clecklewyke

Looks great. Can you tell me what period/region it is appropriate for? I guess it's a bit modern for me (late 50s)? Ian

Having sorted the techniques for station roofs and mock-gothic hotels on this small in scope trial layout all I can wonder is what's next? St Pancras? Ian

Bob Monkhouse told this wonderful joke against himself: "When I told my school friends that I was going to become a comedian they laughed. They are not laughing now!"

Maybe one for a 3D printer? Ian

Apparently they gave up on Downing Street. It really has typical yellow London brick but it was so soot stained that rather than clean it they painted the brick black. Which comment prevents this being simply a "me too" adulation. Andy you clearly love Edinburgh and Leith, you put so much into your wonderful buildings. Does the layout ever get out to play at exhibitions or is it irredeemably stuck in your loft? It deserves to be seen by as many people as possible. Ian.

I can empathise with your trials. The first time I exhibited Clecklewyke one of the fiddle yards collapsed, cascading most of my stock on the floor. That was eighteen years ago and I'm still recovering! And my wife could tell you a bit about my stress levels when preparing for an exhibition. But they are fun, aren't they? I'm really sorry not to have been able to get to Blyth. Unfortunately it's just too far from Askrigg and my B&B guests need to be fed and watered and their rooms need changing. Are you exhibiting anywhere else? Ian

Tractors were definitely used on Humber and Princes Docks in Hull in the 1950s/60s. My recollection is that they had large metal sheets in place of buffers and buffer beams. I wish I could remember more... Ian

Just three? Well, today's three are: Buckingham Great Central - Peter Denny. A complete system, with all aspects of the layout realised to a consistent standard: design, scenery, buildings, timetable, signalling: all in a credible geographical and historical "aspic" (Iain Rice's word). The Little Long Drag - David Jenkinson. Again, a system, not just one scene. A shame it was never completed. Ravensbourne = G Iliffe Stokes (and Mrs Stokes!). When I first saw the photographs of the harbour scene from this in a 1960s RM I was unsure whether it was a model or a real scene. The best buildings, trees and scenic effects I had seen at the time, and beautifully photographed. Only the Triang 0-6-0's crude wheels gave the game away. But I cannot swear that tomorrow's might be different. For instance Charlie Wehrli's Milwher and Llenli (sp?) cast a completely different light on what a model railway might be. There may be more recent layouts which are technically better, and RMWeb has its share of these, but the three I have listed were inspiring to me when at an impressionable age, and therefore have had the most lasting effect on my modeling aims (if not my achievements).

Afraid not - found by my friend Steve Griffiths on http://www.edinphoto.org.uk/0_edin_t/0_edinburgh_transport_-_railways.htm Ian (Who had two hours between trains from Stirling to Garsdale on Saturday but didn't make it to Scotland St. Instead I revisited my old haunts as a student around the Old College/ Meadows area)

Can anyone remind me of a layout built by Arthur Whitehead, probably some time in the 1970s? I'm pretty sure it was ex L&Y - certainly LMS - in the industrial north. I never saw this layout in any magazine but I did see it at a show - probably in Scotland where I then lived. It was a relatively small terminus but was beautifully realised with careful attention to mundane detail. I cannot remember its name and would be very grateful if anyone can supply more details (especially photographs or a plan) of it. Arthur was an architect and a superb modeller who wrote a lot of excellent stuff in the old RM. For instance his "Just Supposing" was an inspiring set of articles, fleshing out "might have beens" but he also contributed a lot to the LMS Society drawings of rolling stock. Ian

Ditto a West Riding sotne-built woollen mill please - see Marsden, Slaithwaite, Bradford etc. Ian

I thought readers of this topic might be interested in the attached photograph. It is of Scotland Street yard in Edinburgh, which was just north of the New Town, at the entrance to Scotland St tunnel. This connected the original NB line to Leith to Waverley Station. Looks full of the same sort of atmosphere as Baltic St! Ian

I model in P4 but I too look at the buildings first. MMRC's Dewsbury is OO but the buildings make it fabulous - giving it a real sense of place in an area which I am also trying to conjure up in my modeling. Could you not convert it to EM or are the corners too sharp? Remember that Dunwich was converted from EM to P4 - conversion to a finer scale can be done, and is worthwhile when the aspic (suddenly remembered from an early Rice article!) surrounding the railway is so right. Sorry to continue to rave but those buildings are superb! Ian

Any chance of a url for these photos on the NRM web site, please? I spent many of my formative years in the 1970s exploring old Edinburgh Railways but I never came upon Leith Baltic St but there were many like it - Leith North, North Leith, South Leith, lots of other Leiths, all full of this atmosphere which you have caught so well. There were lots of tiny goods yards, tucked away in cuttings and behind high stone walls - almost like one of Mr Freezer's "rabbit warren" layouts with lines poking out of hill sides everywhere. Discovering this layout is a little like my first view of Dubbieside at a Kirkcaldy exhibition in the 70s - another example of a prototype unknown to English eyes, but done so well. There I could smell the sea: on Baltic Street, I bet you can smell the brewery? Ian

Dave, I don't have a lathe but found that converting the Bachman WD was simple. The trick was to buy a set of WD coupling rods from Alan Gibson. They were spot-on for the Bachman chassis - top marks all round and, of course fitted the Gibson crankpins perfectly. I forget how I bushed out the conn rod - probably a short length of copper tubing bashed out with a hammer to expand it into the large Bachman hole, then drilled and reamed to fit the Gibson crankpin. Sorry if that makes you cringe, Dave, but it's typical of my bodger's approach - and it resulted in a smooth and slow running heavy goods loco. False black Plasticard cosmetic frames completed the main surgery and Brian (Windermere) Lewis's bit of sound trickery has given it a lovely WD clank when it's coasting.

Hi, Dave. I'm finally getting to grips with RMWeb and eventually found these fascinating pictures of Birch Vale. I've also tried out your simple wheel quartering system. Like the other man said, "Why did I not think of that?." It worked a treat and while it did not instantly make my two poor runners silky it did eliminate one of the many variables. Having sorted through the others (binding brakes, bent crankpin, wheels touching splashers, you name it... the two black sheep are now running beautifully. My main problem now is how to get enough ballast in the D49 to prevent those big wheels slipping when it's loaded with more than three corridors! Best wishes, Ian