A strange orange orb was potted bright in the sky above the
Central belt of Scotland this Saturday last. Perhaps it was a sign,
drawing the congregation of 2mm Finescale Modellers to the premises of the
Edinburgh Society of Model Engineers from across the land.
Some 10 members attended this meeting, Alisdair, Alistair
and Alastair, James, Simon, Graham, Andy, Simon, Stuart and Martin, others
sending apologies.
Mearns Shed was in attendance, with the Glorious Leader,
rightly adorned with the Optivisor of Office, spending much of the meeting
staring at it forlornly, muttering things about adding details...
Simon had brought along his prize-winning tank wagons and coaching stock, fresh from last weekend's adventure down to Derby. The tank wagons and Observation Car have graced this blog before in various stages of construction, and it's great to see them complete and recognised!
Alastair was working on his Class 03/04 shunter. This
little loco has been a labour of love, going through various design
iterations. The body is a 3d print of Alastair's own design. The chassis
starting as the available 2mm conversion etch, and now mostly a 3d print of
Alastair's own design. Alastair claims this is close to completion!
Stuart was continuing work on his Mill complex. This is the final building for the complex and is build on the same principles as Stuart's other buildings as discussed previously on this blog.
Graham had brought the most recent iteration of the shed
roof for Mearns Shed. The previous design had been unable to accommodate
the etched rooflights that Jim had designed and constructed. This has led
to a redesign on both parts so that they fit into each other. The new
version of the shed is due to be printed before shipping to the West Coast for
painting and weathering before being reunited with the Railway.
Martin was working away on a remake of his J94
Chassis. He has been working, on and off, on this little loco for nearly
two years. He had come to the conclusion last year that his first attempt
at a chassis wasn't working particularly well, and it was time to start afresh
- however, the chassis had been out of stock for a while whilst it was
re-designed. He had successfully placed all the bushes into the frames,
doubled the frames and added the gapped frame spacers by the end of the meeting.
Work to continue at home, where the below photo was taken because once again,
Martin forgot to take a photo of his own work. Excuse the Wars of the Roses stuff
in the background…
There was much discussion about the room, with many of the attendees enjoying a richt guid bleather! The subject of Mearns Shed's next public appearance was brought up and seems, currently, likely not to be public facing until next year.
It was proposed that we treat Mearns Shed as more of a "living history" project and make changes for each appearance. In "Diesel Jim's" absence, it was decided that given the Shed's next appearance would be 2026, we should honour the 70th anniversary of the 1956 Modernisation Plan, allowing us to show more Diesel and Electric stock rather than those nasty, dirty kettles... It will almost certainly make life easier on the modelling front. No valve gear here!
Work commenced almost immediately, with the Overhead Line
Equipment flying up faster than anyone could object, and cable troughing being
sized up and installed. Alisdair knocked up a couple of new girders for
the bridge - the old structure will have to be removed and raised to allow the
wires to pass through.
Martin has procured a number of colour light signals for his own nascent layout, but has offered to donate one or two to control the exit back out of the shed.
Alisdair denies any of this this is to wind up Jim...
Our next meeting is scheduled for Sat 14th June at Almondel Model Engineering Centre - further details in the Association Newsletter which accompanies the magazine.
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