A few questions on MR clubs

Glen Smith · 2003-08-23T20:02:56+00:00

I'm tossing this out with the hopes of getting a feel for how some of themodel railroad clubs are structured.I'm currently the president of a club that has 8 paid members, roughly halfof what it was a few years ago. We enjoy, free of charge a 13 x 40' room inthe basement of a municipal building. The HO layout fills roughly half ofthat space and there is a G scale double loop around much of the wall about5.5 feet off the floor.About 4 years ago, we voted to allow the construction of a U-shaped G scalelayout but unfortunately, the 2 proponents went too far and build it biggerand this caused a lot of friction in the club. Over the next couple ofyears, it was voted to tear it out, to keep it, to tear it out etc. Beforewe finally reached a compromise that saw the G-scale layout cut back to asmaller loop with a liftout section and separate operating nights, we hadlost half of our members.Personally, I feel our dues of $30 (CDN) per year are way to low. It is nowour main source of income and if you do the math I think you will see how itis nearly impossible to support not only one, but 2 scales. G-scale track isVERY expensive. To make matters worse, the membership, led by the G-scalefaction, have voted to drop the dues back to $20 (CDN).Now to the purpose of my posting:What do other clubs charge for similar privledges? Specifically access tothe clubhouse 24/7 etc.How many members in your club?How strict are your rules? Especially in regards to members pulling theirweight, different scales etc.What are your qualifications for membership? A probationary period?Any advice or input would be much appreciated.Glen Smith