12-19-2017, 09:54 PM
(This post was last modified: 12-25-2017, 03:21 AM by Bob Johnson.)
This past Sunday, I had an opportunity to visit the Elmhurst Model Railroad Club located in Elmhurst, IL. It was good to see another Club. The EMRRC has a large permanent layout and about 300 members. It appears to be a good club, offering elements to attract and cater to the varying interests of their members. While I saw several things that I liked, the visit reinforced for me... just how great our location, layout and club is!
Some specifics;
- You can visit their website at www.emrrc.org
- The club has 3 separate layouts (HO, HOn3 and N)
- Their HO layout includes a long winding mainline, lots of industry switching and more than enough yard trackage; including separate Passenger, Freight Classification, multiple Industry yards and under-layout Staging).
- The HO layout supports both DC and DCC. They use a different (more complex electrical scheme than we do). We really owe a Mike Cook gratitude for the simplicity of his design.
- The aisle space however is very cramped. While multiple operators can run trains simultaneously - the winding nature of the mainline and cramped aisle make it seem very congested.
- The Club is located in the basement of a commercial building; ceilings are 10 foot and add to the feeling of being cramped.
- Their old layout featured a double mainline. The current layout has several single mainline areas. If few trains are running, they can accommodate long (100+ car trains) but if multiple trains are running, the single mainline portions cause bottle-necks.
- The layout is ballasted and has detailed scenery almost everywhere except the Freight Classification Yards.
- Many areas, have isolated tracks that are for scenery only. They run at an angles to the mainline with crossing or over-passes. They dead-end on aisle facia and/or back-wall. It looks good but serves no layout purpose beyond scenery.
- Their clubs host open houses every Friday and Sunday. They only have minimal areas protected by Plexiglas. They acknowledge a big issue with kids flipping switches on the control panel and touching the layout.
- I observed a couple of members placing Soda cans directly on the layout while they attended to something else. I didn't see any evidence of spills but I like our guidelines of not putting drinks on the layout.
- The wiring under layout is a spaghetti -bowl. Again, we owe Mike gratitude for how clean the wiring is on our layout.
- I believe they said they have multiple operating sessions per week.
- The Club has 1 day per week, where no trains are run and layout work is scheduled.
Well, I can share more if anyone is interested. I'll add some pictures to a subsequent post. Overall, I think we have a great location, layout and club.
Oliver Bowe
Some specifics;
- You can visit their website at www.emrrc.org
- The club has 3 separate layouts (HO, HOn3 and N)
- Their HO layout includes a long winding mainline, lots of industry switching and more than enough yard trackage; including separate Passenger, Freight Classification, multiple Industry yards and under-layout Staging).
- The HO layout supports both DC and DCC. They use a different (more complex electrical scheme than we do). We really owe a Mike Cook gratitude for the simplicity of his design.
- The aisle space however is very cramped. While multiple operators can run trains simultaneously - the winding nature of the mainline and cramped aisle make it seem very congested.
- The Club is located in the basement of a commercial building; ceilings are 10 foot and add to the feeling of being cramped.
- Their old layout featured a double mainline. The current layout has several single mainline areas. If few trains are running, they can accommodate long (100+ car trains) but if multiple trains are running, the single mainline portions cause bottle-necks.
- The layout is ballasted and has detailed scenery almost everywhere except the Freight Classification Yards.
- Many areas, have isolated tracks that are for scenery only. They run at an angles to the mainline with crossing or over-passes. They dead-end on aisle facia and/or back-wall. It looks good but serves no layout purpose beyond scenery.
- Their clubs host open houses every Friday and Sunday. They only have minimal areas protected by Plexiglas. They acknowledge a big issue with kids flipping switches on the control panel and touching the layout.
- I observed a couple of members placing Soda cans directly on the layout while they attended to something else. I didn't see any evidence of spills but I like our guidelines of not putting drinks on the layout.
- The wiring under layout is a spaghetti -bowl. Again, we owe Mike gratitude for how clean the wiring is on our layout.
- I believe they said they have multiple operating sessions per week.
- The Club has 1 day per week, where no trains are run and layout work is scheduled.
Well, I can share more if anyone is interested. I'll add some pictures to a subsequent post. Overall, I think we have a great location, layout and club.
Oliver Bowe