TCA Eastern Division Lays Down The Law

[Anonymous]

http://ogaugerr.infopop.cc/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/57660482/m/5731000693

Are they going over the top?

[nblum]

They're way beyond "over the top" and have achieved geosynchronous orbit around Pluto. ;) A reprimand and warning would have more than sufficed. This is truly the actions of folks who have lost all perspective and common sense. Hopefully they will apologize for their precipitous maladroit decision and get on with life.

[Anonymous]

As I noted on the referenced threa, they are indeed way over the top on this one, and I expect it will have some profound ramifications down the line. I've been an avid supporter of the TCA, TCA Eastern Division, and the York Meet for quite some time (and am an Eastern Division member myself), and to say I'm disappointed in seeing this happen is an understatement.

My hope is that a sufficient number of Eastern Div. members will take notice and then organize themselves to see that appropriate changes are made both in leadership and in policies. This is a black eye that the Eastern Division certainly deserved in this instance.

[Poppa_Zit]

This comes from a longtime TCA member (Midwest Division).

When I first read the email referred to above, I felt ashamed to be a TCA member. The email to the Trackers telling them of being banned from York for taking pictures of their own operating layout reeks so much of "officialness" it reads like it was written by Barney Fife. The author really needs to chill out and get himself a life.

This matter should have been handled either with a phone call or in person. Now the author will quickly become aware how written words can come back to haunt, especially when the Internet can move them quickly and efficiently.

It is no secret the TCA has been bleeding members for the last few years. It (and all its divisions) should be pulling out all the stops to not only attract new members AND new people to our hobby, but should also concentrate on finding ways to KEEP the members it has. Raising dues to offset decreasing membership is a slippery slope leading to a downward spiral... and, ultimately, oblivion.

I pay both national and local TCA dues, as well as dues in my local S gauge club. Yes, I am offended the TCA is so heavily "Lionel-" and "3-rail-" oriented, but I have learned to dismiss it. Thanks to the pleasure I get from this hobby, I feel obligated to support it in some fashion. Now I'm thinking that maybe after all these years, it is time for me to send my charitable donation somewhere else.

I have never been to York (my schedule prevents this), so the only physical thing from TCA I get for my national outlay of $32 a year is the publications -- one of which they've threatened to cut back and the other which virtually ignores S gauge. So maybe I'm not really a "member" as much as a "supporter."

I don't mind supporting an organization that has positive pursuits and can show results.

But here's a few words to the narrow-minded, shallow thinkers who run the TCA:

Why insist on keeping it (two signatures) a closed-shop, "good old boys club?"

In light of the membership down-trend, don't you see a need to retool your modus operandi?

You need to remind yourselves that everyone in the world doesn't model Lionel or O Gauge.

You need to deliver to keep receiving.

Don't let manufacturers run the organization.

[Anonymous]

The NCT group needs to refuse ANY apology at this point. The bridge is burned.

[3railguy]

It's not worth the Trackers time sweating over this because it's a hobby. The sensible thing for them to do is not respond, drop out of the organization, and never look back as though it was a bad dream or something.

[Anonymous]

All this over PHOTOS of trains on a layout?

Shame.

[overall]

I'm not a TCA member, but I wish someone would give me the short version of what happened and what rule was broken. Also, what is the rationale behind the rule? Maybe someone in the TCA who informed on these matters could comment?

George

[mitchelr]

QUOTE: Originally posted by overall

I'm not a TCA member, but I wish someone would give me the short version of what happened and what rule was broken. Also, what is the rationale behind the rule?

George

George,

Basically, TCA has rules against cameras in the trading halls and against using walkie talkies/cell phones. I suppose the reasoning is that someone could use these electronic gadgets to their advantage and to the disadvantage of the seller.

Mitch[swg]

[poppyl]

This entire situation is sad and disappointing. What makes it even worse is that the offending pictures really aren't very good. The lighting is bad and it's hard to see any detail. You do get some feel for the size of the modular layout but that's about it. The most distinctive feature in the photos is the chandeliers.

The e-mail cast the situation in concrete and I don't see how any kind of compromise can be reached without the author or the Eastern Division coming out looking badly for either over-enforcing a rule on the one hand or backing down on their rules under pressure on the other, thus opening the door to ignoring other rules if people so choose. The ill-advised e-mail has backed them into a corner.

Poppyl

[Roger Bielen]

I wonder how many members TCA will loose over this.

[Anonymous]

Don't know how many members they might lose, but the Eastern Div. has singlehandedly made it a whole lot more difficult to recruit any new members from the ranks of hobbyists who participate on the various on-line forums, or who learn about this matter from those who do.

I imagine most would-be members would simply ask themselves "who needs this kind of crap from a social group?" and simply save their money to buy more train stuff so they can enjoy the hobby in the way it is meant to be enjoyed.

The officers of the TCA Eastern Division--and I assume that includes all of them--have created a public relations nightmare for themselves that will haunt them, and the TCA, for a long time to come.

[artyoung]

If I may be so bold as to point something out (that may allow Eastern Division to back down with a minimum of embarassment) : the rules state that there will be no 'phones, cameras, etc. in the "TRADING HALLS". The Black Hall was being used as a display, with NO buying or selling going on that I could see. Sort of the same arrangement that the WB&A enjoys with their "kid's corner" (and there's some photos taken there with no one throwing a fit). That said, Eastern should withdraw their letter, and the Trackers should tell Eastern to go p*** up a rope. Enough games, we get entirely too much of that crap with the manufacturers. Give it a rest.

[3railguy]

The email ends like this:

QUOTE: It really saddens me that a group that I belong to, and have supported to have the honor to be the first group to display at York, would deliberately break the rules and break my trust. This issue will be dealt with very severely.
Sadly and annoyed,
Bill Spanarelli

I agree with the camera rule but only a completely ignorant moron would attack an otherwise hard working, innocent group in this manner.

[dwiemer]

Ok, so I have been toying with the idea of trying to become a member of the TCA. I enjoy the hobby and would like to support it in a meaningful way. Then I read the letter from this TCA guy and I have to ask, what is the deal? So, can anyone tell me what would be the benefit of joining such a group, especially if I may never make it to York?
Dennis

[Anonymous]

Hey guys,

Debate the issue all you want, but please don't start calling people names.

I know Bill Spanarelli personally. He is a good guy and his job at York for many years has been to enforce the rules others have created. He takes his job very seriously.

In past years I have spoken to a few of the York meet officers both seriously and in jest over the photo rule, and from those conversations I suspect there is more to this particular incident than we know.

If you're fired up about this, and you are a TCA member, write a letter to your division or to the national office. While the Eastern Division runs the York meet, it, like all other divisions, must abide by the national by-laws, which, for better or worse, don't say much about meets.

Neil Besougloff
editor

P.S. Mitch, nice photo!

[beefmalone]

QUOTE: Originally posted by NeilBesougloff

I know Bill Spanarelli personally. He takes his job very seriously.

Neil Besougloff

A little too seriously, apparently.

[Buckeye Riveter]

It is hard for me to imagine that one person is allowed by the constitution and/or by-laws of an established organization to compose and send such a scathing notification without the majority of the officers and directors of the TCA Eastern Division being in agreement.

Recently, I had the privilege(?) of voting on a disciplinary action within a voluntary organization. All of the officers and directors actively participated before the letter of reprimand was delivered. and even then it was delivered in person by two of the officers.

If I were an officer or director of the TCA Eastern Division, I certainly would be very upset if this notification was sent out without my input and participation in a meaningful discussion of the facts. More importantly, the president of the TCA Eastern Division should at a minimum have been in personal contact with the president of the allegedly offending organization before any type of reprimand. [2c]

[palallin]

The TCA will be either a dead organization of a very different organization in ten years or so. The world has passed them by. They are no longer capable of controlling access to information about and access to trading insider deals on toy trains. The internet, the diversification of the hobby, and even Kalmbach and CTT itself have brought about the end, I'm delighted to say. One need no longer belong to the secret club and finance its machinations in order to learn about the trains or get permission to trade in them.

Once upon a time, the organization was both necessary and useful. The Toy Train Mueusm and the Library are the legacy of that great effort. But the toy train world has outgrown its self-appointed guardian, and so the organization has little to offer and less each passing year. As its aging membership dies off, it, too, will die off. The alternative is to open itself up to match the current nature of the train enthusiast and the much changed marketplace.

[trigtrax]

Okay.. It's time to call for some restraint.. on both sides.. Time to look beyond this squabble.. Folks are calling for tearing down the TCA.. But what will replace it? Now is not the time to be pushing a wedge into this wound.

[palallin]

I'm not calling for tearing the TCA down: changed market and hobby circumstances and their own policies are doing that. I don't think anything will replace it as no organization is needed twith the breadth, scope, and (most importantly) control that the TCA has attempted.

[Bob Keller]

Guys, keep in mind that York is not organized and run by the TCA, but by the Eastern Division. Fussing at the national organization is pointless, and unless you're in the Eastern Division, you really don't have any input.

[Anonymous]

I guess "what happens in York, stays in York" Easter

[palallin]

You're quite right, Bob: I don't have any input, though I've offered it before directly to the TCA through the organ of their own TTML mailing list. The oreason I offered it was a request for reasons why someone might NOT want to join the TCA (as their membership problems were beginning to show on their radar). So I offered my reasons. I was told at that time that I had no say and that my reasons were uninteresting to them. That reply simply summed up my reasons, just as this nonsense with the Trackers does.

I wish no one ill, but the TCA, in its current form does little to foster and much to hinder the hobby that it created but is losing touch with. And, as others have noted, the distinction between the national organization and the Easteren Division is the distinction between the tail and the dog. One wonders, however, which one is doing the wagging.

[Bob Keller]

Very interesting observation.

[Dr. John]

As an outsider, would someone explain to me why I should want to pay money to be a part of this organization? All the threads related to this incident on this and other forums make me question the purpose of the TCA Eastern Division. Is it to promote the hobby? Is it some sort of insider's club? (I see you have to have the endorsement of two TCA members to join). Is it for the privelege of attending York twice each year?

Whatever the rules state, and regardless of who is in the right or wrong, it has certainly left me with a very negative impression.

[Poppa_Zit]

Bob --

Thanks for letting us vent.

My intention was not to rip on the TCA -- far from it. Rather, I tried to frame it as constructive criticism by including suggestions. While I realize TCA is not a democracy, I still feel after all these years of paying dues I'm entitled to an opinion. I am not eager to see the demise of the TCA -- but with all the symptoms we're seeing, it is 'way past time the TCA realizes it needs to reinvent itself. They're still trying to be a steam-powered organization in the diesel age.

How I feel on this subject is born from frustration, not anger.

[FJ and G]

I would be more inclined to visit York if I could see some photos. Perhaps this would stanch declining membership and revitalize the organization if folks could see what they're missing?

With what occurred up there, I now have no desire to attend York, nor to become an Eastern member.

[ChiefEagles]

Time for some changes in Eastern Division. I am a member but do not want to get into why I'm unhappy with them.

[SPFan]

I attended this year for the first time as a guest. If you have any interest in 3 rail trains at all you should make at least one visit to York. Quite simply there is nothing that compares to it. I am not a member of either the TCA or NCT and while I think the no photo rule is a little odd as it applies to this case it would not be a reason to not attend in the future. This should not be an excuse not to go. In fact none of the insider political wrangling should prevent you attending. Its your loss if you miss it.

Pete