Forming a club

I have been wanting to form a z scale railroad club here in my city for the last 18 months or so. The problem is that there are only a few fellow z scalers here that I know of and none of them are interested in forming a club for one reason or another. It's discouraging because I'm sure they have expertise in some areas that I lack, and I might have expertise in other areas that they lack. So why can't we get together and share our ideas, and help each other out.
I've heard that z scalers can sometimes be lone wolves of sorts. That for reasons known only to themselves they simply don't want to associate with their fellow z scalers in a club format. Talking back and forth at a show or on the street is one thing but forming a club seems to be taboo. WHY? Can someone please explain this to me? I'm eager to form a club and get to know the other z scalers in this city. I'd be happy to help others with their layouts and them to assist me in some areas. If you're life is crazy and you don't have the time for clubs, that's one thing, but if you just want to do your own thing and to hell with the others, I find that sad. I don't see this mentality happening in other scale clubs, so what is it with Z scale that makes forming a club so impossible? I just don't get it.

 

It's not as hard as you think. First, don't call it "Club", it sounds a kind of "elitist". Second, build a few Z-Bend Track modules and display them at a few local train shows, run your trains, talk to the people, then you'll be surprised how fast a local Group of Z-scalers gets organized. The key "secret" ingredients are Z-Bend Track and Train Shows. Next year in Sacramento at the NTS'11 Z-scale will rule, just it did in 2008 at the Anaheim NTS.

 

The formation of Z 'clubs' has been a focus of ours for many years. We believe that Z will only grow if more clubs are formed and Z is put into the public through local, regional and national shows. The largest challenge facing Z is that Z scalers are few and far between. Also many are very private individuals. Z scale is just not your typical scale as it relates to the other scales.

Many individuals also feel 'clubs' can put demands on them that they are not ready to embrace. This includes time and commitments. Let's face it, dedicating a weekend to run trains is wonderful, but how many of us really have the time to do so on a regular basis? Z scale is not dominated by retirees, but a large portion of us are still working and weekends are valuable for family time, work around the house time, etc.

I think it is more important to just try and meet other Z scalers and see if a bond can form that will lead to regular meetings and possibly a club at some time. I am more than willing to help to get the ball rolling.

Ztrack does not share our mailing list. We respect our readers privacy. But, here is what we are willing to do.

First, we need an individual to raise their hand and be the point person for a city or region. After this happens, we will run free ads in Ztrack soliciting individuals to contact this person.

Next, we can do mass mailings to a region in order to attempt to get people together. Ztrack pays for these mailings. We just need contact information and wordings.

One idea is to host an open house. Have a little Z to share? Put together an open house. We can run free ads in Ztrack as well as put out the mailing to help. Ztrack can also offer a few door prizes to help get the ball rolling.

Another idea is put a notice in your local hobby shop. Talk to the owner and see if he can assist in your quest of meeting fellow Z scalers.

There are a large number of shadow Z scalers out there. I definitely think we can grow the scale and form a few new clubs. Feel free to drop us an email. Let's see if we can start the ball rolling.

Rob

 

I've been playing with Z scale since 1972 when it first came to the United States. I used to display a 3-module layout at train shows in the St. Louis, MO area in the early 1990s. I quit displaying for a while because of vehicle restrictions. The NMRA national convention came to St. Louis in 2001. I volunteered to help during the train show and met a lot of really nice people. I posted on the Yahoo Z scale group that I was looking for Z scalers in the area to get together with. It wasn't until 2003 that 2 people from the Illinois side of the St. Louis area started looking for the same thing. We met at a restaurant to talk Z scale and I brought a briefcase layout with me. We met at several shows and roamed around looking at other train groups. We decided to build modules and 2 of us joined the modular display at the NMRA train show in Cincinnati, OH in 2005. We now have 5 members...3 from the Illinois side of the area, I'm from the northwest side of the area and 1 member joins us from Indianapolis, Indiana. We occassionally visit with each other on an individual basis to help with module construction or to just run trains. We don't have officers, regular meetings, club property or dues of any sort. The member from Indianapolis and I do most of the shows and are contacted by show promoters to do their shows. I compile a list of shows and ask who might be interested in displaying at the separate shows. I ask for the appropriate space once I know who wants to come to which show(s). We encounter several people at every show who have Z scale and don't realize you can do so much with it. We haven't added any members from any of these shows despite handing out contact info to people who sounded interested or expressed interest. I thought I was the only one doing Z scale for a really long time.

I would suggest using Rob Kluz's resources and displaying something at any local train shows to drum up interest. Most of all, don't get discouraged. I was never interested in forming or joining a formal club. What I'm involved with now works well for our group.

Most of all....enjoy your trains!

 

I first saw the ZoCal group at the local trains show back in 2007. I saw the advantages of the Z Bend system and I was hooked. I just got my fourth module in working condition today. The same local show I started my Z scale "adventure" is coming to town next weekend. We should have fourteen modules at that show.
So I started from a show and we keep pushing how easy it would be to have someone make their own module (we have been known to even build modules for others) and join us. Or just bring their trains to run.
And we are a group - not a club. A FUN group.

Pomona two weeks later!

 

there is a n scale club near me. i was joining no problem!! they have a ho
and n layouts. the dues are $55 a month still no problem. Everybody there
are real nice guys and i got along great with them..

Now here is the problem they meet on Tuesday nights from 7:00 to 11:00 pm
and i have to get up for work at 2:00AM. My job and family come before any
hobby So time is always a big problem and this might be your problem as well
getting a group of young guys together to run trains

Best of luck with you endeavor!!

 

I agree with the stigma of calling it a club. Just make it an informal round-robin group, and try to get the guys to meet up once a month for lunch to break the ice. As time goes on, the lunches may become more frequent, the number of participants may grow, and at some point you have someone offering to come help you with some problem spot you are having.

We have a foursome of n-scalers that came together in that manner and we're all very close now. Nothing formal, just a sharing of interests and ideas and criticisms and it works.

I have also belonged to a club and I admit I'm probably not overly fond of the concept. I still keep in touch with my old club, and I'm even contemplating rejoining them and also another local group. But overall I have stuff I want to do on my home layout that never gets done so that always makes a club less appealing....even LESS time/money to focus on my own projects.

 

I don't think it's limited to Z scale. I think you are bumping into the realities of the #'s involved. A lot more people model O, HO and N. If perhaps 1% of people in each scale want to belong to a club, Z will simply have less people to group together and form that club. There are also many reasons why people don't want to belong to a club. Time commitments, family commitments, money commitments, afraid or embarassed of their lack of skills etc. Some people use model railroading to get away from all their stresses, spend time alone, regroup, recharge. I guarantee you there are world class model railroaders out there we have never heard of whose body of work is only known to their family and close friends. Model railroad clubs aren't for everyone. Everyone is different and has different needs. Keep looking, your club is out there.

 

Thanks so much everyone for you ideas. A few of these I'd already done. I did display my layout at our local train show this year as did one other z scaler. I'm going in again next year. I also posted ads in all the hobby stores here but had no response. I posted ads on Craig' List and another online site but I can't remember the name of it. Still no response.
Rob, I like your ideas but I don't know if that would work here. Do you do these things for Canadian z scalers.
I've talked to a couple of z scalers here in town but when I bring up the idea of putting together a club, they sort of change the subject or act totally uninterested.
If I were to form a club, I don't think I'd be wanting to charge membership fees unless it were to go to paying for transportation of a display layout.
I know that most clubs have a central meeting place where they build a club layout to display. I had a completely different concept where we rotate through each members home thus illiminating the need for a separate club house, and we each build our own layouts in such a way that they can all be linked together, (if portable) into one massive display. And perhaps we could all meet once a month. I believe there's an HO scale club in Red Deer that does this. So I thought I would try that here. I would really love for all of us here to get together because I'm quite sure that we could help each other out and really make Z scale in our area as popular as the others.
Oh well. The dream is not yet dead.

 

You bet I do! Ztrack is an international publication. I would be happy to send out a mailing to your region and include a personal ad in Ztrack.

Rob

 

It sounds like what you're looking for is a round robin group. I would pose the question as that.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned, but is most certainly true is that a big draw for clubs is space.
In HO, and even in N, many people simply don't have the physical space to have a layout in their homes (often apartments) Or, if they do have one, it's small. A traditional club offers space to make that large layout...usually with a cash commitment.

With Z-scale though, you can fit quite a lot a layout in even the smallest of homes. That cuts down one of the biggest drivers of club membership.
Modules and going to shows is also a different issue. Not everyone is interested in being so public, even if they want to be part of a larger group.

It sounds to me though that your goals are more along the lines of a Round Robin group where you all operate each other's layouts and even help each other out with skills and knowledge. This type of group is different in that it doesn't need to include fees or even much in the form of governance. No Robert's Rules of Order need be purchased or a secretary voted in.
I think you need to present it in that way.
Forming groups like this is becoming mainstream for a lot of different interests. meetup.com is doing a burgeoning business (though not much in model railroading) in connecting people in this way. So promote the idea as not a formal club, but a dedicated group.

 

I tend to agree with Doug A. on this one. A "club" is too structured with monthly dues and all the other BS that goes with it. I belong to a round robin "social club" that has about a dozen regular members that show up each month. One of the members has a large home layout and we meet at his house most months with each "host" member (who doesn't have a home layout) furnishing snacks and we just sit around and talk/run trains or watch video or whatever. When it is my turn to host, we meet in my train room and I furnish snacks etc. Call it a get together or something but don't call it a club.

 

Thanks Rob for that info. Once I have recovered enough from my surgery to be able to get down to my basement again, I will be in touch.
Loren, you already know me. You returned those two cabeese that I had sent to Joe for repaint.
Yes the Round Robin type group as you call it, is what I'm looking at. As for those who have an interest in Z but don't or can't have a layout of there own, helping on other members layouts from construction to participating in shows would be an ideal situation for them. They could learn and get a greater appreciation of the hobby and if they were able to get their own layout up and running, they'd have some knowledge to at least get started.
When I said that we could connect our layouts together to make one massive layout, that would be great if we had the space to do it. If any one member had a layout of 5 or more modules as mine will eventually be, I don't think it would be practical to bring all those modules to another members house and assemble it to connect with that layout. The transportation costs would be prohibitive. That sort of thing would be better left to a display at a show and such. It would be much more practical for members to build transition modules to connect layouts. Or even better, build their layouts so that connecting modules could be incorporated right into their layouts. And using this Round Robin format for a group would I think eliminate costs. The only expense would be what you spend on your own layout or modules. The only time a member would need to shoulder part of a cost would be in transportation of members modules to shows. And of course, the beer.
I think the advantage of this kind of groups is that by rotating through each other homes for meetings and working on each others modules gives first hand problem solving opportunities, stimulates discussions and questions, and promotes ideas. And it didn't matter if the member had portable layouts, layouts in suitcases, or static layouts attached to walls, each could contribute ideas and suggestions etc, for the benefit of all. This also applies to those members who run DCC.
My biggest requirement is electrical and wiring. I'm not all that good at it and I could sure use first hand help in making my wiring much more efficient and less like a rats nest. I know the basics, but the advanced stuff is far beyond my level of expertise. I'm also not the good at making mountains and such. I don't seem to have much artistic talent when it comes to making my scenery look like it does in books and videos and other club layouts. I've seen kids with layouts who can make more realistic scenery then I can. Obviously, I'm doing something wrong but I have no idea what it is.
Anyway, that is a general outline of what I envision my group to be like. Actually, it wouldn't be MY group. It would be OUR group.
Ken

 

Ken,
It is probably easier to build a group than start a group. People are more likely to join a group if they know at least one other person in that group. The key thing is to try to meet other Z people. This can be done at shows, hobby shops, or even on line. Then, instead of trying to have a "meeting", see if one or two of them want to meet at a show or hobby shop. Build a few friendships first, then try to grow a group. I am a loose affiliate of the Washington DC chapter of Z-Bend Track, and a "member" of the Mid-Atlantic Zed Heads (more of an informal un-group kind of thing). I "met" the DC guys on-line. I live too far away from DC to be heavily involved, but whenever I can, I make it shows and help work the modules, meet new folks, and spread the word of Z. The mid atlantic group, I met through Uncle Will (Full Throttle) when he was still living up here. That ungroup is centered around London Bridge Toys in Emmaus, PA. The owner, Ron is an avid Zscaler, and his store is sort of a spontaneous meeting place. I have met many Z scalers there and learned many tricks of the scale. We just hang out and talk, exchange ideas and have show and tell. Nothing formal or planned, but enjoyable, none the less.

Instead of trying to arrange a meeting, arrange to meet people someplace that they are going to be anyway. Meet them in an informal way on neutral ground with no expectations or obligations. Meet some people, then talk about starting a group. Or better yet, a group will form on its own.

Best of luck in your efforts.

Dan S.

 

Ken,
I wasn't sure, but thanks for jogging my old and getting older memory. Too much on my plate sometimes to think clearly.

Loren

 

Dear Ken,

All the best for a quick recovery. You can do alot in semi vertical. Oh those nasty knees! The best clubs are the ones with no officers, no dues, and most important, no recording secretary! Round- robin is the best, with someone(3rd. vice-president perhaps?) in charge of the eats and refreshments. Have never been to any Z Scale events that has not featured hunger modelers. Call lv ron at London Bridge, as he has hosted some meets with the Mid-Atlantic Z- heads. It is sad that his shop can't accomodate modules because of the space.

All best wishes,

Donna:tb-biggrin: