I am wandering if to join a club or not i did visit a local club last year but wasn't made to feel particularly welcome it seemed a tad clicky and stagnent.

Does anyone know of clubs in Devon is there a club list on the site?

I was hoping to find a friendly place i can visit and hopefully pick up some ideas, are many folks on here involved with a club?

Dave

Hello,

This is only my personal opinion, but In my own experience I found most clubs to be very clicky, as you have found too.
Some charge high membership fee's for you to be often sidelined and or ignored by the majority of other senior members who see newbies as often 'not worthy' and or 'clueless.'

As I said these are my own personal views based on first hand experience, so please bear this in mind.

On the plus side you are now part of the N gauge Forum, we are free to join, available 24 hrs a day and have members that live in and model all parts of the world, plus our aim is to share idea's and help others in the pursuit of N Gauge perfection (and quite a few live in Devon too, and im sure they would be happy to meet up, as I have done with many other members of the forum.)

Regarding model clubs in Devon, i know that the N gauge Society produce a list of local clubs in their bi-monthly journal. They are called area groups. Here is one I found for Exeter:



Exeter N Gauge Railway Modellers
Scout HQ, Ashton Road, Marsh Barton Trading Estate, Exeter, Devon 
Telephone Dave Ayres 01395 267182 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              01395 267182      end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Email engram@hotmail.co.uk
Meet on Second Saturday of each month
at 10:00 - 17:00
Other Info Members each bring their own modules to be set up during the morning. Modules feature BloNg control and intermodule track adjusters as described in the N Gauge Journal.

All the best

Dave I really hope you find a good club because I am sure that if there are any it would be nice to be an accepted member.

I don't know what it is about clubs but there always seems to be a small group or an individual that dominates rather like the pecking order in a chicken coop.

I have a load of mates that belong to various model railway clubs and to hear the way they back stab each other would put the Australian Country Womens Association to shame.

Good luck with your search.

Hello BBDave,

What area of devon do you live in?

As the club i go to may be of interest to you.

Reuben.

i went to my local club a few years back and had the same experience i now see there website is non existant now and contact details are hard to come by.their shows were one to look forward too but seem to be going backwards according to recent reviews.maybe if they had been more welcoming new blood would of entered the club and kept up the enthusiasm and drove the club forward.
all i was looking for was a blether with like minded individuals over a cuppa and to pick up tips etc instead of feeling like i was on my own in my train world

there is always the n gauge society groups

not sure if there is one in devon


tim

I have been searching a club in Scotland that welcomes those with an interest in modern image N gauge, using DCC
I have plenty of invites, but as soon I mention N gauge modern with DCC they advise they do not have such a layout, and this has not changed in 5 years

Ironically, I have met others, but also have this same issue

I will be visiting next years Model Rail Scotland (2012) to see if the position has changed

Hi Dave,

For further comments please have a look at this thread
http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=3043.0

I'm in Dawlish Reuben

Dave

as a few people have said alot of clubs are clicky. Having been a member of a few car clubs in the past, i have found some are like the old western when you walk intot he bar and the music stops and everyone is starring. But not all clubs are like this, its just a case of finding one that best suits you. I think every club is clicky, mainly because sometimes its just they not got to know you as well as the regular attendees.

But i have enjoyed signing up to the NGF as i have found that most people here are friendly, and helpfull.

As I have already put up a thread about my experience of the club I'm a member of,asking others of theirs is a mix of good and bad,seeks mostly bad to me.

However,what a lot of people don't realise is,and this remark could conceivably be pointed at a certain type of modeller,ie older very experienced,doesn't model or show any interest in your chosen era,very set in their ways,rivet counter,etc.The list is long.Anyway,my pount is that as by definition,they are older,therefore it is possible they may be struck down by poor health,family troubles and other such reasons,meaning that the club will need new members or die a slow death because a club can't survive without subscriptions from its members if it has a clubroom to pay for.

As the son of a former working mens club secretary,I have seen that often things change and an organization needs to adapt to the times and current circumstances and model railway clubs need to do the same.Its not exclusively their property or baby.In order to survive,you need to accept with open arms anyone who wants to join and if anyone objects to a certain new member,they must give valid reasons for the new member to be refused.

I was informed that a very experienced club member,who no longer attends our club,did'nt really like me because on the second time I attended,I put a cup of tea on his layout whilst I did something on the same layout.He fell out with the club over a very similar thing with someone else.I.was the first newby in almost two years,we now have four or five members newer than me with varying levels of modelling experience,one of whom is a commercial jet airline pilot who knows as much as I did when I became a member,which to anyone who knows is absolutely nothing.I'd never built baseboards,laid track,wired it up to run trains,soldered wires,fixed point motors,the list goes on.I did some of these things with tips from others in the club as well as from forums such as this,although I did not find this one or join until some six or seven months of n gauge modelling.

The subject of subscriptions are a mixed bag as well,however,you can only be the judge of this.I personally find the subs ok as I have no family to support and don't really drink due to the works drink and drug policy being much stricter than the government guidelines so due to these two factors and the fact that the chaps in my club are now my friends,I'm glad I joined,because these are some of the only people I know who don't feel the need to rib me about it if I've given them some stick about something completely unrelated.One that springs to mind is that one mate of mine who loves to be a bit of a wind up merchant,when I have him on the ropes over something,at least I don't play with choochoo's is what he comes out with.I had to laugh at him one night though,I was chatting to a woman I was interested in and he came round and told I played with choochoo's,her reply was golden and I'd have married her the next day.She said"Then he must be good with his hands then."

He walked off totally bemused while.I.fell about laughing.

So,to sum up,it is a case of try before you buy,but don't be put off,you are the future if this hobby and clubs need people like you,not the other way round,so good luck and happy hunting and modelling.


Pete

Interesting post. I was never a member of a club in the UK. I am however looking to find one here in LA, but not much luck so far. I noticed on one of the websites here for a club you had to be a signed up member of the NMRA first, if you weren't they wouldn't even talk to you. 

That kind of attitude puts me right off. I don't think it's limited to model rail. I've gone along to club nights for photography, amateur radio and flying. In all of them I ended up leaving because of the "we don't do it like that round here" attitude and almost blind unwillingness to embrace anything new.

Slightly off topic but one radio club I went to was so entrenched in the good old days that anyone who was new/younger was made to feel stupid and uncomfortable for suggesting something new. Needless to say that club is no more and I'm sure that hobby is struggling to find new blood.

This forum however is great, I've only been on this one a few weeks but I find everyone very helpful and welcoming.

James

Joining clubs is always a fraught and thorny issue, and not just model railway clubs. As Groucho Marx once said; "I'd never belong to a club that would have me as a member" so it's as good to remember that it cuts both ways. As much as you're apprehensive and unsure about the club so too are the members about you - and they have probably been together for some time. You are an outsider to start with.

Don't expect too much. And, of course, you only ever get out of membership what you are prepared to put in. It's not a one way street with you being the only beneficery. You need to take something to the party. If you're just on the take then that will be obvious and the club will be wary.

If a club doesn't offer or support your exact interests (such as a modern era, DCC, N gauge layout - which is at least three ducks in a row) then be prepared to compromise or even offer to help them set up and cater for it.

H.

I have been a member of many clubs mainly model boating but as i know a little about model boats i can hold my own and being ok around electrics have often helped fellow senior members when the magic smoke appears but i have always asked if help was wanted before hand so as not to put noses out of joint. but i do know of boat clubs that have collapsed due to the stalwart members not promoting or advanccing the club.

I used to know a chap who had trained to fly on tigermoths then flew combat missions on spitfires in Burma in his years back here he built the local gliding clubs truck mounted winch, and continued to do instrument checks for the RAF. On going to his local RC plane club they told him he'd have to be taught to fly by a member before doing tests to gain his certificates. He was disgusted and never visited again if they had only shown some respect and explained the insurance side of things he may have stayed and being a major land owner in the area they could have gained a valuable member and he may have even taken them up in one of his two ex RAF tigermoths.


Dave

It is worth checking out any club's website or attending any open days or exhibitions. If there is a "new members wanted" banner or info, then at least you may be in with a chance with your "new fangled" ideas, but some clubs have a maximum membership and they may be full. My local club (of which I'm not a member yet) does this. Having joined other interest clubs in the past, I find acting ignorant is best, as you will be given a lot of information which you can take home and put to use (even if you already knew it) and always ask questions - eventually you can turn up with your own layout ay an open day and blow them away.