Very basic questions on clubs


rodney mcgiveron

rodney mcgiveron

Member
G'day all.......In my home state of Tasmania ,population a bit over half a million , here in Australia we have maybe three model rail clubs and only in the two biggest cities and two train shows a year...The Hobart ModelTrain Show in August and most years , not this one it seems , the St Albies Hall one in Launceston..in late June , about now..every so often they miss a year..I live in a rural town of about 1000 people and know of four or five other local model rail enthusiasts within about 50 kms (30 miles) or so...Would that be enough to spark the idea of a local club ? I suppose a decent secure premises that doesn't cost a lot to lease is essential and all that but never ever even visited a model rail club , how do you structure and set up the very basics of a club...As I work as an ancillary staff member at our local High School..I'd bet that in regard to young'uns..there'd be a few keen to get involved in this amazing hobby so do you think that having an organised group that way first might be worth a try..RE Infrastructure to a proper club ie track and basic equipment is that a loan method or donated or come from fundraising and owned by all.? How a typical club is structured would be fascinating to know...Cheers Rod...
 
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Your club structure can be as complex or easy as you want it to be.
If you have a facility with a layout already built, you want to protect it from people just wandering, joining, getting access with a key then taking all your stuff.
If you don't have the resources for a club layout, consider a club that meets at the various members homes. Conduct your meeting then run trains.
You could make it a modular club and set up in libraries, malls or other places to promote the hobby and draw membership.
You can do a buy in by new members with an initial dues. Consider club shirts for when you are operating at a show, so viewers can identify members.
A club is whatever ya want to make of it.
 
Club's can be as informal or formal as you wish as Ken has said. We have an informal one in Caboolture where members meet in each others homes (not all have layouts, just as means of getting to know each other). If you want or can form a club with clubrooms, then check out your state's and federal laws regarding the setting up and running (committee and income/expenditure/auditing requirements).
 
Where I live (Montana USA) is similar to what you describe. Our club is an NTRAK club and has 8 members. We set up once a month at some location......the local mall, library, several restored RR depots, local museums, the county fair, and the one train show in the area. We are open to any requests. The club owns 6 corners (built out of club dues) and a 16 ft yard, and the 2 X 4 foot modules are built and owned by the members. We currently have about 120 ft of modules which can be set up a variety of ways.........a 30 X 30 square, a 4 X 56 rectangle, ect. On the small end we can simply put 4 corners together and have a 6 ft circle. We also have 2 inside corners which let us do L's, T's, U's and what I call a "double diamond" which looks like 2 squares joined at one corner. We can make a layout to fit any space that comes along.
The club has a board....a president, secretary, treasurer, superintendent (controls the setups), and an "at large" member. Our at large member is retired, and he does our "leg work" finding us locations to set up. Our "meetings" consist of the setups, a Christmas party, and an annual meeting where we elect the new board. Our dues vary depending on need and go for repair (or building) of club modules, fees for our web page, PO box, ect. We also have a box van to haul equipment and upkeep on that mostly comes from a "tip jar" we put out at each setup.
I find the modular clubs tend to be nicer, because at least in our case, each member can do what they want modeling wise. The club doesn't have to agree on much. For us, other than the NTRAK standard for track locations, anything goes.........one member has 2 modules that represent a town in Germany, another has the lost city of Atlantis, one has Mount Rushmore. I have a Grain Elevator module, a mine, a small town, and a farm(2 modules). One member has a set of modules that fit the NTRAK standard, but are also a self contained layout he can set up and run at home.
We also enjoy setting up in the public locations........if your club has a clubhouse, very few people stop in, if you set up at the library or the mall, people that would never have come to visit a RR club, will stop, walk around the layout, and ask questions.

https://www.facebook.com/search/str/Montana NTRAK/keywords_top
http://www.mtntrak.org/
 
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Something I forgot to mention regards funding for an Incorporated Club (think that's the legal title in Oz), you may be able to apply to the local gaming authority for grants. Local councils can be helpful with any planning or other approvals too.
 
Rodney,

Agree with the other guys, a "Club" can be as formal or as informal as you want it to be. You mentioned that you knew of 4 or 5 other enthusiasts within 50 clicks of you, so there's the start of the club so to speak.

What I'd do is figure out what the purpose of the club is to be first. Do you see it as you guys meeting up once a week to talk about the hobby, pass on ideas, get advice, have a few tinnies etc, or do you see it being a physical location with a layout or the ability to build a joint members layout along with the ideas, advice and tinnies.

The first idea would only require one of the members to volunteer their home one night a week, or share it around a bit and nothing more. The second would require a permanent building and all the costs involved with that.

Bottom line mate, from my point of view, I'd start your club out as a once a week social get together. Come up with a Club Name maybe get a T Shirt for it and go from there. That way, depending on what the other guys want as well, you'd get an idea of how interested they were in a "club" idea and who is likely to be committed to it rather than just being committed to the idea.
 
G'day all...THANKS GUYS...So much great info....Over the past few weeks since I got heavily back into the hobby after a break I am so excited about it all and I'd love to try and promote our great pastime...I know directly a few keen fellow modellers..three quite well but all live on the coast and I'm up in the bush so to speak..One huge advantage I have is that I'm on the committee of our local golf club which has just rebuilt and refurbished the clubhouse and one way of encouraging more use of the facility was to try and offer other local groups to use it..After I posted the topic you've so kindly responded to and suggested a 'meeting place' semi regularly , this might be it..I will run an ad in our local Valley Voice which is our local paper that appears every 2nd Wednesday , shake the tree so to speak and see what falls to the ground..I think it'd be well worth a try even if it's just to talk model trains initially...I rang one of them already tonight and he said he would come , should we give it a go.He does HO North American like me..Has a great CN coal layout well advanced ...
With the fully established clubs with..do you get many very young modelers joining ?....If there is one thing that mystifies me about our hobby is that the kids seem fascinated at Train Shows but not a real lot seem to actually get to model...Perhaps allowances , pocket money don't often stretch very far..I'll run an
"anyone interested in model trains " advert in the paper next issue (next week) and let you know if I get many enquiries...Thanks again for the tips..Cheers Rod..
 
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Since the advent of smart phones with their WiFi capability and the train control App, combined with JMRI, I've noticed an increase in young guys getting interested. When we had the show, the ones I spoke to, that was what they wanted to know about.
 
One of the things that solidified the hobby for me was joining a club. I was only 16 yrs old, and the hardest part was that I came empty handed every week (they met weekly). Luckily for me, the club formed in the late 1950's when they first built their layout and so their collection of tools and rolling stock was ample to say the least. The layout was O gauge, with a narrow gauge line that ran pretty deep into the layout. No one ever took care of the narrow gauge because it was hard to get to. They allowed me to choose my assignment on the layout, and so I chose the narrow gauge section. The club had all of the tools I needed, and then some. Since the club had a layout, I could only work during the meetings thus removing the risk of me leaving their tools at home. Over time, they did give me a few gifts - things that I could use at home on my own layout.

Sorry, kind of rambled there a bit. Point is, for young people that have little in the way of resources, the club can be the place where they learn to work on this stuff using other's tools. If you have the traveling club, you can setup the club so that senior members each take a young member under their wing and teach the young member by working on the senior member's layout. This sounds complicated, but it all depends on what you and the other members decide you want to do. You could even arrange for young members to build dioramas and go on from there. It's both exciting and daunting to have an clean slate to start with!
 
Forum:

Our club is very informal with eight or nine members. We meet when ever a member decides to hold a meeting at his home. No dues, bylaws or fees.

The hosting member offers soda and snacks. We run trains at the meeting, watch videos or just exchange ideas.

We did have a module layout which proved to be a hassle to move and set up for running and now is dismantled. No one had the room to set up the layout.

An email is sent out to the members whenever a hosting meeting is planned. We have met for lunch at a local train viewing area and toured the Milwaukee Racine and Troy layout at Kalmbach Publishing.

Hope this helps.

Greg
 
The one problem with a small modular club is that ya all have to agree to attend or at least offer up their module for a show.
 
I started a club somewhere around 1993 or so. It began as an informal group that met once a month at members homes, coffee shops, or hobby shops.
It soon grew in size and became a little more official and had a club layout in the back of a publishing building.
It's now quite large with a few dozen members, business meetings, dues, rules, and of course the politics that accompany it.
Now I'm with some informal guys who meet now and then in members homes, coffee shops, or hobby shops.
Gone full circle I have and quite prefer it I do. (Yoda)
 
G'day Guys..I'm overwhelmed with the great ideas , advice and tips...that's saying something because our Forum's best features are exactly those..I was talking to another new modeler at lunchtime today , and asked if he was interested..He was , but also offered the suggestion to include other forms of modeling too..We actually do have a 30 plus member model aero club closeby and a museum that features static modelling as well...He might be on to something and if we hold initially a get together meeting , chew the fat , have a drink and look at options for having an informal but helpful group and/or database for new venturers into those hobbies , then who knows ?
Well worth a try and if it gets a few more in our sleepy little neck of the woods to enjoying the hobby then all the better..Thanks again , much appreciated indeed...Cheers Rod...
 
Rodney,

Don't know for sure but younger people not getting involved seems to have more to do with a perception that model railroading is for "old farts" and retired people with nothing better to do. Your point about money is also most likely another reason. When I say younger people, I mean kids 12 - 15 year olds who haven't caught onto the idea that (if your a guy) girls are fun and visa versa ;) Think also that anything which requires a bit of effort and doesn't involve a remote control or play station etc is boring to them or too much work - maybe they might have to think! :)

Tassie has always been a pretty laid back type of place, so laid back that you'd think it kinda got left behind a bit, and I mean that in the very nicest of ways as I love Tas a heck of a lot. I think if you can get some interest in the club idea and get some of the "local kids" in, you'll have achieved more than any or most other clubs. Lets face it too - if you get the kids, you get the parents as well, if you get my drift.

I think I might be a little wary of involving another form of modelling, especially a well established one. It could wind up that what you want to do is over shadowed by the model aero club and that could make it hard for you to get a club running or at least a functional club running. Forming an alliance with the model aero club might be something to consider once your own club has its own identity and structure - regardless of what that structure might be to begin with. Once you guys are established and have your own identity, you could then run monthly (or whatever) joint "shows" or "open days", there by attracting a variety of people and, at the very least, giving the aero club mob something else to think about.

I like your idea of using the local rag to get your message out and the possibility of using the Golf Club room for meeting and so forth. If you could do that, might not hurt to stick a little sign in the "bar" and "foyer" of the club telling people there is a Model Railroading Meeting going on in the function room tonight at 7:00 pm kinda thing, you know, what hotels do when they host a wedding etc.

Another "marketing idea" in a small town might be to stick up flyers around the place - the local, coffee shop etc.

Lastly from me tonight, I'd try to get the town Mayor on board as a member or maybe some of the well to doer's in the neighborhood ... everyone likes to be seen with and to be able to associate with the brass right :D

Anyway mate, good luck and sounds like your heading in the right direction. Hope it gets off the ground and all works out.
 
G'day Tony...Once again thanks for the great reply...Right on many points you are. We have a Municipality Council , not the town itself in regards to the Mayor however I get your drift and to try for a well known identity would be just as good..With the model aircraft club in a neighbouring town , they already have their own venue but a number of the members are from St Marys (my town) and the secretary is actually my good mate and happens to be the owner of the real nice HO Canadian National coal layout that takes up half of his "man cave" shed ..The other half is his planes. Other modeling would be ancillary not primary I think ..Our local Museum is called Cranks and Tinkerers and a decent component of it features 50 years of some of the most amazing model aircraft , ships , cars and planes and other stuff...he also is just getting into model railway aged in his mid sixties now ..he's the one I spoke to today and is perhaps the person you may well refer to..Here he is..http://gobehindthescenery.com.au/seedo/cranks-tinkerers/#.VYoZkvlViko. .Highly respected community member he is The newly renovated Golf Clubhouse may be a venue to have a kick off get together with luck..Thanks so much for your thoughts..it's great and inspiring. Forgot to mention , the Cranks and Tinkerers Museum (curator Ian Summers) is one of my former high school teachers he restores cars including a British Rovers a nice 1937 Oldsmobile at the moment , accomplished musician on several instruments ,renovates American 19th Century organs and camera's too including one from 1862 and fixes just about anything including mechanical toys and clocks too.. Incredible chap . One other thing , the venue for C&T Museum is actually the old Railway Station that closed in 1983. Would be the perfect veue for a model rail club except there's so much other stuff it'd be hard to actually find any space to swing a cat and I'm not joking . The You Tube video didn't remotely do the contents justice...Cheers Rod..
 
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There are no ho clubs in my area. As Dave mentioned, there is an N scale modular club in the area. I have seen it on display a number of times, and they have really done a fanrastic job. I can't believe how N scale has improved since I got out of it around 1980.

I am not a member of any clubs, but have visited quite a few over the years. Great Falls, MT has a great club, with their layout located in the public school building on the fairgrounds. They get along well with the local community and have a rather cool arrangement. Their rent for the years is to have the layout on display during state fair as one of the attractions. Years back I used to bring a bunch of my equipment up there and keep trains running. I have seen a few recent pictures and they have really improved the layout.

Also on my travels, I have numerous model railroading friends in a number of states. One that really impress me is in Missouri. The club is what I would call rather laid back. They are an easy going bunch of people with the same passion, model trains. They do have some standards, such as all equipment being equipped with Kadee, or similar couplers, and all equipment is checked out for proper coupler alignment. Their layout is DCC so needless to say, you need DCC equipment to run. They have an open house once a month and locals flock there to see the layout. They have a cool way of changing eras too. They have a number of buildings from different eras that are purposely build to fit into a certain space. All that has to be changed after that are vehicles and the era of the locomotives and rolling stock. Visitors always comment on that.

I have another friend in another state who ended up leaving a club, that in time folded because of the politics in the club. He said that it was worse than in Washington. Most of the problems had nothing to do with model railroading. A few of the old members now have informal operating sessions at my froends home layout which is fairly large and can keep 6 yo 8 operators busy during sessions. They all are so much happier not being in the atmosphere of the old club.

Guess it;s all up to the members where a club will go.
 
The one problem that can ruin any club is the politics. Usually what happens is 1-2 members "take over" & run the club as if it were their own little kingdom. It's all their way or no way. The rest of the members just go along or quit. And don't let anybody bring up "Roberts Rules of Order". That will literally destroy a club!
 
G'day Andy , Montanan and all contributors....Re 1-2 taking over....been there and seen that first hand .. That's precisely what happened to our little golf club about five years ago. In the end we lost a dozen or so genuinely good contributing members and when you only have fifty or so anyway that hurts especially when 'voluntary' is a key word....It's only been the past 12 months or so that numbers are returning..The main offender got the message and moved away...he wasn't a local either in the first place.
Politics is.........a bain in any club or group...I think the good advice from you guys is to go gently , take small steps and encourage participation and next week I'll cast a line by way of our local fortnightly paper and see if anyone is interested..Hope so Montanan ...The club you mentioned in Missouri sounds like a real nice way to go and sounds like something to aim for..With golf as an amateur your primary role as a player is to promote the game of golf..Somehow as model railroaders I feel that we have a similar charter to go out and spread the joys of our fabulous hobby..tell you what...this forum is a great way to start ..clubs or no clubs..Cheers Rod..
 
Just want to add one more thing to the "politics ruining a club". I joined my local HO club thinking it would be a great way to learn and maybe even be able to help in some areas. What I quickly found was the club wasn't a club at all, it was one guy who was and wanted to do 90% of everything and just use the other members as "gophers and an extra hand" oh, and the membership fee's to keep his project going. I lasted 3 weeks and got very tired of standing in the corner waiting for some him to tell me to get something.

Every club needs a "leader" or a "president" or what ever you want to call him/her, a person to make a final decision if and when needed - I don't dispute that, after all, you can't have everyone running around doing their own thing and hoping that it matches up with what everyone else is doing. With any club, all of the members should be involved, especially in the decision making. It really does come down to a majority rule thing, regardless of what the "boss" wants or thinks if he is out numbered. That really needs to be made crystal clear from the outside, there are no "bosses", as such and if a decision has to be made then it will be made based on the majority vote. I guess what that means is, who ever the boss is, has to leave his/her ego at home when at the club :)

I'm really looking forward to seeing the response you get from your advertising and have my fingers crossed that you get a decent one, one that will get your idea up and running. By the way, do you accept "international members" by any chance? :)
 
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