NMRA

[on30francisco]

I used to belong to the NMRA for over 10 years but let my membership lapse 5 years ago. They have done many good things for this hobby such as set standards for products and promote model railroading. Their bulletins used to be filled with a lot of helpful modeling information pertaining to all scales and levels. I got started in narrow gauge modeling from a series (Narrow Nuggets by Pete Moffett) that appeared in the bulletin during the time I was a member. What discouraged me from renewing my membership was the fact that they started concetrating much more on promoting their conventions, modeling contests, MMRs, personality differences, and politics. Although I have no interest in contests or trying to attain a MMR certificate, I feel there is nothing wrong with these, and people who achieve these goals should be recognized. I believe they have also neglected minority scales and gauges in favor of HO (I model in HO as well as in On30). I attended some regional chapter meetings in the past and found the members to be very cliquish and aloof ("good old boys"). I asked a few members for some information and they acted like "who the h*** are you." They made a few of us newcomers feel like pariahs - especially if our modeling methods or choices of scales happened to be different than theirs. I'm in this hobby to have fun and when a certain aspect of it stops being enjoyable, its time for some changes.

[darth9x9]

I have thought about joining for a couple of years now but I haven't made the jump. A fellow club member joined and I have been sitting back and watching what happens to him.

BC

[dehusman]

The division in Omaha is pretty active. I have belonged for about 8 years. Stopped subscribing to the Bulletin (Scale Rails) after they "ripped off" pictures I submitted for an article (they kept the all the pictures I submitted with an article, even the ones that were never published, yet the magazine NEVER published that anything you submit, whether used or not, is retained). The organization is horribly inefficient and byzantine. They are forever losing documentation and submissions. I had to submit documentation 4 or 5 times to get my Railroad Author achievement award. It takes months to track down who's in charge of what and then to get somebody to fix or act on what ever the problem or item is. They recently reorganized and I doubt that it will improve. They mostly reorganized the deck chairs instead of plugging any leaks.

If your division isn't very active or well organized, you probably won't get very much out of the NMRA.

Dave H.

[Anonymous]

All in all, the preceding posts are not good advertisement for the NMRA. [V]Perhaps if they could do something relevant soon, that would benefit some members, they could save some face for now.
Hint: Step into the HO MTH, DCS vs DCC brewhaha and cut through the crap and BS , educate about the DCC standards and clear the air.
Then, find something else! Keep going! Be vital, be current, and stop resting on Laurels earned years ago!

[Anonymous]

I've been an NMRA Life Member for some 25 years now. I rank membership in the NMRA as the single best investment I have ever made in the hobby--the national conventions and the wonderful friendships made over the years are, in themselves, well worth many times the price paid.

It has been somewhat entertaining to read all the misinformation presented in this thread relating to the organization's purpose and goals in general, and to its involvement with Large Scale in particular (one of my favorite modeling scales), but that sort of thing is common with most all Internet forums and hardly worth fretting over.

I do get a kick out of the "what have you done for me lately?" line of thinking that invariably pops up whenever a topic focuses on organizational membership. The more appropriate question might be: "What have YOU done for your hobby lately?"

[Anonymous]

In the EARLY 1960's General Electric developed a system called ASTRAC (Automatic Simulteaneous TRain Control). This was the first true command control system. In the 1930's Lionel had a system called Magic Electrol. This had some of the rudiments of command but was short lived due to (guess what), a PATENT DISPUTE. Those who are familiar with Lionel Trains may have noticed that the 3469 dump car has an empty space in it's design complete with screw bosses that looks like a good place to mount a primitive carrier control receiver.