From time to time posts are made about why to join the TCA or other toy train organization. Here are my thoughts.
There are several organizations that cater to us toy train types …
collectors as well as operators. They include LCCA, TTOS, LOTS and
the good old TCA just to mention what I perceive as the larger
organizations. For your convenience I have linked them below:
Of these groups I belong to LCCA, TTOS and the TCA. All have their
merits but my personal favorite is the TCA with over 30,000 members.
Why do I feel this way? Because the following is “included” with your
TCA membership:
a) Subscription to Train Collectors Quarterly
b) Subscription to the 6 X per year National Headquarters News (NHQN)
c) Privilege of placing FREE buy/sell ads in NHQN
d) Privilege of placing buy/sell ads on Toy Trains Trading List
(anyone can receive the messages, but only TCA members can post)
( http://groups.yahoo.com/group/toytrainstrading/?yguid=24679421 )
e) Unlimited FREE admission to National Toy Train Museum
f) Unlimited use of the reference library located inside NTTM
g) Privilege of advertising on the “coming-soon” buy/sell website
h) “e- Train” Online Electronic Magazine comes our quarterly
( http://www.tcamembers.org/articles/ )
i) York (largest train show in the world held twice per year)
j) Toy Trains Mailing List
( http://groups.yahoo.com/group/toytrains/?yguid=24679421 )
k) An annual National Convention somewhere within the United States
TCA provides other benefits that are also made available to
nonmembers, including the Toy Trains Mailing List (free) and National
Toy Train Museum (paid admission).
Well, convince me to join. My impression of TCA is that it’s made up of a bunch of “good old boys” who don’t want to change with the times. I see nothing progressive about the organization. Furthermore, I don’t see them promoting the WGH program like the smaller scales and NMRA are doing. TCA seems to be all talk and no substance. The only thing that’s keeping them going is the York meet twice a year. Take that away and you’ll have no TCA, at least a viable one. I’m not interested in their petty politics and inflating values for collectors. Tell me, why should I or someone else join?
I have to go with Mystic Storm on this one. I was a member for more than 20 years, and quit this year.
a) Subscription to Train Collectors Quarterly never read it, have them all in a box b) Subscription to the 4 X per year National Headquarters News (NHQN) see “a” c) Privilege of placing FREE buy/sell ads in NHQN never used it d) Privilege of placing buy/sell ads on Toy Trains Trading List never heard of it
(anyone can receive the messages, but only TCA members can post)
( http://groups.yahoo.com/group/toytrainstrading/?yguid=24679421 )
e) Unlimited FREE admission to National Toy Train Museum (used it once) f) Unlimited use of the reference library located inside NTTM nope g) Privilege of advertising on the “coming-soon” buy/sell website h) “e- Train” Online Electronic Magazine comes our quarterly
( http://www.tcamembers.org/articles/ ) i) York (largest train show in the world held twice per year) live too far away, never went j) Toy Trains Mailing List
You did miss one thing I did do, and that was national conventions. I attended 4 in 22 years.
How progressive does a bunch of old geezers who play with trains have to be? I’m a member and I don’t worry about the politics or the policies… I go to York twice a year… listen to all those rediculous announcements and warnings on the PA system. I sell my stuff and sometimes buy a train or two… Where else are you going to find 14 to 18,000 trainheads all collected in one place[:D]
My TCA membership has more than paid for itself many times over. And I stongly believe in supporting the hobby’s major club, and fully expect to contine doing so for as long as I’m able.
Those who have nothing good to say about the TCA aren’t the kind of members the club should have in any case, so no loss there.
Mike, your points are all good ones. The National HQ News (Buy/Sell) is bimonthly, six times a year, I believe, not quarterly. It is an excellent source of pricing and availability for old and new toy trains of all manufacturers, focusing on O and S.
My main reasons for belonging are the fascinating TCA Quarterly, the National HQ News, York and a desire to support the major national toy train organization and its goals, including the only comprehensive model railroading museum in the country, in terms of completeness of collections on display. It’s a good value for the money to me.
I have belonged to the TCA for many years and enjoy it. The HQ News is good (with trains for sale listings, etc.), but the Quarterly seems to have too many articles on train oddities – wind up toys, strange old ads plus an overweight of stuff on standard gauge for my taste. However, I think that reflects the makeup of those who regularly write for the publication more than anything else, and I can’t blame them for that. Notice that membership in the club has been falling slowly but steadily for several years now – not a good sign. Nevertheless, I still like the TCA and will continue to belong to it!
Wow, I have heard that quote or very similar paraphrasing used to dismiss everyone from muscle car enthusiasts to college football fans. “Such-and-such isn’t the kind of person we want anyway.” It’s always a weak argument used to justify a response or an attitude or an action that’s indefensible.
BigBoy, you are right on! My question is, why don’t TCA support the WGH program? Hey, we need more youth in this hobby, not a bunch of old fart tightwads like TCA is made up of.
The Doctor is In !!! I joined the TCA Saturday Morning(11-19-05) And I met some very nice people. They meet once a month in Oakland, which is a short drive from Alameda,where I live. I got the new TCA book when I joined, I bought some stuff cheap
and I found a group that will take in an evil doctor !!! And one fellow gave me some back issues of CTT free !!!( one i need for my files) Time will tell but I think I will like this group and the chance to talk trains to folk and also be able to buy & sell at least once a month. Till My Next Missive I Remain The Humble Yet Strangly Evil Doctor !!![}:)]
Because at some point in our lives we must move beyond the simple “acquisition of stuff” phase, and into the “sharing of knowledge and passion” stage. The TCA is not about finding like-minded individuals to scam cheap stuff from, but sharing what we’ve learned, expanding our universe of friends and acquaintances, and using some of their knowledge to expand our little basement worlds as well.
And if you don’t like the articles in the TCA Quarterly or some of the other publications, and you’re a member, THEN WRITE ONE OF YOUR OWN!
This is not a double-secret organization!
If you don’t like the fact that York is too far from home, remember that it is just the bi-annual show hosted by ONE DIVISION of the TCA! Get your division TO HOST ONE OF IT’S OWN!
My division, the NETCA division here in New England has it’s own shows. They’re not York, but they pack 'em in!
The TCA, as any club is merely what you as a member are willing to make of it. Write, contribute, host a show, join a convention committee(we’re hosting here in Vermont in 2008!). And you’ll get far more from it than York.
I’ve not been to York myself, as it always falls during a ratings book, but I still consider myself an active TCA’er.
Because of work requirements, I haven’t been able to attend York for the past four years or so. I do miss it, because I previously was a twice-a-year regular. However, not being able to attend York has not diminished my interest in the TCA one bit. I still enjoy the publications; I still enjoy keeping in touch with fellow TCA members; and I still enjoy knowing that at least part of the low annual dues goes to support that superb TCA Museum.
I was in the TCA from 1984 thru 1999, dropped out for a few years and now have re-joined. Although it isn’t necessary to be a TCA member to collect trains, it really helps - as I have learned. Try paying antique store prices for “old” trains (and if it’s “old” it MUST be worth alot, right?).
As an organization, the TCA through its Standards Committee has managed to provide the train collecting hobby with something most collectables hobbies sorely lack - a level of confidence in purchasing. The TCA has basically created an enforceable code of “ethics” (i.e. reproductions or restored items must be marked as such) and provides some recourse to a collector who’s been ripped off - unlike, for example, sports cards or comic collecting, where you’re pretty much on your own!
I belong to TCA. TCA does provide an excellent source with its LIberary for information about toy trains. The liberary is available to its membership.
TCA has also developed grading standards for toy trains that is used world wide. I have often thought that the standards committee at major meets, such as York should have a seminar on the grading standards. The grading standards that TCA’s Standards Committee has developed has helped to provide a leveler playing field.
When a dealer did not ship an engine that I ordered at a TCA event they assisted me in getting the dealer to ship the engine. They handeled the problem very professionally and the dealer shipped my engine.
As far as their publications go I agree they need some help. To much on wind up tains and prewar trains. Most of the trains the collectors and hobbiest run today are post war there could be more on store displays or post war Marx, Lionel, American Flyer trains and equipment or member or department store layouts.