model railway clubs if you're crap?

weave · April 11, 2013, 12:04:56 AM

Hi all,

Work on my own and loads of stuff goes through my head. Think I need to be sectioned.

Anyway, have never been a member of a model railway club and don't particularly want to be, but was just wondering what happens if you join and people don't like you, or you've been there for a while and everyone else thinks your modelling is crap.

Is there a hierarchy with meetings and are people asked to leave or are you just slagged off behind your back?

Just wondered.

Cheers weave

PLD · April 11, 2013, 12:39:34 AM

Not all clubs are the same... a few do have an "elitist" reputation but the vast majority are more welcoming and more than likely there will be others willing to encourage and help you develop your skills.

I'd say contact a couple of local clubs and give them a try to see if it suits you.

Paul

MJKERR · April 11, 2013, 01:37:48 AM

I've been a member of a few
You can usually attend one meeting for free, then pay simple subscriptions for a few thereafter until you make your mind up

All have their own interests, depending on the area they serve
I went to one in Glasgow, reputed as the best, but one third of their club room was taken up by a massive N gauge layout that only one member seemed to have interest, half of the others (including myself) had interest in the modern image OO gauge layout

I have still to find a modern image N gauge DCC club in Scotland...
10 years on and still nothing

darren.c · April 11, 2013, 08:56:24 AM

ive been a member of the crawley club for over 20 years starting as a 14 year old junior member i found out very soon that i was welcomed with open arms . i have learnt so many things since being there and still learning this year i will become the chairman of the club. i have been on the committee for 7 years because i want to give back what i think is a great club . we have so many different levels of skill in the club from members that what to just run trains to professional modellers the mix works very well
daz

petercharlesfagg · April 11, 2013, 09:37:50 AM

In my experience clubs are very similar to any organisation that you care to name.

There will always be those for whom absolute precision is "normal" and anything deviating from that norm is regarded as crass rubbish!

That said there will always be those who view clubs as their own personal soap boxes!

Then again there are those who are our shrinking violets who have an interest but do not need personal or vehement instructions!

Myself I am one of those who has an interest, I do not follow any specific line (no pun intended) era or type, I am just plain interested.

I DO try hard to understand others needs and give them encouragement where needed, similarly I tolerate those, but forgive them, who think that I have no place in their modelling world.

..............................................................................."....................................................

My writing like this is based on my experiences over the last 20 or so years.

Unconnected but a club nonetheless, I started a woodturning club, I was their honorary chairman for a while, at this moment in time I am a committee member of another club in Daventry.

Do join a club, it can be, if you allow it, to be a very rewarding time.

For your part the important thing is to keep an open (Not blinkered) mind and I think you will find that you will fit in well.

Please do not consider yourself any less than anyone else because they too were c**p at one time, some of them need reminding of that fact now and then!

Regards, Peter.

longbridge · April 11, 2013, 10:04:53 AM

Been in lots of clubs over the past 40 years and have yet to find one that does not have a hierarchy that thinks they know it all, I am friends with a group of great lads that belong to a Brisbane model railway club, to hear them moan, slag other members and complain about the club I don't know why they bother, I think its all rather comical and they would be better of having coffee with the girls :'(

That is why I will never join a Model Railway Club, to many Chiefs and not enough Indians

tadpole · April 11, 2013, 11:26:38 AM

This question is so dumb I'm too embarassed to ask a real live human being, so I'll ask you lot....

How do they work? Who owns what?

Presumably the layout/structure, track, scenery and electrics are owned by the club, funded by members' subscriptions (which must therefore be quite high, when added to room rental, etc.)?
Buildings, likewise? Or do individuals own particular houses, pubs, stations, etc.?
Rolling stock, presumably individually owned, on a sort of "bring your own and give it a run" basis?

Jerry Howlett · April 11, 2013, 11:55:17 AM

My local club is brilliant they let me do what I want how I want and whenever I want, because its ...JUST ME !!!

All alone in PASTA WORLD... my very own N gauge BRITISH world !

Exit stage left............

Agrippa · April 11, 2013, 12:06:09 PM

Quote from: Jerry Howlett on April 11, 2013, 11:55:17 AM
My local club is brilliant they let me do what I want how I want and whenever I want, because its ...JUST ME !!!

All alone in PASTA WORLD... my very own N gauge BRITISH world !

Exit stage left............

I hope you've paid yourself your annual sub or you'll
have to eject yourself...

Claude Dreyfus · April 11, 2013, 01:27:35 PM

Our club is quite small, approximately 14 members, but is friendly. Sure there have been occasional fallings out between members - tell me any club that hasn't - but in general we all muddle along. We try to rotate the chiefs...nobody can serve on the three committee roles for more that three years - short enough to prevent stagnation, but long enought to prevent the entire committee changing at the same time. I did my stint as secretary, but am now off the committee...I enjoy being an Indian too much!

How do we deal with someone who is crap? In reality most of us are crap in our own special way, so it kind of nullifies itself as a collective! For this year we have a number of projects lined up to help members with any areas they may feel they want to improve...for me it's electrics...in the form of modular fiddle yards with various front-ends. Both in N and 00!

This has been helped by us finally managing to get storage! Yay!

We are based in the committee room of a village hall, and have managed to grab an area within the halls storage. Internal access...living the dream!

We try to help each other, as well as accomodate all interests...just as well really, we have UK, Japan, US, Spain, Germany/Austria/Switzerland, Italy and France, in T, N, H0, 00, 0n16, and 0...amongst others!

moogle · April 11, 2013, 02:54:35 PM

Some clubs can be clicky, some picky, but most are just like minded modellers.
You get some who have a heir-achy, other than a committee that is but the only way to find out is to enquire and try them.
Some hire premises on an as needed basis, some have storage where they hire too.
Some rent where they are and can leave everything set up and some own their own premises.

The local club I belong to, Chester MRC, are very friendly and welcome people regardless of ability.
You can go for a few meetings, get involved if you wish as you don't just have to watch and then join if its for you.
There's several layouts being built in different scales as they like to be busy.
They've been going over 60 years so must be doing something right!

Layout materials are generally paid for out of club funds/subs though you do get members donating stuff.
Rolling stock and loco's are usually members own. The types of layouts built will be as diverse as the clubs themselves.
The theme or era of a layout is often, but not always, dependent on what the majority of members in that scale model.
That doesn't mean you'd be excluded!
On club nights usually anything can be run on them, its only at exhibitions where its different.
All in all they can be a good place to learn, make new friends and perhaps be involved in building a layout you'd never have space for!

Hope that helps.

jonclox · April 11, 2013, 02:56:42 PM

I`m not a club person but do belong to 1 model railway club.It mainly covers

but other scales and all levels of skill do apear at times.
I put little into it at the momment but get a load of help information etc from it.
Its called

and suits my needs down to the ground

PLD · April 11, 2013, 06:03:51 PM

Quote from: tadpole on April 11, 2013, 11:26:38 AM
This question is so dumb I'm too embarassed to ask a real live human being, so I'll ask you lot....

How do they work? Who owns what?

Presumably the layout/structure, track, scenery and electrics are owned by the club, funded by members' subscriptions (which must therefore be quite high, when added to room rental, etc.)?
Buildings, likewise? Or do individuals own particular houses, pubs, stations, etc.?
Rolling stock, presumably individually owned, on a sort of "bring your own and give it a run" basis?

Again, it varies, some are purely a social collective who assist each other with their own layouts, maybe not even having full time occupancy of the clubrooms, some just provide the space and tools with members providing all the materials etc while at the other extreme, some fund everything. The most common seems to be in between with the club funding and having ownership of the layouts with the members providing rolling stock.

darren.c · April 11, 2013, 06:19:56 PM

at our club the subs pay for the running of the club and are show pays for capital projects such as layouts and refreshing the club room
daz

Pete Mc · April 11, 2013, 08:49:09 PM

I've been a member of our model railway club since August 2009.When I started iut I was crap,having never done a single thing to do with model railways before,apart from playing with the one I had as a kid.

Our club has around 18 members and all of us pay annual subs and then pay what we can afford for the rent of the premises and tea,coffee and biscuits.So far as I can remember,our club only ever had one of the types who regarded themself as a cut above the rest.Sure his layouts were very good and his knowledge of all things dcc were at that time for me,impossibly high,but as I knew nothing back then anyway,it didn't matter an awful lot.I have a lot of time for anyone but if they show me the slightest amount of disdain,dissapproval in my chosen era to model,I'll just speak to them as and when I feel the need to.Incidentally,this member left us in a huff about 4 months after I joined over something really silly(someone put a cup of tea on his newly conceived exhibition layout that was no more than an oval with a couple of sidings,no scenery and not even wired to run dc at that point).I had to find out the real reason because me being the new boy,I thought it might've been my fault but as things started to emerge,it was not the case.

As it was,I only started going to learn how to build a working model railway and have succeeded in doing that as my railway,for a starter,is quite large.

I also bought a dcc starter set last year and having not used it or read the manuals for about 7-8 months,as soon as I did I started to get very interested in the whole aspect of dcc sound,particularly in n gauge.Having stripped down,modded the chassis,cleaned and serviced my loco's in front of other members followed by reassembly and installation of the sound decoder and speaker all the way to testing and running the loco,I think I may have impressed one or two members with my skills,that and the fact that even though they don't sound as good as oo and o gauge sound fitted loco's,they still make a racket like the real things.

One of our members,who is a fellow n gauger who has just moved on to 2mmfs is waiting for me to convert a Farish class 24 and the new model class 20 so that I can see how easy/difficult it is as his latest exhibition layout is going to be a dcc 2mmfs rendition of Holmfirth station.So a ciuple of diesels with sound is going to appear on his layout even though they may not be strictly prototypical.

This leads me onto the way we are with one another.Our club exists on the basis that it needs to be friendly and informal,so to this end we go and have a laugh and sometimes a bit of model railway modelling breaks out.I enjoy its informal atmosphere and can be equally at home ripping the guts out of a loco as I am just stood around with a cup of tea and a biscuit in my hand.

Our club has a couple if layouts that are of exhibition quality but aren't used due to a number of reasons,however,there is a beginners layout in oo gauge that is being developed,that has already made its exhibition debut that is being worked on by several members each week.We have members layouts that are used for exhibitions mainly though,of which there are 5 that are on the exhibition circuit already that are soon to be joined by another 2 at sone ooint in the future.

I have plans for my own n gauge layout but due to the very intricate track layout,I'm having to concentrate my plans around the area that most people see as opposed to the bit the don't.My very ambitious layout was going to be based on Doncaster plant works,but due to the very intrucate pointwork and other factors like the sheer amount of the size of the area to be modelled,itbhas had to be rationalised significantly.This layout will feature all my own loco's,dmu's,hst's and rolling stock,my own dcc system and will be a long term project so as it will potentially only be worked on during clubnights and perhaps a sunday afternoon,it will take some time to get up and running.This will be financed by me and again,as its a long term project,it won't be a massive drain on my own finances,unlike my own interest in fitting sound decoders to my locos,which I am doing at a rate of one or two a month.

Pete