Walthers boots model railroad club

I beleive the actual reason I was aluding to was that Walthers needs the space for the increased lines that it is now distributing...

and, i believe that the departure was not a "BOOTING" but came about by mutual agreement.

I CANT BELIEVE IT! Walther's actually booting the model railroad that lies on there property, theres just something totally wrong with this picture, however as stated before its all business decisions from purely business mentality individuals, No company kindliness here. However 2 members does make it quite hard to justify the space used. One point is if Walther's Individuals were not so business indulged the space which the railroad occupies could have been sanctioned as A NON-for-Profit Organization which in most states and counties are property tax exempt Allowing Walther's to save some bucks. while asking for small donations from each visitor to off set operating cost. Which could be put towards building space elsewhere for Walther's operations and storage. I should have followed through on my Idea a few years ago and bought an abandoned warehouse I was looking at in the Chicagoland area when it was selling for little to nothing. My Idea would have been the base of operations for the Research group I'm involved with ( operated on the top floor) and on the side the Main floor area ( roughly 25,000 + sq feet) I would have taken in Model railroad layouts ( as long as the owners agree to donate them) from across the US displaced by no longer having a facility to operate in, by joining them all together as one big railroad. Alas I never bought the space. Im kicking myself now! Have they began dispelling the Model Railroad at Walther's yet ? Or are they waiting for a final notice before dismantlement?

Wow ! That is one hell of an idea ! With space that large, the potential would be there for a world-class layout ! It would also highlight your research organization and probably affect that positively as well.

Regarding Walthers and this model RR club, I even find the suggestion of Walthers asking for donations distasteful. Walthers is not exactly your small mom and pop store on the corner. They are a world-wide, established, profitable corporation with numerous assets. If this was Scenic Express it would be different.

I don't know, I think Walther's is absolutely justified. Here's the facts as I see them:

1. Walthers has grown quite a bit in the last 50 years. You're dealing with a corporate mentality now, instead of the mom-and-pop operation that they once were.

2. The club was larger, but has shrank down to two members, both men in their 70s. This implies a degree of stagnation.

3. One of these members has "a strong personality" which may have contributed not only to the drop in membership, but also with relations with Walthers.

4. Walthers may well have needed the extra space. Hey, it's completely possible.

I think Walthers realized that they were essentially babysitting two old men, and the layout that had been built and maintained by a number of people over the years had devolved into little more than a dust collecting waste of space. There are indeed several model railroad clubs in the Milwaukee area - a few years ago, Model Railroader voted Milwaukee the #1 model railroading city in the USA, to no-one's surprise - and Walthers probably thought that these two remaining members might be better served by joining another club so that they could regain the use of the area the layout was displacing.

Just my $0.02.

3rdrail wrote:Wow ! That is one hell of an idea ! With space that large, the potential would be there for a world-class layout ! It would also highlight your research organization and probably affect that positively as well.

Thanks for the support of my idea 3rdrail, alas the building was demolished just a few months ago. the owner no longer could keep up with the property tax I was told so he had it leveled and its now as vacant lot. it was a really nice 2 story building as well. I loved the idea that I could work and play all in the same area, and not have to spend months/years building from scratch a world class HO layout ( I just don't have the time). however with clubs donations of layouts I could build 4x8 or 2x4 sections in certain areas and join donated layouts together for one massive layout, thats something I would have time for. I know of 2 clubs in the Toronto Canada area ( during 2007-2008) that has to dismantle and stopped operations because the space was need for something/someone else. One of the clubs senior members said to me " I hate to see all of our hard work over many years go down the drain" and that's what sparked my Idea, as I have heard many other Layouts are facing or faced the same faith due to the economic times. However the dream is not dead just on hold Ive got a couple of buildings Im keeping in mind ( abandoned circuit cities) cough,cough! however there only 1 story ( 1/2 the square footage) and are in the price range of 5X what I would have paid for my original planed building. But Im still looking.

Buddah

I am... floored.

The layout was a Milwaukee institution.

Lived there three years while I was in school (UW-Milwaukee: 2000-2003), but NEVER went to see the layout. (Believe me, I've kicked myself numerous times over the past few years over that!)


A definate bummer to say the least.