{"@attributes":{"version":"2.0"},"channel":{"title":"Scottish Model Engineering Trust","link":"https:\/\/smet.org.uk\/","description":"Recent content on Scottish Model Engineering Trust","generator":"Hugo","language":"en-gb","copyright":"SMET - All rights reserved","lastBuildDate":"Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000","item":[{"title":"Easter Sunday Open Day - 2026!","link":"https:\/\/smet.org.uk\/news\/2026\/easter-open-day\/","pubDate":"Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000","guid":"https:\/\/smet.org.uk\/news\/2026\/easter-open-day\/","description":"<p>We froze over winter, we got soaked in January, and now in spring, we are enjoying some long wished for sunshine! Just in time as well, as out first open day of 2026 is just around the corner - <strong>Sunday 5th April<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>We&rsquo;ve been hard at work at Wester Pickston since our last open day, including building a new engine shed, and adding a raised track for 5\u2033 and 3\u00bd&quot; gauge engines. While the raised track isn&rsquo;t available for public running yet, you&rsquo;ll see locos running around on it if you come up for the open day.<\/p>"},{"title":"Nanjai Eki at Elgin","link":"https:\/\/smet.org.uk\/news\/2025\/elgin\/","pubDate":"Mon, 03 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000","guid":"https:\/\/smet.org.uk\/news\/2025\/elgin\/","description":"<p>Over the weekend of 1st - 2nd November, Perth Model Railway Group (PMRG)\nattended <a href=\"https:\/\/elginmodelrailwayclub.co.uk\/\">Elgin Model Railway Club&rsquo;s<\/a> 2025\nexhibition with Stan&rsquo;s Japanese based layout, <a href=\"https:\/\/smet.org.uk\/pmrg\/layouts\/nanjai-eki\"><em>Nanjai\nEki<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>We are delighted to announce that the layout was awarded the Fred Dilley Shield\nat the exhibition, for modelling excellence!<\/p>\n<p>The Elgin exhibition was in a new venue at Moray Sports Centre this year and was\nenjoyed by many visitors. Many thanks to Elgin MRC for hosting us and all the\nother exhibitions last weekend.<\/p>"},{"title":"Greenock and Dundee shows","link":"https:\/\/smet.org.uk\/news\/2025\/greenock-and-dundee\/","pubDate":"Sun, 26 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000","guid":"https:\/\/smet.org.uk\/news\/2025\/greenock-and-dundee\/","description":"<p>Last weekend (18\/19th October) was a busy one for SMET&rsquo;s Perth Model Railway\nGroup (PMRG); we attended model railway exhibitions run by two different clubs:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=100064730287091\">Greenock &amp; District Model Railway Club<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/dundeemrc.uk\/\">Dundee Model Railway Club<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Stan took his Japanese bases layout, &ldquo;Nanjai Eki&rdquo;, to Greenock and we are\ndelighted to say that he walked away with the <em>Greenock Cup<\/em> for best in show,\nas voted for by the public!<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile in Dundee a large crew of PMRG members helped to run our N-gauge\n<a href=\"https:\/\/smet.org.uk\/pmrg\/layouts\/newton-ferrier\/\">Newton Ferrier<\/a> layout. While\nit didn&rsquo;t receive any awards in Dundee, those who did at the show were well\ndeserving of the accolades.<\/p>"},{"title":"2026 dates announcement","link":"https:\/\/smet.org.uk\/news\/2025\/2026-dates\/","pubDate":"Mon, 01 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000","guid":"https:\/\/smet.org.uk\/news\/2025\/2026-dates\/","description":"<p>We are delighted to announce our public event dates for 2026:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sunday 5th April - <a href=\"https:\/\/smet.org.uk\/open-day\">Open day<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Sunday 24th May - <a href=\"https:\/\/smet.org.uk\/open-day\">Open day<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th June - <a href=\"https:\/\/smet.org.uk\/show\">Perth Model Rail Exhibition<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Sunday 26th July - <a href=\"https:\/\/smet.org.uk\/open-day\">Open day<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Sunday 30th August - <a href=\"https:\/\/smet.org.uk\/open-day\">Open day<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Open days are at <a href=\"https:\/\/smet.org.uk\/find-us\">our Wester Pickston railway<\/a> running 11am to 4pm on each of the dates shown above.<\/p>\n<p>Our Model Railway Exhibition takes place on the last weekend of June at the Dewars Centre in Perth each year, and Scotland premier summer model rail show.<\/p>"},{"title":"2025 exhibition videos","link":"https:\/\/smet.org.uk\/news\/2025\/show-videos\/","pubDate":"Fri, 18 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000","guid":"https:\/\/smet.org.uk\/news\/2025\/show-videos\/","description":"<p>Each year, our resident photographer and videographer, Andrew Gebbie, films the layouts being presented at <a href=\"https:\/\/smet.org.uk\/show\">our annual exhibition in Perth<\/a>. This year he has changed the format slightly, shooting in portrait and publishing a &ldquo;short&rdquo; for each individual layout.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLt-FWv9kmQhYF2NOMxSq4pIa2P8XPQAeO\">full playlist<\/a> is available on YouTube:<\/p>\n<center>\n<a class=\"button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLt-FWv9kmQhYF2NOMxSq4pIa2P8XPQAeO\">YouTube playlist for Perth 2025<\/a>\n<\/center>"},{"title":"2025 exhibition award winners","link":"https:\/\/smet.org.uk\/news\/2025\/show-winners\/","pubDate":"Wed, 02 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000","guid":"https:\/\/smet.org.uk\/news\/2025\/show-winners\/","description":"<p>Each year, as our model railway exhibition draws to a close, we have the pleasure of presenting trophies and shields for excellence in different areas of railway modelling. Four awards were made on Sunday:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The <em>Harburn Hobbies Trophy<\/em> for <strong>best in show<\/strong> as voted by the public went to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WandNWMRG\">Wirral and N.Wales Model Railway Group<\/a> for <em>Barrihandie<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li>The <em>Ten Commandments Trophy<\/em> for <strong>architectural modelling<\/strong> was presented to Chris Manners for <em>Barrihandie<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li>The <em>Jimmy Robertson Cup<\/em> for <strong>best scenic layout<\/strong> was won by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenockmrc.co.uk\/\">Greenock MRC<\/a> for their layout <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenockmrc.co.uk\/Inches.html\"><em>Inches<\/em><\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>The <em>Robert Bruce Memorial Shield<\/em> for <strong>best technical layout<\/strong> was awarded to Mick Bryan for <em>Deadmans Lane<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Many congratulations to the award winners - they are all very well deserved among very stiff competition. Thank you to to everyone for taking part in a wonderful show. There was a very high standard of modelling on display.<\/p>"},{"title":"Perth Model Railway Show 2025 - Tickets Now Available!","link":"https:\/\/smet.org.uk\/news\/2025\/show-tickets-now-available\/","pubDate":"Sat, 17 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000","guid":"https:\/\/smet.org.uk\/news\/2025\/show-tickets-now-available\/","description":"<p>We are delighted to announce that tickets for our Perth Model Railway Exhibition 2025 are now available! We&rsquo;ve once again teamed up with <a href=\"https:\/\/tickets.perthshireboxoffice.com\/event\/36386?date=2025-06\">Perth Box Office<\/a> to allow advance ticket purchase online. You can do so by clicking the button, after which you&rsquo;ll be shown a calender that you can use to select which date you would like to come to the show on (if you want to come on both days, select one, and on the next page select the &ldquo;Weekend Ticket&rdquo; option). You&rsquo;ll then be able to select the ticket types that you wish to purchase.<\/p>"},{"title":"First Open Day of 2025 is near!","link":"https:\/\/smet.org.uk\/news\/2025\/first-open-day-of-2025\/","pubDate":"Wed, 16 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000","guid":"https:\/\/smet.org.uk\/news\/2025\/first-open-day-of-2025\/","description":"<p>Wester Pickston has been basking in the sunshine over much of March and April, giving the members of the Scottish Model Engineering Trust the opportunity to get the site ready for our first open day of 2025 - <strong>Sunday 20th April<\/strong>!<\/p>\n<p>The team have been hard at work:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Preparing locos, old and new<\/li>\n<li>Building new guard trucks<\/li>\n<li>Replacing split sleepers<\/li>\n<li>Stripping old paint and replacing it<\/li>\n<li>Preparing additional signals<\/li>\n<li>Clearing storm-damaged trees<\/li>\n<li>Clearing leaves (there are plenty of them!)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And much more! We&rsquo;ve also got some exciting new projects in development that you will be able to see are well underway, including a raised track for 5 and 3\u00bd inch locomotives (we call this &ldquo;the race track&rdquo; due to its oval shape - it isn&rsquo;t ready to run yet, but work on it is progressing well), and a new engine shed.<\/p>"},{"title":"Statement on PMRG's 2025 exhibition venue","link":"https:\/\/smet.org.uk\/news\/2025\/show-venue-statement\/","pubDate":"Mon, 31 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000","guid":"https:\/\/smet.org.uk\/news\/2025\/show-venue-statement\/","description":"<p>We are pleased to announce that our annual exhibition will, as usual, be held over the last weekend of June, that is <strong>28th &amp; 29th June at the Dewars Centre in Perth<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The venue has undergone some major changes since last year&rsquo;s event resulting in one of the halls being now unavailable to us. However, we have acquired some additional space upstairs at the venue instead and are looking forward to presenting our exhibition consisting of 30 quality model railway layouts, 21 well known trade stands and 10 demonstrators and societies. Our normal catering service will be in place too.<\/p>"},{"title":"Model Rail Scotland - 2025","link":"https:\/\/smet.org.uk\/news\/2025\/model-rail-scotland\/","pubDate":"Mon, 24 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000","guid":"https:\/\/smet.org.uk\/news\/2025\/model-rail-scotland\/","description":"<p>Each year, the model railway scene in Scotland starts with a bang at <a href=\"https:\/\/modelrail-scotland.co.uk\/\">Model Rail Scotland<\/a>. The largest model rail exhibition in Scotland (with <a href=\"https:\/\/smet.org.uk\/show\">our own, at the end of June, being the next largest<\/a>), Model Rail Scotland attracts thousands of enthusiasts to the SEC in Glasgow. This year, our model railway group (Perth Model Railway Group - PMRG) were in attendance with <a href=\"https:\/\/smet.org.uk\/pmrg\/layouts\/calla-fountain-crossing\/\">Calla Fountain Crossing<\/a> layout. SMET also had a stand advertising our larger-scale ride on railway. Both were a huge success at the show!<\/p>"}]}}