the future of the hobby

[Dungrange]

34 minutes ago, rob D2 said:

I think you’d be the exception to the rule in this hobby. Take a look at any aerial view across somewhere like Warley and it’s last of the summer wine mainly.

 

I'll admit that looking at an aerial view of an exhibition hall you are likely to see more men than women, and the older demographic is likely to outweigh the younger demographic.  Our club is no different - I think we have slightly more members in their 60's than any other age band.  The problem is that there seems to be a perception amongst those with an apocalyptic view that the older generation (say those over 70) need to be replaced by teenagers, whereas in reality, they just need to be replaced by someone younger than them, which includes those who take up the hobby at any point in their adult life.  Most of our new members tend to be middle aged, although the two who joined us last year both filled gaps in the younger demographic.

 

25 minutes ago, Phil Parker said:

I was at a show last year when someone grandly said that only old blokes we in the hobby so it was dieing. He gestured at the hall as if to prove his point. By chance it was full of youngish families, but he couldn't see them...

 

People have been predicting doom for over half a century and will still do so for another half.

 

I agree, although the group of people that he was referring to and the group of people that you saw may have been different.  Look at the operators behind the layouts at an exhibition, and I will agree that they are often older gentlemen, but look at the people who have paid to attend the show and there are a lot of families - at least there are at the shows that I attend (though I've never been to Warley).  If you define the hobby only as those operating the exhibition layouts, then you are ignoring the next generation of prospective railway modellers, who are pestering their parents to go to the model railway exhibition, because that's what they aspire to.  My parents used to take me to the local model railway exhibition each year when I was a teenager.

 

18 minutes ago, MM1991 said:

But look at the demographic of those who are pushing things forward in this hobby.  Accurascale and Cavalex for instance.  They certainly aren't reaching for the summer wine.

 

That highlights the imprecise definition of 'old'.  To some of us 'old' people are those who are retired from the workforce, but to others 'old' might just mean anyone who isn't a teenager / student.  If you take the latter definition, then the hobby is certainly full of 'old' men, but if you take the former view, then there are loads of people in the hobby who are not 'reaching for the summer wine', which includes me.

[davefrk]

Many years ago I was in a club, a good club which won a number of trophies for layouts, buildings and locos. One night a guy I knew from another club came up and wanted to join as, in his words, his club was going nowhere (we later heard a different story). We were building a new big layout with handbuilt points and SMP track so that took time to make and lay accurately, this wasn't quick enough for him though and he started critizising people for not doing the point building at home then it would ready to lay on club nights, fair enough but what was he doing????  Now't.

A couple of the older guys were noticeably absent on more and more occasions and after a phonecall to me moaning on and on about everyone else this guy started on my work so that was it, I left, so did three others subsequently and we started our own group of 'friends'. The old guys never came back either.

Perhaps if the committee men had said something to this guy he might have shut up or at least thought about what he was saying, maybe they did as the guy left the club a few months later.

So I would suggest that an approach be made by the club committee or a few ordinary members if a committee member is the problem and a discussion about their attitude should be had in private away from other club members. That may help focus peoples thoughts to be more sociable. After that then maybe a written warning about attitudes and then they could surely not complain if they continued to disrupt the club activities and were asked to leave.

 

Dave.

Edited January 4, 2020 by davefrk

[woodenhead]

47 minutes ago, Phil Parker said:

 

I was at a show last year when someone grandly said that only old blokes we in the hobby so it was dieing. He gestured at the hall as if to prove his point. By chance it was full of youngish families, but he couldn't see them...

 

People have been predicting doom for over half a century and will still do so for another half.

People see everything through filters, if your perception is that the hobby is full of old people then old people is what you will see, the younger people will be completely ignored.

 

Basic Psychology, if the person viewing has a different filter or questions their belief then they will see something different.

[rob D2]

Some good points dungrange,

I agree that the middle aged demographic with more time and money on their hands, will be the main replacement for the more elderly.

 

Having said that I’m rather amazed in a good way, that the age of some of the modern image O gauge modellers on FB - that stuff is not cheap but there seems plenty of youngsters.

 

I agree you see a fair few families , but What percentage will make the switch from casual  observer to modeller ? Without a modeller in the family I’d say very small.

 

As for clubs - I’m not much of a joiner but in my experience the two groups to watch out for are

1/ had a responsible job , now retired, can’t give up the idea of being in charge, joins all committees he can - falls out with everyone - starts a mutiny .

 

2/ had a job with no responsibility . Suddenly gets a title in a club . Tinpot dictator.

 

Im generalising because people come in all guises but that’s my experience 

[Dungrange]

48 minutes ago, rob D2 said:

As for clubs - I’m not much of a joiner but in my experience the two groups to watch out for are

1/ had a responsible job , now retired, can’t give up the idea of being in charge, joins all committees he can - falls out with everyone - starts a mutiny .

 

2/ had a job with no responsibility . Suddenly gets a title in a club . Tinpot dictator.

 

Thankfully we don't have either of these individuals in our club.  I only became secretary because when the position became vacant (ie the previous secretary specifically said he no longer wished to continue as secretary) there was a deathly silence with no volunteers willing to join the committee.  I didn't really want the position, but after an awkward few minutes I agreed to be nominated and was then unanimously elected.  Every AGM is effectively the same - any nominations for Chairman / Secretary / Treasurer?  Someone always nominates the incumbent, someone quickly seconds that nomination and then no-one else wants to be nominated, so we have the same one candidate elections each year.

 

However, I can see how both 'types' would cause problems in some clubs.

[Silly Moo]

After my first post in this topic I remembered that we did have a difficult character in my last club. He made his way onto the committee and then wanted to run everything his way. Eventually the rest of the committee had to ease him out of one position into another where he could do less damage because half the club were about to leave. 

 

The difficult character had had been in a senior position the Merchant Navy and wanted everything done his way. He was extremely organised. His rigid standards would have been an asset at sea but unfortunately they weren’t appreciated by people who had been working hard all week and wanted to relax and run trains. 

 

He was actually a very nice person in other ways but his talent for rubbing most people up the wrong way didn’t go down well so he had to be moved sideways and he eventually left the club. 

[Talltim]

21 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

 

And, grumpy old blokes have been a feature since 1909 also .......

Curious, what happened in 1909?

[woodenhead]

9 minutes ago, Talltim said:

Curious, what happened in 1909?

People began to regularly live beyond 60 and could be officially called grumpy and old in the same breath. 

[Guest MM1991]

1 hour ago, rob D2 said:

As for clubs - I’m not much of a joiner but in my experience the two groups to watch out for are

1/ had a responsible job , now retired, can’t give up the idea of being in charge, joins all committees he can - falls out with everyone - starts a mutiny .

 

2/ had a job with no responsibility . Suddenly gets a title in a club . Tinpot dictator.

 

Im generalising because people come in all guises but that’s my experience 

100% correct!!!!

[Dungrange]

2 hours ago, woodenhead said:

@Ian J. I know exactly how you feel and it's rather annoying/confusing how other people seem to find it so easy to mix and we can't.

 

The word I use is 'superficial', in that that is how I see relationships with people, they are acquaintances and not friends and the connection doesn't go much below the superficial.

 

The amount of effort involved in going beyond that seems insurmountable and when you do try it still doesn't seem to work.

 

I don't think you are alone there - I'd tend to say the same about most of those whom I interact with as well, whether they be work colleagues or members of my model railway club.  The relationship is as you say rather superficial: friendly enough, but not particularly deep and bonding.

 

2 hours ago, Ian J. said:

All my life I've found social interaction difficult, be it at primary, middle or secondary schools; in college; or in work. I have never felt confident talking to people I don't know (or barely know) in a social context. I find practical subjects much easier, because I can talk about the subject as long I have some knowledge of it.

 

However, I have noticed that most people like their conversations to shift and change constantly, particularly in the direction of humour and anecdote. I noticed early on in teenage and adult life that I couldn't do that properly and that other people tend to lose interest in talking to me as I'm not talking with them in the way they expect (this is despite many attempts to 'socialize' me by schools, college, and work). I have never been able to fix this 'problem'.

 

The upshot of this is that this has lead me to feel uncomfortable in club situations, as most clubs are as much about the socializing as they are about the subject. So going to a face-to-face club, while not daunting, leaves me feeling that I can't connect with others there and they can't connect with me, for the most part.*

 

My recent-ish diagnosis of Aspergers/Autism is partly due to this issue. It is a subtle and insidious condition for me, as most people can't see why I find it difficult to get on with people socially and think the answer is to just 'drop me in at the deep end and I'll be fine'. But that has never worked and never will, and I have grown tired of having to deal with it in every social and some non-social situations. Armed with the diagnosis, I have made a conscious decision not to 'socialize' with people at my current workplace, and have explained to them why. They and me are coping better for that decision, as I'm allowed to get on with my work and don't feel I have to 'fit in' beyond that.

 

I am currently a member of a railway club, but while I renewed for this year I am not at all certain that I will renew beyond as I don't get something out of it enough for me to stay. I visit very infrequently as it is.

 

* There are exceptions to every rule, and those who know me know who they are, and I'm glad of their willingness to engage with me even though I'm not the easiest person to get to know.

 

This may sound a bit like a self-help group, but 'thanks for sharing'.  Out of interest, given that you have mentioned Autism, how would you prefer or have preferred others to interact with you?  I ask, because the gentleman who looks like becoming our newest club member actually only has a passing interest in model railways from his youth, but it is something that his son is very, very interested in and therefore model railways is one of their father / son bonding subjects.  His son has apparently been diagnosed as autistic and the father's motivation for joining us is largely to attend with his son.  His son seems a nice, well behaved boy, polite and careful with things that don't belong to him and we don't have any issues with the proposed membership arrangement.  However, I don't really have any experience of dealing with people with conditions on that spectrum.   He seemed quite willing to talk to other members (of all ages) about railways and our layouts (presumably because that's something that he feels he knows about) but I get the impression that he could be quite focused / precise, which maybe comes from a desire to keep the conversation 'on topic'.  I can imagine him being a database of facts that interest him and he seemed to be quite good at remembering names.  He is about the same age as my own son, yet his behaviour seems a little different from the way my son interacts with his friends and adults.

 

As for a lot of club life being about socialising - I agree with you.  Many of our members seem to spend most of their time just chatting to others and every job that needs to be done takes rather longer than it would if everyone was focused on the task.  However, I have noticed that sometimes conversation can head off in obscure directions such as discussing Wallace and Gromit or some sketch from Monty Python, the Two Ronnies or some other comedy series from days gone by.  I assume it is those deviations from the 'core subject' of railway modelling that you have a 'problem' with, alongside the stories of when someone discusses something that they experienced at work 40 years ago?  Am I correct in saying that when you attend a model railway club, your expectation would be that members only discuss model railways?  Obviously that won't happen in the case of the club as a whole, but I guess if we know someone prefers conversation to be 'on topic' and they don't like 'off topic' chat then it is easier to try and ensure that we meet their expectations as best we can.

[Phil Parker]

23 hours ago, rob D2 said:

Clubs will die out with their elderly membership.....younger generation doesn’t have the time or interest to attend something “ every Wednesday “.

 

Our club doesn't expect anyone to turn up every week and many members turn up infrequently because that's what suits them. Those working on layouts tend to be more regular than those of us who just chat and drink tea because they enjoy it, not because someone tells them too. Working on a group project tends to focus the mind and builds a team spirit people enjoy.

 

Clubs vary a huge amount, just as any other group of people will vary. To say that clubs will die out is rubbish. Some will, others will thrive. 35 years ago, the L&WMRS was based in a damp cellar and had no more than 20 members. The main interest was exhibiting members own layouts. There was a club project, but that was lorded over by a grumpy old git and no-one stayed working on it for more then 6 weeks. The other members were welcoming enough for many to stay though. Now the club is in nice premises on a farm, had 90 members and the main interest is in building club layouts.

 

We still have people turn up and decide they don't want to stay. Some seem to expect the club to be there to entertain them. That's not the case. You are welcome to muck in with any project. You will end up on the tea rota eventually (it's easy and we have a dishwashing machine) and we'd like you to help out at the exhibition.

 

Some people are club people, some people aren't. Many who are put off by the single grumpy old git might simply not fit in with any social situation. There's nothing wrong with that, we're all different.

 

It's very unlikely that you will find a club that is a perfect fit for you straight away. If this is a problem - start your own - there's no reason you shouldn't. This is the big difference between virtual groups and physical ones. You can start something on-line very easily, but as a few recent fallouts on Facebook show, keeping it going is hard work as you are suddenly referee to people who want the group changed to suit them, or think the rules you've set don't apply.

[Ian J.]

2 hours ago, Dungrange said:

 

I don't think you are alone there - I'd tend to say the same about most of those whom I interact with as well, whether they be work colleagues or members of my model railway club.  The relationship is as you say rather superficial: friendly enough, but not particularly deep and bonding.

 

 

This may sound a bit like a self-help group, but 'thanks for sharing'.  Out of interest, given that you have mentioned Autism, how would you prefer or have preferred others to interact with you?  I ask, because the gentleman who looks like becoming our newest club member actually only has a passing interest in model railways from his youth, but it is something that his son is very, very interested in and therefore model railways is one of their father / son bonding subjects.  His son has apparently been diagnosed as autistic and the father's motivation for joining us is largely to attend with his son.  His son seems a nice, well behaved boy, polite and careful with things that don't belong to him and we don't have any issues with the proposed membership arrangement.  However, I don't really have any experience of dealing with people with conditions on that spectrum.   He seemed quite willing to talk to other members (of all ages) about railways and our layouts (presumably because that's something that he feels he knows about) but I get the impression that he could be quite focused / precise, which maybe comes from a desire to keep the conversation 'on topic'.  I can imagine him being a database of facts that interest him and he seemed to be quite good at remembering names.  He is about the same age as my own son, yet his behaviour seems a little different from the way my son interacts with his friends and adults.

 

As for a lot of club life being about socialising - I agree with you.  Many of our members seem to spend most of their time just chatting to others and every job that needs to be done takes rather longer than it would if everyone was focused on the task.  However, I have noticed that sometimes conversation can head off in obscure directions such as discussing Wallace and Gromit or some sketch from Monty Python, the Two Ronnies or some other comedy series from days gone by.  I assume it is those deviations from the 'core subject' of railway modelling that you have a 'problem' with, alongside the stories of when someone discusses something that they experienced at work 40 years ago?  Am I correct in saying that when you attend a model railway club, your expectation would be that members only discuss model railways?  Obviously that won't happen in the case of the club as a whole, but I guess if we know someone prefers conversation to be 'on topic' and they don't like 'off topic' chat then it is easier to try and ensure that we meet their expectations as best we can.

 

Everyone with ASD (Autism Spectum Disorder) is different, unfortunately, and have differing degrees of severity, from subtle (me) to extreme (where any communication is practically impossible - think 'autistic savant'). I will have to speak from my point of view, and warn that it might not apply in the son's case.

 

Be guided by his interest at any given moment. If that's trains and model trains, stick to it. Don't vere off into other social subjects unless he does first, and he may do so. If so, keep to that new subject if you can. With ASD, we tend to live in our own worlds and when with others, it's a bit like having visitors to our world. It may seem selfish to have conversation so constrained to one person's interest, but it's the way we are, unfortunately.

 

Most conversations I've seen NTs (Neuro Typicals, aka, not ASD - and it's not meant to be a disparaging term) have, seem to move freely from one subject to another, never settling on one subject as such. For someone with ASD that's problematic. A sudden move into obscure humour can't be singled out as problem, though it can be. However, that's something I do and I think it's seen as a bit odd. I do tend towards some level of dry or absurd humour, sometimes in the middle of an otherwise serious conversation. It's not meant to belittle the serious conversation, it's just that the humour comes to me at that moment and wants to be out rather than held back.  What I then do is come straight back to the serious conversation and expect it to carry on. What others perhaps would want is to keep the humour going, or expect a change of subject, which is not what my mind does.

 

What others discuss is not something I particularly care about, but if they try to bring me into such conversations, I can struggle and seem uninvolved, even 'aloof', but that's far from what's happening in my head. What I'm thinking is 'I don't know anything about this subject so won't comment', and consequently stay quiet rather than get into conversation.

 

Hope this helps.

[sir douglas]

in our club too, everybody can do what they want, some of us attend every week while some may only come twice a year. when a new prospective member comes we say that they should come a few times and get more accustomed to the place and the people before officially becoming a member as we have had the odd people who come, join straight away and then we ever see them again, maybe they got bored or forgot about it, or even got scare way by somebody. i dont know anybody like that in the club but its surely possible given the topic.

 

i am very lucky that in our club we are friends and look after each other, if somebody is unusually absent for a while with out anybody knowing we make sure to check up on them, members from the club tend to phone each other regularly for a chat or meet up at exhibitions.

 

once when a member was absent and wasnt answering his phone, another member visited his house without answer, his neighbor came out and said that they were worried about him and he was found a few days before unconscious on his floor and taken to hospital, it was then a bit of a chore then trying to find him as kept getting moved from hospital to care home and again, this was about 2 years ago and hes been doing better since.

 

we are also doing well in that have younger members who are very active in the club, one us is about 18-20 years old (i forget), doing a marketing degree and works in advertisement, marketing, events organizing for heritage railways and is now organizing his own model railway exhibition for this year, in the club he is in the committee, i'm in my mid 20's and ive been the club librarian for about 2 years now.

 

But we also have the silent majority problem that when anything needs a volunteer or a vacancy comes up for anything, 95% dont want to do it. we have comittee members who are stuck in a position that they want to step down but there isnt anyone to take over

[Dungrange]

3 hours ago, Ian J. said:

Everyone with ASD (Autism Spectum Disorder) is different, unfortunately, and have differing degrees of severity, from subtle (me) to extreme (where any communication is practically impossible - think 'autistic savant'). I will have to speak from my point of view, and warn that it might not apply in the son's case.

 

Thanks Ian - it isn't just everyone with ASD that is different - that applies to the entire population! :-)  I'd guess that this boy tends to the milder end of the spectrum, so your experiences are probably relevant.  Communication didn't seem to be problem and his mum e-mailed me after his first visit to say that he had really enjoyed himself - he seemed to feel that he fitted in.  Not everyone that he spoke to would have known he has any 'problems' (for want of a better word).

 

3 hours ago, Ian J. said:

Be guided by his interest at any given moment. If that's trains and model trains, stick to it. Don't vere off into other social subjects unless he does first, and he may do so. If so, keep to that new subject if you can. With ASD, we tend to live in our own worlds and when with others, it's a bit like having visitors to our world. It may seem selfish to have conversation so constrained to one person's interest, but it's the way we are, unfortunately.

 

I guess that this is where it is slightly easier for an autistic child in an adult club than an adult with autism.  In this case, I'll be speaking to a child who is nearly 40 years younger than me.  The chances of our conversation switching to current affairs, 1970's comedy shows or an event from when I was at university is highly unlikely.  These are not things that I'd normally discuss with a typical ten year old, but may with an adult.  However, if I was unaware of his condition, I'd be tempted to stray into other subjects.  For example, my 11 year old is obsessed with computer games, as are all of his friends, so I could say that there would be a natural tendency for me to assume that he might be as well and bring up the topic as a way of trying to find common interests or things to talk about (other than model railways).  There's also the questions about what he likes at school etc that I'd ask a 'normal' child if I was trying to engage them in a conversation.  However, I'll avoid that if that's not what he's likely to want or expect.  I don't think that there should be too many issues finding something railway related to talk about.  I at least have the benefit of being interested in the post-privatisation period, so we are interested in the same era. 

 

3 hours ago, Ian J. said:

What others discuss is not something I particularly care about, but if they try to bring me into such conversations, I can struggle and seem uninvolved, even 'aloof', but that's far from what's happening in my head. What I'm thinking is 'I don't know anything about this subject so won't comment', and consequently stay quiet rather than get into conversation.

 

Your last sentence sounds a lot like me sometimes.  I quite often find that I don't know anything about a particular subject, so just keep quiet.  Maybe I'm not too far off the spectrum myself.  Anyway, thanks for your insight.

[Dungrange]

17 hours ago, Phil Parker said:

It's very unlikely that you will find a club that is a perfect fit for you straight away. 

 

That sort of reminds me of the first model railway club that I visited - I probably went three times before deciding that it wasn't for me.  I can't say that anyone was unfriendly, but I didn't fit in age wise.  At the time, I was 22 and their existing 'young lad' was probably in his late 50's or early 60's.  I think every other member of the club was retired - it was what has been referred to previously as a 'last of the summer wine club'.  I'd just started my first full-time permanent job, so didn't feel that I had much in common with anyone.  I therefore tracked down the next nearest club to me and joined them instead.  I was still the youngest member at the time, but at least there were members in their 30's and 40's who I was better able to relate to.  Perhaps unsurprisingly, I understand that the first club I had visited folded within a couple of years of my visit.   That's why I think my current club is rather fortunate to have members of all ages (17 to 80), which I consider to be a healthy sign. 

 

I'm not even sure that any club is ever a 'perfect fit' - I wouldn't regard my current club as a perfect fit for me, and I'm the secretary!  My primary interest is the post-privatisation period, whereas most of our club members are interested in the BR Steam Era or narrow gauge railways, so all of our club projects tend to centre around these majority interests.  There are other clubs in central Scotland who I think have more members with interests that align with my own, but of course they are less easy for me to get to.  As such, I think there is always a need for compromise and whilst at an exhibition, our 1950's branch line will be operated with correct period stock, in the club room, it may well just see a class 66 (mine) running alongside some pre-grouping coaches (belonging to another member).  That variety of interests within the club is also a healthy sign.

[Dungrange]

18 hours ago, Talltim said:

Curious, what happened in 1909?

 

I'm assuming that this was intended as a reference to the The Model Railway Club in London, which I understand was the first model railway club in the world, although their website says that they were founded in 1910 - https://www.themodelrailwayclub.org/the-club/.  It is however possible that the founding individuals first met up in 1909 to discuss the formation of the club.

 

I think the point is that there have been various model railway clubs now for 110 years.  Some have survived for a long time, while others have come and gone for various reasons.

[Dungrange]

14 hours ago, sir douglas said:

When a new prospective member comes we say that they should come a few times and get more accustomed to the place and the people before officially becoming a member as we have had the odd people who come, join straight away and then we ever see them again.

 

I think that's very important and we have the same policy and the same experiences.  A couple of years ago, someone e-mailed me to say that he wanted to become a member, but he couldn't find the "Join Now" button on our website and could I help him sign up for membership.  I told him he couldn't join on-line and invited him to just come down to the club to meet the other members and see what we were working on before making that decision.  He came down to the club the next week and I spoke to him, as did dome other members, but I've never seen him since.  Clearly the goings on in our club that week was not what he was expecting, so I'm sure he was relieved he hadn't paid our subscription fee up front, as he had wanted to do.  There have been several others who have visited us once or twice and we've never seen them again.

 

The question that our committee have discussed on more than one occasion is how often should we allow someone to visit (as a non-member) before asking them to become a member?  I think we've decided that by the end of someone's third visit, they probably have a good enough idea as to whether or not they think they fit in, so if they come back for a fourth time, that's probably the right time to make sure they have a membership application form and to discuss ways of paying their subscription.  Often people ask about joining on their first night, but unless specifically asked, we'd tend not to present them with an application form, and just leave them with the question, "will we see you again next week?".  I think the best approach is to convey that they are welcome to come back, but that we are not trying to put pressure on them to part with their subscription fee too quickly.

Edited January 5, 2020 by Dungrange

[sir douglas]

i think the main thing here is their intention to stay, if they dont com back after about 3 times then so be it but if they are clearly going to be coming back regularly even after just coming twice then they should join but we never force anyone, it would be fine for somebody to come back every now and then even without joining, its better to keep their enthusiasm for the hobby and let them come back rather than barring them from the building for not being a member and thy might get discouraged from the hobby

Edited January 5, 2020 by sir douglas

[Colin]

To briefly return to the grumpy old git theme, in my long-ago youth and many house moves ago I joined a local club and was soon warned about one of the other members - miserable old devil, rude, keep clear of him were the sort of comments that came my way from those “in the know”. 

Anyway, I got talking to him one day and discovered a basically nice but possibly misunderstood bloke (and a clever modeller) with a very dry sense of humour which I took to but which others could easily misinterpret as unnecessarily sarky or even malicious - sadly another parental house move intervened and we lost contact.

Unless the club grump is a really nasty piece of work, I’d say IMHO there’s always hope!

[rob D2]

I have zero tolerance for being rubbed up the wrong way .

 

i sent an email enquiring about a club and was given a phone number to ring .

 

didnt get round to it for a while and got an email saying “ guess you are not interested as you haven’t rung “.

 

er, bit passive aggressive , and off putting 

[jcm@gwr]

I think we are quite lucky, our club has a good age range (teens to 90's),

it seems to be successful at self promotion, and therefore recruitment,

we have had to increase the number of sessions, otherwise it's too busy!

Membership is approaching 100 and we do have a good cross-section of

'types'!, this can have it's associated problems, but one of the advantages

of a bigger club, with more members, is that it's harder for 1 person to be

too dominant.

[NorthBrit]

The future of the hobby?

 

IMHO I think it is okay.  Children will want a railway;  be it Thomas the Tank or whatever.   They will see the real thing and want their favourite model engine etc.   That may come later, but the seed is always there.

 

The question may be 

The future of Model Railway Clubs.  The only one that is relatively close to me has a weekly fee of £10 --  whether you attended or not!  The short time I was a member, very little modelling or running of trains occurred.  Most of the time members sat and drank tea and talked  about anything, (not necessarily railways).

[Dungrange]

56 minutes ago, rob D2 said:

I sent an email enquiring about a club and was given a phone number to ring .

 

didn't get round to it for a while and got an email saying “ guess you are not interested as you haven’t rung “.

 

er, bit passive aggressive , and off putting 

 

Obviously one of the 'grumpy old gits' sent that e-mail, but it does raise another question - at what point would you deem an invite to have lapsed? 

 

I've had people in the past who have enquired by e-mail about membership, I've responded providing a link to our website with the address of our club room and a map, highlighted the opening hours for our next meetings, sometimes highlighted which of our layouts we currently have erected for testing and invited them to come down to meet us on whichever of our club nights suits them best.  I've sometimes had a response along the lines of "that's great - I won't manage down this week, but maybe next week" and then they never come along.  I've tended to assume that they changed their mind, but I guess there comes a point where they may view the invite to come along as having lapsed (and they have missed their chance).  Should I re-invite them after, say, two months?

[SouthernRegionSteam]

It is an interesting topic of discussion, and as a young (well, I certainly was when I joined RMweb!) guy, I might as well throw my experience into the mix.

1.  I've never been part of a model railway club; aside from the lack of one nearby, I have always been someone that shys away from meeting new people, so it has never interested me; I also prefer working by myself. I suppose it's perhaps a little selfish in some respects; in many ways, I'd rather work on my own layout dreams. At least I try and put back what I got out of the forums that I frequent, and try to help others out before they make the same mistakes I did! As I get older I realise that I don't have the space to set up layouts permanently, so maybe in the future I would be more inclined to help out on a club layout... you never know...
2. As a young person, whilst I accept practical (i.e. being shown) help and advice would probably have been useful (as found in a club environment), by the time I got into "serious" modelling, RMweb taught me everything I needed!
3. My dad has belonged to various (model engineering) clubs; including being treasurer.The youngest person by far there was me (although I wasn't that interested, and was only a "member" because I got roped along).
4. My experience of that was usually amiable, but the club has restarted several times (including this year!) for many reasons. Many years ago, there was a huge disagreement (putting it lightly!), which inevitably saw many people leave, and the club restarted with those that got along well. It seemed that once the club hit a threshold of members, things often started heading south!
5. The biggest issue I see with clubs is not actually related to temperament or age of its members, but their commitment. Whilst I accept my experience is limited, at every event, it would be the same 3 or 4 people that did all the work. Most members never bothered to even turn up, let alone help out. I suppose a fair amount of people will join (much like a forum I suppose) almost exclusively to learn and not really add much (i.e. lurking on forums). I suppose also that there's nothing inherently wrong with that, but it becomes a tedious affair for everyone else then.

One thing I will say is that I don't think the hobby is dying. I cringe whenever I hear that; as it simply isn't true. You only have to look around an exhibition, or look at the layout topics on here to see that there are plenty of younger people getting involved. As an aside, I do enjoy video games, but nothing beats the satisfaction of physically producing something you can be proud of. Is it a generational thing that people look for quick entertainment? Perhaps, but I really think there is a solid place for this hobby for many decades to come. Not every young person looks at our hobby as "old people playing with trains", and whilst there has been a stigma about the hobby for many years, I actually see healthy signs of it disappearing.

Edited January 5, 2020 by SouthernRegionSteam

[Phil Parker]

3 hours ago, Dungrange said:

I'm not even sure that any club is ever a 'perfect fit' - I wouldn't regard my current club as a perfect fit for me, and I'm the secretary!  My primary interest is the post-privatisation period, whereas most of our club members are interested in the BR Steam Era or narrow gauge railways, so all of our club projects tend to centre around these majority interests. 

 

Our old 1980s themed EM gauge layout "Walford Town" was built by people mainly interested in pre-grouping P4. Since they finished this they moved on and built Clarendon. On that basis, I'm not sure being perfectly aligned is essential, but being open-minded. If you must have a perfect fit, then you need a 1-person club of your own, and you ARE probably the "grumpy old git" mentioned in the OP!