Clubs for Model Railroaders

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I have been a member of a couple of model railroad clubs, and have become very dissatisfied with:

  1. The members who do not contribute to the clubs layout or modules, but are always there with their trains when it is run day.
  2. Club officers who have their own agenda. As long as they get what they want, they don’t care about the rest of the members, or only about those who support their views.
  3. Dues, fees, and assessments. Dues in an amount needed to provide a newsletter, or a web site, are sometimes necessary. We used to keep everybody in some groups informed by phone calls. I would much rather spend my hobby funds on things that benifit my railroad, or my special hobby interest.
    With these things in mind, about a year ago several of our local modelers decided to meet on a Friday evening for dinner and conversation at a local resturant. At the first meeting there were about 10-12 modelers. We spent some time getting to know each other, and learning about our interests and layouts.
    The only rule for this group is that you have to like trains, and good food. We do not have officers, dues or bylaws.
    At the last meeting, there were 27 modelers and wives. We keep a simple list that is available to our “members” so that we can contact each other. The networking and friendship and fellowship within the group is what model railroading is all about.
2

This is pretty much how we run our club in Milwaukee. Very informal, yet fun…

Paul August

3

Great idea! wi***here was a model railroad club like that or a club at all near me! [:(]

But maybe I should try and start one of these huh? [:I]

4

I’ve only been in one club. Our dues are $5/mo and we meet once a week in the basement of a church. There are 8 or 12 or so of us and there is so much to be done that we don’t have op sessions very often. Yet the layout is big enough that we could have some decent runs.

Since there is so much to be done, we each just work on the section feel like.

5

There is a club by me I went to a couple of the meetings all the guys were real nice and helpful I was going to join then I had a shift change at work and now I can not attend there meetings thats a real bummer.

I would really like to get into a group then I could share my hobby with others who do the same. My wife lets me enjoy it but she has no interest in much of it, Boy I cant wait till my son is old enough to start to help and really enjoy the process.

Till then I will just enjoy my time here in the virtual club and model in my mind and we have no officers to deal with here pretty cool in my book.

6

I am a member of the Sykesville and Patapsco Model Railroad club in Sykesville, Maryland. It is somewhat informal, and is very fun. The dues are $25 a year, and there are about 15 or so open houses in the year. The HO and O scale layouts are pretty much finished, so there isn’t much to say about the work on them, but the N scale is in progress, and the N scalers are working on it. And there are sometimes we don’t feel like working on it, so we do something else. Informal = fun!

7

Best “club” I ever belonged to was run in a similar manner. No dues, no officers, just set meetings a couple in advance. We round-robin to different members homes - some had layouts, some didn’t. Sometimes we would railfan for a meeting. We even set all 24 hours in a van next to the tracks to count all the trains in a day. Light refreshments, good company and no politics. Had 8-9 regulars and several more up to about 15 members. Boy I miss those days.

8

Speaking of clubs is fifty dollars to much to pay for a club?

9

I pay 60 a year. Little over a buck a session.

10

I wi***hat I could find a couple of folks to sit down with over a few cold beers and chat about trains. I just have a hard time with some people that are know it alls and can’t find conversation with anything other than trains. And about the first sentence, never drink and airbrush.[oops][censored]

11

About the Petticoat Junction MRRF in Houston. After the first few meetings, I made up a flyer about our “club” and left them in several hobby shops. Since I love to talk about trains, and to others who like trains, I put my phone number on the flyer. I got several calls and invited them to our next dinner night. Once we started meeting, others invited their friends, and the owner of one hobby shop provided several names of model railroaders who he thought might be interested.
Visit the group site at: groups.yahoo.PetticoatJunctionMRRG-Houston and view the photo section.

12

I wish I could find even a bad club in my area. All Amish. They’re not aloud to play with electricity.
Your idea sounds kinda like The Coffee Shop, but with real food. COOL!!!

13

That’s what we are here for. You supply the beer.

14

And for our younger modelers, I am always up for an ice cold Dr Pepper as well!!![:D]

15

I feel I have to defend the more “formal” club here. [:)]

I’m a 12-year veteran of my HO club, the South Shore Model Railway Club, Inc., of Hingham, MA. www.ssmrc.org We’re a 501(c)3 Non-Profit Organization. We are a more formal operation than those described above, with By-Laws, Rules & Regulations, monthly business meetings and B.O.D. meetings. But since we’ve been around for 67 years, we must be doing something right. [;)]

We have 60 or so regular members (one from 1938!), a club building (one of the finest in the country, IMHO), two yearly train shows, and a whole new HO layout that will be in a 48’ x 132’ room with no pillers in the way.

Dues are $26 per month, or $312 per year per member. Of the club’s annual budget, about 1/3rd of that goes to pay to keep the place running (heat, A/C, security, insurance, etc.). The rest goes to pay for the layout construction and other club items like maintenance and savings, etc.

We don’t have a problem, really, with those members that simply pay their dues and run their trains. If they help, that’s great. If they don’t, well, at least they are financially supporting the club which is more than we get from most non-members. [:D] Of our 60 or so members, we see at over half of them regularly and only about 20 to 30 actually work at the club. And that’s fine, we’re not all carpenters, electricians, technicians, and engineers. Some of the guys are insurance men, or accountants, and they help the club during the budget process.

A club is a community effort, and takes a little from everyone’s specialty to make something great, and in our case, that will be a 6300 sq. ft. layout.

One thing I’ve noticed at our club is that there does seem to be that undercurrent of doing something for “the good of the club” rather than for “the good of me”. Not always, but it’s there. You have to have at least some of that sacrafice of the one for the betterment of all or you will have a lousy club.

16

One thing that seems interesting about a club is you could have the opportunity to have a very large and realistic prototype-based layout.

Examples that come to mind are the RPI layout, and the San Diego Tehachapi layout.

This would require a lot of people to agree on the same prototype. If a club chooses not to go that route, you have more of a mish-mash of locos, rolling stock, locations on the layout, etc.

Just some thoughts. I totally enjoy very prototypical looking layouts, but unless you are into the same prototype as your club, that could be something to consider.

I would venture to guess most clubs model local railroads, so odds are most of the members are probably interested in the prototype.

17

The club I am a member of we have a equal voice and nothing gets changed without the majority vote.Officers hold no special powers.We believe a hobby should be fun for everybody regardless of skill level and types of models own.
We have different dues…They are:
$10.00. with keys.
$8.00.without keys
$5.00 .retirees
and
$3.00…Student.
All equipment is in pool service…In other words any member or invited guest can run the equipment across the layout…The layout is point to point single track with passing sidings…
Our club layout is 100% finished…We operate twice a week and have 47 members and 90% active rate on any given operating night.[:D]