Why join the NMRA ?

[Anonymous]

I've been an HO modeler for more years than I care to remember & have never joined the NMRA. Am I missing anything.? would I be a better modeler today? I really don't see much information on the subject. I know thier chief purpose is to standardize HO & N gauge equipment, but it seems the marketplace would take care of that. Should I join & why? I certainly don't need more magazines.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Jerry Leeds

...(I) have never joined the NMRA. Am I missing anything.? would I be a better modeler today?

Hi Jerry
If you want to improve your modeling skills and/or work towards a title of Master Model Railroader, the N.M.R.A. has the path mapped out to reach that goal through their achievement program. It would especially be a benefit to anyone who's business is model railroading.

I'm a N.M.R.A. member, but I'm not that serious about modeling to go for a title. I support the organization simply to help keep it alive. I'm also a member of my local chapter. They do make me a better modeler if I follow their Recommended Practices and Standards. I can go to a meeting of my local chapter to get support and information from other members. I've got a lot of great information there talking with more experienced modelers. Some of them had worked for a railroad and can provide information you can't get anywhere else.
The RP's and standards are there for everyone, without charge. The Kalmbach Memorial Library is a valuable resource.
More

QUOTE: ...I know thier chief purpose is to standardize HO & N gauge equipment, but it seems the marketplace would take care of that.

Market research, in my opinion, is not a perfect science. If manufacturers were to developed their own standards, it would lead to proprietary products. We probably be stuck with having to choose and stay with one brand of model railroad products.

QUOTE: Should I join & why? I certainly don't need more magazines.

That's the $33 question (membership without the magazine). As I said, I support the organization just to help keep them alive as I do my local animal shelter and any other organization that I feel is important to what I care about.

Here's what Model Railroader's Lionel Strang had to say about the N.M.R.A.

[RedGrey62]

Jerry, I cannot answer that question yet. I just joined for the first time myself. I am looking forward to meeting with other modelers in my area (when I get back to my area) to see if I can gain some knowledge and maybe get involved with the clubs (modular and such). Maybe next year I can say it was worth it or not. Interested as you to see the answers.

Rick

[Piedsou]

I belong, but pay the lower dues, so I don't receive their publication 'Scale Rails'. Now that I'm retired, I need to cut back a little on my subscriptions.

With that said, I believe different people will get different benefits out of joining.
In many cases, it depends on where you live.
I live in the Washington, D.C. area which has a very active local division. There are monthly home layout tours and a yearly day long mini convention. It has made it possible to meet many fine people and to see the layouts of Paul Dolkus, John Armstrong, J.D. Smith, Bill and Mary Miller, Howard Zane, Monroe Stewart and many more, too numerous to mention.
The Potomac Division is a part of the Mid-Eastern Region which is one of, if not the largest region in the NMRA. It has a yearly 3 to 4 day convention, which has provided me with the ability to see many more layouts as well as a number of prototype tours.
I've had a complete tour of the RF&P Acca engine facility in Richmond, Va., ridden 5 miles in the cab of a steam locomotive on the New Hope & Ivyland, all directly because of my membership in the NMRA.
All of their mini and regular conventions have clinics given by superb modellers.
The many friends I have made has been certainly worth 'the cost of admission'.


Click on photo for larger image.

So, you may want to check around and see how active your local division is.
You could ask that question as part of this thread. Just tell us what section of the country you are in.

Dale Latham

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Piedsou

.

So, you may want to check around and see how active your local division is.
You could ask that question as part of this thread. Just tell us what section of the country you are in.

Living just a bit west of Baltimore, the Mt Clare Division would be where I belong but it's defuct. I've heard a lot of talk over the last 10 years about a revival, but it's been all talk. Too far to drive to the South Mountain Division (or DC for that matter) so I guess I'm SOL,[V]

[cuyama]

The #1 reason I am an NMRA member is not because I get a lot of immediate benefits, but to contribute to the group's work in setting standards and recommended practices. DCC is the most obvious current result of that work, but there have been many over the years. The Kalmbach Memorial Library is another resource that is supported by NMRA membership.

I happen to live in an active region, the Pacific Coast Region, where the members work together to put on terrific conventions, meetings, and such. But even when I lived in a less-active reason, I belonged to the NMRA. Mainly to support their efforts on all modelers' behalf.

Most people don't do things for the greater good, but if you're one of the people who does, joining the NMRA is a reasonable investment in the good of the hobby. And if money is tight, take the option without the magazine.

Regards,

Byron

[IRONROOSTER]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Jerry Leeds

...I know thier chief purpose is to standardize HO & N gauge equipment, but it seems the marketplace would take care of that. ...

Actually the problem is that the market place didn't and doesn't. DCC didn't really take off until there were standards.

Look at what a mess G is. The NMRA has tried, but met with great resistance; the manufacturers ignore them and market stuff as G or Large Scale.. Thus, unlike HO, buying a G car you could get one of several scales - 1:20.3, 1:22.5, 1:24, or 1:29. Obviously, most of the folks in G don't care. But there might be a lot more people if it standardized.

Enjoy
Paul (NMRA member since 1972)

[ModelTrainman]

I got some FREE address labels from them!

[DavidGSmith]

This topic pops up every so often. I am a membermainly to support the standards and to meet other RRs from all over. I go to the national convention and get a chance to see MRRs that I would never have a chance to see.I have a friend that lives in Florida and we only see each other at the convention. We share a room which cuts down on expenses. There is a gold mine of info available through the NMRA.

[Anonymous]

I belong to the NMRA for three reasons:
1) I believe we need an organization that speaks for the hobby and sets standards.

2) I like the magazine Scale Rails.

3) It gets me a discount at my hobby shop since I do not belong to a local club.

[bsteel4065]

I think the NMRA has done a great deal for the hobby.
We can be grateful for the standards the organisation has created, probably the most important being DCC that actually enabled DCC to happen.
I was a member, wanted to continue to be a member, but no-one from the NMRA let me know when my membership had lapsed and no-one answered my e-mails about it when I realised it myself.
The NMRA has the history and the ability to be a great organisation that could aid and support the hobby, but they seem to have got stuck somewhere. Which is a real shame. Their library is apparently huge, but they don't seem to go out of their way to promote it or make it even make on line access easy. (Surely that would be a money spinner if made generally available.)
Don't get me wrong, not moaning for moanings sake and not kicking off a 'the trouble with the NMRA is........' debate.
Just a shame really.

[jfugate]

I'd say the answer depends on what you are looking for out of the hobby.

If social reasons matter to you and you want to join with your fellow modelers doing fun activities, then yes, the NMRA is one of the best ways to do that.

But if it's just you and your trains in your basement, then no, the NMRA isn't going to appeal to you as much.

But there are other benefits as well, like the NMRA library. Members can get copies of material from the NMRA library for a very modest fee.

The NMRA has an entire CD full of modeling notes and data sheets you can purchase as a member.

The NMRA will help you with estate planning so that the disposition of your hobby posessions is handled like you want when you pass on.

And of course, there's the DCC standards committee, probably the most active NMRA standards committee in recent years.

The Scale Rails publication you get with a standard membership is okay, but I wouldn't go out of my way to purchase it if it was available on the magazine rack at a hobby shop.

One of the reasons I'm in the hobby is to get together with my fellow modelers and the NMRA facilitates that nicely -- when the National Conventions come to the west coast, I usually go, and I come back so pumped about the hobby that I can run a good 6 months to a year just on the residual energy from attending. Works wonders for making progress on the layout!

[joseph2]

Jerry,perhaps you might check on their website to see if there is an active Division near you.The nmra website has a lot of useful links. Joe

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by IRONROOSTER

QUOTE: Originally posted by Jerry Leeds

...I know thier chief purpose is to standardize HO & N gauge equipment, but it seems the marketplace would take care of that. ...

Actually the problem is that the market place didn't and doesn't. DCC didn't really take off until there were standards.

Look at what a mess G is. The NMRA has tried, but met with great resistance; the manufacturers ignore them and market stuff as G or Large Scale.. Thus, unlike HO, buying a G car you could get one of several scales - 1:20.3, 1:22.5, 1:24, or 1:29. Obviously, most of the folks in G don't care. But there might be a lot more people if it standardized.

Enjoy
Paul (NMRA member since 1972)

[Anonymous]

Dont join it is a waste of money. I read a friends magazine and use his card to get into the convertion layout tours. He doesnt go on them

[brothaslide]

QUOTE: Originally posted by CurtMc

Dont join it is a waste of money. I read a friends magazine and use his card to get into the convertion layout tours. He doesnt go on them

Why exactly is it a waste of money? It seems you gain a benefit from using your friends membership status so it must be worth something.

[CNJ831]

Jerry - As some others have implied, you get out of an NMRA membership basically what you are willing to put into it. On the national level it really isn't worth much, unless you have a fat wallet to attend the national conventions annually, or the elite Modeling With The Masters session. The organization's magazine really isn't worth much either and you will not directly learn very much about hands-on modeling through the National organization.

That said, the worth of NMRA for the average person comes from interaction with the local and regional braches of the organization. IF you happen to be situated in an area with an active Division, which meets monthly or bi-monthly, you'll be able to gain a great deal talking with the participants, attending their modeling clinics, and visiting their advanced layouts. Much the same goes for the Regional meetings/conventions usually held twice annually, which include many valuable clinics and layout tours. Of course, little of fun of this comes from being a wall-flower...you must participate.

My suggestion to you would be to attend a meeting or two of your local Division as a guest to see who's there and what goes on, see how open the group is to newcomers, and how much the members seem to know about the hobby. Evaluate these situations before plunking down your money for a membership.

CNJ831
(one time 17+ year member of NMRA, convention clinician, and Div. official)

[jeffshultz]

I signed up for a "Railpass" membership - since I'll be going to the local regional convention (and helping run one of the layouts) I thought I ought to be a member. And it's a bit of a thank you for the DCC standard as well.

The only problem is that I haven't gotten a membership card or anything yet.... I know they've cashed the check.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by CurtMc

Dont join it is a waste of money. I read a friends magazine and use his card to get into the convertion layout tours. He doesnt go on them

Not everybody has friends who are subscriber/members...

Every couple of years I send them money, more of a "keep up the good work" gesture than the fact that I get anything informative out of them.

[Ibflattop]

Why did I join the NMRA? For me it was to meet other modelers in my area.
Go to the conventions and have the support of others that believe in the hobby.
Kevin