NMRA members only!

I have been a member of the NMRA for some time as well but seldom am able to attend regional meetings or clinics. Yet, I recognize how much the organization has contributed to the hobby over the years, especially in regard to standards and DCC. Scale Rails has been drastically improved recently and the Kalmbach Library has proven helpful more than once for me. IMO, I will continue to be a member as long as the dues don’t become too prohibitive.

John

Mebane, NC

I think it may be helpful to try to define some terms that have been bantered around here.

At least in my Division, the terms would mean:

Meet - A monthly, quarterly, or even less frequent depending on the division, meeting of the membership. We usually charge a small amount for admission to members and a couple dollars more to “Guests” (yes membership should have its privileges!). This is our way of covering the costs of putting on a meet. (Hopefully…)

Clinic - one of the activities at a meet or a convention.

Convention - a several day long meeting usually held at the regional level once (or sometimes twice) a year. The annual National Meeting for membership is also a Convention.

Modelers Corner - held at train shows, it is a working display of model railroading. This is a key opportunity to meet with and show the public what we do, and hopefully gain some new members. (My division does three of these every year.)

Layout Tours - these can be part of a meet (we have several layouts that are open for visits of members and their guests at every meet). They can also be events by themselves, depending on the division.

Hope the above is helpful.

73

Hi!

I’m been an NMRA member since the '80s, and just renewed for 2 years. While I have never actually attended an NMRA event, and don’t get particularly excited over Scale Rails, my support is mainly to keep the Hobby’s “conformances & standards” efforts ongoing.

Without their efforts, DCC manufacturers would probably be somewhat incompatable, as would so many other aspects of model railroading. And these efforts at standardization certainly help keep costs down - at least lower than they would be otherwise.

I totally agree that the dues have gotten pricey, but if you can afford it, IMHO you should be a member.

Hey, for what its worth…

Mobilman44

Time to find a new insurance carrier? Wow. Good luck finding an insurance company that will insure people for nothing.

Every solvent insurer today insists on certain conditions in order to underwrite an event, organization, or a life. If they insist on paid up membership, so be it. Otherwise, they will have to apportion the costs/head to the rest of the paid membership, meaning that the paid members will have to carry those who can’t/won’t pay. Risk to the insurer goes up with each visitor or paid attendee at any one event.

-Crandell

Emphasis Added

To bring this back to the OP’s comments, after re-reading the original post, I wonder if he’s changed his perspective? He originally stated that he didn’t renew because he didn’t see any particular value, yet still attended the clinics. That seems to indicate that he put some value on the clinics since he was attending them (otherwise whouldn’t that have just been a waste of time?). The question back to the OP is, “What are those clinics worth?” The insurance company part is simply a red herring IMO.

I had joined in the early 1970s, more to support the NMRA’s work on developing standards, past and ongoing, than any other reason. I continued as a member for around 15 years, but when the time came for renewing after a 5-year term had expired I let it lapse.

The main reason was cost, which had become far too high compared to my benefits. The renewal notice suggested that membership dues for the local division and region was now an obligatory part of renewing, and quite frankly, I am not an active enough modeler for them to be important to me. While a member I attended one Divisional meet. A cheaper option was to not get the magazine, but that meant I would no longer be in touch with any discussion of new standards, which was the main reason for joining in the first place. The lack of transparency on the fiscal position of the HQ building also troubled me.

Some years later the “rerail” program sent a mailing, at which time I borrowed a friend’s recent issues of the magazine. It had become glossier, and appeared to be an attempt to compete with the commercial press rather than a means of membership communication. One of the most important sections, that of letters from members, had been eliminated entirely. Perhaps the discussion therein was embarrassing to entrenched interests - whatever the reason I was appalled. And I got far better value out of the mainstream press with articles that were of greater relevance to my activities. So the decision to ignore it was easy.

From this thread it sounds like the internal problems continue. I wonder if the insurance issue also applies up here in Canada.

John

It pertains to everything, monthly meetings included. Our local Division calls the monthly meetings Clinics, the term I used in my original post.

I’m a member and I guess I’m a little confused. You are complaining that a private club that charges dues to support it’s private activities won’t let someone who does not pay dues participate in those activities? What kind of world do we live in?

And I think some are missing the point. The issue is not the insurance carrier. The issue is that there are some who feel entitled, for whatever reason, to live off someone elses dollar. Ray

When I made the comment about the “herr dictatorship” the insurance company I was not assuming that one should find an insurance company for free—(like that will happen–lol!!). When one lives in a litigious culture one gets to do simple things in a complicated manner----

I expect that when NMRA does a workshop that I would pay higher as a non member—I’d like to see these people who think that going as a non member entitles them to a free workshop or whatever[%-)]

I normally do not post in the forums…but this time I had too…One of my pet peeves are complaints of people over the price of membership in various hobby organizations. I believe the NMRA over all is good for the hobby of modeling railroading. (I belong to another hobby orgainization inaddition to model trains) I even enjoy the magazine that comes with membership. For God’s sake it is only $60.00 a year rounded up. $5.00 whole dollars a month!!! People spend more on toilet paper. If membership in an orgainzation is not “worth” it some people then quit whining and expecting to show up sponsored events for free.

Wbmfishman

Reflecting on this thread and my earlier comments, I would add the following. I am a member of the Mid Continent Region, and the Turkey Creek Div. which is the greater Kansas City area and a little beyond. I don’t get to as many meetings as I used to but I participate in the meets, have done clinics in the past, try to attend the region meets, and was active and on the committee when the national was held in KC in 1998 and in 1984. I have also attended meets in other divisions, regions and a few nationals. I have not EVER seen anyone barred from entry because they were not a member. My layout has often been on the tour beat when any NMRA and Santa Fe Modelers Meet is in the KC area. Quite frankly, I have meet a lot of modelers in both organizations who have become good friends.

Bottom line though is I have never seen any activity or action of the NMRA that discriminates against non members. They are often in my basement and at other functions. They may be asked to pay a little higher amount for admission, but, I can think of a lot of other activities I participate in that charges a little more for a non member than for a member. Insurance? I carry my own on my railroad and property, even though the NMRA might do the same, I rely on my own insurance more.

Still comes back to "no one is holding a gun to your head. You can join or not join. Your choice.

Bob

For God’s sake it is only $60.00 a year rounded up. $5.00 whole dollars a month!!! People spend more on toilet paper.

Notreally the best of analogies since toilet paper is kind of a necessity.

A better analogy would be some kind of foo-foo coffee at Starbucks, which can cost you over $5/DAY if you have more than 1 a day.

You can do without the Starbucks and no one can say you nay. But eliminate the T.P. and your wife or mother (and perhaps even some friends/colleagues) may hurl a variety of choice epithets towards your last known coordinates.

Hmmm. Maybe the NMRA should sell lattes on the side.

Either that, or print “Scale Rails” on the same type of paper that Sears printed its catalogs on way back in the 19th Century.

Andre

No, what I don’t like is the recent change in a long-standing tradition of having the monthly meetings open to ANYONE in order to attract new people to the hobby - after all, that is the ostensible mission of the NMRA. It appears to have become a self-serving organization only interested in its own concerns.

You use the word “entitled.” That isn’t my feeling. What I resent is NMRA policy changing a long-standing tradition AND one of its original goals because an insuarnce company doesn’t want to insure people attending monthly meetings in a public building. Seems like someone is overreaching their bounds.

Apparently, there will be a change in this policy, wherein non-members WILL be barred if they exceed three meetings without becoming a member. A notice from the Division Superintendent was read to us at last month’s meeting.

Sorry, I haven’t heard that at our meetings yet. I will reserve further judgement until I do.

Bob

Even if it was true it would be no more than what some other organizations have done in the past.

I’m kind of curious however. Was anything like the above put in print? I’d think that it would show up in the by-laws wouldn’t it?

Until such time as anything shows up in black and white this will only be seen as a rumour—

I used to be on the executive committee of the Winnipeg Chapter of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. We encouraged members of the public to turn up and take in the meetings, and I don’t recall us ever keeping tabs on the number of times any one person attended. (Doesn’t mean that someone wasn’t responsible for doing that…I just have no recollection that it was a requirement, either by rules or by underwriters). We probably would not have turned a newcomer away from a more formal subscribed event meant for members, at least, not the first time. Might have been a cultural thing, but the people on the executive were fairly warm and welcoming. Yet, if the same person had been seen ‘crashing’ several such functions over a couple of years, one of us would have taken him/her aside and pointed out that the rest in attendance were subsidizing his pleasure. Some might not have minded, some might have minded, but the point is that everyone who was paying ought to have been afforded an opportunity to say so. When people attend meetings and decline to pay for the true costs of the meeting (time, research, rental of facilities, insurances, etc.), the membership should have a say in it. AFAIAC, continuing to skate down that pond leads eventually to some pretty thin ice.

-Crandell

Maybe, just maybe, they got tired of you constantly and regularly showing up at the monthly meetings without you being a dues paying member. Maybe the insurance issue is being used as an excuse, or a front, instead simply telling you straight out to your face that they’re tired of you attending meetings and getting the benfits of membership without being a member. The insurance is simply their cover and a them trying to be polite. Most people after attending an organization’s meetings three times know whether they want to join or not.

I’d say entitled is absolutely the right choice of words. You feel ENTITLED to attend their meetings because they said they’re open to the public. Because they’ve traditionally allowed you attend meetings after you failed to renew your membership, you feel ENTITLED to continue attending meetings.

Any organization is self-serving to some extent. If it wasn’t it would cease to exist after people have finished consuming the services it offered and chose not to replenish its resources.

Stop crying. Obviously you get something of ‘value’ out of attending the meetings otherwise you wouldn’t go. Either the value you receive is worth the annual membership dues, ot if you decide it isn’t the leave and don’t let the door hit your backside on the way out. As I said before, they’re doing the right thing by asking you to either join of stop coming.

And you waited this long to say something about it?

If it was this important why did you wait to say anything about it?

BTW–no one up here that I know who is a member has heard anything about this-----is this more of a trial balloon than a fact—

I can check with our Division Superintendent, but I don’t believe this is a policy from National HQ. It sounds like a decision that the local Division Bd of Trustees made because either someone complained to them or they decided on their own that ol’ Sparky here was abusing their hospitality of letting non-members attend their meetings. An action they rightly should take. Sounds like he overstayed his welcome and they decided to take action.