Welcome to Burning River N Society model train club's website.

We are an N-scale model train club that is dedicated to bringing the hobby to the public.  We are an active club that sets up layouts at various train shows and local events and civic locations to demonstrate our love of the hobby.

We have members that excel in modeling scenery, others that work with a variety of electronic controls, and some who just simply love to run trains.

Burning River N Society (BRNS) is an N-scale railroad club. N scale, which is 1:160 of actual size, is one of the most popular model railroading scales worldwide, being extremely popular in Japan, Australia, and Europe. This scale allows for much more scenery and track usage to be utilized in the available space. N-scale manufacturers have tried to provide most everything in N scale as prototypical, meaning that what is modeled is running or has run out there on the rail somewhere. N scale has been around since the mid-1970s and has available just about anything a model railroader would want to complete their rolling stock, scenery, or control systems.

BRNS uses the NTrak standard for model railroading on our large layouts. We also have smaller layouts we use that are designed for our local needs. NTrak allows modelers to participate in a large layout but only invest a small amount of space in development of standard modules. Modules can be joined with other modules, club layouts, or groups that also use NTrak standards to form very large layouts for display. It should be noted that not all modelers select N scale because they have limited spaces; some do so in order to build more complex or more visually expansive models. Some do it solely because they like the size.

N scale locomotives are powered by direct current (DC) motors. Traditionally, DC voltage would control the speed of a single train as determined by the amount of voltage supplied to the rails. The direction of the train is determined by the polarity of the power to the rails. More recently, a large percentage of modeling enthusiasts have started using digital command control (DCC) systems to determine the speed and direction of their trains. This allows for multiple trains operating on the same track and in both directions with handheld mobile throttles.

BRNS started in the late 1960's with members primarily from the Cleveland, Ohio area. Please see our History Page for more details. We accept members simply because they have an interest in modeling N scale. The only requirement for membership is participation. There are no dues collected. We are a non-profit organization and operate off of donations.

Club meetings are usually the 3rd Friday of the month at 7:30 pm. Meeting Locations are determined a month or two in advance. See our Schedule and Event Calendar for details.