DakotaLove39
Always Improvising
Hey guys.
I've made many mentions that I am in the unusual position of being in two HO scale clubs. The first one is very old, going back to the late 1970's, and has not done a very good job of staying current with today's philosophies and technology. The second is much younger and far more up-to-date, with members who cross from Free-Mo modular and NMRA competition levels.
Some events have happened, and the president of the older club has passed. I don't want to sound uncouth, as he was a good guy, but he was the biggest anchor on the club. He long held at bay many new ideas and changes which would have been beneficial to our layout and our group.
So like the phoenix, I'm watching rapid changes begin to transpire. The board has changed, and new ideas have shot out immediately. One of these is to institute actual operations on our layout. We have, for the last decade or more, purely been open for show and general tomfoolery as we saw fit. Switching was done with your own cars at your own pace however you wanted to do it. Pursuit of the Operations goal is trucking along, we'll be voting on it later this month as a club.
Thanks to my experience with the younger club I can see some other facets that are going to come along with this. Here is where I need the help. Operations (ops) means we'll need to have a dedicated pool of cars, either club owned, member-owned or both mingled together. My concern here is their upkeep and enforcement of standards (couplers, coupler height, wheels). The younger club dealt with this via the institution of a car department, which I was chairman of very briefly. In talking with my friends elsewhere I have come to learn this isn't standard among clubs.
So, I'd like to ask you guys. How does your club handle maintenance of its ops pool? Do you have an internal department with a budget for parts, or is it on whoever wants to do it?
I've made many mentions that I am in the unusual position of being in two HO scale clubs. The first one is very old, going back to the late 1970's, and has not done a very good job of staying current with today's philosophies and technology. The second is much younger and far more up-to-date, with members who cross from Free-Mo modular and NMRA competition levels.
Some events have happened, and the president of the older club has passed. I don't want to sound uncouth, as he was a good guy, but he was the biggest anchor on the club. He long held at bay many new ideas and changes which would have been beneficial to our layout and our group.
So like the phoenix, I'm watching rapid changes begin to transpire. The board has changed, and new ideas have shot out immediately. One of these is to institute actual operations on our layout. We have, for the last decade or more, purely been open for show and general tomfoolery as we saw fit. Switching was done with your own cars at your own pace however you wanted to do it. Pursuit of the Operations goal is trucking along, we'll be voting on it later this month as a club.
Thanks to my experience with the younger club I can see some other facets that are going to come along with this. Here is where I need the help. Operations (ops) means we'll need to have a dedicated pool of cars, either club owned, member-owned or both mingled together. My concern here is their upkeep and enforcement of standards (couplers, coupler height, wheels). The younger club dealt with this via the institution of a car department, which I was chairman of very briefly. In talking with my friends elsewhere I have come to learn this isn't standard among clubs.
So, I'd like to ask you guys. How does your club handle maintenance of its ops pool? Do you have an internal department with a budget for parts, or is it on whoever wants to do it?