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Perth Model Railway Group - Part of SMET


Waverley47708
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Perth & District MRC was Established around 1960, our club exists to promote the hobby of Railway Modelling in and around Perthshire, Scotland.

 

In 2019 we joined the Scottish Model Engineering Trust ( SMET) based at Methven just outside Perth and became known as Perth Model Railway Group.  The group is now one of a number of groups that is part of SMET. 

 

Interestingly since joining together it then transpired that in the dim and distant past the groups had been one club historically but had parted company.

 

http://smet.org.uk/pmrc

 

 

We meet some Tuesdays through the day  but the main weekly club event is every Thursday evening at our purpose built building at Wester Pickston just outside Perth.  On the same site is an extensive miniature railway and workshops set in over 7 acres of woodland.  Our facilities are also open to members at any time.  

 

New members are welcome to come along for a look around before joining.  As a member of the model railway group you are also a member of SMET.

 

We have a number of exhibition standard layouts described below.  We are also building our next N scale American layout.

 

Additionally, maintenance work on the existing layouts keep us busy throughout the year. We have some photos and video of our layouts on this site.

 

We run one of the most eagerly anticipated and reputable model railway exhibitions in Scotland "A Celebration of Model Railways" always held in Dewars Ice Rink in Perth over the last weekend in June. This exhibition is the biggest club-run exhibition in Scotland. A selection of high quality layouts from throughout the UK, some appearing in Scotland for the first time and a wide selection of specialised trade stands awaits our visitors. See more details elsewhere on this site.

 

 

We also attend around 12 exhibitions every year throughout the UK and our diary is available on our website.

 

If you fancy a visit or are interested in joining please contact our secretary Secretary@PerthMRC.com

Edited by Waverley47708
To update re merger with SMET
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Clubrooms

 

For a number or of years the club had been very fortunate to be based at Goukton just outside Perth.  Having left there, the club moved three times in a relatively short period of time.  As any club knows finding good premises at a reasonable cost is not easy, especially on a long term basis.

 

in 2017 having had to move again we approached SMET to ask if we could buy land from them at their Wester Pickston site to build our own shed on.  To cut a long story short they made us an offer we could not refuse.  In a good way I should add, instead of selling or leasing land to us they invited us to join them and then we (as part of SMET) would build the new premises!

 

in 2019 the construction of the new shed began.  Later that year we occupied the premises with our first official club night being 17 October 2019.

 

The shed at 20m x 10m is big enough to accommodate the current club and even incorporates solar panels on the roof which generate more than enough power to run our trains on club night.  Most importantly we now have a water tight permanant premises of our own.

 

We (the members of the former Perth and District Model Railway Club) are very gateful to the rest of SMET for being so welcoming and so accommodating.

 

 

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Site clearance.

 

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The construction of the wooden framework.

 

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Perth Model Railway Group's new home. 63A Shed.

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A brief history of the model railway club in Perth.

 

The exact origins of the club are lost in the mists of time and it probably started as an informal group in the late 50's, rather than a club with a definite constitution. What we do know is that as far back a 1962, the club had moved into rooms at Perth General Station in a corridor between platforms 2 and 3 and there were atleast 3 members! Previous to this the club had been in abeyance for over a year due to losing its premises. An advertisement in the April 1962 issue of Model Railway News was published seeking new members

 

The club did not occupy these rooms very long before it was discovered to our cost that the power supply in the station was of a diferent voltage to the control panel that had been built for our layout resulting in a burning sort of smell the first time we switched it on in the clubroom! Also the cupboard in which we kept our equipment had been broken into and some locos and other bits and pieces belonging to the members had been pinched.

 

We very soon moved into the room on the first floor at Fechney Buildings in Perth, it must have been before 1964 and remained there until we were advised that Fechney Buildings was likely to be sold and to start looking for other rooms. The Council let us rent part of ground floor at Pitheavlis Castle in Perth but despite putting a lot of effort in to make the room habitable, the damp played merry hell with the layout and we were fortunate to be offered the cellar rooms at Craigie Park House where the club met until the mid 1980's.

 

These rooms were also rather damp and not really ideal for modelling, particularly in card! Also the building was used as a funeral home and occasionally we had to down tools on a club night and keep very quiet if a family were upstairs to pay their last respects to a loved one!

 

Subsequently, the club leased a timber sectional building on the site now occupied by The A K Bell Library in Perth before relocating to Kinfauns.

 

In 2013 we made a move to bigger premises at Meikleour, part of an old dairy turned into industrial units and subsequently in October 2014 another move, this time to bigger and better rooms at Perth Airport where we met until we joined SMET and build our own new premises at Wester Pickston where we are now based.

 

Over the years, the membership has fluctuated, usually in direct proportion to how good our premises have been but around 15-25 people of all modelling abilities. The club has become more active over the last 20 years, now very prominent on the Scottish exhibition circuit and becoming more known throughout the UK. The idea to start running an exhibition helped this process and from starting with a one day show with 6 layouts and 2 trade stands at The Lesser City Hall in Perth we now have an event which has become a "must see" for modellers, occupying halls at Dewars Ice Rink.

 

We are indebted to Mr A. McCorquodale, one of the three from Perth Station days, a former member now living down South, for helping us to compile this brief history.

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Our OO Gauge "modern image" layout Almond Bridge can be viewed in the blue/grey era or right up to date.

 

ALMOND BRIDGE Scale 4mm:ft; Gauge OO

 

 

Almond Bridge is a fictitious place situated somewhere in mainland Britain and is set in "modern times" covering the period from the nineteen eighties to the current day scene. This time frame allows for the display of rolling stock from the British Rail Blue/Grey era to the ever changing liveries of the privatised railway companies which currently operate throughout the UK. Whilst the town name is fictitious, the main track plan is loosely based on that at Stirling (circa 2003) and modellers licence has been liberally applied to add additional tracks, a loco refuelling/stabling point, permanent way and commercial freight sidings and platforms. The track and point motors are standard PECO, the buildings are proprietary card and plastic kits modified to fit the scene. The nine arch viaduct was made by utilising and adapting three proprietary card single line viaduct kits glued onto a wood and ply frame. The girder bridge is built around a wood frame and pillars and using multiple plastic kits for the superstructure. The storage yard baseboards have been built as a universal unit and can be used in a four, five or six board configuration depending on the requirement of the display layout. This eliminates the need to build separate storage yards for future display layouts which maybe shorter than Almond Bridge.

 

Notes for Exhibition Managers:  Dimensions: 34 feet long x 14 feet wide, viewing from front and approximately 7 feet down each end if required.

Photos courtesy of Tony Wright and Waverley47708

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A flavour of the layout in modern image:

 

and Scotland in the 1980's as seen at Cupar exhibition September 2010:

 

 

Winner Dundee 2008 Diamond Jubilee Shield - voted by public best in show.

Magazine Articles:

Modern Railway Modelling, Winter 2006

Model Rail Magazine, February 2010

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Burlington Central is our N Scale American layout.

 

 

BURLINGTON CENTRAL Burlington Central is an imaginary layout based somewhere in the mid west of the USA. The name derives from the interests of one of our club members who is interested in American railroads and models Burlington Northern and two of its predecessors, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy (Burlington Route) and Great Northern. These railroads covered an area west from Chicago to Seattle south to the Gulf coast. The scenery on the layout is based on Colorado/Montana Rocky Mountain areas and it is assumed that this is where the layout is based. The layout is not based on any particular era and therefore this allows us to run Locomotives and Freight Cars from the mid 1950's through to the early 1990's. At present all Locomotives are diesel, as by the mid 1950's most American Class 1 railroads had converted to diesel operation. The layout is a twin level one with a double track mainline through a small town ( Morrison's Gap) on the lower level and a single track mainline through more mountainous area on a higher level. All Locomotives and a majority Freight Cars are fitted with Microtrains magnetic couplers. This allows us to remotely switch (shunt) freight cars into various sidings at the small town and also at the sawmill on the higher level. The Sawmill is based on the American principle of empties in and loads out. Empty bulkhead flat cars are taken into the sawmill to be loaded with finished lumber which is then moved on down the line. In general American mainline trains average 6000' in length and depending on terrain and loco horsepower can average up to six or more locomotives per train. This is obviously difficult to model, even in N scale and so we normally use two or three Locomotives and twenty or so freight cars on our mainline trains. Local freights comprise one loco and seven or eight freight cars. The layout requires three operators, one for each line on the lower level and one for the higher level. Operation on the lower level is by cab control with the tracks being divided into sections and each operator having the power to drive his train on any section using section switches. In practice however, each operator stays on his own line. We have now introduced Digitrax DCC contol to the layout and generally use this on the upper level at exhibitions.

 

For Exhibition Managers: Space required including barriers 14' x 8'

 

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Helmstadt is our first venture into a German prototype in N Gauge.

 

 

Helmstadt. Scale 2mm:ft; N gauge.

 

Helmstadt is an imaginary cathedral city near Munich, Bavaria. Set during the 1950's (Epoch III) the model depicts DB Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany but trains of the DRG - Deutsche Reichsbahn Gesellschaft from Epoch II are also in evidence. During this period, Germany was a divided country, split in 1945 into East and West and some lines which had previously crossed the border were closed or truncated but the line via Helmstadt continued to operate as a cross border link. Helmstadt serves as a busy intermediate station for trains spiralling in all directions, to the North for Leipzig, Dresden and Prague, to the East for Munich, Vienna and Budapest, to the South for Switzerland and the Austrian Tyrol and the West for Stuttgart, Frankfurt and the Rhine Valley. Passenger traffic makes up the majority of the trains and you will see The Rhinegold Express, The Mitropa and a selection of ordinary passenger stock. Freight trains also play an important part of the scene and a variety of locomotives can be rostered to haul freight throughout Europe. Although Helmstadt is a busy station, it does not have any locomotive sheds or freight facilities as these are located at the junction stations which are both to the east and west of the town.

 

For Exhibition Managers: Requires 14 feet x 8 feet including barriers.

 

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Old Blarney - a OO gauge Irish layout, owned by David White of Perth & District MRC.

 

 

Old Blarney is a fictitious location somewhere in Ireland where the grass is 40 shades of green, there is a never ending supply of Guinness and a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!

 

The layout is double track throughout with a medium size station, single road engine shed, coal and cattle sidings. The station track plan is based on an Irish single platform style where passenger trains for both up and down lines use the same platform face to serve the paying customers. This creates unusual crossover movements for passenger trains on the up line. The station also boasts a second platform to serve "the betting classes" who make their way in droves on race days to the grandstand at the race course which is another unusual feature of the layout.

 

Much of the scenery is built using shaped polystyrene blocks, then covered with plaster then painted a base colour.  It is intended to make use of commercially available buildings and trees such as those from the excellent Harburn Hamlet, Hornby and Bachmann ranges and The Model Tree Shop. Below you can see items set out in their planned locations.

 

Being based in middle Ireland, locomotives and rolling stock have a cosmopolitan nature with designs and liveries from GNR(I), NIR, GSR, CIE, Irish Rail and Larnrod Eireann on the roster. Rolling stock from the 1940's to the present is available to run with steam and diesel locomotives available to haul a wide variety of passenger and freight trains from the bread and butter cattle traffic to the contemporary timber and bulk cement trains.

 

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 Awards:

Winner of President's Shield at Falkirk Exhibition, November 2010 for general modelling.

Winner of best in show voted by the public at Kendal Exhibition January, 2013

Winner of President's Shield at Falkirk Exhibition, November 2014 for general modelling.

The Kerr Trophy for best in show voted by the public at Falkirk Exhibition, November 2014

Magazine Articles:

Model Rail Magazine Issue MR157, June 2011

Hornby Magazine June 2013

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Aldbury - a OO Gauge Great Western/ British Railways Western Region branch line terminus.

 

 


Aldbury is a fictitious terminus station at the end of single track branch line serving a small town set in the West of England. The layout has a Great Western background and locomotives and rolling stock from that company are usually to be seen either in pre-nationalised or British Railways livery as the layout buildings and features are timeless over the two periods in railway history. The layout is end to end operation and medium size trains are run from the station to the train turntable which is off the scenic display. The layout is wired for both DC and DCC operation and the points are controlled by Seep point motors with switches and the signals operate via motors and servos.

Credits - The layout was originally built by Terry Taylor, a former member of Leigh Model Railway Society in Lancashire and donated to the club by Graeme Whitehead of Doune, Stirlingshire who latterly owned the layout, so all credit to them for allowing the layout to be displayed again. It has been refurbished and altered to allow DCC operation by our members and is available for exhibition again.

Awards:
At its first outing at the MMRG show at Elgin in March, 2011, the layout won the Moray Quaich, voted best layout by other exhibitors.
At the Bangor, Northern Ireland exhibition in April, 2015, we won the award for the best running layout.

Magazine Articles:
Layout of the Month - British Railway Modelling, July 2014, Volume 22, No.4

Layout Information:
Length 18 feet x 6 feet wide operating space excluding barriers.
Viewing from the front only.
Operating crew: 4
Transportation: car plus trailer (transit van may be required for long-range shows)

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Willberforce BR Scottish Region or ScotRail Junction Station.

 

Sorry no longer available for exhibitions.

 

 

Scale: 4mm:ft

 

Gauge: OO

 

Era: flexible up to 1980's

 

Location: Fictitious British Railways

Based on Georgemass Junction and the practice of splitting trains in the Highlands of Scotland at the junction for Wick and Thurso, this layout is being built to represent operation of trains at such a junction. By careful planning of buildings and other items, it is planned to be possible to operate from the steam era up to 1980's BR. The layout is designed to fit on to the same fiddle yard as used for our layout Old Blarney and will be wired to allow either DC or DCC operation, depending on era and availability of suitably chipped locomotives.

 

This layout has been retired and is no longer available for exhibiting.

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The Coeur d'Alene Railway is an O scale narrow gauge model, set in the state of Idaho, USA in the 1930s

 

This layout in On30 was originally built by Geoff Bishop and Garth Ponsonby, the latter of whom is now one of our members and who kindly donated it to the club.

 

The Coeur d'Alene Railway is an O scale narrow gauge model, set in the state of Idaho, USA in the 1930s. It depicts how a line might have been built to serve the Coeur d'Alene Lake area, via a depot at the small town of Rockford Bay, incorporating a ferry terminal with tugboat and barge. Although fairly remote, the area has some mining activities, and a coal loading facility is included.

 

The scale of the model, at 1/4 inch to the foot (or 1:48) follows American O scale standards, using Peco narrow gauge track. Rolling stock is mostly Bachmann, with some locomotives also from other suppliers. Stock has been lettered using bespoke dry transfers from Blackham Transfers. Wiring is simple, with traditional methods used.

 

Structures on the layout are mostly scratchbuilt, often using timber or plywood; a couple use modified kits, whilst the large factory uses Design Preservation plastic modules. The passenger depot has a ply base, then prototype (scale) timber planking was added; details such as doors and windows, chimneys and roof shingles are by Grandt Line. Backscenes are by Walthers, and the tugboat is an anonymous (probably Chinese) model which nevertheless fits the requirement.

 

Traffic on the CdA Rly is primarily freight - lumber to the saw mill, and other log products, hauled by typical logging line geared locomotives such as Shays and Climaxes. Empty coal cars come in, are loaded, and then taken out by the larger locos, including a Mallet originally from the Uintah Railroad. Freight cars come in and out from the outside world via the ferry, and a limited passenger service is provided.

 

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Laurencekirk WCML 1960 Layout

 

 

Laurencekirk is a our 1960s WCML layout featuring the final years of steam, including the A4s Indian Summer on the 3 hour Glasgow to Aberdeen Expresses.  Interestingly although on the East Coast, the track was formally part of the LMS's WCML route from Euston to Aberdeen.  Being located North of Kinnaber Junction where the West and East Coast Mainlines between London and Aberdeen met it allows us to run ex LMS and ex LNER stock.

 

The track layout includes a long straight section and passing loops allowing the A4s to power through the station at speed on their way between Glasgow Buchanan Street and Aberdeen.

 

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WHYTE HILLS PASS by Bill Garden

 

 

 

The layout depicts a scene in the USA between Chicago and Santa Fe on the route to California. The main aim of the layout which is normally located in a spare room is to watch trains go by so the track design of a double back loop allows trains to be seen more than once on their journey from the storage yard. There is only one siding on the layout which serves a distribution company so switching is infrequent on the line.

 

 

Locomotives and rolling are in various liveries including Union Pacific, Burlington Northern, Santa Fe, SOO and Amtrak. Most of the rolling stock is of modern design but some heritage trains are also run to give variety. Most of the models on display are made by Kato, Atlas and Athearn. Operation is DC and track and points are Peco code 80 and control is via a Gaugemaster Twin controller.   Points are operated by Peco motors using toggle switches.

 

The layout is nine foot long by three foot four inches wide and is of lightweight construction using softwood for the frame and insulation board for the top on which sits the track and scenery. The scenery was made using polystyrene blocks, contoured then covered with plaster bandages which were then painted and covered with various scatter materials from the Woodland Scenics range.

 

The layout was finished for display in October 2005 and it does what it was meant to do.   It had its first public display at Falkirk in November 2009 and is available for future public display.

 

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The cows watch as railway workmen puzzle over the best way to remove the errant GP20 from the trees

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A SOO line mixed trains thunders out of tunnel and over the level crossing

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A Burlington Northern coal train with a pair of SD70Macs at the head.

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On 28 May our usual club night will be a little different, we are hosting an event which will include the sale of model railway items and a chance for visitors to see round our new premises.

 

If I get a fuller or more detailed list of what is for sale I will post it on RMWEB in the meantime please see the below.  If you are interested in attending please contact secretary@perthmrc.com

 

"The main bulk of what we have is his large collection of books. Most are on American subjects but there are also a lot of British ones as well. 
 
There is a large amount of HO stuff ranging from steam and diesel loco's, some freight and passenger cars, building kits and a lot of details like vehicles etc.
 
We also have some American O scale loco's and rolling stock, British OO kits and ready to run items and finally some British O scale buildings and scenery details parts."

 
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  • 2 weeks later...

Our open night / sale night seemed to go well and we enjoyed welcoming members of other local club's or societies.

 

The sale seemed to go well with a lot of items being sold. Most people seemed to buy a few bits and pieces, some a few box fulls. Despite rumours to the contrary there were no kittens for sale!

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  • 5 weeks later...

The 2015 Exhibition is now over as far as most of us are concerned, no doubt our exhibition manager, secretary and our treasurer will have some bit and pieces to finish off.  However for most of us we can now relax.

 

I am reliably informed our next show will be our Silver Anniversary Show, as always it will be the last weekend on June.  Stan will already be well on the way to filling up the hall with layouts and trade.  More of that later no doubt......................

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  • 4 months later...

Next outing for the club is Falkirk at the end of the month, always a good show to go to.  

 

Saying that one year I turned up a month to late and found the venue empty!! Another year it was the weekend the big freeze started.

We got home OK on the Saturday, but those returning from the Sunday shift ended up taking a few hours to do what normally takes just under an hour.

 

We are taking our DCC Aldbury layout.  There is a video of it on our You Tube channel PerthMRC.

 

The club has recently been to Dundee, Greenock and Elgin exhibitions.  Sadly I did not make it to any of this this year but i understand we won some trophies for our efforts.

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  • 2 weeks later...

In addition to going to exhibitions with our own layouts we occasionally go to exhibitions or railway events as guests.

 

In the past we have been for a day out to Doncaster and York shows.

 

This year we went on day trips to Crewe Heritage Centre (managed to get on Railcam!), Carlisle for the DRS open day and on the Steam special on the reopened Waverley route in September.

 

Usually means a long day with an early start.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Despite the winds, rain, floods and road closures we had our annual Christmas night out on Saturday at Pacos in Perth.

It was good to have the company of wives and partners again. I can only assume there was not too much train talk last year.

Thanks to Stewart and Morag for arranging the meal.

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  • 1 month later...

First night back of the New Year, no doubt we will find out who got what from Santa!!

 

Sadly, Bachmanns elves did nto manage to get the large logo 47 ready for Santa and it looks like I need to hope the Easter Bunny is delivering trains instead of eggs this year

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Fastleigh - Reflecting 1970s "Blue" Era. By Stan Moug

 

Sorry - no longer available for exhibiting.

 

 

 

 

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Can Perth & District Model Railway Club provide a small layout to show at the centenary of Arbroath Railway Station? So said the email and of course, we would be pleased to... but limited to 6 feet long, we did not possess a layout less than 12 feet long. Ah! Stan Moug, a member of our club and a native of Arbroath (well, not since 1981) decided to rise to the challenge and build a layout in only 2 weeks, almost from scratch...well there were two exhibitions to attend as well! It needed to be built fastly!!

The baseboard frame already existed, having been built for another forthcoming project, built using mainly 9 mm plywood, another plywood top was fitted. To build a OO gauge layout in such a small space (it had to fit into the waiting room on Platform 2 along with other exhibits!) is tricky and therefore a shunting layout was planned and further interest would be created by incorporating modern digital technology and providing sound and lights on the locomotives. The builder best remembers Arbroath station in the late 1970s, memories of blue diesels and Class 26's shunting the coal yard. Therefore, this era was selected and Fastleigh was born.

Time being a constraint, it was decided to use bits from the spares box to build the original layout ; the points were salvaged from a previous layout as were the buildings. The only "new" items were the scenic materials used to create the ground cover. That was the first board....the goods yard.

The enthusiasm was kindled and an extension was built to improve the operating flexibility and interest. The ethos remained the same though - building reasonably quickly using as much from the scrap box as possible! An air of dereliction prevails and the limited goods facilities and parcels depot cling on, avoiding closure thus far. Some siding space is now used for carriage storage and the disused shed has been taken over by the Engineers. The signal box has long closed so much of the former through line operates on the "one engine in steam principle" - the sealed tunnel mouth the only indication that this line once went somewhere else but alas Dr Beeching signed its fate.

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26027 seen through the goods shed.

Although in decline, there is still some significant activity around Fastleigh. The local brewery Abbey Ales generates some van traffic as its products are much in demand throughout the country and domestic coal is still off-loaded in the yard. The remaining sidings in the goods yard are used mainly for storing wagons which are used further along the branch and trains are occasionally sent along simply to re-sort the wagons. Fastleigh never had much in the way of passenger facilities and the terminus end has always been used for handling parcels and mail. The volume of traffic is now much reduced and some of the sidings are now used for passenger stock storage. Such trains can be seen regularly. The former engine shed and coaling dock have been taken over by S&T and various deliveries are made as well as storage of ballast wagons. Track is PECO Code 100 which when painted, ballasted with a mixture of ballast and ash and weathered looks the part and points are operated using SEEP point motors located under the boards. Each board has its own control panel but of course, being DCC, an operator can drive a loco on any section of track. Most of the stock is fitted with Kaydee couplings which allows hands-free uncoupling. The couplings are released by passing over magnets hidden under the tracks at various locations.

The DCC control system used is the Gaugemaster Prodigy package which is fairly easy to operate and flexible enough to cope with the requirements of this layout. Some of the locomotives are fitted with sound and combined with working lights the operation is enhanced for both driver and viewer. Operation is deliberately from the front to make it easier to interact with you - the viewer. Please feel free to ask any questions but beware - you may even end up driving the trains!

I hope you enjoy FASTleigh.

You can view Fastleigh on "Perth MRC TV" in 2 parts. These images were recorded in May 2014 in our club workshops. Go to the playlist after viewing this to see part 2.

 

 

Awards:

The Derrick Burrows Memorial Trophy - St Andrews Exhibition 2012

The Bill Scobie Memorial Quaich - Cupar Exbibition 2013

Best Running Layout at Elgin Modelfair 2013

 

 

Fastleigh has been sold and is no longer a available to be exhibited by Perth Model Railway Group.

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  • 2 weeks later...

We had out AGM last week, normally it is held a week or so before Christmas and includes mince pies etc, this year and from what I understand from now on it will be in January.  As a result no mince pies.

 

There was a good attendance from our growing membership and good chance to review the last year and make plans for this coming years.

 

As a flavour of the kind of thing we discussed.

 

We had a somewhat shorter than usual report from The Chairman,

 

The necessary Treasures report.

 

There was a review of where we are at with our existing layouts.  Including the return of Burlington Central to the exhibition circuit as a one of.

 

A discussion about a couple of new layouts, we are possibly looking at an HO German layout to fit on to one of existing our multiuse fiddle yards.

 

And our exhibition manager gave us a quick overview of what is planned for our 25th exhibition this coming June  All very exciting.

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The club was asked if it could supply a speaker for the recently formed Men’s Shed Project in Perth.  At short notice our Exhibition Manager was able to assist.

 

By all accounts the talk went down well and there was plenty of nostalgia for Perth’s once significant railway history.  A joint station with LNER and large LMS sheds and before them North British, Caledonian and Highland railway influences…. Sorry I digress

 

Seems the idea of Men’s Shed Project started in Australia, so I imagine Perth down under may have a few. 

 

Why a group of men would want to meet in a shed for a blether, DIY and building things is beyond me.  Hold on is that not what I do every Thursday night!! :jester: 

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  • 11 months later...

Just had our AGM, all seemed to go well.  One of the items was a list of exhibitions we hope to attend

 

As well as attending a number of Scottish Exhibitions we are excited to be going to Warley not once but twice, we are taking two layouts, Old Blarney our Irish layout and Coeur d'Alene our Narrow Gauge O Gauge, French sounding American layout.

 

The other highlight is an invite to the Great Central in June with Old Blarney.

 

And something a wee bit different Crieff Lines Festival on 2nd September 2017.

 

As always looking forward to our own exhibition the last weekend in June, especially looking forward to Drumochter Pass layout on its second visit to Perth.  I think we may be taking Laurencekirk.

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Press Release Dated Feb 2019

Perth & District Model Railway Club

The committee and trustees of Perth & District MRC, a charity registered in Scotland No. SCO45282, are pleased to advise that the club will formally merge with the Scottish Model Engineering Trust (www.smet.org.uk), a charity registered in Scotland No. SCO 32308 on April 1st, 2019.

Within the SMET organisation, Perth & District MRC will function as an interest group, the identity of the club being maintained. This merger will ensure the long-term future of the club’s activities and has several advantages:

The club will move, this  summer to new permanent accommodation at the Wester Pickston Railway which is located a few miles west of Perth. As well as room to store and work on our layouts, there is also access to an established workshop and social facilities.

The Wester Pickston Railway is situated in 7.25 acres of countryside and consists of outdoor railways in 7.25” and 5” gauges as well as an established 16 mm scale interest group.

The addition of model railways from gauges N to O will enhance the activities on the site and create a centre of model railway engineering and railway modelling excellence in Scotland. The Wester Pickston Railway is open to the public 4 times per year and at other selected times. The model railways will also be open for viewing during these days.

The well-respected “Celebration of Model Railways” exhibition held annually at the Dewars Centre in Perth will continue as normal, in 2019 the event is to be held on 29th & 30th June. This exhibition has been steadily built up over the last 27 years and its future as one of the UK’s top events is assured.

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Some photos of the new shed from our BBQ on the Saturday night of our 2019 exhibition and a video of he exhibition by Craig Watson of Dean Park Station.  

 

 

As ever accompanied by Robbie our resident piper.

 

Worth saying although our new facilities are first class, the bar in the corner was a temporary fixture for the BBQ rather than a permanant feature.

 

 

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Edited by Waverley47708
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