Renfrewshire Model Railway Club Visit!

The Ninth Primo Meeting!

I am happy to inform you that we had our 9th Primo Meeting, which as always brought a lot of joy and bag full of new ideas. It was not only the first meeting this year but also for the first time the Club reached to us rather than us to the Club. I am talking here about the “Renfrewshire Model Railway Club”. Renfrewshire used to be called the “Cradle of the Royal Stewarts” for its early link with Scotland’s former royal house, Renfrew gained royal burgh status in 1397.

Renfrewshire Model Railway Club has been going for many years. The Club has secured for itself privilege for owning the club room. Club’s meetings take place each Monday and Friday between 07:00 PM and 10:00 PM. Unofficially I will add that I heard there are also meeting on Wednesdays for most passionate club members who cannot wait an entire week without building something new. I love the attitude! The Club is continuously working on new projects, and their room is big enough to fit at least four to fife relatively big layouts. They build in OO, HO, O, and N scales. They are located behind Elderslie Village Hall at 6 Lexwell Avenue, Elderslie, Johnstone, PA5 9AF. They always welcome new members with any age group that shares their passion for model railways.

First Impression and History

I think I have to start with admitting how naive I was this wet and cold Monday evening of 6 January. For some reason, I convinced myself that parking the van on a bit of grass would somehow not be a problem. Of course, from past experienced, I knew it was not reality. Inpatient to meet the club members and see their layouts, I did it. I have driven the front axle onto the grass. It was a mistake I will remember for long. Luckily, with the help of club members and their phenomenal effort, we have managed to push the van out. Centimeter by centimeter, even without the visible result of following tries, there was no sign of giving up on their side. I want to say massive thank you to all involved in this strenuous task.

Shortly after, Mark, who is Club’s person behind facebook, the exhibition manager and Club’s Secretary, guided me to the meeting room/library that, by the way, has tones of magazines and books to go through. The room was just across the central corridor from the big layout room. After setting up dioramas, Mark called the club members, and once again, I could proudly promote Primo Models’ high-quality products. I was thrilled to receive some immediate orders right after the presentation. Because the interest was so great, I have spent half of the evening picking and showing the trees to club members. Thank you very much to all the participants for showing interest, sharing ideas, and even sending personal feedback after the meeting!

Renfrewshire Model Railway Club was founded in 1969 by modellers residing in Paisley and its surrounding area within Renfrewshire. The Club was formed by members from The West of Scotland Model Railway Club. Thanks to an article in the Paisley Daily Express, the membership increased in leaps and bounds, and many excellent modellers joined in the early years. Initially, the Club was part of the Chrysler Car Plant’s Social Club, but when the Club acquired premises in the Burnthills’ Industrial complex in Johnstone, the Club was then renamed, Renfrewshire Model Railway Club. In 1979 the present premises were purchased from the Church of Scotland.

Renfrewshire Model Railway Club Tour

After the presentation and picking trees were finished, I was kindly offered the tea by one of the clubs members. As we were sitting still in the meeting room and drinking tea while other members left to work on the layouts, we had a small group discussion about the potential of 3d printing. I want to give special thanks here to Keith and Tam for their inputs and opinions. Furthermore, Tam was also the person who, by his visible and undeniable effort with pushing the van, assured me of success before it happened. I have to assume he is one of these people that never give up.

When we have finished the tea Mark and Keith took me upstairs to their attic-like “junkyard.” Well, it may look that way, but in fact, it was a treasury room where you could find perhaps anything you could need during the layout building process. I wish to have a day or two and go through all of these boxes. There must be tones of exciting opportunities for projects and details for layout. The view from the staircase looking at the layout is simply astonishing. I genuinely hope to see some timelapse from that view while putting up or taking down the layouts. Just before we were leaving the attic, Mark has shown me the “Chinese forest.” I know that I may not be entirely objective here, but I think that on the better side, they have finally found their only honest and right place to be, which is in a single plastic bag lying in the corner of the room, hopefully never to be reused again. RIP and never destroy the final effect of modelers’ hard work, please?

Moreover, I will be sure to keep an eye on buildings that are being made by Keith. If I understood correctly, he does take it personally when it comes to detailing model buildings. The fact that he professionally works in the field of architecture gives him great inside experience and knowledge, which translates to an extra realism edge in his projects.

Mark and I have continued the tour by having a look at all of the layouts in the room. A huge O scale layout dominated the room. On the side of it was another a bit smaller O scale layout. The front of the room was occupied by layout for testing and driving locomotives and stock. In between, was the only current OO scale layout that the Club has up. Mark explained to me that the Club decided to take up a challenge and build a new exhibition layout while the old one is being recycled and scrapped for useful parts. I have the feeling that Renfrewshire Model Railway Club is going to be very busy this year. Make sure to follow their progress on their facebook, HERE.

Last but not least, I would like to add that it has a lovely workshop with all the essential tools in place. I say that because I love workshops. To be honest, I could happily live in a workshop as long there are some hammers and saw hanging around. I would like to also point out nicely decorated walls with unused at the moment models of structures or other things like a colossal passenger car model.

On the End

Just before closing, I have remembered that I noticed earlier eye-catching bridge model. I have asked Mark about it, and He gladly allowed me to look at it and take some pictures. The model turned out to be as good as I thought it would be when seeing it for the first time from far away earlier on. While I am talking about the bridge, I would love to thank Alastair, who, while leaving, come back from outside to drag the massive layout part from the side of the room and show me a fantastic O scale bridge. Even tho I have enjoyed seeing the bridge, more importantly, I appreciated Alastair’s utmost friendly attitude and willingness to share his work. Last but not least, I am happy to say that Primo Models was invited for Club’s Yearly exhibition, which will take place in October at Johnstone Town Hall. Look for more information and updates about the show on the Club’s webpage and facebook page.

Contact the Club at:

http://www.renfrewshiremrc.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/renfrewshiremrc/

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