About the American Modular Group
The American Modular Group currently has a membership of 10 Dunedin area modellers including a husband and wife combination whose ages range from the mid 30's to mid
50's. The group is a member of the New Zealand Association of Model Railway Clubs.
The group was formed in 1995 as the American HO Modular Group, as all members at that time were modelling HO - a scale of 1:87. Their aim was to form a group of like minded individuals to build, operate, and publicly display an American HO Modular Layout based on agreed standards.
After some fundraising, a rectangular layout was designed and constructed.
Each member was given a module to develop, and after a time, the modules were brought back together. The differences in style, colour, terrain and type of area modelled were glaringly obvious, as was the tremendous weight of the overbuilt units.
The layout stagnated as there was no area available to work collectively on the layout, and therefore an inability to have a quality layout suitable for display.
A member of the group had been involved in The Little Train Show in Dunedin since its inception in 1990. In 2000, the American HO Modular Group was offered the Little Train Show to run, as no one else was considered suitable to run this venture.
Successful shows were run in 2001, 2003 and 2005 with the group benefiting financially with grants from the show. The group changed its name to the American Modular Group, as a number of newer members were modelling other scales.
A large 9 metre x 3.5 metre HO layout was able to be professionally constructed in 2003 from plywood and ceiling tile, and the old layout was junked.
The layout was worked upon in the old Telecom Building thanks to the generosity of Calder Stewart Industries until the building neared demolition. The group moved to another workshop building on the same site.
The layout progressed to be able to be displayed at the 2005 show, running, but with the scenery needing much work.
After the 2005 Little Train Show, there was a departure of some members with the rights to the show, so plans were made to continue running a model train show in Dunedin when their efforts to run a show failed.
An invitation to the Christchurch Show in 2006 resulted in much more scenicing being carried out, and a members wife began coming to working sessions. The result was that her artistic flair improved the layout overall, and she has become more active in the group, with the positive of keeping some of the male members in line.
About that time, the group was forced by a pending demolition to shift again, this time to premises owned by Calder Stewart Industries above Gourmet Icecream, where the support of that resident company was appreciated.
The HO layout was displayed at the 2006 Christchurch Show. There was positive reaction by the organisers who had seen the layout in its earlier configuration at the Dunedin Show, and surprised by the step up in its overall appearance.
A small N (1:160) layout had been developed during this time and it was displayed at the Invercargill Show where children were encouraged to operate it. This proved to be a positive for the children, and hopefully may have sparked an interest in modelling railways.
In March 2007 the HO layout was displayed at the Cromwell Train Show, this time with one side completely revamped. Again there were positive comments on how much the layout had been improved.
In May 2007 the American Modular Group ran their Dunedin Model Train Show displaying their HO layout, plus the N layout for the children to operate.
This show is the group's only ability to raise funds for their continued existence.
Donations from the children operating Orsnow, an N Gauge layout netted sufficient funds to be able to import a Thomas the Tank Engine train set with extras, including Bertie. The project by two of the group members built a bi level, two track, HO Thomas & Bertie layout, giving two layouts for children to operate.
The group was forced to move out of the premises above Gourmet Icecream in May 2007, and is now based in a rented school room with a long term lease.
Members can now continue to promote the hobby of Model Railways - called by some as the World’s Greatest Hobby - and by others as a Three Dimensional Art Form - with the schools and others in the community.
In May 2008 another successful Dunedin Model Train Show was run, as featured on other pages of this web site.
The Thomas & Bertie layout gave another layout for children to operate, and Thomas & Bertie actually survived the weekends thrashing. However, the controller for the upper track could not stand the pace, and the resulting smoke issuing from it resulted in it having to be shut down. Thomas and Bertie chased each other on the lower track, and as one was faster than the other, much amusement was enjoyed by those watching.
As part of the group's community commitment, once the Thomas & Bertie layout is up and running reliably, it, and Orsnow the N layout will be made available at no cost for schools at school fairs and suchlike. The HO layout would be made available also for schools that have a sufficiently large enough space for it to be erected.
The members of the American Modular Group are always interested in meeting with others interested in American Railroads, and as possible new members.
The group was formed in 1995 as the American HO Modular Group, as all members at that time were modelling HO - a scale of 1:87. Their aim was to form a group of like minded individuals to build, operate, and publicly display an American HO Modular Layout based on agreed standards.
After some fundraising, a rectangular layout was designed and constructed.
Each member was given a module to develop, and after a time, the modules were brought back together. The differences in style, colour, terrain and type of area modelled were glaringly obvious, as was the tremendous weight of the overbuilt units.
The layout stagnated as there was no area available to work collectively on the layout, and therefore an inability to have a quality layout suitable for display.
A member of the group had been involved in The Little Train Show in Dunedin since its inception in 1990. In 2000, the American HO Modular Group was offered the Little Train Show to run, as no one else was considered suitable to run this venture.
Successful shows were run in 2001, 2003 and 2005 with the group benefiting financially with grants from the show. The group changed its name to the American Modular Group, as a number of newer members were modelling other scales.
A large 9 metre x 3.5 metre HO layout was able to be professionally constructed in 2003 from plywood and ceiling tile, and the old layout was junked.
The layout was worked upon in the old Telecom Building thanks to the generosity of Calder Stewart Industries until the building neared demolition. The group moved to another workshop building on the same site.
The layout progressed to be able to be displayed at the 2005 show, running, but with the scenery needing much work.
After the 2005 Little Train Show, there was a departure of some members with the rights to the show, so plans were made to continue running a model train show in Dunedin when their efforts to run a show failed.
An invitation to the Christchurch Show in 2006 resulted in much more scenicing being carried out, and a members wife began coming to working sessions. The result was that her artistic flair improved the layout overall, and she has become more active in the group, with the positive of keeping some of the male members in line.
About that time, the group was forced by a pending demolition to shift again, this time to premises owned by Calder Stewart Industries above Gourmet Icecream, where the support of that resident company was appreciated.
The HO layout was displayed at the 2006 Christchurch Show. There was positive reaction by the organisers who had seen the layout in its earlier configuration at the Dunedin Show, and surprised by the step up in its overall appearance.
A small N (1:160) layout had been developed during this time and it was displayed at the Invercargill Show where children were encouraged to operate it. This proved to be a positive for the children, and hopefully may have sparked an interest in modelling railways.
In March 2007 the HO layout was displayed at the Cromwell Train Show, this time with one side completely revamped. Again there were positive comments on how much the layout had been improved.
In May 2007 the American Modular Group ran their Dunedin Model Train Show displaying their HO layout, plus the N layout for the children to operate.
This show is the group's only ability to raise funds for their continued existence.
Donations from the children operating Orsnow, an N Gauge layout netted sufficient funds to be able to import a Thomas the Tank Engine train set with extras, including Bertie. The project by two of the group members built a bi level, two track, HO Thomas & Bertie layout, giving two layouts for children to operate.
The group was forced to move out of the premises above Gourmet Icecream in May 2007, and is now based in a rented school room with a long term lease.
Members can now continue to promote the hobby of Model Railways - called by some as the World’s Greatest Hobby - and by others as a Three Dimensional Art Form - with the schools and others in the community.
In May 2008 another successful Dunedin Model Train Show was run, as featured on other pages of this web site.
The Thomas & Bertie layout gave another layout for children to operate, and Thomas & Bertie actually survived the weekends thrashing. However, the controller for the upper track could not stand the pace, and the resulting smoke issuing from it resulted in it having to be shut down. Thomas and Bertie chased each other on the lower track, and as one was faster than the other, much amusement was enjoyed by those watching.
As part of the group's community commitment, once the Thomas & Bertie layout is up and running reliably, it, and Orsnow the N layout will be made available at no cost for schools at school fairs and suchlike. The HO layout would be made available also for schools that have a sufficiently large enough space for it to be erected.
The members of the American Modular Group are always interested in meeting with others interested in American Railroads, and as possible new members.
