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Bill’s world Kane County Model Rail- road Club members pose at their layout in Elgin, Illinois, in March 2015. The group is a traditional model railroad club. The members proclaim, “We are actually a social club that happens to like running trains.” Pic- tured from left to right are John Smith, Robert Johnson, Dexter Cave, Lou Hamilton, Dave Hahn, Mike Farris, Bart Overton, Robert Halsall, and Scott Duff. — Bill Navigato photo


are exposed to the hobby through a local club open house. One of the first real-life model railroads I ever saw was at a club open house. It was an impressive site for a young, beginning model railroader. Clubs today can and do pro-


vide the inspiration for all model railroaders. New model railroad- ers visiting a club will often ex- perience a model railroad that is a lot more than they had imag- ined. Many beginners may have only had the opportunity to see layouts in the pages of various publications. Seeing a large lay- out for the first time can be quite inspirational. Joining a club has all the ben-


efits to new modelers today, just as they did in years past. Learning various aspects of the hobby has and will always be a motivation to join a club. Learning to lay track and build scenery while learning about state-of-the-art control sys- tems as a member of a club can be quite beneficial today, as it was back in the 1960s. The exchange of ideas among club members ad- dressing a problem will often gen- erate several ideas. Mike, back in your ancient


days, clubs were usually struc- tured in a general way: the group gathered in the basement of some building and built a generic lay- out. Today, just as the hobby has progressed, so have clubs, all at- tracting modelers with different thoughts of what they are look- ing for in a club. There are still the structure-dwellers building generic layouts where the mem- bers are free to run their favorite trains around the layout. Many have taken a more specific theme in railroad(s) modeled, location, time frame, and even prototypical operations. Modular clubs have become


very popular. Instead of a specific layout in a specific location, mem- bers build modules. The modules all have standardized features that allow them to be connected into one large display. It has the


82 RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN


benefit that each member can ex- press his or her ideas building it at home. This can be very benefi- cial for those planning to build a much larger layout someday by developing skills or even incorpo- rating one or more modules into a future layout. This can be very practical for those whose jobs re- quire regular transfers and such as well. Clubs can take on many forms.


A good example is the Fox Valley O Scalers, located in Ted Schnepf’s basement in Elgin, Illinois. There are no dues. Members earn se- niority rights for operating ses- sions by helping to build the very large model railroad. The layout is based on a specific theme — The Milwaukee Road along the Mississippi River in eastern Iowa in the 1950s. The club also has general running, when members bring equipment to run on the layout. Many modelers have a keen in-


terest in layouts that represent a specific time and place and feature realistic operations. An example is the Fox Valley Model Railroad Club (not to be confused with the O scale club described earlier). They describe themselves as a social group that also enjoys run- ning trains, and they have been in their present location since 1982. There are several other Chicago- land clubs that have been around since the 1960s that are still going strong. Maybe the Rockford club, and the club that I once belonged


to, have long vacated their resi- dence and disbanded, but many more are still thriving today. All these examples — and


there are certainly others — offer modelers a chance to experience the hobby in a social setting that enhances their enjoyment. The opportunity to share resources allows members to be a part of a much larger layout that, due to time, resources, or other re- straints, may not otherwise be possible. I can appreciate the de- sire to have one’s own layout to model with very specific goals and operations. However, many mod- elers would rather not, so the gen- eral feeling of a club suits their wants.


Mike, we both joined clubs as teenagers. We learned a lot from other members, met future men- tors, and lifelong friends. What happened way back then can and still happens today. We all know that model railroading competes with other activities with teenag- ers more so today than when we were teenagers. Allowing them an opportunity to participate in the hobby can only help the hob- by grow, which can only help the hobby in the long run. There are still many reasons


for model railroad clubs to ex- ist and to thrive. If it wasn’t for that model railroad club, imagine where you might be today. Such a turning point that you experi- enced in the 1960s can still hap- pen to someone else today.


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