I was just wondering what it would take to start a club? ------------------ CSX and HO Scale The Newark Branch RR Ship it the good 'ole way, BY RAIL http://homestead.juno.com/huntertjo
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by nbrr2000: I was just wondering what it would take to start a club? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Whoa! That's a loaded question that can go many different ways.... First off, what kind of club do you want to start? If it is Zn3, your membership would be extremely limited I guess you need to determine the purpose of the club... fellowship?, building a layout?, scale(s)?, potential meeting places?, etc. Let us know what you have in mind so we can help you! Chessie ------------------ Harold Hodnett Fan of NS, CSX, and their predecessors! Coming soon: The North Carolina Railfan Web Site http://www.trainweb.org/ncrail/
Chessie, how bowt this, HO, running the members' loyouts and also build a medium size club layout. ------------------ CSX and HO Scale The Newark Branch RR Ship it the good 'ole way, BY RAIL http://homestead.juno.com/huntertjo
That gives me a start for a few pointers.... I see you are in Alabama; I guess the first thing to assess is how many potential modelers there might be in your vicinity. If you live in/near any large cities, your membership would likely be much better than in a totally rural area. Next, what other clubs are already in existence? These could be a source of competition as well as new members. Some members are willing to join a club even if it is not their scale just to stay in touch with the hobby and fellow modelers. How will the club be regulated and governed? These are big questions that must be done correctly to help prevent future issues. How will the club be funded? If you are going to have a club layout, most likely you will need a permanent home. How will you pay for this? I think the first and foremost issue to address will be is there enough support for the club in your general area. Once tat issue is resolved, you can move onto other issues. Good luck! Chessie ------------------ Harold Hodnett Fan of NS, CSX, and their predecessors! Coming soon: The North Carolina Railfan Web Site http://www.trainweb.org/ncrail/
I pretty much agree with chessie - you need to get hooked up with a few other modelers first, before you try to make all the other decisions that will affect your club and layout. I've been in this circumstance before. I started a model railroad club in Prineville, OR. in 1993. Before we even started thinking about a layout, we took some time to get to know each other, and started laying out the ground rules (bylaws) for a club. Once we had things organized, we found ourselves with a mixture of HO and N scalers. Although our first project was a modular HO layout, we made sure we kept the N scalers involved, too. I moved away in 1996, but the club, called the Central Oregon Model Railroad Association, is still going strong, and is currently building a larger HO railroad above the old theater. Don't think that you have to live in a large city to start a club. Prineville only has about 6,000 people, and we were able to easily start one. Maybe spend the first year or so in planning and fundraising. Swap meets are always popular, and you can certainly bring in a fair amount of money that way. More importantly, I think you should have the support of a local hobby shop; someplace where new modelers can be steered toward your club. In Prineville, that was quite easy, since I owned the local hobby store! Often, the hobby store will give the clubs a discount, 20% or so, in exchange for some free publicity. I hope this helps! Pat ------------------ Wishin' I wasn't so far from the railroad...
When we started about 10 years ago, Dave had a module at a train show with a sign up sheet for a meeting to form a club. At that time he was specifically looking at an NTrak club. Ntark has a good sample set of bylaws. I would suggest a modular club because it is easier to get something up and running. Shows are plentiful. In central Illinois, we have about a show a month to go to, set up and run. Even after 10 years, we dang near came to blows when a permanent layout was suggested. It takes LOTS of people with MONEY to go permanent. It really wasn't hard to get going.
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by chessie: I see you are in Alabama; I guess the first thing to assess is how many potential modelers there might be in your vicinity. If you live in/near any large cities, your membership would likely be much better than in a totally rural area. Next, what other clubs are already in existence? These could be a source of competition as well as new members. Some members are willing to join a club even if it is not their scale just to stay in touch with the hobby and fellow modelers. How will the club be regulated and governed? These are big questions that must be done correctly to help prevent future issues. How will the club be funded? If you are going to have a club layout, most likely you will need a permanent home. How will you pay for this? I think the first and foremost issue to address will be is there enough support for the club in your general area. Once tat issue is resolved, you can move onto other issues<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Well, Chessie my town has about 5,000 people, so it may not be a very big club, but thats OK. There is another club just outside my town in the BIG CITY . And we will probably have meets on Sat. ------------------ CSX and HO Scale The Newark Branch RR Ship it the good 'ole way, BY RAIL http://homestead.juno.com/huntertjo
Modular is a great way to get going and easy to setup.(Nice to see you chime in Yellowtrain, ya DANG Lurker!) Like YT said, permanent can be a real "buster". You have to have a group that is willing to dig in their pockets to cover rent, utilities, and all that other stuff that goes along with a building. Other points made here about "dues" and "ground rules" are all part of the mix. What sort of "standards" the club will have and other things like that are also to be concidered. How do you "abmonish" those that refuse to stick to those standards and rules? Where do you draw the line on "behavior"? YT, RoyalBlue, Ed P., Little Giant, Makin'bacon, and myself can get pretty crazy we get together with the rest of the group we belong to. Quoting "SouthPark" or "Beavis and Butthead" usally gets us going. When it's just us, nobody really cares, but at a show...well...that can lead to "offending" J.Q. Public or embarass club members who are trying to "look good" for the crowd. The main thing is to have fun but be aware of your surroundings. Not everyone likes the same things (scales, Railroads, eras, humor, music, Gods, etc.) and this can lead to small problems, but if you focus on the hobby, all those other things become unimportant. ------------------ Brent Tidaback, Member #234 BNSF Railfan-to-the Max and a N-Scaler to boot! Ship it on the Route of The Roadrunners! The Aransas Odessa & Western, a division of the BNSF
Check at the local hobby shop, you might already have a local club or two around. If you have/want to start a club yourself, put notices up all over. Again hit the local hobby shop. We have the Kentuckiana Society of N-Scalers (KSONS) going on 15+ years now. We are a NTRAK standards based club. We don't a permanent meeting space yet, but we are looking down the road. At first don't get too hung up on the meeting rules. Just get together and meet new people. The bylaws can come later. Keep it fun. We always say that if we aren't having fun, the club will disband! ------------------ Let's Go Run Trains MARK
Don't know if it's been mentioned, but you may put out an ad in the local paper, and also on the classified channel of your local cable TV provider. This tactic worked for me, as I was able to help get a club started in Paris, TX which encompasses Lamar and Red River counties in Texas, and Choctaw and McCurtain counties in Oklahoma. It's a round-robin club, meeting in members' homes once a month and operating on the various members' layouts. ------------------ Southeast....Southwest.. Ship IT on the Frisco! Bob T. Member # 362 http://hometown.aol.com/slsf1630/myhomepage/profile.html
A good source of information about the various clubs that already exist can be found on either the Model Railroader or the NMRA web pages. Check out those and that will give you a good idea of what kinds of things are good material for a club to tackle. I belonged to a club in Kansas that had a HO modular layout as well as a 12" guage "little train" that kids could ride. They had about a half mile of track right alongside the UP line throught Atchison Kansas. Lots of fun. Also lots of work. They also had a rail museum with a 2-8-0 (ATSF #811) boxcars, passenger cars and a number of cabooses. Right now I am in Hawaii and a member of a club that has an HO layout in a restored narrow gauge boxcar. Tight! Beats sitting around at the beach and frying my brains though. Depending on how formal you want to get there are benefits to registering and getting tax-exempt/charity status. I don't know all the particulars, though the Kansas club was a tax exempt organization. It also had close ties with the Atchison Historical Society. Good luck, Tom
Thanks For the help, Guys! ------------------ CSX and HO Scale The Newark Branch RR Ship it the good 'ole way, BY RAIL My Site [This message has been edited by nbrr2000 (edited 02 January 2001).]
