The "RTM" (Register Transfer Module) kits were literally "plug & play" systems fom which you could build just about anything; they were the electronics equivalent of Lego.  The [http://research.microsoft.com/~gbell/Designing_Computers_and_Digital_Systems/ original manual] by Gordon Bell is online.  Locally, we wrote a 'hardware compiler' and simulator system called Arthur which allowed a textual description to be entered and tested.  The language of Arthur was remarkably similar to Skimp.  I think Arthur was written by Lesley Marshall and Peter Robertson while they were undergrads; we have located the sources - I'll put them online when I get a chance.