March 2026 Forth and Clyde Area Group meeting

 Almondell saw only six stalwarts attend the March meeting of the august Forth and Clyde Area Group of the, even auguster, 2mm Scale Association on Saturday 7th March. Unfortunately neither the Press Officer or the Assistant Press Officer was present so the POTUS* was forced to record the meeting.

Despite the shortage of attendees, it was a productive meeting. James was working on sorting out someone else's class 37 which is not running. (I've forgotten who that someone else is, but J does know...) He also had in front of him, his own Poole era class 37 to which he had added a DCC chip.

James had also been doing his homework, completing the viewblocker warehouse building for Mearns Shed.

A nice building but a tad clean for being located next door to a loco shed. By the end of the meeting it had been carefully weathered, but the POTUS forgot to take a photo. (By the way, the big stick in front of the shed, is actually a bit of rail in the process of being used for creating doorstops along the front of the shed.)

Talking of Mearns Shed, Alisdair was preparing it for its next outing to Model Rail Scotland, with buildings being fixed in place with repair of the surrounding terrain to follow up as homework. 

Across in the other corner of the room, Alistair was applying colour to a brake van. He was using modellers' acrylics for the first time and was expounding on the difference between those and the artists' acrylics he usually espouses.

And in yet another corner, yet another Al, this one with the moniker, Alastair, was continuing work on planning the support structure for his wee NBR layout CAD. 

He did shamefacedly admit that progress was being slowed by his concentration of his scratchbuilding of a racing motor car (the make and model names flew over the POTUS' head as its it's irrelevant to wee train lovers). The body being shaped out of thin wood, the photos shown to POTUS impressed with the workmanship. But, come on laddie, a scale of one to twenty-five and a half - what sort of madness does that represent? Everyone knows, the One True Scale is one to one hundred and fifty two and two fifths. Nice and easy to work out in the head...

Alastair had also brought along a Unimat SL lathe (from a deceased member of ESME, I think),as Simon had expressed an interest in acquiring a lathe, but Simon had the gall not to be there. The machine might be a bit dirty and perhaps the cable could do with being replaced but the bearings feel fine and all the bits seem to be there.(There was box of bits which hid from the camera, as it was very shy.)

Last but not least, by any means, Jim was working on a couple of brake vans made by the absent Simon from Jim's etches. As Simon had only been using them for soldering practice he has given them to Jim for him to add AJs and to do the lettering. Here's a  somewhat fuzzy photo of the little beasts.

And that was that for a productive day.

Our next event will be Model Rail Scotland in Glasgow on Friday 27th March to Sunday 29th March. We'll have the 2mm Roadshow along with Mearns Shed. If you're at the exhibition, come along and say hello.

Our next Area Group meeting will be on Saturday 11th April, when we should be having a demonstration on DG couplings.

*POTUS - Press Officer Totally Useless. Mind you, wouldn't it be nice if only the other POTUS could be persuaded to spend all his time 2mm modelling...

February 2026 Forth and Clyde Area Group meeting

Our February meeting took place at ESME's Almondell clubrooms on a sunny morning with ice on the puddles after three weeks of grey, wet weather. Eleven members turned up: James, Simon, Alisdair, Alastair, Alasdair, Angus (special prize for longest journey), Stuart, Chris, Graham, Justin and Steve.

Chris was working on his L&YR 2-4-2 chassis from a Nigel Hunt etch. He was looking for advice from experienced builders, which Alisdair was happy to provide. 

Simon had responded to appeals for yard lamps for the group's Mearns Shed cameo. The posts are from brass rod, the lamps from 7mm pinpoint axle bearings, and the 'glass' shades are made from clear plastic sprue from model aircraft canopy parts, simply filed to a suitable shape. Simon went on to add crosspieces and insulators for the overhead electric cables which powered the prototype lamps. Steam shed yards were poorly lit, even in BR days, with a four-road shed typically having a single electric lamp (and before that a single gas or oil lamp at a much lower level). Presumably enginemen found their way around in the gloom using flare lamps.

Simon has also started an experiment to create an ex-NBR J36 0-6-0, based on parts for a SECR "C" class which he picked up at last year's Derby Expo. A scratch-built Holmes cab certainly gives the character of these small, long-lived locomotives. The boiler fittings are too large (and the cab has no roof currently) but further work in this area is planned.

Angus was working on an Association tender chassis etch for the Farish 4F.

He finds solder fumes irritating and wafts them away using a portable fan online bought online for £15. Not a bad idea.

Alastair was rewheeling a Peco wagon with Association products. Graham was struggling with his computer. Justin and Steve escaped the roving camera, but Jim was caught working on one of his own wagon etches.

He'd also brought along the signals he built for Dunallander from his own etches. Presumably the plastic box is some kind of propagation device which provides the warm, wet conditions signals require to multiply. You can ask him at the Derby expo in May. Other etch parts for Dunallander are in progress.

 

Alasdair was continuing the design of his layout subframe. This will use standard aluminium square tube, with three-way elbow connectors either bought commercially or printed with FDM. Pop rivets will be used. At joints where a tube-end butts onto a continuous section, a rivnut inserted in the latter will accept a bolt through a commercial or printed connector, onto which the second tube-end will be pushed.

Stuart gave the day over to thinking and planning. Some of the buildings for his mill layout, and the canal lock, require to be fitted over baseboard joints and he was working with prototype photos and a full-scale layout drawing to decide exactly how this will be handled. 

In the afternoon, Alisdair gave an informative video presentation on his experience with Electra couplings. With the help of slow-motion video we learned how exactly, and why, the dropper or tail of the coupling must be at a shallow angle to the hook when seen end-on (to prevent recoupling after the electromagnetic uncoupling action); why the rear of the hook must be a minimum of 0.5mm in front of the buffer face (so the hooks engage and couple before the buffers kiss); why the pivot tubes must be 0.5mm-0.75mm off-centre, and accurately orthogonal to the headstock (to ensure consistent operation), and why the bend for the weight tail must be at 45 degrees (so the coupling hooks hang correctly for the coupling action to succeed). Use of an Electra construction jig is recommended. A very helpful presentation indeed, for those swithering over coupling choice.

The group will be manning the 2mmSA roadshow at Model Rail Scotland's 60th anniversary show at the SEC on March 27, 28 and 29. Come and say hello if you're visiting, we'd love to see you.

January 2026 Forth and Clyde Area Group Meeting

Inclement weather in January! In Scotland, that well-kent tropical paradise! Who would have thought it! But that explains why only a few stalwart individuals braved the black ice and snowdrifts to make their way for their monthly dose of FCAG joy at Almondell. Unfortunately, the Press Officer and his Deputy did not show sufficient stalwartism so it is left to this, ever so humble and self-effacing scribe to produce deathless prose describing the efforts of the brave.

Stewart, Alastair, Alisdair, James, Chris and John faced the weather and road conditions to attend.

Stewart was having a change from his usual production of buildings for his interesting N-fine layout; "Copy Pit Line : Lydgate Viaduct and Robin Wood Mill". He's going to need lots of long trains, so he was painting up a pile of minerals. Never one to do things by halves, is our lad.

Alastair was working on a support structure for his embryonic layout.

Not a believer in the good old 2" x 1" topped with Sundeala (remember that?), he's going for a lightweight board supported on an aluminum square tube section contraction which can fold don. The middle bit holds stock boxes.

A wee bothy/store for our Mearns Shed layout was being constructed by Alisdair

Apparently the hole in the ceiling is to allow Big Eck to stand up after he's finished his piece.

Meanwhile, across on the other side of the room, James was displaying his Class 37. (Or was it an English Electric Type 3?  I get so confused.) He has replaced the motor with which it was born with a Tramfabriek motor, much to his satisfaction with the improved controllability. He also brought along the warehouse he is building for a wee corner of Mearns Shed. 

Sharp-eyed readers will notice that space has been left for Big Eck in the attic space.

Chris had brought along his wee test track and his ever-lasting 4F. As it is his first loco build, he really can be pretty chuffed with what he has achieved. The paint needs some touching up then some weathering, but it is really looking the part. 

As it hadn't been out the box since painting, it needed a lot of running up and down to get it running properly, but by the end of the day, it was moving nice and smoothly.

Last but not least, John, new to 2mm and our latest member, brought along his first effort, a mineral wagon built from our taster kit. A neat job, it had only been tested on the wee straight length of track that comes with the kit. So, the acid test. Would it run through a turnout? Nae bother on Chris' wee test track.

John has just started a J39 conversion kit and was working on the tender underframe

So a busy day, but we cut it a bit short given the possible weather conditions to let everyone get home in the daylight.

Next meeting will be on February 14th when Alisdair wil give wee talk on his experiences on Electra couplings along with a wee demo on how he makes them.