The Leeds Stedman Trust
The Trust was established in 1983 to keep the archives of the Leeds Model Company and R. F. Stedman & Company. Today the Trust provides a service of spares, repairs and technical advice to LMC enthusiasts and continues to promote interest in and appreciation of the products of The Leeds Model Company, founded by Rex Stedman in 1912, and which ceased to trade in 1967. If you have any questions about the Trust, would like to enquire for specific parts, place an order or make a comment please send us an email to dkp5506@yahoo.com
336 is back home!
K-lines mogul No 336 has been away operating for the past several months on an extensive outside third layout alongside several other K-Lines locomotives. It has hauled a wide variety of former K-Lines rolling stock, wagons and coaches, more than adequately demonstrating its ability even after 97 years to perform smoothly and powerfully as Keen required.
Now on Trust metals, and with its skate for stud contact operation refitted, it will be used in the compilation of our next video, the making of which is somewhat overdue, having been postponed while major modifications have been made to the trackwork at the eastern end of the station and a ramped section added to the western end of the layout.
Missing from our current videos of the LNER, GW and LMS models is the Southern Railway, which along with ‘specials’ including K-Lines will complete the display of archive models, and a few others, in operation. Watch this space!
Station Accessories 1924
The 1924 catalogue, entitled Leeds Model Company (1924) was very much enlarged from that of 1922/3, reflecting the beneficial financial impact of the new association of the Bristol Model Company with the LMC. The catalogue contained an additional separately printed page, 74A, which detailed a newly introduced range of six station accessories.
The 1924 catalogue, entitled Leeds Model Company (1924) was very much enlarged from that of 1922/3, reflecting the beneficial financial impact of the new association of the Bristol Model Company with the LMC. The catalogue contained an additional separately printed page, 74A, which detailed a newly introduced range of six station accessories.
Pictured here in an original box the pieces are; a weighing machine, a platform ticket machine, a machine selling small bars of Nestles milk chocolate, a nameplate stamping machine, a G.P.O. pillar box and a multi-sweet, cigarette and match vending machine.
A Great Gathering
The promised Gathering of Geoffrey Keen’s surviving K-Lines and Pantry Dockyard locomotives took place on March 5th. The Model Railway Club and nine K-Lines enthusiasts either dug deeply into their storage cupboards or raided their layouts to produce no less than fifteen ‘K’ locomotives and eight of Mrs. Keen’s ‘Pantry Dockyard’ railway, led by the diminutive 0-4-0T ‘Bene Stalk’, (named after the slender Alma Keen). Along with these came more than fifty items of rolling stock, coaches, the oldest dating from 1918, and an amazing variety of wagons, the most elegant being Stedman’s model of a wagon mounted traction engine, shown here centre stage on the magnificent Beeson-built turntable.
Unfortunately we could not finally secure a loan of the Stedman built LNER Garratt from the NRM, Twining’s model of the loco can be seen on the seventh road from the left. Two of Keen’s Pacifics ‘Honourable Knights of the Turntable’ were present, the Marescot No 340, ‘Sir Wadel de Gravity’ and the streamliner No 342, ‘Sir Reliff de Tanque’. Bob Vickery through whose efforts the turntable has been preserved gave an enjoyable and informative account of his time on the K-lines layout at Hythe, saying that he last saw the turntable with all roads occupied in 1958, altogether quite a memorable day for him!
A report of the day was published in three issues of The Bassett-Lowke Society magazine 'Lowko News' , May, August and November 2023. These may now be read on this website:
Part 1 Model railways as we know them today..............read more...
Part 2 An early extension from the main K-Lines system.. read more.....
Part 3 This final part of the Great Gathering .....read more...
The shelves are filled!
With much help from my grandson Luca the shelving on the back wall of the train room is now filled out with all but a few items of the model collection. This picture shows the longer of the two shelves. I had calculated the length of run to display every item, but the spacing between the shelves would have been insufficient to safely handle taller items, coaches, vans and locomotives on and off the shelves. Some locomotives thus remain in the display cabinet in the house, but they will turn by turn be brought out for running sessions, which like those already featured will appear as videos on this website in due course of time.
