Dundee Model Railway Club Visit!

The Fourth Primo Meeting!

Yet another Primo Meeting went great! This time I have visited the “Dundee Model Railway Club.” The city was famous as the city of “Jute, jam, and journalism” because jute and jam were made there, and several newspapers were operating in the city. For me, Dundee it’s all about Tay Bridge.

Dundee Model Railway Club is based in 2-4 Huntly Square, Dundee, DD4 7, United Kingdom. While looking for it, I have entered the boxing club. People there were doing the warm-up and suddenly stopped when I have come. Standing in the doors, the pure pressure coming from them looking at me made me forgot for a second what I wanted, another two seconds to figure out if I want to ask the question or excuse myself and leave immediately. After a short awkward for everybody moment of silence, I have decided to ask about the model railway club. It turned out the Club is just the opposite side of the building! Dundee Model Railway Club has the aim, since its founding, “to foster and promote general interest in the hobby, and its relationship to rail transport.”

They meet on both Monday & Friday evenings, between 19:00 & 22:00. They build layouts in Z, N, and OO scales.

First Impression and History

Happy I was not eaten alive by boxing club members, I have finally arrived at a much more friendly and warm Dundee Model Railway Club. I was welcomed and helped by the Club’s chairman, Paul Smith. Few minutes of bringing dioramas and some other materials, and I was ready for presentation. I feel that each performance is getting better and better. At least that is what I am telling myself. As usual, there were few questions. The most important, I believe, was the one concerning the durability of the trees. I want to assure anyone reading this article that the trees are at least as durable as the best current products on the market!

Dundee Model Railway Club ~ DMRC ~ was first muted in 1949 but officially formed on 7th April 1950, from members within Dundee Society of Model Engineers, with the aim “to foster and promote general interest in the hobby, and its relationship to rail transport. “And this is still true to this day.” Membership is open to all persons from school age to ‘beyond’ retirement. Ideally, any member under sixteen years old should be accompanied by a responsible adult. You do not need any special skills or knowledge regarding modeling, just an interest in models, railways, or model railways is enough! 

Dundee Model Railway Club Tour

The Dundee Model Railway Clubroom is a modern, converted shop unit with a large layout room, workshop area, toilet facilities, and canteen room! I was stunned when I have entered the layout room. What I have seen there being build made me way over-excited to focus on anything else but this project for another one hour. The German Heavy Gustav, because that is what we are talking about here, was the most massive gun ever built. It was more than 150 feet long, 40 feet tall, and weighed almost 1,500 tons. Its scaled replica was standing in front of me in its full beauty!
On top of that, two of the same trains, as in reality, were pulling the gun! Seeing it so big on such a small scale, It made me wonder for the rest of the evening what kind of feeling somebody had while walking next to it 70 years ago! Additionally, Neil Westlake, one of the club members and a modeler who build the model, is working on further improvements like installing a smoke generator for this engineering marvel. The barrel itself will lift and pull down by electronic devices !! I will not be spoiling all of the surprises he is preparing, but I had to lift the veil of secrecy for this project at least a little bit. Make sure you check Club’s facebook page often to see the progress! Coming back to railways, I was pleased and impressed to see that the Club builds its new layout from old historical photographies! Building authentic replicas is, in my opinion, the hardest way to make the layout. Most of the things on it have to be custom made and rigorously thought through. Just collecting a sufficient amount of old photographies and information its a big job on its own.

On the End

Just before I was leaving me, Poul, Neil, and Malcolm sit down to have a small chat and refreshments before ending the meeting. Once again, I was positively surprised. The Club does precisely what they and their club mission states. They try to bring new people into the modeling world! How they do it? Instead of going only to model making shows. They display their layouts in shopping malls and hospitals. That allows many new people to see the railway models for the first time and perhaps discover their yet unrealized passion! I hope more clubs will follow their footsteps and try to spread our common hobby with a more general audience. 

Primo Models, yet again, it is pleased with being invited to the Club’s exhibition! Keep an eye on our facebook page to see and update regarding the exact time of the show. 

CONTACT CLUB AT:

 https://www.facebook.com/DundeeModelRailwayClub/

http://www.dundeemrc.co.uk/index.html

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