I think that I can count myself in the same class as Shawn, in that the club I belong too also meets on Saturdays, a regular work day for both myself and my wife, although my wife doesn’t mind standing about watching trains it still means re-organizing schedules so that we can attend. Usually try to make every second meeting though. The other road block is that the club meets over 150 miles from where I live. That is a 3+ hour drive each way but it is either that or never meet with any other large scale railroaders as I have the only setup in the area where I live that I know of. As we both have Monday off as well we sometimes stay overnight and make a mini vacation of it. Found out about the club when I went to an HO scale meet and the LS guys had their portable layout set up.
Joe and all:
As to the Southern California clubs – Temecula, San Diego, Orange County, and the Southern Calif. group – the singular feature that defines the clubs are the scheduled visits to member’s layouts. Encouraging guests to also attend has brought, at least initially, new members.
Wendell
Wendell, you forgot my two clubs! Add Upland and Lancaster to the mix.
John, there was actually an HO layout at Fairplex until the 1960s. It was in the southwest corner of one of the commercial buildings south of the G scale layouts. That was in the days before Fairplex went in search of profits.
Ron,
You put me to shame…trying to get free to attend an hour or two hours away (one way) is difficult for us but with many commitments besides trains (two kids & my mother included) scheduling sometimes is a year out for some weekends.
Chas
Doug, sorry didn’t know there was an HO club there.
I think a lot of people didn’t know. Since I was reared in Ontario and my dad was an HO person I’ve always been around trains. We never belonged to a club and I suspect it was schedules.
I know that our club in Lancaster is now meeting Sunday evenings. We made one other change that seems to have aided membership. We are now meeting in the lobby of the airport at Foxfire Field in north Lancaster. Before we were meeting at individual’s houses and that was not only a burden for them some people felt uncomfortable about “invaded” someone’s house.
It’s a very quiet airport and we have nice chairs and a parking lot! And it’s free!
Ron Spencer said:And thank you for the effort, as well, Ron. It is nice to see you on occasion. You don't need a Saturday. Just let us know ahead of time and we will open our layouts for you. After all, we are Geezers, with no day restrictions.
I think that I can count myself in the same class as Shawn, in that the club I belong too also meets on Saturdays, a regular work day for both myself and my wife, although my wife doesn't mind standing about watching trains it still means re-organizing schedules so that we can attend. Usually try to make every second meeting though. The other road block is that the club meets over 150 miles from where I live. That is a 3+ hour drive each way but it is either that or never meet with any other large scale railroaders as I have the only setup in the area where I live that I know of. As we both have Monday off as well we sometimes stay overnight and make a mini vacation of it. Found out about the club when I went to an HO scale meet and the LS guys had their portable layout set up.
We have about 40 members in our club. We do one train show a year, and get a couple of new members each year.
But it’s the same 4-5 that do all the work. It’s the same people that bring trains to the show (about 4). Most come to BS and get in the way. We have two member that expect you to come over to their house to run. They will never come to your house.
Our club membership always goes up after shows, We pickup one or two at events.
Our last BIG event was a Local fair display were we saw a ton of people, We spoke with a
lot of them and most people seem interested after they see what can be done in Largescale.
Nick
Video from Fair 2011
Hello Nicholas-
Your club effort was clearly an extensive centerpiece at the fair! Does your club intend to again create a similar sized display in 2012 – at the same venue? Did fair management give the club an honorarium or donation for the effort? What has been your club experience in setting up other operating displays for organizations?
To all–
Our SoCalif. club does similar presentations which are nearly as extensive – some with the result of a received donation, some not, pending if the purpose of the event is strictly charity. Fairs here in Calif. are obviously for vendor profits and we ask for a donation. The large SoCalif. garden show in south Orange County is one of such events that is commercial in purpose. We received about $800 for the two days of showing. Our setup had five separate train layouts with controllers for children to operate. One problem was parents left the kids in lines for the controllers while they toured the show.
Several events have proved to be difficult as the public response did not match the amount of time for setup and the numbers of volunteers needed for operation. I appreciate your reporting your experiences.
Wendell
Wendell Hanks said:
Hello Nicholas- Your club effort was clearly an extensive centerpiece at the fair! Does your club intend to again create a similar sized display in 2012 -- at the same venue? Did fair management give the club an honorarium or donation for the effort? What has been your club experience in setting up other operating displays for organizations?To all–
Our SoCalif. club does similar presentations which are nearly as extensive – some with the result of a received donation, some not, pending if the purpose of the event is strictly charity. Fairs here in Calif. are obviously for vendor profits and we ask for a donation. The large SoCalif. garden show in south Orange County is one of such events that is commercial in purpose. We received about $800 for the two days of showing. Our setup had five separate train layouts with controllers for children to operate. One problem was parents left the kids in lines for the controllers while they toured the show.Several events have proved to be difficult as the public response did not match the amount of time for setup and the numbers of volunteers needed for operation. I appreciate your reporting your experiences.
Wendell
Hi Wendell,
Yes the display was big because we had enough room to go with this size, I started planning this way back in April when i was approach by the Fair manager at another show. Our club does not accept Honorarium any more as we did once and it turned out to cause more trouble than it was worth. We do this for fun and to promote the Hobby and let people see what Gardens Trains are all about.
We do plan on doing it again next year, I just need to come up with a different track plan as there were to many people trying to grab the trains and i didn’t feel comfortable with that so i will adjust things for next year. We try to do shows now that only promote the Hobby and other Train and family related events. Our events usually are well attended as i like to do the Displays as big as possible much to the grin of a few of our older members but we have a lot of fun and that’s what its all about. For normal shows it usually takes 4 to 8 hours of set up time depending on how fancy I wish it to be.
I’m the head of the design and set up crew so I work hard to make sure the displays are as cool and interesting as possible. Heres a video from one of our other normal shows. As i like to tell people, I believe BIGGER is Better.
Nick
Nick-
Thanks!
Your comment “Our club does not accept Honorarium any more as we did once and it turned out to cause more trouble than it was worth. We do this for fun and to promote the Hobby and let people see what Gardens Trains are all about…” is contrary to what might be thought of a as a great fund raiser. However, is your experience IF an honorarium is accepted then, in effect, you lose control over the expectation of what the display will look like and what the attendees will think?
Am I understanding your point? If so, did you lose any of your own club volunteers because of any “loss of a fund raiser” or? from not asking for or accepting funds for the display?
Great video! Displays are likely THE only promotional tool that is available. For me, gone are the Christmas window merchant displays of large scale (LGB) trains. That company had a lock on Christmas time promotion.
Wendell
Hello all
I really enjoy seeing what you folks are up to, especially the portable take it on the road versions.
The scope of what can be done is limited only by the creativity and resources available.
I appreciate the fact that not everyone needs to see green to make something happen.
Due to the expense involved in a display, I don’t hold it against those that do.
Since 2005, my wife & I have taken the trains on the road 2 or 3 times a year.
We have been to retirement communities, churches, a rec center, the local library and a building dedication.
We prefer not to invole $ it keeps it simpler. In the case of the garden center, we don’t mind
asking for flowers or borrowing plants for other events.
While we have had club members assist, these would not be considered club displays.
We typically involve friends - some are rail fans some not.
We know two of the local retirement communities now have outdoor railroads of their own.
As far as generating membership, these are personal displays - I am not really qualified to answer.
http://www.engleonline.com/AdDesk/Htmlfiles/Readers/article.epc?id=43146
http://www.svgrs.net/documents/News0407.pdf (page 6)
http://track2.com/svgrs/test1/content/101_3980_large.html
Clair-
Many thanks for your input!
The idea of displays in retirement communities, which are abundant here in SoCalif., is a brilliant idea – especially with the result of you reporting they now have “railroads of their own.”
Presuming your display gave impetus for creating a railroad of their own at the retirement center, was it center management that made the installation? Did you and other club members and friends offer to assist or actually make the installation? What was the input asked of you when the idea of the installation was considered? Has the installation been well-received and is kept operational?
Please indicate how it came about as retirement centers are certainly one way to increasing interest in the hobby – which is obviously in need.
Sorry for the questions, however, further input will be helpful in initiating a railroad in a center near our home.
Many thanks – and welcome to the site.
Wendell
Hi Wendell
I’ve been debating how to best answer your questions.
In our local area, there are 4 possibly 5 retirement communities with their own railroads. Two of these are garden railroads. The
main driving force behind them is the residents themselves. In the case of the first facility, one of the residents had already built an
N-scale 3x8 display for the facility. I suspect our being there was just one more “push” or visualization of what could be.
The second facility, I’ve never taken trains to per say, but have talked to people from there at other displays we were doing.
I have no way to know .what impact we may have had on that group. In neither case was I a direct factor in getting the railroads to
happen. Available free time on my part limits what I can be involved with.
In both cases the residents built and are responsible for the railroads. They both have operating schedules - manned by residents. The one has a club that meets once a week, and was part of the PA RR museum garden railway tour. The other has two groups involved-gardening and railroad.
A possible common theme is tapping into interests that are already there.
Clair
Wendell Hanks said:
Nick- Thanks! Your comment "Our club does not accept Honorarium any more as we did once and it turned out to cause more trouble than it was worth. We do this for fun and to promote the Hobby and let people see what Gardens Trains are all about.." is contrary to what might be thought of a as a great fund raiser. However, is your experience IF an honorarium is accepted then, in effect, you lose control over the expectation of what the display will look like and what the attendees will think? Am I understanding your point? If so, did you lose any of your own club volunteers because of any "loss of a fund raiser" or? from not asking for or accepting funds for the display?Great video! Displays are likely THE only promotional tool that is available. For me, gone are the Christmas window merchant displays of large scale (LGB) trains. That company had a lock on Christmas time promotion.
Wendell
Hi Wendell,
We just dont do $ thing anymore as it’s just easier for our club, We are more like a bunch of people who enjoy running trains and doing shows together, then a full blown club. I don’t like a lot of club politics so (I) Removed them ( ALL). I also removed the Drama Queens as well.
Trains should be fun, not aggervation…
We dont loose control of any shows cause if i’m not happy with the Promoter and I dont think he can do what we need, we dont do the event. I only had that happen once and the next year he was begging us to return.
Our membership is pritty strong, and I think it stays that way because I removed the Drama and replaced it with fun.
I also gave everyone a voice in how we do things, They didnt have that choice before with the old crew.
Nick
Nick-
You report successful removal of club politics and the "Drama Queens, concluding “trains should be fun, not aggravation.” Agreed. Would you go further with what is a at least one remedy for disruptive club politics – especially when display choice decisions are made and labor is needed to setup and take down those same displays?
Clair’s efforts at retirement centers has hit a positive in our club’s management. Now, comes the “politics” of what, when, where, and by whom are choices made. What has worked for you and your group?
Many thanks for your input.
Wendell
If it wasn’t for club politics and drama queens, we wouldn’t have much of a club at all… :lol:
NOT.
For some reason, we are fortunate, up here in the Inland Northwest. We don’t seem to have either, and never have. If somebody starts whining, we put them in charge of a project. That usually shuts them up. It didn’t work for our current president, so we railroaded him into the club presidency. 
Again, NOT!
We have a good bunch of guys gals and youngsters, the youngest of which is 7 or 8. He drags one or both of his parents to meetings because he can’t see over the steering wheel, yet. Our oldest member usually drags his daughter along, because he can no longer see past the steering wheel. 
Both are valued members.
Hi Wendell
From my perspective, it takes one person with a dream or idea and the gumption to carry it out club or no club. “I need help
with my project” usually is all it takes. At that point, most of the when, where, how is a non-issue.
It is more of a bottom up approach than a top down approach.
I really like seeing what you folks have been doing, what has worked and what has not.
So many idea’s - So little time…
Clair Dise said:
Hi WendellFrom my perspective, it takes one person with a dream or idea and the gumption to carry it out club or no club.
Welcome Clair!
LSC is my club,bar room, gathering place, psychological dumping ground !