NMRA DUES

[Anonymous]

WELL I DONT CARE ABOUT INTL PART OF NMRA, AND I DONT KNOW ABOUT THE OTHER PART OF THE USA,BUT MY LOCAL DIV,PUTS OUT A VERY GOOD NEWLETTER,ONCE A MONTH EXCEPT FOR THE SUMMNER WITH ALL DATES OF UPCOMING MODEL RAILROAD RELATED EVENTS,IF I COULD JUST PAY FOR THIS NEWSLETTER THAT WOULD BE GREAT.>>>HUB

[Anonymous]

I belong to the NMRA because the local division has good activities.One way to save on dues is not subscribe to the national bulletin.

[Anonymous]

What are people's feelings on tne NMRA? I was thinking about joining, but I just re-entered the hobby and do not belong to any local groups.

Is it worth it? I had planned on doing it this month to avoid the increase for this year. Any thoughts?

[Anonymous]

I think what people get out of the NMRA depends a lot on their local division, and I think this is in part the fault of the national organization, which doesn't seem to be able to exercise much effective control over moribund or inactive divisions. So if you're satisfied with local activities and you can find ways to reduce money spent on the national, more power to you. But if you are not satisfied, the quickest way to send the message, it seems to me, is to vote with your wallet, and resolve not to send good money after bad if you don't feel you're getting your money's worth. On a slightly different note, I found after about 6 years as an NMRA member that I was beginning to be able to spot local and regional NMRA officers even before I knew who they were -- they came off as not terribly bright but very opinionated and set in their ways, often displaying poor communications skills. These are poor qualities in leaders. I can think of some exceptions -- PCR, for instance, appears to be extremely fortunate in its officers, but this is more than counterbalanced elsewhere. If you like the NMRA, fine, but I think there are many good reasons to give them a pass.