Prior to moving south I was a member of Central Operating Lines on Long Island for 12 years. With about 60 members, there were occasional issues between members, but overall the positives greatly outweighed the negatives. I learned a tremendous amount about creating scenery, maintaining trains, trackwork, etc. Many of the members bought the newest, latest locomotives and scale cars, so I got to enjoy seeing them run.
Though it is a cliche, you do get out of it what you put into it. Folks will join a train club for many reasons. Some like building the layout, some like doing scenery, some just want to run their trains on a large layout. Some are willing to work at swap meets or on the layout, others, not so much. Some are scale fanatics (it has to be prototypical!), others enjoy postwar, 027, etc. Everybody got the chance to run their trains, finances were transparent and Friday nights were always fun after a week of work.
Blend all of the above and you will get some disagreements. The skill of the club officers in keeping everybody happy is very important and we were lucky in that regard.
I'd do it again if there was a similar club where I live now.
