Attracting younger members

[Neil McGrath]

The Orpington and District Model Railway Society will soon be running a youth training course over six weeks to teach the basics of model railway construction to children accompanied by an adult. Full details can be found at

 

 https://www.facebook.com/OrpingtonandDistrictModelRailwaySociety/?hc_ref=PAGES_TIMELINE&fref=nf

 

What schemes do other clubs have to attract younger members?

 

Neil

 

 

 

 

[tc]

We've been running Young MRC for almost a year now - and we're up to around a dozen 8-14 year olds and their parents each meeting.

 

YMRC has taken over an existing circular layout, and is building a branch line terminus station.

 

http://www.themodelrailwayclub.org/youngmrc  for more details.

 

Tom

[Neil McGrath]

We've been running Young MRC for almost a year now - and we're up to around a dozen 8-14 year olds and their parents each meeting.

 

YMRC has taken over an existing circular layout, and is building a branch line terminus station.

 

http://www.themodelrailwayclub.org/youngmrc  for more details.

 

Tom

 

Do you find that the young members generally prefer the operating or construction aspects of the meeting? 

[big jim]

 

What schemes do other clubs have to attract younger members?

 

Neil

[tc]

Do you find that the young members generally prefer the operating or construction aspects of the meeting?

It depends, like our adult members the range of interest (and ability) is wide. The first time people come operating is favourite, and it remains more so for those without a layout at home. A few are doing really well with plastic wagon kits, but others seem to enjoy track laying and scenery just as much. We did some soldering of rails to screws at board joints last week too, under close supervision (especially of my fingers).

We think having a variety of activities is important, so if someone doesn't enjoy something they can do another.

[big jim]

my kids, 7 and 12, (odd names i know) wouldnt be the slightest bit interested in joining a model railway club as its not cool and embarrasing, they have no interest in my layout, ok maybe the eldest used to enjoy 'helping' but now he's of an age where consoles and social media are the most important things in his life, however if a local club had a 3D printer, 3D scanner laser cutter etc he'd be down there like a shot designing and building layout components etc with 'technology' as thats what interests him

 

maybe thats the way forward, embrace technology, pioneer it even, my local club is analog and they have been debating for as long as i can remember about going DCC but it will never happen, i even took my lenz system down one night and quite simply connected 2 wires to a random siding, they energised a few switches and voila the whole lot ran on DCC for the evening but 7 years down the line they are still "in discussion with such and such a company coming to see how much to convert them to DCC", this same club until a few years back sent out newsletters done on a typewriter and at events members wear namebadges made on an old 'dymo' label maker, the squeezy handle type, its almost like going back in time, in a nice way though

 

this is the what i feel younger members are up against, people who dont mind change but quite simply just cant see the world changing around them, sometimes just sometimes those changes are for the better, kids these days dont remember steam locos, hell most dont remember loco hauled passenger trains , they mosty want to see (and hear) what they can see down the station on a day to day basis and if interested they will want to replicate it using 'modern methods' taking guidance from people who understand both the technology being used and have interest in the item being produced, be it a 3D printed loco body or laser cut GWR bench, and unless you are a forward thinking club or society who has the means to welcome the young in with 'technology' the new blood end of the hobby on a social side will simply fizzle out, relegated to dad's and lad's in spare rooms, attics, sheds etc, of course once they are hooked in at a club you then teach them the more traditional skills that cannot be achieved by staring at a computer or smartphone