Neuse River Valley club layout fun...

[theskunk]

So i've taken the move and began looking for a club in my area (Raleigh, NC). After college i dabbled in many hobbies (R/C aircraft, model cars, biking, etc). All of these are weather dependent and require lots and lots of money.

I've found model railroading again, and although it can be quite expensive, the only thing I've found myself needing are dcc decoders for retro-fitting my old blue-box Athearn loco's. From what I can tell, the blue boxes will pull about anything. I've got some pictures running on the club layout, a 28x20 horse shoe style layout with two levels and a 4 turn helix to xfr. On one level, which does have a .5% grade in one section, my Athearn GP (only one, 4 axle) was pulling 39 weighted cars!

Anyways, Here are the pictures -- comments are welcome!

[Flash Blackman]

Where exactly is this club? I go to Selma, NC sometimes and I would like to visit if it is as close as Raleigh.

[theskunk]

Home Page (http://www.nrvclub.net/)

^^ this has directions -- i haven't even officially joined yet, but they run trains wednesday nights from 7:30-9:30 and then every 3rd saturday is the open house from 10 am - 6 pm -- meetings are 3rd wednesday

They have an O scale layout thats dbl tracked and seems more for running than operations, the n scale is pure running trains, no switching at all. The HO is amazing for switching and operations, as well as the long - haul :)

-Rob

[Wolfgang Dudler]

A club is good. Usually they have more room. And there's a lot of knowledge.

Wolfgang

[Dee Das]

. On one level, which does have a .5% grade in one section, my Athearn GP (only one, 4 axle) was pulling 39 weighted cars!

Anyways, Here are the pictures -- comments are welcome!

Rob,
As you've found there is nothing wrong with your older Athearn locomotives. At our club, some trains run for 8 hours straight during open houses, while pulling heavy (weighted) cars. The older Athearn locos with the brass worms have outlasted almost everything else. Some of the newer Athearn locos with plastic worms have stripped out the worms. Many other manufacturers locos have overheated and burned out their motors.

One advantage of a club is that they are likely to have a much larger layout than your average home pike. Most of us can't run 50+ car trains at home. As Wolfgang mentioned, there is also a large accumulated body of knowledge. It's much easier to learn from other people's mistakes. Model railroaders are usually pretty easy going guys and a club membership can add a lot to your appreciation of the hobby.

Here's wishing you all the best with your quest for club membership.

[theskunk]

Rob,
As you've found there is nothing wrong with your older Athearn locomotives. At our club, some trains run for 8 hours straight during open houses, while pulling heavy (weighted) cars. The older Athearn locos with the brass worms have outlasted almost everything else. Some of the newer Athearn locos with plastic worms have stripped out the worms. Many other manufacturers locos have overheated and burned out their motors.

One advantage of a club is that they are likely to have a much larger layout than your average home pike. Most of us can't run 50+ car trains at home. As Wolfgang mentioned, there is also a large accumulated body of knowledge. It's much easier to learn from other people's mistakes. Model railroaders are usually pretty easy going guys and a club membership can add a lot to your appreciation of the hobby.

Here's wishing you all the best with your quest for club membership.

Thanks for the wish -- Apparantly the membership process is fairly laid back -- I've been looking for an organization to help give me a bit of an escape from the norm of every day life, video games, work, etc. I've started talking with a few of the officers and they are actually allowing me to attend a board meeting to count as one of my two meetings to become a 'probationary member'.

This sounds absolutely great for me, and I welcome anybody else in the Raleigh/Durham or surrounding areas to come out, or at least swing by for the train shows in September and November to check everything out :)

I've requested to work with an established member on working the scenery on the main layout near the coal mine, and as I have a coal mine on my home N scale layout, hopefully i'll learn a thing or two about how to make it look better!

Keep the comments rolling in -- I aquired some more rolling stock tonight and I've got a few ebay auctions running for some bigger athearn bluebox motive power, so we'll see how things work out from here!

[Dee Das]

I think the most important thing to do when joining an established club is to go in there with an open mind.

You will be shown different ways to do things. Listen to what some of the older guys say. Just remember that they have already made the mistakes that you and I would normally make. Some of the things that you will be told will make you think that they’re going overboard and that one doesn’t have to be quite that fussy. Of course, it’s always fun to pull the rookie’s leg, but in general almost everything that you will be shown will be something that actually works for this club.

There are a lot of people who, when they first enter the hobby won’t listen to what anyone else says. Their attitude is usually: “ I spent so many years in this or that industry and this train set business can’t amount to much”. These are the guys who you can’t show anything to as they know it all already. Don’t be one of those guys; if you keep an open mind and are willing to learn, you will have a lot of fun.

-Dee

[Kitbash]

Skunk:
Hello and thank you for the Neuse River Post. I started work in Raleigh in late April. My wife will be joining me September 1 when we leave our home in Northern VA. We are currently train-room hunting... uhh, I mean house hunting in North Raleigh.

I am in Raleigh working during the week and will stop by. The Club is actually VERY close to the apartment where I live during the week.

As I dismantled my "Albemarle Division" I began thinking about the next one I build after I find a home in Raleigh. One VERY important new goal I have is to not be a lone wolf on my next layout. A club is a very good way to break the lone-wolf habit.

Thanks again for the post.

Kitbash

[verse2damax]

WOW! 39 weighted cars. NICE!!!!

[theskunk]

Kitbash --

Sounds great! I'm there every wednesday and after a bit when I reach full membership status (i'm not even probationary yet) I'll have a key and hopefully be there on weekends, too.

How big of a layout are you thinking about building?

-Rob

[Kitbash]

Rob:
I will stop by. I have no clue on the size of my layout at this point. As you know, most Raleigh homes do not have basements. There are indeed some homes with basements, but it is not the rule. So, I may be looking at a walk-up attic. However, there's still an outside chance I could get a house with a decent basement. I want 450 to 600 square feet NOT including the workshop. We are also thinking about building over near Brier Creek and those homes DO come w/ a basement option.

The club looks great. I am looking forward to stopping by in the next week or two.

Kitbash

[theskunk]

Sounds great -- the 3rd saturday of each month is the open house, and i will most likely miss that one, but i'll be there each wednesday.

-Rob