Thinking about joining

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hi All

Im thinking about joining the NMRA( British Division ) and was wondering if anybody has any experience with this section or the NMRA as a whole.

Cheers

Gav

2

I belong to the NMRA. Membership is what you make it, if you enjoy and can afford to travel to different events its a beneficial association to belong to. If you enjoy being couped up in the basement and your mostly a lone wolf type modeller then its probably not for you. Me personally I enjoy meeting new people, the clinics that are put on at shows and occasionally going to Division meets.

3

Locally at least, the NMRA Division I belong to is pretty central to hobby happenings, from the big annual train show Trainfest, to the monthly meets (free) with clinics, layout tours, swap meet, model contest. Most of the better local hobby shops offer a 10% discount to NMRA members (although most offer a discount to good customers regardless of NMRA membership). Here in Milwaukee, then, the NMRA Division is very active/ The Region is perhaps a bit less so.

Other guys I talk to say their NMRA Division does nothing, but their Region is active, so I guess this can vary quite a bit.

Our region has an annual meet which is usually very good but some divisions within that Region do not have a president, or have meetings, and are entirely dormant. Too bad.

The NMRA magazine Scale Rails is much improved in quality of articles, photography and scale drawings.

Personally I belong to the NMRA because when I think of who my friends are and what I do with most of my spare time (and spare money, if such a thing exists) it revolves around trains and model trains and I want to support the organization that stands for furthering all of that.

Dave Nelson

4

NMRA’s “Scale Rails” mag is pretty good. I’m a member, overall I’d recommend it. However it can come down to how far away you are from anything. I live in a metro area and many of my region’s meetings are held within easy driving distance from me. If you’re 500 miles from the nearest big city, it might not be so easy to get to stuff. But of course I tend to be lazy and only go to meets and conventions of groups I belong to if they’re basically in my backyard. [;)]

5

“I would never join an organization that would have me as a member!”

Groucho Marx

6

“I Got a Good Mind to Join a Club and Beat You over the Head with It”

Groucho Marx