Tampa Bay Model Railroad Club |
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We are a train club of HO scale model railroaders located in Tampa Florida. We meet weekly to run trains, build and maintain track, and enjoy the camaraderie of other railroad hobbyists. We are continuing to grow with current new projects and are looking forward to an exciting future of model railroading down the tracks. Welcome to the Tampa Bay Model Railroad Club!
The purpose of the club is to build, operate, and promote model railroading for the benefit and enjoyment of the club members and the community at large.
Meetings
Every Monday morning we meet to run trains, work on a DCC layout, and socialize. The layout is located at the Lutheran Church Of Our Saviour. 8401 W. Hillsborough Ave., Tampa FL For more information Email tbmrrc@yahoo.com Events Check here for our next module set-up dates. Also, check our facebook page for frequent updates and more information. |
Free-Mo is one of the current projects that our RR club is very excited about. The Free-Mo concept got it's name from "free modular" and follows a standard of construction for modular model railroading. Members of the Tampa Bay Model Railroad Club are building layout modules that are portable and easily transported to any location for building, maintaining, and running trains. Each module is created with the same standards, guaranteeing that all the modules of the train club will connect together perfectly and will form one layout unit. Each module is unique in scenery design as preferred by the individual assigned to a particular module.
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The greater concept of Free-Mo is that modules from across the country can be transported to a designated location and be linked together to create one large layout. Building with uniform specifications allows HO scale trains to run flawlessly across all modules. More >
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A Brief History of the Tampa Bay Model Railroad Club
In January 1996, Max Saus, a resident of the Twelve Oaks housing subdivision in Tampa, ran an ad in their neighborhood newsletter to see if anyone was interested in starting a modular model railroad club. Six men responded. The seven met later that month, and the Twelve Oaks Model Railroad Club was born (of that group, the only remaining member is Jay Dillinger). Each member built one or two HO scale modules, and periodically they put them together for a weekend run, either in someone's garage or in a church hall or clubhouse meeting room. Slowly, the word spread and the membership began to grow. Most new members did not live in Twelve Oaks. In 1998, with about 20 members on the roster, a decision was made to convert from DC to Digital Command Control (DCC). Then in 2002, with members in three counties and many subdivisions, the Twelve Oaks Model Railroad Club voted to change its name to the Tampa Bay Model Railroad Club. In 2009, the Club embarked on a project to create a Free Mo modular railroad (Free Mo is a nationwide system of uniform specifications allowing participants from anywhere in America to join their modules together to make a railroad as big as the space allows). Today, the Tampa Bay Model Railroad Club consists of some 25 members from around the Tampa Bay area and (including our "snowbird" members) from around the country. |