After reading the tread about killing a train club, it struck a chord with me. I am fortunate to have been involved with an exceptional group of people in an Ntrak club for almost 20 years now. Over the last 10 years I have had the privilege to serve as either President or Vice President and the hardest part was trying to keep the club interesting, vibrant and exciting for both the members and the viewing public. I was motivated to keep things fresh for two reasons. 1) Many of our members are, well, like many of us model railroaders, getting a little bit grayer on what's left. 2) I feared that we would become like one of those old Lionel Clubs. (No offense meant to O gaugers or Lionel collectors or operators) You know the ones. The group with the same layout at the same shows forever. Nothing noticeable ever changes and there is always one member sitting back there nodding off or completely out. A few things we have done to keep up the interest was to finally build a DC/ DCC component cabinet, so we could switch any line from DC to DCC with the flip of a toggle. Our DC Roundy-Rounders can highball around in circles and our Operations members can do their thing whenever they want. We also built an interesting Ntrak to Onetrak junction and several Onetrak modules to entice those that maybe can't carry an Ntrak module. Both of these have seemed to spark some new life into some members and our input from visitors has been very positive. I know not all clubs are Ntrak or portable, and have different sets of problems, but I would be really interested in hearing idea or plans that have been implemented to stimulate members, new members and particularly Younger Members. I would be particularly interested in hearing ideas FROM younger modelers how or what would or keeps you interested in being in or joining a club, modular or fixed location. My main objective is to leave a legacy. To know that in 10 years or 20 years that the layout will still be exciting to run on and interesting for others to see.
we did a similar thing here. Did some minor tweaks to the layout to make both Roundy-Round and operations possible, best of both worlds. We've also made it so about 2/3's the layout (4 seperate loops as originally designed) can be operated as one and you can pick a cab. We haven't been able to warm up the rest of the guys to DCC yet, so we haven't made dual mode an option, but the wiring we're doing now is being done so that DCC could be set up in under 5 minutes. Its nice to have options when operating, sometimes I feel like switching the entire town and sometimes I feel like sipping an R/C watching the 60 car train I assembled run around the layout. Layouts like the La Mesa Club make this really a good mix. For me, having a close knit group without rules or restrictions is a big plus +, Railfanning trips, a quick 7-11 run with a fellow member for some snacks, a little hooray dinner after finishing the big open house of the year, helping out on home layouts, all that is what I like. The club I belonged to in Ohio was like this, and when we lost the clubhouse, we where pretty sure it was all going to go downhill. Well it didn't, and we're still around and kicking.
The club I joined Eight years ago has been in existance since 1942. It was an easy going laid back club with Eleven mostly older members. When I joined I asked what projects were planned and what I could do. They told me to do whatever I wanted and run whatever equipment I wanted. All the switches on the main and yard trackage were nailed in position and couldn't be thrown. My first project was to put Caboose hand throws on them. Big improvement. Then another new member and I began talking up installing DCC on the layout. There were grumbles but after assuring that DC and DCC could co-exist we prevailed and now most of the members have DCC on their home layouts as well. We now have Nineteen members with a couple of Junior members. Track and scenery projects are under way and things are looking good. We have permanent HO and N scale layouts, as well as a modular HO layout that goes to Six to eight shows during the year. We have recently built a T-Trak layout with the club owning the corners and individual members building and owning their own modules with great success. There were a couple of newer members who wanted to make the club more structured and to run only specific equipment, but they left and the club prevails today. I drive Fortythree miles to get there. There is a club that is closer to my home but after visiting them a couple of times at their open houses I found the members were not very pleasant to prospective members.
I found its a fine line on rules with clubs. A club should have just enough rules to allow all members to feel welcome and allow them to have fun, offer input and vote. Too many rules or very tight rules turns into work and people get turned off. For most of us, our lives are rules. Get up at a certain time, drive to work at a posted speed limit, take a work mandated lunch break but don't go over the time! Drive back home at posted speed limit, etc, etc. The last thing we want is to go to a club on our free time and hear, don't do this, do that, do this when that is done etc. My club in Bloomington has been an N-Trak for years now. As times changed, so did the club. Most of us no longer could afford the gas a pick up truck or van would use to move modules to shows. That combined with the graying factor as well as longer hours at work, meant we no longer set up the large displays that we used to. So what happens when a bunch of 40-60 year old guys have less time, smaller cars and are getting tired of schlepping 2X4 modules everywhere? We started running T-Trak. This gave the club a great shot in the arm, allowed us to display at more shows and gave us a creativity boost. We no longer have dues, if you have a module, your in. If you don't have a module, we'll help you get get one built. Our rules are loose, don't set up a train, leave for hours and don't join only to run a train at shows never to contribute to the club. A loose bunch willing to adapt with the common interest is trains seems to work.
That's basically what we did when we got our modules up and running. You just needed a module or trains to run and a desire to help out with the logistics. Any money that we made was divvied up amongst the members to help pay for gas or lodging. Kind of a Round Robin group based on the modules that lasted from 86 to 97, now most of the guys that are left have either built home layouts or have turned their modules into home layouts. We still get together on a random month basis to work or play on our layouts. No Rules and no voting, maybe a show of hands from time to time.
Well, judging by the other thread on how to kill a club, it would seem that for most people the best way to keep a club alive and healthy is to leave it. Clubs are not for everyone and for those who are not the club type you will be doing everyone a favor, yourself included, to just leave. Unfortunately this is lost on most people. So here is a little test as to whether you should stay or leave. Ask yourself this question, am I contributing any effort to the club or am I here just to run trains. If the latter, then leave.
That's probably a little harsh. Folks join clubs for a bunch of different reasons, and have many different agendas, and there are probably hundreds if not thousands of differences in how clubs operate. So dismissing someone that doesn't want to contribute *effort* is short-sighted, IMHO. Remember, some people work all the time and have more money than leisure time. They may not want to work on a layout, the might just want to run trains. Is that fair? Well, that is why you need some things in place to accomodate this....it's fine if he wants to be a pigeon member, (fly in, poop on everything, and leave) but he's gonna have to pay for the privilege. And most guys like that have no problem paying....you don't want to leave that kind of revenue on the table! (within reason, of course) One good way to manage this is to offer "work credit" for paying dues. Our club did this even though it really wasn't much of an issue. So let's say our dues were $20 per month. For every 4 hours of work you could get $5 credit for your dues, capped at $15 as the max discount. So one full Saturday of work got you half price dues. Surprisingly, few took advantage of that (nothing ever got done in our club that wasn't completely necessary to keep trains running...which is fine, that's really all they wanted to do is run trains) but it worked well for me. Now, granted we had a good revenue source for doing local shows and open houses during those shows so we had latitude to offer that. Some clubs more strapped for cash might have to do it differently. But still, it was nice to be able to get *some* credit for working on the layout. You were expected to help during the shows so no credit was given for that work. There were a few guys that were "scarce" during show setup/teardown and so forth but honestly I don't think anyone ever got too bent out of shape about it. You just kinda figure there's gonna be one or two. (there is a line, though...if that person was truly demanding of every aspect then yeah there would be a "teaching opportunity" or walking papers)
HI in my club we have some members that do not have room or live in a apartment for no layout. so the only way for them to enjoy there trains is at the club or show function. and some can not always be there for setup or teardown these are nice guys so accept that.
Yes it is harsh but that is the way it has to be. If you don't work, then you don't eat. No such thing as a welfare state in a club. You either contribute or you are dead wood. Put it this way, which hurts a club more, losing the people who do the work or losing those who don't work?
It's hard to turn this into actionable policy, but it's usually fairly easy to tell who are the genuine guys who want to do what they can, but just don't have the time/money, vs. the "pigeon members" (love that visual!)... The trick is finding a way to build a policy around that so that you can engage the former while discouraging the latter.
Trolling for bad attitudes again? How about the guy who shows up to build the layout week after week but when the team is one member short for a formal operating session he's nowhere to be found? Maybe you think building the layout is "work" and running trains is "fun", but chances are there's someone at a club who's a builder and not interested in train running. What about they guy who's never lifted a finger to build the layout or run a train, but is there every week snapping photos and getting them published in magazines and promoting the club's efforts? If if someone is there to run trains that's fine, chances are there's someone else here who's more interested in history, or engineering, or photography, or paperwork and organization, or any of the other things that are required to "have a good time".
I just don't get that worked up about it. As long as they're not jerks I look at them as money coming in. You generally get out of the hobby what you put in, but I get it that some guys just don't have the time, inclination, or skill to contribute. I would much rather have them stay away during work sessions than be in the way and/or complaining the whole time. Who knows, maybe their situation changes and they become a strength of your club at some point. Just not worth getting stressed about it.... Not everybody is gonna have the same level of involvement in every club.
I'd have to agree, it is harsh. It sounds to me it's people like you are the ones who cause the problems in the first place. "IT'S MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY" Sounds awfully narrow minded if you ask me. So what happens let's say, when an individual who has a physical handicap which prevents him or her from lifting, carrying, driving or whatever can't help? Are not physically able to help? Or worse yet, they are confined to a wheel chair. Maybe they just lost their job and just can't scrape up enough cash to to pay for gas or lodging. Maybe they don't own a vehicle yet because they are to young. Maybe they are not as lucky as you are? But this individual just lives each day just to watch model trains crawl slowly past or through a scene that another member was able to build, just wishing that they were able to do the same thing or to learn how to do the same thing. Are they then considered "DEAD WOOD" and they should just be cast aside? Not allowed to enjoy the same thing as you just because they can't help? I thought model railroading was a hobby not a job or a way of life? I thought the purpose of a club was to help and share in the hobby? If this is the case then more than half the members on this board, or any other board should be banished since they only lurk and do not readily participate. Are you saying that this what the moderators of these boards should do? How about if we re-read what you wrote and then look in the mirror, shall we? .....Clubs are not for everyone and for those who are not the club type you will be doing everyone a favor, yourself included, to just leave. Unfortunately this is lost on most people. So here is a little test as to whether you should stay or leave. Ask yourself this question, am I contributing any effort to the club or am I here just to run trains. If the latter, then leave. People like you is why I dropped out the local club I was in. I was too young to afford to help buy materials, too young to own a truck to help haul the modules around, too young to know how to run the trains and too young to understand how things "worked" in club. The purpose of a club is not only to find people who are willing to help out and make things work better, but it is also there to help teach others and share in the fun and the enjoyment of the hobby itself. Have you forgotten this?
A local car club used to be very specific. Only cars, only those built before 1960, only factory stockers, only, only, only. They eventually fell on tough times as original members passed away, moved away, or lost interest. They've loosened their belt a bit here and there to attract new members and now they allow cars, trucks, motorcycles, tractors, pretty much anything with a motor. Every year at their fall show they allow one model year newer car to participate, they're up to 1982 now. There are a number of members who aren't as interested in the 1979 boat anchor Oldsmobile 88's, but there are just as many who don't get too excited over a salmon colored 1958 Buick. By allowing the young guys with their black Trans Am's to join, the old codgers and their sleek black '46 Fords still belong to a big enough group to take over the fair grounds every year and have a great big bull session. Likewise, because the guys with the '59 Caddy allowed someone with a 3rd gen Camaro to join, he brought his Fox body buddy who had friends interested in early 60's gassers and so on... Not sure how to directly relate this to a model railroad club but I think it's a good example of a group that has been able to succeed by adapting to where the interest is.
Well....how about this? Sleek black '46 Fords = Pacific's or Challengers Black Trans Am's = Gevo's or SD90macs They all share the same rails
Sounds like a few simple rules would suffice: Have fun. Let everybody else have fun. Realize not everyone else has fun the same way you do. Let that be OK. Find a way to contribute. This doesn't necessarily mean hauling modules or financing. Could be planning or website or photography or PR or tree-making or... Allow that you don't really want to measure everyone's contribution on the same metric. You need a diverse group. Any time Rules 1-5 are being violated, figure out a way to change things so that Rules 1-5 work.
Maybe you're in a club with a bunch of rich people that can afford it, but in my club where I happen to be the treasurer, anyone with $20 every month and isn't a complete jerk is welcome. This is a frackin hobby for goodness sake, not a salt mine. Sure, we encourage people to get involved, but we don't berate them about it. Now, at my old club, we were modular which meant that setup and teardown work was generally expected of all able body adults that were free during setup time. Even then we didn't harp on it. And dues were free, but we were open to the public every summer Sunday and everyone had to work minimum 4 sundays, but again, no cash dues, so that was different.
It is an exceptional club. To my way of thinking, both MRNS and also UNW are cream of the crop organizations.
One thing I will say about rules, I get not wanting to have to many of them, but if you decide to incorporate for tax and insurance reasons, don't be stupid and just do slip shod job of it, because you don't like rules. That goes double if you choose to be a 501c3 org. There are rules imposed on you when you want to protect yourself and you better dot your eyes and cross your tees or you won't have a club for very long.
