but I have seen a few photographs of it and very much regret I did not have the space to accommodate this vast work when recovering parts of the C&MR after P D's death. 😥

Malcolm

4 minutes ago, tomparryharry said:

Am I allowed to mention Pendon?  i still haven't been there yet.....

If by Pendon you mean Ahern's Madder Valley Railway then, yes 😋

Malcolm

You should have been standing on platform 1 at Edinburgh Waverley when an Aberdeen fish train stopped for crew change etc. before heading south.  Nearly always an ex LNER Pacific but as to the make up of the train I can only recall scruffy white wagons and one hell of a stink.  Always thought half the fish must be rotten before it left Edinburgh! 

Malcolm

13 hours ago, big jim said:

Some from tonight, nice short job just shrewsbury to hereford 

 

voyager in shrewsbury 

 

my train arriving 

 

it was booked to sit in craven arms for 2  1/2 hours with just the Dee marsh still passing but that was cancelled so a few calls before I left salop and I got a run straight to hereford non stop arriving in there almost 4 hours early and in enough time to get the train back to shrewsbury (and a taxi back to crewe as the line is shut for engineering work) 

 

nice to get a drive down the marches in daylight for a change 

 

hereford, left on the down relief for the next driver to take on 

 

 

toton to shrewsbury tomorrow with a weed sprayer transit move in readyness for it to work down the Cambrian and heart of wales next week (unfortunately I’m not on that!)

Hope they will spray the green parts of Shrewsbury station before heading along the Cambrian.    That Voyqger looks as if it is stood on a derelict section of track the weeds are so bad.  😋

Just tripped across this topic and the reference to the work of P D Hancock.

The 'pin drive' you refer to was fitted to NBR 'C' Class 0-6-0 No.47 and details can be found on pages 112/3 of Narrow Gauge Adventure, 2nd Edition 1980, where it is described 'a delayed action' drive as described by K N McAldowie in the August 1948 Model Railway News.

It was also described in the Railway Modeller June 1978 pages 162/3.  Close up photo of the arrangement below.

Delayed action mech by Malcolm MacLeod, on Flickr

No.47 still exists, in working order, in the Edinburgh & Lothians MRC P D Hancock Collection.

Malcolm

On 19/05/2022 at 00:08, tycho14 said:

Your model buildings are of a very high standard, but can I just add a cautionary note about Scottish brickwork. Your use of commercially available embossed brick sheets for Scottish buildings is not authentic: in the 19th century, by far the most dominant brickwork to be seen in Scotland on all brick-built public and industrial buildings - including the buildings of all the Scottish railway companies - was what has been called 'Scottish Bond', which consisted of 3 (but also occasionally 4 or 5) stretcher courses for every header course.  This pattern was almost totally absent from English practice, where it was only used for garden walls. Walls where the brickwork is entirely stretcher bond indicate cavity wall construction, and are not really representative of 19th century origin.

 

Alan

As a retired surveyor who trained in the 1960's I endorse Alan's comments on the difference between Scottish and English bonds.   The lack of lintols, properly jointed corners etc. are other items which can spoil a model for me.  The fact that the loco is running forward whilst it's valve gear is set for reverse just passes me by but irritates the hell out of a friend of mine.  You can never be too careful, a visiting farmer leaning on the layout barrier was aghast at my positioning of cows and sheep in a field!  😥

Malcolm

Not an Essar mechanism but Reidmere of this parish is a Stewart Reidpath / Essar collector and may be able to provide more info 're the box and it's original contents.

Malcolm

P D Hancock was always Mr Hancock to me.  I am told he was known as PD to the members of his club, the Edinburgh & Lothians MRC, but he was also known as PDH or Philip to some and Phil to others the name changing depending on the organisation, work and level of friendship!  The D was for David.

Malcolm

Reidmere

Thank you for the information on the SR/Essar chassis.   I have retired from being the custodian of the ELMRC Collection but I still have access to the Collection and I will update the records accordingly.

With regard to the NBR Atlantic this model is in private hands and I do not have access to it and have not seen the mechanism.  Presumably it was an Essar 0-4-0 chassis as, according to the printed word it was built to order for PDH by Mr Stewart Reidpath himself supposedly just before he died.  See earlier post dated 20 May 2020.

I can confirm Craigshire was always 2 rail.

Malcolm

Well done in getting the site up and running again.  One small irritation, I am still getting intrusive adverts.  I use a Kindle Fire.

Malcolm

1 hour ago, TheQ said:

Err Umm..

 

World wide you said... Delhi..

Oh dear.  I hope the driver of that truck is not one of the Indian drivers applying for a licence to drive in the UK.

To me much of the nostalgia in relation to old layouts is the noise they make.  Would it be possible for the video to be reposted without the irrelevant and irritating Scottish themed music .

Malcolm

Prior to moving on to Scalefour, via EM, Don had been a member and past chairman of the Edinburgh & Lothians MRC.   Having gone home on summer leave from Edinburgh University Don missed being a founder member of the club but joined on his return to his studies in the Autumn of 1951.  After graduating he went to work for Ferranti's, the aviation electronics firm in Edinburgh, and with whom [and their successors] he remained until his retirement and his move to Shropshire. I will always remain grateful to Don not just for his support and guidance during my time on club and AMRSS committees but also for the opportunity to clamber up the ladders into his loft when he lived at Eskbank and view his exquisite layout and rolling stock first hand.   Don was also generous with his time when the first 50 years of the club's history was being compiled.  Much of the early club folklore was put into words by Don and so the stories about W Loch Kidston, the goat etc. are all now saved for posterity.  Don also donated to the club a LMS lamp post sign for Davidsons Mains station in Edinburgh, the buildings of which were the clubs first home.

http://Don Rowland [L] laying track on an ELMRC layout mid 1950s by Malcolm MacLeod, on Flickr

I also learnt the hard way to consult Don on matters LMS.  Back in the 1970's I was part of a small team restoring and repainting one the Scottish RPS's LMS coaches.   After many weeks of struggling to paint the exterior of the coach in the inclement Scottish weather the work was complete and Don came by to see the results.  Don's immediate reaction was the coach is the wrong colour and you can imagine the teams despair when it was pointed out to us we should have used a brown, rather than red undercoat.   The coach is currently undergoing a further restoration.  I am sure Jim Summers and partners will not make the same mistake!

Malcolm

I have learnt that Don Rowland has died, peacefully, at the age of 91 at his home in Shropshire.

His funeral is tomorrow, Thursday 26th August at 12.00 in Chester.

Malcolm

[My apologies if I have duplicated a post elsewhere however I have searched the site but no other postings regarding this sad news came to light.]

Why are they called the Temperance Seven when there appear to be nine members in the band?

Just asking!!

Malcolm

17 hours ago, t-b-g said:

How about this one for a view not normally seen. This is the underneath of the board which has a big chunk of Buckingham goods yard and the start of the carriage sidings on it.

 

It shows not only the method of construction but also some archeological evidence of the TT layout that appears in the Peco book and was featured in Railway Modeller.

 

 

As  I said on this thread earlier (or possibly another thread) PD and PDH obviously had the same carpentry tutor and the same attitude to recycling parts of old layouts. 

Malcolm

If we go back 60 years of more ago we will find a sometimes tetchy Freelance v Prototype discussion in the model railway press of the day and we are living with the outcome of that discussion namely the headlong pursuit of prototype.   Thank goodness folk like PD Hancock stuck to their principles.

Malcolm