A somewhat late overview of the Scottish Minimeet, which occurred on Saturday 20th September. Held at the Edinburgh Society of Model Engineer's Almondell Clubrooms, the day saw members from across Scotland bring their layouts and projects for viewing and friendly discussion with like minded enthusiasts.
Jim had brought Kirkallenmuir on a rare excursion from the Borders.
Kirkallenmuir has been widely written about in this Blog and by Jim on RMWeb and the 2mm Magazine. it portrays a fictitious Lanarkshire mining and market town to the south of Allantown, set in the early 1900s, whilst the regal locomotives of the Caledonian Railway ruled the irons.
From the Pits of Lanarkshire to the Mills of Lancashire, Stuart had brought the first section of Lydgate Viaduct. This NFine layout being one of four linked dioramas Stuart is working on based on a series of real locations.
This is a real example of how the railways are set into the landscape, with the eponymous viaduct dominating the scene, whilst the Mill buildings fill the foreground - these buildings looked massive by themselves, but look just right set into the landscape.
The railway will operate on multiple levels - the mainline running over the viaduct and around the main scene, whilst a branch line, serving the mill, will run down into the foreground. All of the main roads are fitted with the magnorail system and will run a regular bus service!
Alistair had brought along his first 2FS layout. This serves as a testbed for track construction and laying, as well as some scenic materials
Angus had brought RNAS Glencruitten for its first public appearance north of the border - based on several real life locations, the layout shows a WW1 era Airship Station and the affiliated infrastructure for keeping a facility running. Pride of place is a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm airship, used for coastal defense around the British Isles.
Showing significant progress since its last outing at the 2023 Minimeet, Simon had brought Glenfinnan
This is a model of Glenfinnan Station on the West Highland Line Extension to Mallaig. All of the trackwork and structures are modelled on the real locations, with several 3d Prints from Graham helping to populate the scene.
Pride of place, or at least, at the tail end of the passenger service, was Simon's award winning LNER Coronation Beavertail Observation Car.
Also of great interest was Simon's solution to fiddle-yards in the form of two train tables, one at each end of the layout, allowing the full trains to be reversed by spinning them around!
The Gentlemen of the North East Area Group had brought a scenic section of their layout Dunallander.
The whole layout will be at the Elgin Model Fair on the 1st and 2nd November and is well worth
Graham manned the door, keeping an eye on the Bring and Buy sale. He was a very persuasive salesman, and not many made it past his table without their hands dipping into their pockets.
Martin had custody of Mearns Shed, and can be seen diligently attending to his duties...
The Usual suspects were present on Mearns Shed, Alisdair's Jumbo, C16 and Black Five now requiring new shed-plates fitted for the time they've spent here.
There was however, a few visiting locomotives that caused some excitement amongst the regular viewers
Geoff had brought a BR Standard 9F up with him. This beast was probably one of the most photographed locomotives of the day and was a stalwart runner. A number of people were heard asking Geoff about re-runs of the etches to make them
Geoff had also brought some pre-grouping North Eastern Railway locomotives
Alisdair had also brought a GNoS Railway Locomotive to complete the Pre-grouping lineup.
This meant that only the Glasgow and South West Railway wasn't represented from the Big Four Scottish Railway companies, with this example of the GNoS, the Caledonian Jumbo and NBR C17. Perhaps a challenge for the next Minimeet?!
As well as the layouts on show, and the bring and buy stand - there was a lot of talking, sharing experiences, hints and tips and plenty of inspiration to think about. I know that I went home and made more progress on my own nascent layout in a few days than U had in the last several months!
I think I speak for all involved when I extend my thanks to Alisdair for organising the day and his efforts throughout the day.
I think I speak for all involved when I extend my thanks to Alisdair for organising the day and his efforts throughout the day.
Likewise my thanks to Graham and Angus for some of the photographs shamelessly stolen from RMWeb.
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