Benefits of belonging to a model railroad club

[AndrewC]

It would appear that so far the number one reason to join a club is for the knowledge. I myself do not belong to a club as of yet because of my work schedule. My schedule changes every six weeks. I have checked out a couple of clubs in my area and on the surface they appear to be okay. One club in particular impressed me the most because the layout was huge and completely freelance. I was really impressed by the person who stopped what he was doing and gave me the tour and answered all my questions. I just don't know if I can justify spending the 40 bucks a month on dues right now. Money being tight and all right now. I think that my main reason would be a bit of everything.

Mickey, would that be CMT perchance? Have you heard of the Calgary Model Railway Society? Not a club in the strictest sense but a fine organisation for getting involved in the hobby. They can help direct you to some of the other less public clubs & loose groups as well. Don't forget Supertrain is coming up in a few weeks as well. Chat with the various groups exhibiting there and get a feel for them, and what they can offer.

 

[el3637]

I joined the club for several reasons, biggest one was access to knowledge, and the second one was to be with the friends I had made over the years at conventions and meets.

I forgot to mention another club I was briefly involved with, but never a member... when I was 16 and had just gotten my driver's license, I thought it was a chance to get into a club that was on the other side of town. I had seen their (portable) layout at shows and knew a number of the people in the club, but the meetings were on a school night - arranging a ride just wasn't possible. With my newly acquired drivers' license I went to the regular meetings for a few months. Although I knew most of them, they were all adults and I wasn't. They sort of tolerated me. When another young guy started showing up on the first day everybody was trying to solicit him to join, gave him a membership application, etc... this had not been offered to me in 3 months of weekly meetings. I kinda got the message they didn't want me around, and that was the end of that!

The irony is that the club disbanded and another guy I know bought the layout... after storing it some years, he set it up in his basement and in a concentrated effort, about 12 of us got it up and running with all new structures and scenery, most of the original (hand-laid) track, etc. We did one show with it and some of the club's former members were astonished to see it in it's "new life". At least 5 of them claimed to have "laid 75% of the track" themselves... LOL. To add insult to injury, the NMRA's divisional newsletter mentioned the layout being at the show, and named half a dozen of the original members, but not one of the people who currently owned and worked on it.

That's politics folks...

Andy

 

[mickey40]

railroad club

Mickey, would that be CMT perchance? Have you heard of the Calgary Model Railway Society? Not a club in the strictest sense but a fine organisation for getting involved in the hobby. They can help direct you to some of the other less public clubs & loose groups as well. Don't forget Supertrain is coming up in a few weeks as well. Chat with the various groups exhibiting there and get a feel for them, and what they can offer.

Yes, Andrew. It was the CMT as a matter of fact. How did you know? I was really impressed with their operation and have seriously thought about joining. I do intend to go to Supertrain as long as I am not working that weekend.

 

[AndrewC]

Yes, Andrew. It was the CMT as a matter of fact. How did you know? I was really impressed with their operation and have seriously thought about joining. I do intend to go to Supertrain as long as I am not working that weekend.

educated guess. As far as I remember the only 2 clubs with a permanent layout that is open to the public are CMT and Cal-O-Rail. If you've got space for a module and want to be able to have a hybrid of club+home modelling, there is also the Calgary Free-mo group. Good luck with any decision you make. From my connections to the various Calgary clubs going back to the early 80's they all have their ups and downs, but the vast majority of members are great people.