Members of Helensburgh and District Model Rail Club are preparing to showcase their work at a national exhibition this weekend.

Model Rail Scotland will be held at Glasgow’s Scottish Events Campus from February 25-27.

The event is arranged by the Association of Model Railway Societies in Scotland (AMRSS), which includes the Helensburgh club.

This will be the first Model Rail Scotland event since 2020, after last year’s event was cancelled due to Covid.

Club member Scott Matthews said: “Everyone is very excited to have Model Rail Scotland back. It’s the biggest event in Scotland – you meet so many people, you see so many nice layouts and you see all the traders.

“We were lucky that it went ahead in 2020, just a few weeks before the national lockdown.

“I think it means a lot to people. It’s not all about the trains, sometimes it’s about socialising and meeting people.

“I think while it was away, the popularity of it has increased, because people were rummaging about their attics to find games and things in the first lockdown, and they were finding old train sets.

“I’m hoping we’ll see fresh faces and people coming along for the first time.”

The club, which has around 20 members, creates models based on existing places, as well as ones which do not represent any specific place or era.

At this year’s event, the club will exhibit a layout entitled ‘Canal Sidings’.

The layout is not a reflection of any particular place, but the design is based on traditional UK set-ups.

Those attending the exhibition will also be able to see layouts based on 21st century industrial China, 1950s America, and Sweden in the 1930s.

Scott added: “The layouts will have been created by a mixture of the clubs involved, as well as the ones we invite after seeing them at different shows, in magazines, or online.

“I guess it’s an inspirational thing as well, because you get different ideas.

“Even if it’s not where your main interest lies, you can see where you can start to borrow ideas and take inspiration from.”

HDMRC, which meets on Monday and Wednesday evenings, is urging anyone interested in joining to get in touch, particularly young people.

Scott said: “When you look about Facebook and TikTok, you do see younger people creating content on what they’re modelling.

“Once you get to these exhibitions, you start to see people taking along their sons, grandsons, daughters and granddaughters.

“Everyone is welcome to join us – just send us a message on Facebook and we can arrange to get you in.”