Mrkirtley800

And one of the stations on my imaginary railway line. AirtonThank you for sharing the information with us, I had no idea of this, although many years ago I visited the Metcalfe showroom. On the same trip, I found a model railway shop miles from anywhere up a long narrow lane, and there bought one of the early Metcalfe kits, a factory/mill where the windows were printed and not cut out. That kit was bashed around, cut in half and now forms part of the wood yard complex at Kirkby Malham. Derek

Yes, I found Metcalfe years ago, and bought a couple of their.low relief terrace houses at each exhibition I visited. They looked OK along the back of Canal Road, but close up, you can see the origins. On all of them, I have built in some modifications, so they are not quite a straight forward build. I had originally intended to scratch build the shops as full buildings, like the Station Hotel, built by a friend,but the time it would take to do it would probably be more than I have left.So half relief building kits they will stay. As I have said before, the shops are modelled on ones that my relatives had, like Lyons stores, run by my Auntie Mabel between 1912 and 1920 I think, and my paternal grand dad as plumber and electrician in the years before WW1. Whyting butchers, my wife’s dad, and the confectioners my Auntie Ida and Uncle Arthur during and after WW2. So it is not all freelance modelling. Derek

Now for something away from the railway. I have, at last, provided a midden for the provision merchants, just needs bedding in to the ground. Not very large, but the buildings are only half relief. Also we have a hexagonal Victorian post box, originally painted green but red from about 1860 ish. Mary, the cook from the big house is on her way to see Ada Hardaker, wife of the provision merchant (or green grocer nowadays) to order vegetables for the following week. They will be delivered byJoseph Ainsworth, who coincidentally, is passing by on his way to the big house with freshly laundered linen. Her Ladyship keeps a good stock of clean laundry for any visiting friends. Sadly, they are few and far between since his Lordship got his new car. He would take guests to see it, then offer to take them for a spin. On returning to the house, ashen faced and trembling with shock, the visitors would stagger off to their rooms to recover. The laundry is on the Malham Road, next to Lyons Stores, Walter Lyons has a job in Skipton in an engineering works. He catches the 6.00am train leaving wife Mabel to run the shop. On a dry day she washes and polishes the shop window. It is, perhaps, unfortunate that a steam pipe in the laundry has split and fogs up Mabel’s clean window. After words, Amos Watson is sent for. He is the local handyman, but he is not at home. He is actually sitting outside the Station Hotel. He always maintains that his best work is done after three pints of beer. He is on his second pint when he sees the vicar coming down the High Street in his horse and trap. The vicar has been trying to get Amos off drink for years without success, and he pretends not to see Amos, passing by with angry pursed mouth and thoughts of eternal damnation. Over the road we have Lydia Whyte, nanny to the three McIntyre children. Their father, Captain McIntyre and old sea dog who sailed the seven seas under canvas, and who thinks that steam powered ships are just a passing fad. He retired and bought the Grange, a large house on the edge of the village. He married a much younger women and produced three children. Nanny Lydia is looking at the destinations served by the horse bus to be an educational ride, but the two eldest children are having none of it. They want to get to Gordale Scar to climb the waterfall and paddle in the stream. So, that then, is a day in the life of Kirkby Malham, with my humble apologies to the residents of the real KM for introducing a railway into their beautiful village. Derek

Kevin, I will pm you later today. I had no idea how to change the name, so asked Andy York, and he did it for me, and also told me how to go about it in the future, so I can repeat it to you. Derek

Er. Aha. Some one must have taken the pic as they fell over.

Seeing your timber store has reminded me that I have a wood yard on Kirkby Malham without any wood. Superb buildings Kevin, I envy your skill in that department. Derek

Lezz, I have looked for a drawing of a Kirtley goods, and only found a Skinley blueprint. I have the book on Kirtley locos by Summerson, Jenkinson and Essery series on Midland locos, and my collection of mags, and none of them shows a line drawing, plenty of photos though. The Skinley is not in as bad a condition as I had thought, although it is not very good, but if you would like it, I will send it to you. PM me with your address. Derek

Hello Lezz, I have a Skinley drawing.of a 700 class, but it is indecipherable now, having been subjected to soldering fluid. But I will have a look for it tomorrow. I also have the book on these engines, I think from the Midland Railway Society. I will look for that in the morning and see what there is in the way of drawings. I might add, despite all the things I have said about scratch building, the Kirtley is tricky due to the curved footplate over the wheels. If it is your first attempt, you may be better off with a Johnson 2F or something like it. A simpler design. Will be in touch during the next couple of days. Derek

Thank you so much for your kind comments MarshLane, I am glad you get some pleasure out of Kirkby Malham. I have said many times before, scratch building a steam loco is not that difficult, a good drawing and some photographs give the general layout of the engine. A modest tool box, a lot of enthusiasm, patience and determination, with a bit of skill will allow a surprising result. My first efforts were dreadful but things did improve with time, although I will never reach the high standards of some of the modellers on RMW, I am quite happy with my efforts. The satisfaction of seeing ones creation trundle off down the track can never be bettered. Derek

The livery and number changes in the first ten years of the 20th century Midland is a complete nightmare. I can research and better research yet build and paint a loco and I can guarantee it will still have errors. Derek

Paul, you have more fun being naughty than being good. Ask me how I know. Derek

Hello Edwardian. As far as I am aware, the NER painted its goods locos green until early in the 20th century. The order to repaint in lined black came out in about 1904 I think.The Midland renumbered it’s loco stock in 1907, when large numerals started to be used. So, it may have been possible for a NER loco in green, waiting for a repaint, to be seen next to a Midland engine with large numerals, perhaps. If my dates are all to pot, and I am wrong, well, I won’t lose any sleep over it. Well not too much anyway. Derek

Are you feeling alright Paul. Derek

Now for something to gladden the heart of Mr Worsdell forever, and working into Kirkby Malham from the N.E.R. The daily goods from Leyburn runs into Skipton yard on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. On tuedays and Fridays it turns off the main line to Kirkby Malham. The MR 8 ton van at the head of the incoming train was picked up from Hanlith (Halt) There is just the one siding here and can only be accessed in the Grassington to Kirkby Malham direction. This vehicle is due to run to Grassington, Kettlewell and Middleham so will return with the NE working after shunting the yard at Kirkby Malham. The two empty MR mineral wagons are destined for Kirkby Limes transhipment siding, and so are shunted so that they are at the front of the train. The various pics show the progress of arriving and departing from Kirkby Malham and shunting the mineral wagons into the stone siding. My apologies that the third pic is out of sequence. The whole operation took over an hour to perform, this was partly because I have to move to each lever to change points or signals and I am very slow. However, had I built a centralised panel for the controls, it would still have taken me quite some time, running at reasonably slow speed and pausing to allow coupling of vehicles and setting of brakes . I have gone through all this before and can do it because I am the only spectator. I have explained previously in this thread that the way the layout is controlled means I have to keep moving if I want to do any sort of operation, really in a vain attempt to keep my joints working. As it turned out, it does keep me moving but at the end of a session I am kn$$$$$$d The N.E.R. class C used on this trip, has always been a most reliable engine, however, the driving wheels are starting to loosen on the axles , so I think a little servicing is required, will have to be replaced with my trusty old Kirtley. Derek

Yes, I take your point teaky, and you will probably be OK. My way of ascending stairs is left foot up, bring right on to the same step, and so on. Descending is worse, and more painful. Handrails are an essential. Friends ask me why we don’t try and buy a bungalow, but if I stopped going up and down stairs, I think I would seize up altogether. My doctor tells me to keep on, stairs are a good excercise and after all, I have a model railway to support. Derek

Those steps look as though they will be difficult for anyone with dodgy knees (don’t bother to ask me how I know). It never ceases to amaze me how I got like this, one minute I was folk dancing and playing badminton, next minute I hit the buffers, and steps of any kind are difficult and walking any distance is impossible. Don’t be like me. I thought I could go on forever until my joints rebelled. Try and instal your layout and it’s access to suite you when you are ninety. Derek

I don’t think Martin S-C should apologise for going off topic. The discussion was dust bins and when they started being used etc. We are all railway modellers, and little details like having the correct pattern of details can really make a model railway. Kevin’s layout is superb, made better by having the correct street furniture for the period modelled. I have been looking up pillar boxes and what they would have been like in 1908, the period of my railway. The P4 boys rejoice in “getting it all right” so why shouldn’t the rest of us. Derek

As a final throw on dust bins. During my childhood in the 1940s Leeds, we had a dust bin round the back of the house. It had a handle about half way up from the bottom and the bin man used to haul it on his back, holding the thing in place on his shoulder by the handle. This is the time when dust bin men were dust bin men, no poncy bins on wheels. It must have been made of thin sheet steel because it eventually rusted away. Everything went in that bin, although some ashes from the fire went on the garden or in winter on icy paths. Newspapers were used in the loo. I seem to remember the dust cart was horse drawn at one time. I had a trolley on wheels and I used to sit on it and go hell for leather down our road, once finishing up under the horse pulling the dust cart. My mother nearly had a fit, but the horse was a patient old thing and never moved. I am glad he didn’t decide to have a pee, I would have been washed away. Derek

Sorry fellas, I had meant to warn you I was going to go for a change of title, since the original was a bit of a mouthful. It happened rather quicker than I had anticipated. Hope you find the thread again. Derek

Whatever turns you on Larry Derek

Since we are in a reminiscent mood, when I worked at the power station in Leeds, I had to walk down a rough road, under the Leeds Bradford railway and after a further few hundred yards into the gatehouse where we ‘clocked in’. I had to start at 8.45. A local Bradford to Leeds passenger used to cross the road at 8.40, so if I was within about 20 yards of the railway when the train crossed over, I was in time. If I was any distance away, I had to run like hell. Derek

I was born in the 1930s so steam was all we had in Leeds, apart from the rattley trams. When I was very young, my dad took me for a walk one Sunday morning to Copley Hill, about a mile and a half away. There, on the turn table was a silver engine, my dad read the name == Silver Link. It must have been almost brand new at the time.i That makes me feel a very old bu@@@@. Derek

It was my birthday last Monday (presents to the Post Office, Kirkby Malham please). Few trains ran last week, but one goods arrived at Kirkby Malham behind a Kirtley 0-6-0. My old faithful as you might say. After an hours shunting and sorting wagons into the required sidings, it set off to Trafalgar Street yard (Bradford). Only got two pics, the first exiting the yard, under the Mastiles Lane bridge. The second taken as the train passed over Hanlith Junction. It will pick up wagons at Winterburn before Rylstone South Junction. Embsay East follows when our goods joins the Skipton to Ilkley line and then runs non stop to Bradford, via Menston, Guiseley amd Esholt. That old Kirtley started life as a Ks kit, and came as a birthday present from Olga in 1966. It has had a new, and better, motor and gearbox, and replacement wheels and axles, but the bodywork is virtually unchanged from its original condition. Painted by Coachman Larry. I really must do something about a backscene and build up those stone walls. Derek I see the 'puter is playing tricks again, and mixed up the pics.

Stunning piccies Kevin, of some exemplary modelling. Derek