Membership Information

This is a draft document, subject to correction and revision

This page contains information about membership, and about the requirements we have for rolling stock brought to the layout. Another page contains member's resources, like operating manuals and layout track schematics.

(The quote below is from the Tapiola Parish Model Railway Club in Finland) While talking about Model Railways the mental picture of a little boy crawling on the floor next to a toy train set comes to mind. Model railway enthusiasts wish to demolish that image. Model Railway is not always a toy! At it's best, a model railway is a huge scale model of a transportation system made alive by trains operated according to a timetable.

Model Railway involves and develops all kind of skills. To construct a sound baseboard, carpenter and cabinet makers skills are needed, the scenery calls for artistic taste and talents, electrics or even electronics will become familiar while installing the controllers and alike, plastics need to be handled in order to create houses and rolling stock, some may use lathe or a milling machine to create a brass model of of a locomotive. Railway operation will develop discipline and requires the skills of cooperation.

What could be a better way to get and develop these skills than joining the local model railway club.

Membership
Membership at the Walnut Creek Model Railroad Society is now open.

We are looking for members interested in running trains, who want to learn, share and grow with our ever changing  layout. If you have any of the above skills, or want to acquire these skills, we're interested in you.

Membership is also about sharing time with other people who are interested in modeling railroads. Many members also have interests in full sized trains, and the club often has outings to visit Rio Vista Junction (Western Railway Museum) in Rio Vista, ride up to Sacramento, or circle the San Francisco Bay Area by Rail (Amtrak, Cal Train and BART).

Being an active member means participation at our  monthly public shows. The rank of Engineer allows you to run mainline cabs during the public shows. You can also vote in the yearly elections for club officers. All members have a say voting on advancement to Senior Engineer.

Some of the nouns used here seem sexist, but that is just the way they are defined. If you are offended, please read them as "Brakeperson". Over the years, a number of woman have been members of the club.

Advancement
Listed here are the ranks and what kind of participation you might be involved in.

Switchman (Introducing Yourself)
If you're interested, please come by on a Friday night and introduce yourself. We'll show you around and you can say "hello" to the other members. We usually give prospective members three months to see if this club is something they'd like to join. I.e., if the style of train operation, people, and commute are favorable to you. You should also come down to the public shows and help out. This will give you idea of how the layout runs, and to meet some other members.

If you survive the three months, you become an official member of Switchman rank. Our Membership Committee chairman will announce your name at the monthly business meeting. As a new member you now owe dues and NMRA membership. WCMRS  is 100 %  NMRA members.  

Brakeman
After six months of active participation you are advanced to Brakeman. You are awarded a name badge with your rank on it. There is a sign-in sheet for junior members. Each time you come to the clubhouse, be sure to check the date next to your name. This way we can see that you are active and pursuing advancement. The sign-in sheet is on the left side of the bulletin board.

You should also do a project or two for the club. Publicity for the Holiday Shows needs to get started during the summer to meet press deadlines, for instance. Or you can help with scenery. Everyone takes time to vacuum around the layout and clean rails, especially before the Holiday Shows. Find out who are the committee chairpeople for your area of interests in model railroading.

If you want to run trains, the Trainmaster is in charge of education and making sure people understand how to run the layout. The trainmaster will demonstrate operating guidelines the club members should follow.

Conductor
Advancement to Conductor means you show promise, and are learning how to run the layout. During the public shows, Brakemen and Conductors usually run Olympia Yard, Setup, Nevins or Potterstown. These yards aren't large and are easily managed. Radicals work the Interurban system which has few tie-ins with the main line [sigh - ed.].

The Diablo Yard area usually has three to (at most) six people running it. About 25 people are needed to fully operate the layout during a show. On non-show Tuesday and Fridays, you should practice controlling a yard, and running trains on the mainline. During a show the Trainmaster might ask you to help in Diablo Yard.

You might take on a slightly larger project than before. Scenery projects can be small like making trees, or large like replacing a mountain side.

Engineer
Advancement here means you have shown a commitment to the club, and understand proper operations. As an Engineer you now have almost all of the privileges of membership. You may serve as a committee chairman.

There are actually few engineer members; most are senior engineers. They usually go for the large project and get advancement.

Senior Engineer
As an Senior Engineer you are now top dog. For a few extra dollars each year, you can have "keys to the building" privilege. If you leave the club (say because of a job transfer) and later wish to rejoin, a Senior Engineer will be reinstated with all previous privileges. After a year as senior engineer you have priority for any committee chairman position.

Seniors are sometimes called to help junior members for skill building. This can be with running a yard or cab position, or helping to "tune" equipment for the layout.

Rolling Stock Requirements
All cars brought to the layout need to conform to NMRA standards for wheel gauge, weight, width and height. The mainline rail is code 100 track, which means it is 0.100 inches tall. Some European produced equipment have very deep flanges. These must be ground down before they will pass through the turnouts on the layout. (We have members who have done this and can answer any questions you may have.)

We like the NMRA recommendation RP-20.1 for car weight: 1 ounce plus 0.5 ounce per inch car body length (excludes couplers).  Having a train of all similar weights has some great advantages. First, the car order doesn't matter (generally heavier cars should be near the front of the train). Second, you can back up the train without the lighter cars being pushed off the track by their heavier neighbors, especially around curves! And it's possible ``that the lighter weight cars may be pulled off the track in sharp curves'' (from NMRA, RP 20.1)

Kadee® brand couplers (or equivalent) must be installed. Compatible couplers are OK, but horn hooks shouldn't be used. Exceptions are unit passenger trains, and other specials. There are members that have trains made up from 5-unit "double stack" cars. There are trucks between the interior cars which support the ends of two cars. Some members have installed drawbars between short ore cars.  This pulls the cars closer together, which is more realistic. Plus, it reduces coupler slack during train start and stops. Drawbars can also be used between engines to prevent unsightly uncoupling.

End of train/last car of train must have detection.   

This is a draft document, subject to correction and revision