Lone Wolf. Had some great times in the earlier years of NTrak. But as the years went by, some moved away, etc., and new faces came in which did not have the same attitude as our original informal, free-wheeling bunch. Checked out a club or two, but they just did not feel comfortable. Where I now reside, is almost all HO folks. Very little N scale, although there is a club supposedly about 45 minutes away. And only one other HOn30 person that I can find on this end of the State. A couple of years back, two fellows I know here in HO started a modular club. It was doing nicely, growing, decent quality. I went to a few monthly setups, but then the pandemic hit and pretty much ruined it. Maybe they can get it re-started some day. Oh well.
Lone Wolf. I miss the expertise, but not the rules. No room on the club Ntrak for anything passenger except the local RR Sent from my SM-N950U1 using Tapatalk
Does the UMTRR readership count as a club? If so, we've been "together" for 25 years... Otherwise, I am mostly a loner. Politics make my trains nervous so no formal clubs here... by that I mean Club Politics, not Politics in General. I was involved in an informal group of N Scalers that met regularly, but the illness of the host followed by, well, you know, has pretty much shut that down.
Don't we sort of count as a club? We meet online, there is no set meeting time. Proud to be a member of the Trainboard Club. And we are all president's of our own domain It's the best. Proud member since 2001!
Have we come to the point in society where 'virtual reality' with its very limited social interaction has replaced actual reality? If so, we have lost greatly and the worst part is that we don't seem to recognize it.
I'm a lone wolf too. When i was in Arizona there was shows thru the year but i moved to Texas and where i am ,(Wichita Falls), There is nothing for modelers. Only Hobby Lobby for whatever parts i can find. Wally world is here and i have bought a few things from them. Home Depot is another place i have bought stuff from. I deal a lot with Fifer Hobby as he is close to me and he used to go to the shows in Arizona. I think i could be the only train person here in town. Thats ok, I can learn on-line. You are lucky Shortround, I have 5 girls and none of them have any use for model trains.
So for me, I’m in the both camp. First I am a member of an N-trak club, which is fun but sometimes the “good ‘ol boys” make progress show to impossible. So that caused me to go a T-trak club that I really like. We are small and not NMRA (good ‘ol boys issues again) so our shows are somewhat limited. I am planning my own home layout, but ATM lack suitable space due to my wife having a stay at home job that uses my train space for her desk.
While 'digital socializing' was already developing via the various media empires Covid just made it happen faster and more intensely. I have met *in person* at least 6 people from Trainboard. Well, should I say, *at most* 8 people whom I have looked in the eyes and broken bread with. Still, in the end the best thing between me and a group of people is distance. 5 Railfans Get Together. All they have to do is agree on where, when and how. Easy right? "We are we going? I thought you knew. Let's do NS Na, I want CSX What? I want Pan Am Argh! Fine, what ever. Well, not with that attituded! Besides we *always* go there. No we don't " Anyway, no thanks, Just give me a quiet friend, a 1 hour drive, nice place for lunch, other than trains mutual interest, acceptable music, um, never mind. ☻
While this may be true for some, I don't see it that way. I think the virtual reality of TrainBoard has brought together a group that may otherwise have never had the opportunity to interact. While I consider myself a lone wolf model railroader, I do have in person friendships and activities that let me enjoy both sides of this view.
@ Moderators, Can I try to start one in the 'Inspection Pit' / 'Ready Track'? So, should we start a thread for meeting people? Train shows? Railfanning? Lunch? Hiking? Model Building? Format: Location, (City / Borough), State, Scale, Interest, 'Description' Example: Boston, (Roslindale), MA, N-Scale, All Eras / Types of Trains, Plays nicely with other and shares my toys *in small groups* (2 or 3 people) Easy going in small groups, (2 or 3). Creatigve open minded and inventive. Takes compliments and constructive advice / critisism with a grain of salt. Just a thought.
I have found such enjoyable on other boards (motorcycles) where there's even more separation. It got us talking of enjoying in different manors. My only issue now is lack of transportation. Everyone have a happy Harvest Festival and/or deer hunt. Rich
Steve- For model railroading, The Inspection Pit is your best choice. For prototype railroading, probably "Railfanning Discussions".