Beginner's Guide to Model Railroading
Starting a Model Railroading Club
A Community Resource for Model Railroading
The best way to get started in model railroading is to start your own model railroading club. It’s easier than you might think! Ask your friends and school classmates if they would like to start a model railroading club for building model railroads together.
It’s a lot easier to build model railroads with friends helping each other who all share an interest in the same hobby. The best part of a model railroad club is that members can help everyone build model railroads. After Jimmy, Tommy, Susan, and Andy help Luis build his model railroad, then Luis, Jimmy, Tommy, and Susan can help Andy build his model railroad. Eventually, everyone in the club will be operating their own railroading empires.
How to Start Your Model Railroading Club
One of the more enjoyable aspects of the hobby of model railroading is the fun and excitement of sharing the experiences and talents with others who have similar interests.
First, you have to get together a group of people (at least three or four) who are really interested in the project of forming a model railroad club, and who are willing to donate some time—at least 2-3 hours every week. They don’t have to be experienced model railroaders, but each club member should be somewhat excited about learning some new skills.
The people in the club have to be able to get along with each other. Every member needs to have the same goal and be willing and able to work together. Everyone should be willing to learn from each other, and no one should be chastised for making mistakes—it's part of the learning and building process.
Involve Parents In Your Railroading Club
You need at least one person in your model railroad club who is an adult and knows how to do some basic carpentry and basic wiring and electrical work. Your dad may know how to build a train table; your friend’s dad may know how to work with basic electrical wiring. Be sure to include the parents of club members who are willing to help with projects that include the operation of power tools. Never operate power tools by yourself, like circular power saws or other equipment that can cause serious injury and life-threatening situations. In any club where members gather together, always remember that the safety of all club members must be the first priority of the club.
Recommended Club Rules
Every club should have rules by which all the members abide. Rules help to ensure that a club runs smoothly and prevents arguments, and helps to guarantee safety. You could have a really informal model railroad club with no rules—just show up if you feel like it and mostly have fun. If you get a railroad out of it, all the better. If you don't, at least some people made new friends and had some fun.
Most people, however, would be more satisfied if they actually accomplished something really great while they were also having fun. In order to do this, you will probably have to have some rules, called bylaws. If your group decides to have rules, then they need to apply to everyone without exception. The rules should be simple and reasonable. Otherwise, if they are too strict, your membership will drop off pretty fast. If you don't want to develop your own rules from scratch, consider using the bylaws that have already been drawn up for other model railroad clubs and use them as a template.
Go to the Internet and type "Model Railroad Clubs" into the URL field of your browser to view railroad club websites and find their rules. Copy the one’s you like and develop your own rules after them.
Once you have a basic set of rules, your group can go through each item and either agree to it, change it or delete it, so that, in the end, they become your bylaws, specific for your club and its members.
Building Individual Layouts
After you have found enough friends who want to start a model railroading club, and you and the other members have developed some rules, the next thing you want to do is decide whose railroad will be built first (or you may prefer to start building everyone’s model railroad all at once). Then, decide which members want which types of themes for their railroads. Will it consist of freight trains or passenger trains? Will it be a coal mining railroad, a logging railroad, or some other theme? Will it be a metropolitan railroad consisting of passenger cars, train stations, and a general cityscape? Once the members decide what the theme of the railroad will be, then the next step is to find starter sets that consist of the kinds of locomotives and rolling stock that reflect those themes.
It takes a fair amount of time and effort to get a model railroading club going and keep it going. It will take many months for any club like this to mature and get off the ground. Try to be patient, but always try to make some progress, even small amounts, at each meeting. Eventually everyone will get to where they want to be—having great layouts to enjoy, operate, and expand. Also, the side benefit of making great friends may even turn out to be the major benefit!
Summary of Starting a Railroading Club
The important points to remember when starting a model railroading club is to satisfy the following requirements:
- Ask your friends if they would like to start a railroad club;
- Ask your parents or the parents of other club members if they are willing to help you develop a model railroading club by participating in projects like building train tables;
- Develop some rules about how the model railroading club will function and what’s expected of members;
- Include safety information in the rules, such as no member being allowed to operate power tools or machinery without the supervision of an adult;
- Help members of the club to determine themes for their model railroads;
- Help members find starter kits that consists of the locomotives and rolling stock that reflect those themes;
- Most importantly, have lots of fun building model railroads with friends who share similar interests.
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