A few friends and I have all been working together for some time to start a model railroad club up were i live(in the mountains). Since all 4 of us are 16, nobody really took us seriously, but we have finaly got some space were we can set everything up. Weve decided on a track plan and everything, now we just need to get the supplies for it. All 4 of us have donated everything that we have to the club, but we still need essentials like track. Does anyone have any tips on how we can get things donated, or maybe get some sponsers so we can purchase the track ourselves. And any other ideas or other tips in general would be super wonderful.
Gee, when an old club with just two members closes, there are no less than three threads on this forum plus another on the Atlas forum bemoaning this terrible omen forcasting the death of the hobby. But when a new club is started by four 16 year olds, there’s not a peep from anyone about how this may be a slight indication that maybe our hobby is not dooooooooomed. Hmm… I wonder why?
Nathan,
I wish you the best of luck on starting a club. I’m a 16 year member of my club, which just turned 71 years old. I’ve also been part of a start up club that didn’t last too long.
As for fund raising, there’s several methods.
Dues. Even if it’s $5 a month per member, after a year you’ll have got $240. That’s a number of switches and some flex track right there.
Bake sale. Sure, it’s corny, but it may actually bring in some profit. I don’t know what kind of community you have where you are, but there may be some kind of social activity that would allow that.
Shoveling driveways/mowing lawns. Hey, money is money. These and other physical jobs may net you some cash.
More members. See if anyone else in the area wants to join.
In general, the club fund raising I’m familiar with involve things like Open Houses, club cars, train shows, etc…which are a little tough to do without a layout in the first place. [;)]
Third: WHERE are you located, I know you said mountains, but what state?
and of course, please describe the layout details:
Era, geography, rolling stock, locomotive roster, etc. I’d love to know more about what you plan to do!
As far as fund raising, you could always approach local restaurants, and sell their stuff! When I was in highschool, my church youth group would sell strombolis, the pizza place we got them from charged us, if I remember correctly, around $3.50 for a good sized stromboli, your choice Pepperoni, Broccoli and Cheese, or Three Cheese. We went around knocking on doors or talking with friends and family taking orders, selling them for between 5 and 8 dollars! Not a bad deal at all, and I’m sure there could be a place in your area that wouldn’t mind the extra business too!
But first check with your local police dept, before you go knocking on doors. It is illegal in some communities, unless you have a permit. Quite a few towns around where I live issue the permits for free, they just want to know who is in their area and what they are doing!
*"*Our hobby is dooooooooomed! All us old guys will be phased out and rejected by the younger modelers!"
Everybody needs something to complain about… [:-^]
I’d be careful about dues. You’ll have to judge that on how much you want people to join, how much money you need, how often you meet, and how devoted to the club your members are.
I was a member of a club that met once a week, but only operated once a month. The dues were $15 a month (for my membership at the time, adult dues were $20 a month) which adds up to 5$ a night. One of the big reasons I joined was for the operating sessions, but they were only once every two months (the other once-a-month was just free running) and they kept being cancelled for some reason. The dues were just too much, and they were moving twice as far away (I can see it now: “Dad, uh, the club is moving two hours away… Do you mind driving me there and back every week?”) so I left. The money has been better spent on my own layout.
If you’re meeting once a week, I’d say $5 may be a fair price. It also depends on the finances of the actual members; do they have enough money for dues each month and still have money left over for their own stuff? Talk to the other members and see what they think.
Also, I have some used Atlas Code 100 track that I’d be willing to donate to your club if you (the club) pay for shipping. PM me if you’re interested.
I just called the police station and they said that permits were not required, i just need to beme of there stuff like you recomended.ould sell some of there stuff like you recomended.ould sell some of there stuff like you recomended.
As for the actual layout, we based our trackplan on Mike Polsgroves sons layout. Mike does the DCC corner in model railroader. In the July 2008 issue of MR, there was a illistration of his sons layout, and we created a trackplan based on his. Some of the major changes we made included additions to the industrial park. We made it larger and included a passing siding. We also changed the yard around a bit. As for era and geography, the layout is going to be populated with modern buildings, and modern looking cars and people, but the actual rolling stock and engines are pretty much from any time period that we want. We have all decided that it may look more realistic to use a set time period for the whole layout, including the rolling stock and engines, but that wouldnt be as fun. The main line is going to be based somwere in the serias during the winter. We decided that snow isnt modeled much, so we were going to give it a shot. The yard is going to be in the desert.
I hope that helps you out with visulizing what were trying to do. If you have anymore questions then ill try to answer them as best I can. If you would like us to update you with everything thats going on, then you can email me at greenharoguy@hotmail.com and i will send you pictures and things to show you how the layout is progressing.
haha, that would really suck to have a club move like that, and putting that money into your layout is deffinetly a good use for it. Rite now, all of us are paying dues of $7.50 a month, because its something we can all afford. Rite now were meeting about 3 times a week, and once we get the layout running were going to try and have 2 opperating sessions a month. And yes, we would love to pay for the shipping for that track, how much would it cost?
The club is meeting in a lodge that nobody ever uses so thay gave us permision to use it.
Thanks tyler, and if you would like updates on the club, then email me at greenharoguy@hotmail.com and ill add you to a list of people who want updates on it.
Hello what about a rafael you could sell tickets for say 10$. First prize 8 hours of work x 4 guys. You can cut grass.clean windows,gutters yard work. Second prize 4 hours of work x 4 guys. Third prize 2 hours of work x 4 guys. You can get a lot of stuff done if you don’t mess around and I think people would see you are willing to work for the money. If you sell 100 tickets that’s 1000$ for you club. And all you are out is some time. Hope this helps Frank
We hope our club will last that long, haha. Yes, we are using dues already, each of us pay $7.50 a month. Bake sale, im not so sure about, but the shoveling thing is a good idea, beause i live up in the mountains of california, up by lake tahoe. And im going to check into other things similiar to get some money, but we cant mow lawns here, because nobody has grass, its all just trees because we live in a forest.
Thanks again, and if you would like to get updates on the club, then email me at greenharoguy@hotmail.com and ill add you to our mailing list.
I’m not sure if this would work for you, but the Treasure Coast club in Florida gets sponsorships from local businesses. They do have open houses, and a web site which has a sponsorship page on it. Also, some, maybe all, of the sponsors have either a structure on the layout, a billboard or a box car advertising the business.
Take your plans to your LHS, by the way. Many shops will give you a discount if you’re a real model railroad club. That will make your dollar go further.
If you’re really desparate, I’ve got some old brass track…
I’m happy to see such enthusiasm from young MRs. It’s great that you have the donated space. I would recommend keeping good records from the start. Set up some rules and guidelines and follow them w/o exception. It would be great if a parent or other responsible adult could help w/ finance, records and any corespondence. May clubs have gone by the wayside to infighting from finance or individual performance.
Good luck, and keep us posted as to your progress.
You’re too young for embezzlement and I would never advocate holding-up Circle-Ks or, even more ambitiously, casinos over on the Nevada side of the lake. I wish I had something to send you but all I have to offer is best wishes in your endeavors.
As an aside the NMRA national convention is being held in Sacramento in 2011. You have to be an NMRA member to attend the convention itself however they have a trade show attached to the convention and this is open to the public–for a admission fee of course–usually on Friday afternoon and on Saturday and Sunday. I would advocate that your club plan on a day’s attendance. Hope to see you there!
I might also bring up something associated with door-knocking. The courts have pretty well disemboweled what is known as THE GREEN RIVER ORDINANCE but you need to remember that the minute you step off the public sidewalks you are subject to laws of trespass. Unless very clearly marked as “No Trespassing”–which includes solicitation–which is considered to be clear warning if you are warned off of private property Stay off! It can get you in hot water; believe me! I know! and all I was doing was taking pictures!
Car wash - here the twist - you sign up folks (sponsor ) to pay you a certain dollar figure for every car you wash , say two bucks , then you get a local car wash to let you use there station and have some girls/guys (FYI The better looking they are the better ) stand on the street with a sign free car wash , the people you have sponsor you pay for the car .I have seen this used to raise hundreds of dollars
Bake sale - have your moms cook up some cookies , you get permission to sell them at some function
Stand on the side of the road with tin cup ,dark sun glasses , crutches and a dog - just kidding
start a small service - mowing , window cleaning , leaf raking , weed pulling
yard sale - collect donations from friends and families advertise in the local paper , which usually have a free advertising section for this or charge a small fee
offer to do extra chores around the house for money
recyclables - copper , aluminum etc…when I was a kid we used to collect pop bottles that paid 5 cents a bott
Best of luck with your club. If haven’t started builidng benchwork yet, I’d strongly suggest that you consider making it sectional or modular … that way, in case you have to move from your space, you’ll be able to easily transport and adapt what you have done to a new location. Free-Mo is a neat option for clubs, or you could try something like the construction methods used in the recent MR “Beer Line” layout.
Hello hey Nathan do a search for a thread on the forum called under 5$ challenge there is lot of good stuff there you guys could make. Hop this helps Frank