Mrkirtley800

Today was a big day. I started to recover some stock from boxes where it has been for over a year. So far only goods stock. Pics below show the FY with a variety of wagons waiting for locomotives. In amongst the wagons are a number of mom passenger carriage stock (NPCS). Carriages will follow shortly. Locomotives are still packed away. The third pic is of a row of shops which will, I think, be on the opposite side of the road to the station entrance. They could be seen on Canal Road, along the back scene. The shops are modified Metcalfe Models products. The first (on the left) is Ada Hardaker's Provision Merchant (now we called it a green grocers shop). Ada Hardaker was my maternal grandma's maiden name, a name pretty synonymous with the northern counties. The second shop is a dress shop - Williams - and is named after my mother-in-law. When she was young (looking at old photographs) she appeared to be smart and stylish, so why not let her have a costumiers and milliners. Third one is a crib of my paternal grand dad. Somewhere we have a piccie of grand dad - a plumber and electrician by profession - standing at the door of his shop, big moustache and thumbs through his braces - you get the idea - playing the part of "lord of all he surveys". Well, here he is. The last in the row is my father-in-law, Syd Whiting. He had a butchers shop in Stafford, retired in the 1970's. If anyone on here lives in the town, it was in the Marston Road. He sold the shop and the next owner turned it into a model (railway) shop -- how about that? I haven't been to Stafford since both he and my mother-in-law died in the 1990's, so I have no idea what the shop is now or even if it is still there. Derek

Excellent modelling, Paul. Fred would be very pleased with you. Derek

Barry, that Duette was given to me by an old friend who thought he wouldn't need it any more. I think he later regretted it It is in constant use. I use it to power my mini drill, for tracing faults with a 12v bulb or trying out trackwork with a loco. Could not do without it. Derek

Not much to report this time. I have been fixing little problems with the fiddle yard and wiring the boards together. The FY fits along one of the long walls and into the corner. Originally, these boards had track laid across the joint. Now, I need to be able to take them apart so that I can work on them while sitting at my bench. So, to make sure they were always aligned correctly, I fitted a pair of steel dowels (obtained from the EM gauge society). Of course, I had already laid the track in the FY so provision of the dowels required very careful measurement. Even so, I got it wrong and had to bodge the job (where is Andy when I need him). Anyway after a bit of fettling the job was done. DonW made a good suggestion that I lay a link between the branch and main line fiddle sidings. I have measured up and will need to build a couple of points to fit. This will be done when I can get some copper clad sleepering. Pic 1 is testing of the whole lot whilst balanced precariously on my little bench. Pic 2 is the FY in place and Pic 3 is with the bridge section in place. Now comes an extended period of testing, tweaking and generally getting the whole thing working as it should. Then, I can get on with the turntable. I have bought some Mecanno bits and pieces to work it, so we shall see how it goes. Only then will I have a blitz on the scenic treatment. Derek

Very nasty stuff, that steel wire. I scrounged the end of a reel of high tensile 12 thou brass coated steel wire from a local company, now defunct, producing armoured hosepipes. Superb for the ease of soldering but the times I have managed to stick it in my fingers is nobody's business. The reel end, of no value to the company - no one wanted it -- must have contained hundreds of yards of wire. Derek

That is worth considering, Don. Many thanks, now why didn't I think of it? Derek

Here we are again. I have been working on the fiddle yard for the last few days. I have already shown the first FY board with it's row of points. The second board needed a fair bit of work to clear it. Originally it carried the Haw Bank tunnels on my Canal Road layout, and pic 1 shows it as it was. All the scenery and track had to be cleared -- quite brutally -- and pic 2 is a shot of the two FY boards coupled together. The recently cleared board was in such a mess I painted it with white primer. Over the weekend I laid fiddle sidings, six for the main line, three for the Grassington branch, and these are shown in the last two shots. I have stopped about a foot short of the end of FY board 2. I intend to have a number of loco cassettes on this bit so that a train coming in to the FY uncouples and the loco runs on to a cassette and can be turned easily without damaging the paint work. The idea is that I will then have loco storage and to get an engine to the front of the train, it will run up a vacant track and reverse into the relevant siding. I have used flexi track for the FY and pinned it down. Makes for easy lifting if necessary. The lengths of fiddle sidings vary between about 46" to about 60". All that needs to be done now is to connect everything up, split the boards and put back in place. I have already soldered the rails to panel pins each side of the board join, and now must cut the individual rails. Hoping to have all this done and the FY in place for my birthday in ten days time. Derek

Superlative and outstanding work, Jason. What a big one you've got. Derek

Just found this thread, really is very nice, the point work is lovely. Will follow your progress with a lot of interest. Derek

Thank you very much Al. The board carrying the twin tunnels and on which the 700 class is running is the last board of Canal Road proper, and it will form part of the new fiddle yard. So, over the next few days will take that down and clear away everything above the board surface. The tunnels are redundant now, the area around Kirkby Malham is fairly flat, or at least I don't remember any big hills until Malham is reached when we are in Craven Fault country, with all that magnificent scenery. Gordale Scar, a pretty big cleft in the rock worn away by water (Gordale Beck) has been ruined by official vandals. When I first went there with a school class outing back in about 1948, you had to walk right along a dry stone wall, otherwise you would get wet. All the grassy level ground n the approach to the scar was full of springs bubbling up. Once at the scar, it was great fun to climb up the very slippery rocks next to the waterfall. The last time I went, and I think it will be my last, officialdom had constructed a path to the scar and worst of all put steps up by the waterfall. How could they desecrate Gordale like that? OK rant over. The fiddle yard track will be SMP or similar, only the points are built using copper clad sleepers. So, onward and upward. Derek

You bet I did, Larry. As I said earlier, having a Lambretta got us out all over the Dales. Did a bit of cricket as well. Derek

This is the second loco you painted for me, Larry. A 700 class which I built in 1959. That was a glorious summer with wall to wall sunshine. I was swotting up for my chemistry finals and as a bit of a break built the engine, using my parents concrete coal bunker as a bench, a vice in the shed and my dad's soldering iron which had to be heated with a blow lamp, killed spirits (Bakers fluid) as flux and a huge stick of solder. I paired it up with a Triang tender from their Southern L1. Later I built the bogie water cart then packed it off to you. This piccie is taken as it leaves Haw Bank No2 tunnel. Derek

Still is a beautiful shade, Larry. Just makes a loco look good. This is the last one you did at Canal Road. It is a Johnson slim boilered 2183 class (AKA class L), Derek

Thank you fellas, yes, Barry, the crimson lake looks just right on the 0-4-4WT, all thanks to Coachman Larry. Mind you he painted it in about 1972 Derek

Fascinating reading about building kits so long ago. The 'bodyline' kits, just the body to fit on a Triang or Hornby chassis (don't like using that word for a steam loco). There were three, and I got the Midland one and made a right old mess of it. After a bit of running it was thrown into a box and forgotten for something like 25 years. I found it, rebuilt it with scratch built mainframes, fitted with a big can motor and gearbox and it is still running today, and here it is in the yard at Canal Road in the 'experimental' plain black livery. Layout set in 1908. Derek

I was bought a K's Johnson Single back in about 1973. It went together OK however the driving wheels were white metal castings and when mounted on the axles ran like nothing on earth. I sent them back to K's for replacement, but the new ones were no better. So got a pair of Triang 'Lord of the Isles' driving wheels and managed to turn them down to more scale proportions, then araldited on the axles in a clamp and back to back gauge (I model in EM). they ran true and have stayed that way. The tender drive in my loco was and still is superb, so I am very happy with the loco. It will pull anything I put behind it, but I just wish the driving wheels looked as if the Midland had had something to do with them. I also was bought a K's Kirtley 0-6-0 in the late 1960's. That ran very well using the supplied motor (was a mark 2 - small motor - can't remember) and the wheels were OK as well. Since then in the 1990's have replaced the motor, mainframes and wheels for better ones. I used the small - mark 2 - motor almost exclusively in the 1960's and 70's for my small Midland engines, most being scratch built. I found if the small K's motor was good, it was very good. But if it was bad ------ well better chuck it!!. Derek

Strange as it may seem, I have missed this thread until now. I have been modelling pre group since about 1958, mainly Midland (circa 1908) and a bit of North eastern Railway, all in 4mm scale and EM gauge. I have had a layout since about 1985 (Embsay Canal Road) however I felt the need to reduce the size a little and my thread in the 'layouts' section "Demise and rebirth of a model railway" explains all. Derek

After a bit of concentrated effort, the point work in the fiddle yard is up and working. I had a bit of a problem with the two new points I built last week. Using C & L sleeper strip for an easy build, and pin rather than stick them down. I suddenly had a mysterious short circuit. I spent ages looking at every sleeper, making sure it was properly gapped. Eventually, having isolated the problem to one point - the first and therefor most important point -- naturally !! -- I took it up and then realised the copper clad was on both sides of the sleepers, so one or two of the pins holding the thing in place was shorting through --- doh!. Anyway, I put a gap down the underside of the sleepers and replaced. Still a funny short circuit, then realised the microswitch used to change over wasn't being thrown by the point and the arm had got stuck -- double doh!. I began to think I was losing my touch. All the points work OK now. The H & M point motors are purely to change the points by hand, the microswitches are the little black boxes next to the tie bars. The first two pics show the arrangement. My apologies about the scruffy baseboard. Moving down the track a little is where the main line curves away from the corner. I hope to put a limestone trans-shipment arrangement here as part of 'Kirkby Limes' a company with a quarry some distance away but where the stone is transported to the railway by a narrow gauge tramway, which, unfortunately, I won't be able to show. Think Grassington - again. Pic 4 shows the area from the overbridge at the end of the line. I envisage a trailing point in the far right hand track with the usual trap points in place, with a line running along the back in a rock cutting before a couple of short sidings and a loop in the corner. This will give me a chance to use my Midland 0-4-0 saddle tank loco. Operationally, the loaded wagons will be brought into the station to be attached to a main line goods, empties being stored in a siding near the loco shed. Finally a few shots of the first train, with the covered carriage truck containing his lordships car back from repair. I have to admit, that first train was not an unqualified success. I had a couple of derailments on the sharp curves, and the loco stuttered a bit. The problem was that it had not been used for a couple of years, and the track was anything but clean and sparkling. It has now been remedied. At some point in my layouts, I try to have the railway on an embankment, or at least the ground dropping below track level. So the next two pics show the only place I could go, apologies for the out of focus shots. I would never be an Antony Armstrong Jones!. The final pic shows the train in the station. Another duff photo, I am afraid. All the pictures I take show the enormous amount of work required to get the layout looking something like I want it. Keep me going for years, trouble is do I have the years? Derek

The back scene really makes it, Al. Sets off the station within the landscape beautifully. Now for a Midland compound of three and some clerestory coaches!! Derek

Al, looking back at what we used to get up to makes me sweat. We were all so innocent. Derek

Made a good job there Al, should look very good in place on the layout. Derek

Hello Don, Yes, my first car was a Reliant when I sold the Lambretta. I always thought it felt like being in the bath when I was driving it. Of course, I got one so I could drive on a motor cycle licence by having the reverse blocked off. It was good though. At the time I was working in Stafford and going home to Leeds at the weekend. One disadvantage was there was no heater installed, so it could be perishing cold in winter, even though the engine was partially in the passenger compartment. Many times as I was driving along in very cold weather, the screen would suddenly freeze up leaving me with little visibility. During one bad snowy period I was driving along the tracks made in the snow by other vehicles, but the front single wheel was riding up on the snow in the middle of the tracks, and the brakes had frozen, so it was a bit hairy. Derek

Thanks for all your kind comments fellas, it gives me a lot of encouragement to try and describe what I am trying to do, although, as I have said before, Olga tells people not to encourage me. Wonder what she means. When I was a young bloke living in west Leeds, I did a great deal of cycling, although never got too far. Later in 1957 I became motorised and bought a Lambretta scooter. Now I had a bit of engine power, I could go much further. So, on a nice Saturday morning at about 7.0 am , I would pick up the girlfriend, who had made the sandwiches and a flask of coffee and off we went. Our trips took us mainly into the Dales, although on occasions we would go off to the coast at Scarborough or Whitby. On one day we had our elevenses at Kettlewell, then started up the road towards Coverdale. Really did what Mason did in his tale of woe, because we came to Park Rash. My little scooter, 150cc, would go all day on reasonably undulating terrain, but this hill was a bit different . Neither the girlfriend or I were overweight but it just couldn't take us, and chugged to a halt. So, she had to get off and walk. When she eventually reached me at the top, she was furious and never forgot me leaving her in the middle of nowhere. Right to the end of our relationship, any little disagreements would see this incident brought up. She did take a piccie of me, however, and I include it here, give you all a laugh. But was I ever that young. At a later date, we had all acquired cars often of questionable vintage. My special mate, Peter, bought an old Jaguar, I think it had had six previous owners. However, it sported real leather seats and we felt a million dollars going off to play ten pin at the bowling alley in Wakefield, One very pleasant Saturday, Peter took me and our two lady friends into the Dales. We came over Coverdale and there before us was laid out upper Wharfedale and directly in front the road dropped away. We were at the top of Park Rash. We looked at each other and both said bl**dy hell. Pic 2 is taken about half way down. Off we went. Think worn clutch, serious engine judder and brake fade. We were both just a bit scared, but the two young ladies in the back were chatting away, oblivious to anything. I haven't gone on that road now for over forty years so I suppose it has a better surface, and ,of course, modern cars will take it easily, that is if they don't meet a couple of idiots coming down in a clapped out 15 year old Jaguar.. Now back to the present. The bridge section across the door leads to the fiddle yard which comprises two boards 4' long and 20" wide. I started laying the pointwork for the Grassington branch and that is shown in pic 3. Using the points lifted from Canal Road fiddle yard. The crossover was the start of the old FY so left it in in case I can use it in the future. For the pointwork on the main lines I had to build a couple of new points, one of which can be seen in progress. I used copperclad sleepers for those. So, pic 4 shows the start of the FY for the main line. I will be able to accommodate 6 tracks in the main and 3 in the branch, which should be enough for me. The points will be changed by hand but using old H&M motors with their locking arrangement. Derek

I had meant to mention in the last posting, the two vehicles behind the carriage truck. The first a milk van of the Somerset and Dorset design. Quite what it is doing in North Yorkshire heaven knows. The next van is a 25' passenger luggage van doubling up as another milk carrier. The first one was again scratch built with the Coachman finish, the second an etched brass kit, of indeterminate origin and age. I would imagine the company producing it is long gone, a pity, it was a nice kit, and painted and lined by me -- pretty obvious when coupled next to Larry's work. The two milk vans are empty and will be loaded at Kirkby Malham, then to Skipton where the first one will be picked up by a passenger train for Bradford (Market Street) the second to Bell's Dairy in Leeds. I mentioned a hill called Park Rash in my last posting. Next time I will relate my meeting with it. Derek

At last, the first train has run after just over a year. Here are two pics of the local from Grassington. The fiddle yard has not been installed yet, so the train set off from the bridge section. The loco is a Kirtley well tank, which I scratch built in the late 1960's. I had seen a model of one of these engines on the layout of Frank Roomes "Lutton" in, I think, the Model Railway News. J.N.Maskelyne, the editor, had produced drawings of many locos of which the Kirtley well tank featured, so I got one. It was to 10mm to foot scale, but as I later found out, was not entirely accurate. These engines were produced by two companies, and each had a slightly different appearance. Maskelyne's drawing included features from each of the two companies, and I was too uninformed to realise. However, that said, it is still one of my favourite engines. Painted and lined by Coachman Larry. The second vehicle, a Midland covered carriage truck, also scratch built in about 1980, also finished off by Larry. That vehicle is attached to the train to deliver his lordships car to the big house. Now 64 years old and after 30 years in the army (Yorkshire Regiment of Foot) he retired to his seat in Kirkby Malham, where he and her ladyship lived in comfort with a large staff. All would have been well had his lordship's friend in Skipton had not bought one of those new fangled road vehicles. His lordship decided to get one, and in June 1906 consulted the motor car industry's equivalent of a snake oil salesman. He eventually bought a Sunbeam 16HP, which after a lesson in how to drive the thing from the agent, began to tear around the narrow roads of that immediate area of North Yorkshire, reaching speeds in excess of 15 miles per hour. As he roared around, frightening the horses and giving elderly ladies palpitations, he had a number of near misses, and after the final one when he upset a cart of farmers produce going to market, her ladyship put her foot down, she did not want any boy racers in her house. She said "don't you think you are too old to do that, why not be more dignified and appoint a driver". When her ladyship started off a sentence with "don't you think" it really meant she had thought and you are expected to think the same. Reluctantly, his lordship agreed and appointed the senior footman, a man called Mason. to be his chief mechanic and driver. Now Mason felt more comfortable the horsepower with legs and not wheels, but he did as was told, and became a very good and solid driver, taking instructions from her ladyship not to exceed 8 mph. For two years Mason did all that was necessary to the delight of her ladyship. In the April of 1908 his lordship received an invitation to visit old friends in Derbyshire, so within days he and her ladyship plus a lady's maid and a man servant (there was ample staff where they were to stay, so did not require any one else) were driven to the station at Kirkby Malham to entrain, with changes at Skipton, Leeds and Derby. However they had a private carriage, so the inconvenience of changing trains was lost on them. Immediately, the atmosphere in the big house lightened, although the butler, left in charge was a bit of a strict disciplinarian. On the Friday following his lordship's departure, the butler instructed Mason to drive over to Grassington the next day to collect some provisions ordered by the cook. Mason was a man of opportunity and had been eyeing up one of the young chambermaids, and by "accident" bumped into her on that Friday and suggested she could come and help him on the following morning. The butler agreed for her to go with some trepidation. Saturday morning dawned fine and unnaturally warm for April, and Mason, shoes shining, uniform brushed went out to the car. She was already there waiting for him in her best long white frock with blue ribbons and a straw hat with a blue band, blond hair well brushed. As he approached, Mason thought "by 'eck, she's a cracker". The journey to Grassington was soon over and the groceries safely stowed, when Mason offered to take her for a little drive to Kettlewell for some refreshment. Tea and cakes in a little tea shop in Kettlewell was very pleasant (Mason would have rather gone to the King's Head) and still it was early in the day, so "lets go up to the Wharfedale Head" She didn't have much choice but "why not, it was her first ride in a motor car". Mason took the road to Middleham, a rough unmade road which took the form of a series of switchbacks. Mason, up till now had been running at the regulation 8mph, suddenly decided to go faster and ran up and down the bumpy road at speed, reaching 18mph on downhill stretches. He stole a glance at his companion. She was flushed with excitement, her hat had slipped to the back of her neck, held on by the elastic round her throat, and she kept shouting "what fun". Mason thought "by 'eck, I'm in 'ere". It is unfortunate he didn't know the road. When driving his lordship he had kept to the area around Grassington and Skipton, never came this way. They suddenly rounded a sharp bend there before them was Park Rash, a very steep, long bendy hill. They half way up the first steep bit when Mason tried to change gear, crashed the gears and lost it completely. He grabbed the brake which was stiff as the car at first came to a stand then began to roll backwards, gathering momentum. The lady companion was just about to tell Mason to stop messing about when she realised he wasn't and this was for real. She panicked and grabbed Mason's arm. Now having a young lady grab his arm would have been quite thrilling in normal situations but this was not a normal situation, and she was just getting in the way. To his cresdit he kept the car upright but on reaching the bend they mounted a grass bank and demolished twenty feet of dry stone wall, careered down a meadow down a steep sided hill and came to rest, axle deep in a pool formed by the infant River Wharfe. The girl in panic jumped out into the water, the level being above her knees. She waded to the bank and as she tried to climb out fell on her face. After a repeat performance she gained the top and turned around. Mason, still sitting in the car, saw this wet, muddy figure with a dress covered in grass stains, hat clamped on her head, blond hair in rats tails. She didn't look a vision in white now. Mason realised he could do nothing so got out of the car and they began the long walk back along that interminable undulating road. She, by now, was hungry, wet, dirty, miserable and very angry and in between complaining about Mason subjected him to abuse. "How could" he thought "such dreadful words issue from such a pretty mouth" In late afternoon, they were picked up by a farm cart which took them to Grassington, where they were able to catch the last train of the day to Kirkby Malham. Then the walk in almost darkness, to the big house, which by now was in darkness and locked up for the night. Mason, by now was heartily fed up of his companion and wished he had never met her, so instead of trying to find a way into the house round the rear, hammered on the door. After what seemed an age a flickering light appeared and footsteps were heard coming down the hall. Bolts were released and the door unlocked and slowly opened to reveal the butler in night gown and night cap, candle holder in one hand and wrought iron poker in the other. Behind him were the staff nervously peeping round him. When Mason and his companion appeared, laughter and ribald comments only stopped when the butler, very angry by now, told them to get to bed Mason's companion, by now shedding tears of shame and fright was incoherent and was sent to bed with the warning "I'll see you later". Mason told the butler what had happened and was sent to bed and told to be up at dawn, they must retrieve the car. The butler was a resourceful type and had hired two teams of horses and a number of farm hands with a cart, and off they went to Grassington, Kettlewell and onwards until they came to a large gap in the dry stone wall. The farmer was there and the butler had to pay for repair, in the butlers eyes an extortionate amount. They found the car, overnight rain had swelled the pool so his lordship' pride and joy looked a sorry state. It was midday now so the farm hands insisted on having their food before work commenced. Mason, not having brought anything to eat could only look on as cheese sandwiches and bottles of beer were consumed. Finally a group of cheerful men together with the horses prepared to haul the car out, but first someone was required to wade into the pool to attached the tow ropes. Guess who? Eventually, after much pulling and pushing the car was back on the road. Mason, by now wet through for the second time in two days would have to steer it with the butler sat beside him, while the horse pulled the car home. The farm hands riding in the cart, now produced more beer. So began a noisy and for some happy journey home. They got back long after supper, so there was nothing for Mason to eat, but was instructed to get that motor car cleaned up and dried out. By Tuesday Mason had done a thorough job and the butler went to inspect his work. The car bodywork shone, the bare metal sparked, however going to the rear was a different scene. No polishing could hide the fact that there had been contact with a stone wall with dents, scratches and a stove in rear end. Ten days later his lordship arrived home full of the joys of spring looking forward to a ride in his car. The butler managed to see his lordship and lady in the library and quietly tell him about the incident. His lordship could be heard shouting and banging the table all over the house, but not be Mason who had made himself scarce. The butler was despatched to find Mason, gave her ladyship time to speak to her husband and calm him down a little, and as Mason entered the room, her ladyship slipped out. Mason turned to face the wrath, a red faced furious lordship, expecting to be dismissed without a reference. However her ladyship had done a good job and he was put on menial duties for six months and his pay reduced. As Mason was going out of the room his lordship said to him "never ever ever ever touch my motor cars again --- ever" The car was taken away, horses pulling it to the station where a carriage truck had been ordered. Once on board it was taken to Grassington and there attached to an express to Leyburn Junction. There the North Eastern Railway took over to get it to Newcastle, and in our pic it is being returned in early June 1908. His lordship now appointed an under-footman as his driver/mechanic. a self confident handsome young man, popular with the female staff, and consequently not liked by Mason, especially when he met him the young man developed a smirk for Mason's benefit. Mason soon realised his lordship as well as the female staff had long memories and his 'street cred' remain hovering around absolute zero for many a year. As to his female companion on that ill fated trip. She met and married a charge hand at Kirkby Lime Co and between them produced twelve children.