Model Railroad Clubs – Colorado to D.C.

Now that the list of California Model Railroad clubs has been done we now move onto those in Colorado, Connecticut and Washington D.C.

Colorado

Colorado Free-mo
- Colorado Free-mo is an independent group of modelers located in the Denver Metro area of Colorado. Colorado Free-mo has its beginnings at the GATS show in February of 2003 in Denver. Several modelers came together at the show to discuss the Free-mo concept and where they wanted to go with the concept. Out of those discussions Colorado Free-mo was born.

Boulder Model Railroad Club - The Boulder Model Railroad Club (BMRC) is the Premier Model Railroad Club for Boulder, Broomfield, Adams, Jefferson Counties and beyond in Colorado. The BMRC is about having fun with model railroading. The club has no club layout, which means it can - and must! - Appeal to a variety of skills and interests.

Denver Garden Railway Society - The Denver Garden Railway Society, founded in 1979, is a non-profit organization dedicated to education, promotion and enjoyment of all aspects of garden railroading.

Pikes Peak "N" Gineers Model Railroad Club - The Pikes Peak "N" Gineers Model Railroad Club (PPNG) was founded to provide a meeting place for interested model railroaders, to help fellow members with model railroad problems, to foster interest in the hobby of model railroading through fellowship in the club and to give members the opportunity to construct and operate an N scale layout for club and public display.

Denver N Scale Model Railroad Club - The Denver Area N-Scale Model Railroad Club is a nonprofit organization meeting together for the purpose of promoting the personal enjoyment of the N-scale model railroad hobby. Our club has reestablished itself in the Forney Museum of Transportation.

Denver HO Model Railroad
Club - Located in the basement of the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden, Colorado, the Denver HO Model Railroad Club is an organization whose members share an interest in model railroading.

Connecticut

Central Connecticut 'G' Gauger's - The Central Connecticut 'G' Gauger's was formed in 1998 by cofounders David Snow, and Bob "The Gatorman" Gentile. They are a small informal group that was organized to promote the Large-scale hobby, with a modular layout, that can be transported to local train shows.

Valley N-Trak - Valley N-Trak is a non-profit organization of model railroad enthusiasts promoting the N scale module concept as a viable operational system. The club was established in 1976 with five members meeting in the basement of a local hobby store.

Torrington Area Model Railroaders - The Torrington Area Model Rairoaders began in 1996 with 8 members. Membership has grown over time to 39 today. The club has continued to add shows each year and currently does about 6 shows a year.

Valley HO Trak Model RR Club - A non-profit organization of HO scale model railroaders promoting the modular layout concept as a viable operating system.

Housatonic Model Railway Club - Founded in 1972, the Housatonic Model Railway Club is a not-for-profit corporation to further the enjoyment of the model railroad hobby, primarily through the building and operation of an H0 scale model railroad.

Delaware

D.A.R.N.: the Delco Area Railroaders in "N"
- An N-TRAK Modular Railroading Club.

Lehigh Valley Large Scalers - Large scale train action in the Lehigh Valley.

Nordel Model Railroad Club – Located in Yorklyn, Delaware and they offer multiple membership options to their club.

D.C.

Crescent Model Railroaders
- The Crescent Model Railroaders is an O-Gauge hi-rail
modular model railroad group located in the Washington DC area. We publicly display our layout at a variety of venues including community events, fairs, schools, and train shows.

The next post on the Model Railroad Scales & Train Sets blog will cover the model railroad clubs that are in Florida thru Hawaii.

Related Posts

Model Railroad Clubs – Alabama to Arkansas

Model Railroad Clubs - The California List

Building Train Displays for Model Train Sets

If you've never built a model train display before to setup for your train sets, it's natural to worry a little bit about messing things up and making some sort of catastrophic mistake. However, if you follow the instructions, it's really almost impossible to go wrong with your model train layout.

There are different approaches you can take to this task. If you're building a model train display for a younger child to work with, then you'll most likely want to keep things simple but allow the child some room to change the tracks around to meet their own design ideas.

Model Train Sets Display Creation

Children tend to be less concerned about realistic scale and landscapes for their model trains. Try out some things which you already have around the house to build your model train displays. Your child may not be all that interested in the fine details and they can always add on to the display later on; so it's OK to start small using what you already have.

Adults, on the other hand usually do care a great deal about realism and the scale of their landscape elements. Adults will usually not want to live with a house which is 10 times the height of their HO-scale trains. You can buy or build items to add to your model train display, but most hobbyists do a little of each. If you'd like to build your own landscapes, there are some supplies which you'll want to have on hand.

If you're reading this article, it's a safe assumption that you have at least one model train and some tracks; or are close to purchasing one. You'll want to build your model train layout in an area where you have access to electricity, a relatively constant temperature and which is more or less clean. Dust and dirt can lead to a shorter useful life for your model trains, so take good care of them.

You'll probably want a dedicated model railway tool kit. You'll want some mat knives, needle nose pliers, wire cutters, a small hammer and a pair of scissors in your kit; these tools will be good for the routine maintenance and building tasks involved in model railroading.

If you'll be adding more complex elements, especially ones which require electricity, you may need a few small screwdrivers (Phillips and flat head), a soldering iron, a glue gun and a drill. Of course, you'll also need glue sticks, solder and track pins.
Start your first layout with a piece of heavy paper (railroad board or a soft fiber board is good) backed with a piece of plywood ? this will hold your track pins in place.

Next you need to set up your track. As you add features to your layout, make sure to leave yourself room to reconfigure your track later on to keep things interesting.

Building a model train layout lets you be the architect of your own miniature world and this creative aspect of the hobby is what keeps model train hobbyists happily engaged in model railroading for a lifetime with their train sets. As you acquire skill with making your layouts, you'll be able to change and see the evolution of your model train display as you go.

Of course, if you are going to do a good job of setting up a display for your model train sets, you need some good quality model trains. However, model trains are not cheap, and you need to know where to shop to find the best discount model trains. Here is a good place to shop when you are looking for Discount Model Trains of all different brands plus all the railroad tracks and railroad layout accessories you need.