The landscape of Central Illinois for modular model railroading has changed a great deal in the last 25 years and recently a buddy and I have entered talks start a local modular club. First a bit of background of what the landscape was like 20+ years ago. Midwest Central NTrak: This was the club I joined when I first moved to the area in the late 1990s. It was a small club but very active. At the time, there were about a dozen modelers, and we would meet monthly in downtown Champaign. The club had over a dozen modules and four club corners. For years, the club put on the Lincoln Square show and would set up at Decatur, Galesburg and other smaller shows including one every year at the Urbana library. A few of the active members moved away, unfortunately some passed away and I have only been in contact with two members. At the time of this writing, I cannot confirm the group is still active. They are no longer listed as a club on the NRail site. NSBN: Formally known as the NTrak of Bloomington Normal, this club was an active NTrak club for many years. About 15 years ago, a few of the members got into T-Trak and slowly the club changed its name and ran T-Trak exclusively at shows. Mainly because most members were graying and schlepping heavy modules in the F150 wasn't as appealing as a small module that sits in the front seat of the sedan. The good news about this club is that although they no longer set up NTrak at shows, they now have a home in neighboring Farmer City and have the modules set up semi-permanently as a home layout. This has allowed the group to go out bound to shows and promote the group and gain some new membership. Heritage NTrak: Not a club but more of a group. They have and continue to meet up at just shows and make up a member base of at least a dozen members. When I built my module and Champaign seemed to have disbanded, my buddy Steve, who likewise left NSBN needed to run trains, we met up with these guys. They are a great group. With the exception of one young member however, they have come to the realization of needing new blood. Currently I only run with Heritage once a year at Galesburg RR Days. At one time we had some great runs together in Central Illinois, but times have changed, we have lost some modelers along the way, and this finds my buddy Steve and I as "lone wolf" modular modelers. This led me to the thought I had this past Saturday in talking with the NSBN president. There have been others who are younger and wanting to get into either NTrak or FreeMo-N but most of the clubs are in St. Louis, Chicago and Indy. Heritage, while just a group, is mainly made of members in the upper part of Illinois. I've considered in the past of starting a Mid-State Illinois modular club that would be recognized by NRail, and mainly focus on the standard NTrak modules as well as FreeMo-N. The ultimate goal would be to gain new members who would want to participate in this form of modular railroading and "bridge" the gap between Central Illinois and all points north, east and west. My goal of this post is to: Gauge the interest in forming a new club in the Central Illinois area. See if this is the right path or simply stay a "lone wolf" modeler and set up when available. If I do start and charter a club, we plan to go all in and start a traditional club with bylaws, dues and all the work associated with a club. My club in NH has stayed a club for well over 30 years due to this commitment. We plan to have meetings, module building sessions and work with NTrak and FreeMo-N clubs both locally and nationally to set up at shows. Also, while there is the NSBN in our area, they are no longer a club per say but a group. They are a welcome addition because I get that not everyone wants to join the club and get the club bowling shirt, this is where NSBN works well, plus they do a great job of promoting the hobby. NSBN also recognizes that some do want to be part of a club and want to build something bigger than a T-Trak module to take along to shows. This is where we would come in. I've never done this before, but based on talks this past weekend, it may be time to look into this. Let me know your thoughts, I want to consider all my options before committing a lot of my time to this endeavor.
Jim, I think starting a group is a good idea. It doesn’t have to be a formal club. I am a member of the Vero Beach Model Railroaders. We are technically not a club, but a group of model railroaders who get together regularly. Two of us are building T-Trak modules to set up at shows. We are hoping that other N scalers will join us when they see what we are doing but if it’s only Jeff and me it’s OK. We will have lots of fun and introduce people to N scale modular railroading. If you have one or two guys willing to start with you that’s enough. I don’t know if there is any advantage to forming a legal club in Illinois rather than being an informal group.
