How to start an O-gauge club

Get out to your LHS (s) and talk to some people.You live there and I don't but it's hard to believe there are no clubs in the Indianapolis area.Nick

AMRS of Huntington, Wva started between 1953/54. They would meet monthly at different members homes. I believe it was sometime around 1970 they threw in with the Toys for Tots, and worked with them for a few years, then set their own Train Show off on the weekend following Thanksgiving. Fri-Sun. They have vendors to come in and rent tables, as well as folks bringing in their Model layouts, plus a few the club had built to that point.

Their once a year Train  Show is the clubs only source of income. Sometime in the late 70's the club formally got organized and become a non profit organization. We are still organized yet today. We meet actually 2 times weekly, and have a 2200sg ft rented space in a Mall just out side of Ashland, Ky.  All of our layouts are modular, and we travel around at different shows setting up our layouts. We have a 28X36 O Gauge 3rail, 30X36 HO, and a 16X36 "N" Gauge, plus a couple of small N gauge lay outs 8X12, and 8X6. I beleive we have about 32 paying members, and only about an even dozen that you can count on when the going gets tough.

I hope this helps you in what you are looking for, and I hope you can find a club that's already organized, thus you having to re-invent the "ole proverbial wheel"

. That could be a good thing though, as when going into an organization that's already been there awhile, there will be the click groups, and it always seems that you have to work overtime to get accepted, and sometimes you never are.

Model Railroading is a good hobby to get in if in fact that's what you are interested in. So Good Luck in your endevour's........................................Brandy!

I just Googled "model train shops in Indianapolis" and found quite a few of them dealing in o gauge.  That's where I'd start by calling them.

Bobby:

E-mail me to the address in my profile. There are several O-Gauge guys that live in your area and get together for work and run sessions regularly. I will put you in touch with someone who can introduce you.

I was just at Mr. Muffins trains this past weekend, and got me thinking about it. I had a short chat with Steve while purchasing an item, he is very personable. However,  my age (27) is not conducive to permanent layouts since I will be more mobile, and I can imagine there might be a couple different houses along the way before we have settled down into one house.

I'm interested in forming an operating club, with rented space, a non-profit organization. It seems that most operating clubs (the ones who have rented space and club layouts) have been around for awhile, so i'm curious as to how these have started up. Were they a bunch of friends who banded together, people who met at LCCA/TCA/Local Hobby Shops. What are their charter structures, non-profit status, by-laws, club ownership rules, etc. What does it take for a club to be successful, etc? How have other clubs failed? Have there been any (operating) clubs that recently started?

Of course the alternative would be in the next career move to pick a city that has an active operating club. But I like the idea of forming a new club, putting the work in, and advancing the hobby within Indiana.

The answer to your question would be very long if posted on line.  I think that your questions are more conducive to being answered in a conversation.  

I suggest that you talk to some people who are members of clubs or who have formed clubs.    They need not be in your area.  I could put you into contact with people who have formed clubs in the San Francisco Bay Area.  I am sure that there are people near you have done this.  Some people start clubs in their basements and expand them to public spaces as the membership increases.

I applaud you for pursuing this ambition at the age of 27.  You are certainly the kind of person we need entering this hobby.  Good luck on this project.

Joe

Thanks Joe. Although, I entered the hobby when I was about 4 with my fathers PW Scout set, and have built a collection over the years. When I was 18 I switched from collecting the "traditional" o-gauge to the "scale" o-gauge.

I'd love to get in touch with whoever you know that has formed clubs in the bay area, work actually gets me out there from time to time. My e-mail is wertmanr@gmail.com.

Bobby

We started the Motor City O-Gauge Railroaders club right here on the forum.  Just start a thread that you would like to start a club, tell where you are located, and ask those who are interested to respond to the thread.  Arrange to meet somewhere and talk over how you want the club to run.  The MCOGR club is now defunct and the original members restructured the club and became The Detroit 3 Railers and has continued to grow.  It is a round robin club that meets at each others houses once a month.

.....

Dennis

I thought the same when I moved to the area.  Hard to believe there isn't a club.

Asked at one of the local train stores, now going out of business, and they didn't know of any clubs in our area either. 

took my train board to a show at the Indiana State fairgrounds a few years back.

I seem to remember a club in the Indianapolis area. You could contact the people that run the show there. they would know that.

http://10times.com/great-train-show-indianapolis

http://www.greattrainexpo.com/

The River City 3 Railers started in 2009........Tom (Gilly@N&W) & Ken(Kanawha) new each other from work and met Ben from helping the Blackstone people work the trains at the Chesterfield County Fair (I think that I have that right). They also all knew each other from hanging around Chesterfield Hobbies (our local train shop). The owners of Chesterfield Hobbies suggested that they contact me.

Fast foward to the summer of 2009..... We helped the Blackstone crew at the Chesterfield County Fair. We placed a flyer at Chesterfield Hobbies looking for members. In the Fall we started building modules.....4 corners and 8 straights.

At that point, we started attracting members. We decided to get serious and devoloped bylaws and elected officers. We started looking into insurance and filing as a non-profit. The cost was relatively steep for us at the time. Luckily, one of the new members was an N scaler who suggested we join the RF&P.

the RF&P stands for the Richmond Freelance & Prototype Model Railroaders. They had an N scale group. They had an HO group. However, they no longer had an O scale group. They already had insurance and a non-profit Status........so, we joined.

We now have about 16 members. We display the large layout (22X35) about 4 times yearly. We have a small 6X8 layout that 2 guys can load in a truck and take to a small venue like a nursing home.

We store our modules in a 7X14 trailer kept at a storage facility.

We meet about every other month at someone's home......we help each other on our home layouts.

We make money from a donation box and a yearly raffle.

Lastly, we have a blast!

(Tom & Ken, I hope I got the history correct!)

Peter

Thanks guys for the information, it's helpful in many ways. It seems like many of the clubs are centered around modular groups, which seems pretty cool. I don't suppose you know if the clubs were formed around a 501(c)3 or 501(c)7?

I'll continue to do some digging and poking around, asking questions, etc. It seems that locally I need to do some networking, and start building interest, or find someone else who has been trying to build interest and join forces.

86TA344SR, I don't suppose you want to be part of a new and exciting opportunity in the Greater Indianapolis Area

Again, thank you all for your input.

Bobby - The Muncie and Western Model RR club in Muncie might meet your needs.  We have a 20 x 30 foot permanent operating 3-rail layout at the Muncie Children's Museum.  We host a huge one-day annual train show.  The 24th Annual Muncie Model Train show will be held on Saturday, Feb 28, 2015 at the Delaware County Fairgrounds, 1210 N. Wheeling Ave., Muncie 47305 in downtown Muncie.  Come visit us at our show!  If you like what you see then join our club!  The two portable layouts we've sent up so far this Christmas season at Muncie events have been very well-received.

Brian Wolfe

Bobby - I just remembered the Indianapolis-based Pacific and Eastern Model Railroad club.  They have a beautiful 2-level 3-rail sceniced portable modular layout.  They are scheduled to set up at the February 7, 2015 Kokomo Train Show.  They also host their own train show 3 times a year at the Knights of Columbus off of US 31 South just south of I-465.  They had a well-attended show the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  Their next show will be in March.  Finally, the Great American Train Show is scheduled to be held at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Jan 3 and 4, 2015.  You might be able to connect with some like-minded 3-rail enthusiasts at some of these venues.

Brian Wolfe in Muncie 

Brian, thank you for the leads! I will add you to my calendar. I live in Fishers, and work in Anderson, so I am at least on the correct side of Indianapolis. It's too bad I wasn't trying to find a club when I was going to graduate school at Ball State, although a thesis has a way of consuming your time. I will be out of state until the 4th visiting family and friends in Michigan, so I won't be able to got to the fairgrounds (seems like every time there is a train related event in IN, I am out of state).

When does the club typically meet?

The Muncie and Western Model RR club meets the 2nd Wednesday each month at 7 PM at the Muncie Children's Museum.  Here is our club's website  http://www.mwmrrc.org/home.html.

Email me at RBrianWolfe@aol.com and I'll send you more details.

Looking forward to meeting you