Utah County railroad club keeps chugging along

OREM — These folks are always going around and around in circles.

But if you think their meetings never get anywhere, think again. They're members of the Ophir, Tintic and Western Model Railroad Club in Orem.

The club, which has existed in Utah County since 1990, focuses its attention and skill on N-scale and HO-scale model railroads.

Larry Carter, club president for the past decade, said his club is a forum for hobbyists to gather and share their talents and interests. It gives members the opportunity to have model railroad discussions with like-minded people.

The club began as an HO-scale club but later expanded to include N-scale model railroads enthusiasts. At Ophir, Tintic and Western, club members individually create a table with a model railroad scenes on top. The tracks on the surface of each table, or module, conform to specific national standards. With each a track entering and leaving at a set place, club members can connect their tables together.

"Because of the structure of our club, having a module — a four-foot table that we make up and then join it with everyone else — it appeals to those people who don't have a home unit," Carter said.

People with setups in their homes don't get into a club setting as much because they don't have to rely on others to bring their tables to complete a full railroad circle.

A few times a year, Carter said, available club members will gather their modules to participate at any of a number of railroad shows throughout the state.

"Say I spend 100 hours building it," Carter said. "Then it's always nice to have a forum to display it."

Just as recently as November, the club participated in a show in Salt Lake City. Shows in 2009 are scheduled in Lehi, Ogden, Helper and Evanston, Wyo.

"They just issue invites, and if we can get enough people to have some free time during that time," Carter said, "we'll take a group down and assemble them in a circle and have some fun."

In addition to the railroad shows, the club helps maintain a permanent railroad scene at the Orem Heritage Museum at the SCERA theater.

The scene depicts 1940s life in Orem. And while the club doesn't own the layout, it provides upkeep and maintenance of the set. The club meets on the third Thursday of every month in the theater's board room.