What are the advantages to joining the National Model Railroad Association? Is it worth it for the lone wolf?
The NMRA has a reduced membership fee for new people, it is worth joining at this reduced rate to find out for yourself if it is worth the cost.
I missed that when I was looking at the site. $9.95 for six months. Sounds like a deal to me. I would still be interested in the value others are getting from membership.
I joined back in the 70’s, member ever since. I too am a lone wolf by definition, but I attend the NMRA and region conventions, etc. and have found the membership “worth its weight in gold”. I don’t get to meetings very often, but usually am on tour when the convention is in our city, I even complted the requirement and received my NMRA membership. Give it a try, you might really like it.
Bob
I have been a member for 40+ years. By any definition I am a lone wolf modeler.
My reasons for being a member include:
Supporting the standards that benefit the hobby.
The monthly magazine
Various district meets I have attended off and on over the years.
The odd program such as the Heritage and Living Legends cars and a number of books produced or reprinted.
There’s more than this, that you can participate in as well. Some folks are deep into the Achievement Program. Others into contests. Etc.
Like any special interest organization, you get more out of it when you participate more.
With the low intro fee you can give it a try without spending a lot. Do get to a division/regional/national meet of two.
Good luck
Paul
I too have been a member for over 40 years. The NMRA provides lots of useful info in the form of the STANDARDS and RECOMMENDED PRACTICES, as well as the DATA SHEETS which are being revised and improved as we speak.
It has always been my view that the membership was well worth it, and I’m not even a convention goer.
It is because of the NMRA that all the different products work so well together, especially in HO and N scale, so the price of membership is a small “give back” for that, even if you don’t “get” a whole lot directly the “minute” you join.
Many new guys don’t realize, but many times when older modelers like myself answer questions on these forums, those answers came from stuff learned via the NMRA in one way or another - like the old data sheets I still have that came in my membership packet in 1969, or convention clinics, or through doing stuff for the achievement program.
Personally I do believe that if most modelers belonged to the NMRA, our products would be even better and the industry would be stronger, which would benefit us all.
From where I sit, if you can afford this hobby, you can afford an NMRA membership, and it is worth every penny.
Sheldon
Only you can tell if it will be worth it. Try it once.
Rich
you may be interested in reading the section on the NMRA in The Sociology of Model Railroading. There is a review on the Charles Copper’s Railway Pages.
I don’t often agree with Sheldon but I agree with him 100% on this.
(I am sure he doesn’t care either) [:P]
Cheers and have fun.
The main thing is to set time aside and attend the monthly division meeting since they usually have club or home layout tours…Plus,you get to meet other modelers and some members become long time friends.Some divisions even have various modeling clinics.
kind of like going to union meetings and church services for me. i don’t believe everything they say, but i do enjoy the fellowship.
charlie
The NMRA dues can be sort of expensive. I have been an NMRA member ‘off & on’ through the late 60’s/70’s80’s. I was a firm believer that ‘I did not need a license to play with model trains’. I kept re-joining the NMRA when I wanted to attend a Region Meet.
I have been a ‘Life Member’ since 1997, so have been immune from the dues increases over the years. Was that $450+ I spent back then worth it? I value being able to attend Division/Regional/National events.
- I attend National conventions when they are close or interest me(last one I attended was Milwaukee 2010).
- I have been to every Thousand Lakes Region convention for more years than I can remember, and I have been a Division Officer for 5 years. I am currently the Region ‘Historian’. I was the Contest Chairman while I was in office and have given ‘clinics’ since I ‘retired’ from the ‘politics’ of the NMRA.
- I regularly attend Division meeting and have given ‘clinics’ there as well.
Have you noted that I ‘give’ back to model railroading as well as ‘take’ my fair share? Part of what is great about this hobby is the ‘social’ aspect. One of the things I see from many ‘Lone Wolf’ modelers who attend a Division meeting for the first time - They are ‘talking’ all the time - They finally met someone else just like them! The Internet and even this Forum are great ways to meet folks and learn stuff, but ‘face time’ with other modelers is just as important. That yearly ‘dues’ pays for a lot of stuff - You just have to take the time to ‘use’ it.
Jim Bernier - NMRA Life Member
After reading these posts, I joined a few minutes ago to find out if it’s for me…another lone wolf.
That’s one heck of an essay. Thank you!
I have been a member since 1980. I owned a Model Railroad Shop back then and was told that I should be in the NMRA for all the good that it did.
Why?
My division is very active and I have spent many enjoyable hours attending meets and regional conventions.
I was the Chief Clerk of the Central Indiana Division, MWR, NMRA for several years. Is the NMRA worth it? i would say yes. When I fell on ‘bad times’ a number of years ago, I dropped the subscriptions to the several modeling and railfan magazines that I was taking, but I kept my membership in the NMRA. Why? Well. I joined to return something to the hobby that I was a part of. I felt that by supporting the NMRA, I WAS supporting the hobby.
When the bad times came and I closed my hobby shop, it was the NMRA Bulletin and the CID ‘Rusty Spike’ that kept me in touch with the hobby even when their wasn’t the money to go to the shows and meets and nothing available to buy anything for my railroad. Some of the tips and techniques that I found in the ‘Bulletin’ helped keep me modeling with an occasional bottle of paint and some common household items.
That said, I will invite you to make a visit to our website at: http://cid.railfan.net for a look at the activities that we have including a meet photo album with pictures taken at out meets. We also have a page of club listings and photos from a number of layouts.
I feel that the NMRA Bulletin is worth the price of admission alone and it is constantly improving. In our case, the Central Indiana Division sends our newsletter the ‘Rusty Spike’ free to all NMRA members in the CID. That isn’t the case in all NMRA regions and divisions.
I have been a member since 1980 and have had my layout open for more than one layout tour, and I have found a richness with my involvement that I never knew before.
Some common questions:
Q) I know about the history of the NMRA, but what has the NMRA done for the hob
Thank You for this post, I am also a lone-wolf, and was thinking of joining. I did not know about the new member discount rate, to try it out. I am going to give it a try, and see what happens.
-Steven
I met the author about 10-15 years ago. He lives (or lived) in the LA area and he is (or was) a very bitter old man. So take it with a grain of salt. Much of what he writes about are simply sour grapes.
His own layout is (or was) quite a jumble and he railed about other people and hobby institutions during my entire visit (it was open on a tour). I was relieved to leave.
Whoa there…is it just me or does that person obsess much? It’s an interesting read, but I think it says more about the author’s insecurities than it does about the various institutions he flays at length.
The NMRA isn’t for everyone. Those who view their membership as a two-way street seem to find value. Those who seem to think the NMRA should fulfill the validation missing elsewhere in their personal lives should probably consider savings their dues and investing in counseling instead.
That said, I’m a member and an officer in our local division. We’ve been rebuilding a mostly defunct division a little at a time by focusing on the fun of model railroading. The organization described in the lengthy article is virtually unrecognizable in practice, but some folks do have over active imaginations.
All I can say is that the NMRA is like most other volunteer-led organizations. It depends very much on who shows up and who contributes. If you’re not part of the solution in the organizational deficiencies you’re likely part of the problem.[;)]
I have been a member of the NMRA since 2004 (I think) and am now the Superintendent of the Lakeshores Division, Niagara Frontier Region.
I will credit most of the knowledge I have gained in the hobby to being able to interact with others in the hobby. much of that has been through the Division and Region of the NMRA. I have met some of the finest modelers in the world through the organization and feel that it has been worth every penny of my dues. The magazine alone is worth the entire price of membership.
I am working my way through the Achievement Program and have earned the Golden Spike Award and the Electrical, Scenery, Civil Engineering, Volunteer, and Association Official Certificates. Need two more (probably Cars and Structures) for my Master Model Railroader. I am one who has had a lot of fun working the program!
Yes there are people both within and outside the NMRA who hate the organization for mostly some perceived reasons (there are two types of problems in this world Perceived problems and real problems, the difference is you can solve real problems), but these are the same people who manage to see only the problems in any organization and seldom take any time to volunteer to make things better… (I have a couple in my division who are like that.)
Do get on board with a Railpass membership! Great way to find out more about the organization. BTW I believe that over 80% of those who did get a Railpass ended up joining as full members when the 6 months was up. You have nothing to lose and a lot to gain (even as a “Lone Wolf”). One of my most active and helpful new members was a “Lone Wolf” for decades in the hobby. Joined the NMRA is is having a great time in my division. He has yet to miss a Meet since he joined! He is also a fine modeler and has been enjoying bringing models to our programs…
73
You would know that for sure if you spent five minutes with him. Some call him the UnaBruce (like the Unabomber, who also wrote a manifesto).
I do not think that anyone should be promoting his warped views in forums by posting links.
The manifesto for sure does not reflect the reality of the NMRA that I have experienced. Or anything else he spewed about, really.