How do all,just read a contribution from another member on the thread on 'getting the young involved' and was interested in other peoples opinions on this subject.
I,along with another member on this forum am a member of Doncaster and District Model Railway Club,and from the first time I attended,I was made to feel completely at home.I got to know the other members really well and look forward to club nights where we have a laugh and sometimes we do a bit of railway modelling.During an outbreak of railway modelling we do seem to still have a laugh even when it gets serious.
I have learnt far more than I would of,due in no small part to the advice and encouagement of others.Our club,until my arrival,had only one other n gauge modeller who was delighted with my decision to do n gauge as all the others are oo and o gauge enthusiasts.As it stands now,there are 4 of us doing n gauge and we hope to make a fifth one a convert,maybe.
So,on the whole,my experience is a good one,where we all get on really well,there are no stuffy,smelly rivet countery types who verbally try to destroy what may have taken hours to complete and on top of this,we go out on jollies to model railway exhibitions such as Wigan this weekend.Nine of us are going tomorrow so I'm sure we'll have a good day and a few laughs along the way,although I suspect all eyes will be on me and my wallet cos I spent a fortune last year at wigan.
Just wondering what your thoughts and experiences are no this subject.
Pete :Class37: ;)
I know a lot of great blokes that belong to Model Railway Clubs but I have to say I myself avoid them like the Plague, just a personal thing as I have been a member of all types of clubs over the years.
A new MR Club started up just down the road from us and SWMBO as given her blessing for me to join, every Saturday morning for about 3 hours I meet at my mates second hand model railway shop and have a yarn, a few cups of tea with a few like minded mates, that will do me fine.
I have to agree with oldrailbug, my veiw on clubs is basically 'no thanks'. I've had a few bad expieriences with clubs and there always seems to be that one person that everybody bows down to and follows like a religous cult !
This can mean a club following a path that some of the members aren't interested in, which creates a bad atmosphere and some members leaving (like me !).
I don't think clubs are a bad idea, i'm just used to doing things my way - even if it's wrong !
Hi,
Like Dave I've been a member of various clubs over the years with various hobbies. I usually leave after a short time due to the club 'know it alls' who turn their noses up at you when you don't conform to their way of doing things. There are a couple of MR clubs near me, and I'm sure they're a great bunch, but I just don't have the time to go.
I simply potter about doing my own thing and get all the help I need from this forum. I'm my own worst critic so I don't really need anyone telling where I went wrong 'cause I usually know myself. :smiley-laughing: :wave:
Alex
I have also learned a lot from this forum and others as well,as for the club night,for me it is the only thing I have to go to every week due to the fact that our drink and drugs policy at work is so strict that I simply don't bother to go out socially unless I am off work the next day,this is not a problem as far as I'm concerned as I hate feeling c**p the next day anyway.Its just that as they have become my mates,I look forward to tuesday nights and the occasional friday and sundays as well that we get together.
Having just had a look at Southernboys rather excellent Frankland thread,this has inspired me to have a crack at building a maisonette style block of flats for my layout as it is set in an urban environment.It probably won't be anything like his standard,but in my defence,it is a maisonette block and there's nothing glam about them as set in the seventies/eighties run down town/city scape.
Pete
sadly i avoid the local model railway club as hanging around the local model shop i found out that there was rivet counting galore going on and also some internal politics which i hate
(as anyone who dares involve me in at work finds out)
But it was this turn off to my local club that lead me join new railway modellers and then the NGF so it's not all bad,,,,,,,,
May i be permitted to give my experience of "model railway clubs".
About 8 years ago i joined a local club as i was hoping to build my own layout and thought i could get help and advice from the club. How wrong could i have been!
First off the club demanded that i had to be a member of the "n gauge society", then there was the 30.00 club membership, 2.50 for every club meeting (to cover hire of hall), 2.50 for lunch / tea or coffee.
Due to the design of the layout (modular), each module was 4ft x 2ft with bolt on legs, when the layout was set-up the trackbed was about 5ft off the ground. Add to this a 1ft high backscene behind which all the controls were then attached.
This meant that to operate the layout, you had to stand and look over the backscene, i mentioned that this was not particularly suitable for a "disabled person" such as myself. the reply i got was "when the club was set-up we did not have any disabled members".
I never went there again.
The only MR 'club' I've ever belonged to is the local N Gauge Group, and I must say they are a great bunch :thumbsup:
Most club nights involve more chat than modelling, but that's what it's about for me, it's a social thing. I can do my modelling at home. The only fee is £3 to cover hall hire and the obligatory cup of tea and a biccie, and everyone gets along fine without anyone trying to dominate or rivet-count. At present I think there's only two or three of us out of 20 or so that dabble in DCC, but again the DC devotees show an interest and ask questions and vice versa. All in all a friendly group of N Gauge enthusiasts :)
Paul
Quote from: Reuben on December 10, 2011, 03:46:44 PM
May i be permitted to give my experience of "model railway clubs".
Of course! That's what this forum is all about.
Quote from: Reuben on December 10, 2011, 03:46:44 PM
I never went there again.
Good for you! :thumbsup:
Quote from: Sprintex on December 10, 2011, 09:18:20 PM
All in all a friendly group of N Gauge enthusiasts
That sounds like the way it should be. It seems like it's hit and miss whether your local club is like that.
I probably wouldn't join just in case it turned out to be a bad experience. And besides, I'm a bit too like Groucho Marx - I wouldn't want to be a member of a club that would have me as a member! :smiley-laughing:
Yesterday I went to Wigan MRE with seven of the members of our club and have to say what a great day out we had,a lot of laughs and mucking about.In a car where there was five of us squeezed in,it felt right.
I don't very often go out in a group with this many others cooped up for the amount of time we had to endure,but it was absolutely fine.I am a little sorry to hear some of the experiences of you,however,I'm sure that for every club that has an overbearing rivet counter or counters,there are others that welcome complete novices like me with open arms.
Our club secretary tells me of the times when the club was called something else prior to it splitting up,and the current one being formed being full of stuffy old chaps that looked down on those not as skilled as them.I'm happy to report this is not the case here and as a newish member it has also given me experience of operating at three exhibitions we have exhibited at.Even though at all three of them,I'd had very little or no previous time operating the layouts before the shows.This just added to the enjoyment of it for me and wiil continue to enjoy it for the foreseeable future.
Pete
That's great stuff Pete, I'm glad a MR club can be that much fun. It might be good for other clubs to read how good it came be just to have fun with it. :thumbsup:
It's a shame it's so dependent on the people involved and the politics.
I would just like to add an update to my earlier posting about "model railway clubs".
In September i went to a small exhibition held in a village hall near me. This exhibition was organised by another "model railway club" in the area which i did not know about.
After spending most of the day there, mainly watching the two "n gauge" layouts being operated, i decided to try and find out more about the club.
I was introduced to the club secretary and we had a good discussion about the club and their meetings, he was concerned that i may have difficulty in attending the meetings, as they meet in a room above a local church. I said "i would come along to the next meeting and have a look".
This i did and although there is a steep narrow staircase to negotiate, i decided to continue. It was the best thing i every did. In fact on my 3rd visit i was handed a section of the scenery for the "n gauge" layout (all scenery is drop-in sections) and was told "build anything you would like to on this". as the layout is sort of based in the 1980's i am going to build a diesel refuelling depot.
They are a small friendly club, meeting for 3 hours on a thursday evening, the club membership is only 20.00 a year and we pay 1.00 per meeting for tea coffee etc.
Reuben.
Sounds like the sort of club we could do with around these parts :thumbsup:
Great to hear you found a good club! :thumbsup:
Reuben - really glad you found a good club, the attitude of the first one you mention is absolutely disgusting and possibly illegal (if UK based), as a (relatively) able bodied modeller I fail to understand their views, there can be no excuses in this day and age >:( >:(
I joined my first club in 1972, as a late teenager after getting my own "wheels". I was certainly made very welcome and was treasuer from 1974 to 1977. After moving in 1975 I carried on with them until the 12 mile commute proved irksome when I transferred to a local club in 1982. I have been there ever since, and am now the 2nd longest serving member.
We have certain;ly had our share of characters, not to mention internal politics. But show me an area of life where that is not the case. However I may be fortunate in generally being able to let that pass over me and plod along.
I certainly recommend being in a club if that is practical. I have learnt quite a lot, and passed on some of what is now 35 years in N guage. I do notice however that we are all getting older. No longer do we have a strong proportion of later 20s to 30s.And certainly no youngsters, though modern legislation makes that tiresome.
hi all
i am not a member of any model railway clubs as most of the local clubs either don't cater for N gauge or are just way too expensive :o
but i am a member of a couple of fishkeeping clubs (my other hobby) and being on the committee of both these clubs i am well aware of the internal politics that goes on when trying to run any sort of club ::)
and Portpatrick i know where you are coming from when you say that "we are all getting older" as one of the clubs i attend i am the youngest person that attends meetings on a regular basis and i'm 43 and in the other there are only a handful that are younger
guess it's not "cool" to be a member of a club anymore
dave :thumbsup:
I joined my first (and to this day only) club just over 4 years ago. I became a member of the N Gauge society and within days of my membership coming through i had been in touch with the local area group (Shropshire).
Being 15 at the time i was the youngest member in the group and joined just after the club had 'finished' the majority of the work on the club layout - Bewdley. Although i was the youngest, and also had no input in the design of the layout, i somehow became the 'chief' operator. Designed for three operators i could operate it by myself!
We had a total of 7 or 8 members (one of which was disabled so we had one meeting a year at his around Christmas) meeting every other Tuesday evening at the leaders house (Until recently he was also the area group co-ordinator for the NGS). We all paid a sub of £5 a month to keep a fund up for if we had to get something for Bewdley.
Sadly the only place we could set the layout up was in the Garage (not very pleasant in winter!) so we had several meetings to talk about finding somewhere with more space. We quickly decided that in order to attract enough members to fund a building we would have to branch out to other scales and gauges (although the Shropshire Area Group would still exist within the club). Hence Telford Railway Modellers was born.
Just under 2 years ago we moved into the building we are based in now and in the first year our club went from 8 to over 30 members. Bewdley still remains our club layout although there are plans to replace this with something new. Being in the new premises we had to introduce a membership fee to cover rent, bills etc. We settled on a fee of £50 (roughly £1 a week) which covers entry to all meetings throughout the year.
Although i had to leave the club while i'm based in Sheffield i'm still in regular touch with the club and occasionally assist with the layout at shows.
Myself and JC92 are thinking of joining a club up here to which we would be the only N Gauge Members so will keep you informed if/how it turns out
Ollie
I've seen the layout "Bewdley" - very neat layout, especially as I worked in Bridgnorth for 13 years :thumbsup:
They say women can gossip but by crikey blokes can be pretty good at it as well, once a week I have a cuppa and chat with a few blokes that are members of a model railway club, some of the gossip that goes on about other club members is very funny and quite typical of life in the club scene. :thumbsup: the very reason I wont join any more clubs.
Just shows how observant I am, ORB. I like the 'new' avatar :thumbsup:
Well done Mike, any avatar depicting an F or E series EMD Diesel has gotta be good :thumbsup:
Hey! I am returning from my holiday in Finland in around 10 days and will have most of my track and first train to get started when I return, however, not only will I be starting a new hobby (or at least a new gauge) but also moving to a new area (Hatfield) and I was hoping you could suggest a good club within an hour or so travels. I know there is at least one (De Havilland) nearby, but I was hoping someone could suggest one that caters well for Diesel/Electric and/or modern n gauge and also tell me what they do there (as some seem more focused on building, others on running etc). I am quite happy to travel, if it means meeting like minded people! :)
There is a Stevenage branch of the NGS, you need to join the NGS though, first and last monday of each month.
PM Sprintex for more info.
oh and it's a mixed bag of steamies and Dirty Diesel Enthusiasts :laugh3:
Two club layouts and a couple of tothers bring theirs along, a DCC one too..
I may for the first time in 27 years be joining a model railway club, there is a club just a stones throw from where I live and they are having their first show this weekend, a couple of mates and myself will be visiting with the intentions of maybe joining the club, would be kinda nice to associate with other like minded lads but without getting caught up with party politics :thumbsup: :hmmm:
I find the best way to steer clear of the politics is to not volunteer (or be volunteered) for any committee, sub-group or official capacity. That way you can enjoy your hobby, attend club nights - and not have to meet up every other day for some pointless meeting - and have a life outside of railway modelling (if there is such a thing :hmmm:).
I went to my local club in Exeter a year or so ago on my first visit a couple of members spoke to me one spent a very long time telling me how important he was in the NGS and how there wasn't any diesel locos in the club and if i vsit again i'll have to join, the others all stood in there little groups counting they're rivets.
I did visit again giving it the benefit of the doubt i walked round the layout and around the various little groups still counting rivets not one member spoke to or even acknowledged me so i made my way out and never returned.
I realise i was younger than most in there but how on earth will they ever get or keep new members it seemed a boast that they had no diesels i at the time didn't think i would be interested in them but as it turned out i am. It's a shame because this club will probably slowly die.
Dave
If you hadn't mentioned the 'no diesels' part I would have guessed you were talking about RMWeb there for a moment.
I have to say the Stevenage / North Herts branch were great, a big mixture of motive power and ages and made me feel very welcome, only downside for me is that it's on a Monday and I play in a pool league on Monday's :(
Still I've now become a member of the NgS do on spare ones I'll be popping over :)