Are you an NMRA Member? I am not but I've been thinking about it again 
Please, no "stodgy old gray-headed stick-in-the-mud" bashing
Please, no "stodgy old gray-headed stick-in-the-mud" bashing
NMRA member?
- Thread starter cidchase
- Start date
I very much appreciate what the NMRA has done for us model railroaders. The standards developed have persuaded manufactures to produce products that we can all enjoy. There are many other benefits too which the NMRA glady shares with us all, members or not.
I have voted no, as I live in oz I can see no benefit in joining, for me or the NMRA...have a good one...steve
I am a life member but to be honest, if I weren't, I probably would not continue my membership. Too many squables and delays in setting standarts (esp DCC) often causing manufacturers to hold off production, then not everyone follows them anyway or just enough to afix the "eye" (NMRA approved logo) to their product.
I am a member. I joined to go to the national convention they had in Toronto a couple years ago, and have kept my membership up basically to support what they've done for the hobby over the years. I think despite its short-comings, if there were no more NMRA we would soon see a return to the lack of universal standards that the hobby had before.
Val
Val
I am also a life member. And I second all what Robin sez:
You buy and lay several brands of track, mix up your trains with locos and cars made by umpteen different manufacturers... and all that stuff works together. (Oh well, perhaps there are some little glitches - but I still have to find a piece of American model rolling stock which doesn't run on my PECO or ATLAS tracks.) :thumb:
That's why you can say 'thank you' to the NMRA! When I started model railroading in the 1960s, in Europe you had LOTS of problems with different manufacturers: Couplers were different, wheel profiles were different (and all extremely toylike), even the scales in H0 were different. There was the AC three-rail track of Märklin, three-rail DC-track (!) of Trix, two-rail DC track of Fleischmann - and cars of any manufacturer simply wouldn't run through the turnouts of a different manufacturer.
Märklin uses both rails as electrical ground (the center rails/contact studs feed the power to the loco), so the wheelsets weren't isolated. Therefore you simply couldn't run a Märklin car on DC track - probably you still can't today. (Or are they at least isolating the wheels from the axles now?)
When I switched to American railroads, I made the jump from toy trains to real model railroading - it was like opening the door to another world.
If there hadn't been a NMRA before, you Americans/Canadians - and yes, probably also the modelers from down under - would have the same system-salad today like we Europeans had at the time.
The European situation became a bit better when the NEM (Norms of European Model railroads) were released - but I'll never understand what the members of these norm committees were thinking. Instead of adapting the NMRA norms they 'invented' their own, which were (and are) a lot less realistic and (in my opinion) less functional and reliable.
Quite a long time I had problems to decide between American railroading and European railwaying - but finally it was the reliability of the NMRA standards and RPs which helped me to make the final change to American style model railroading.
Ron
PS: Come to think of it - if I hadn't switched to American model railroading, probably I never had found the Gauge, and I would have missed out on one of the greatest bunch of modelers on the net! :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:
PPS: Sorry for the long sermon - but now you see why I love the NMRA!
So why should we appreciate NMRA? Let me explain:
You buy and lay several brands of track, mix up your trains with locos and cars made by umpteen different manufacturers... and all that stuff works together. (Oh well, perhaps there are some little glitches - but I still have to find a piece of American model rolling stock which doesn't run on my PECO or ATLAS tracks.) :thumb:
That's why you can say 'thank you' to the NMRA! When I started model railroading in the 1960s, in Europe you had LOTS of problems with different manufacturers: Couplers were different, wheel profiles were different (and all extremely toylike), even the scales in H0 were different. There was the AC three-rail track of Märklin, three-rail DC-track (!) of Trix, two-rail DC track of Fleischmann - and cars of any manufacturer simply wouldn't run through the turnouts of a different manufacturer.
Märklin uses both rails as electrical ground (the center rails/contact studs feed the power to the loco), so the wheelsets weren't isolated. Therefore you simply couldn't run a Märklin car on DC track - probably you still can't today. (Or are they at least isolating the wheels from the axles now?)
When I switched to American railroads, I made the jump from toy trains to real model railroading - it was like opening the door to another world.
If there hadn't been a NMRA before, you Americans/Canadians - and yes, probably also the modelers from down under - would have the same system-salad today like we Europeans had at the time.
The European situation became a bit better when the NEM (Norms of European Model railroads) were released - but I'll never understand what the members of these norm committees were thinking. Instead of adapting the NMRA norms they 'invented' their own, which were (and are) a lot less realistic and (in my opinion) less functional and reliable.
Quite a long time I had problems to decide between American railroading and European railwaying - but finally it was the reliability of the NMRA standards and RPs which helped me to make the final change to American style model railroading.
Ron
PS: Come to think of it - if I hadn't switched to American model railroading, probably I never had found the Gauge, and I would have missed out on one of the greatest bunch of modelers on the net! :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:
PPS: Sorry for the long sermon - but now you see why I love the NMRA!
C
Catt
I don't belong to the NMRA and as long as I live where I do ,I never will belong.Now to explain what I mean.
The NMRA in this part of Michigan is so HO inclined that if you mention in passing that you do N scale they will actually turn their back on you and walk away.I know the whole organization is not that way because I have visited Central Indiana and down there scale means nothing and model railroading means everything to a great bunch of folks.
To bad the idiots here can't comprehend that idea.
The NMRA in this part of Michigan is so HO inclined that if you mention in passing that you do N scale they will actually turn their back on you and walk away.I know the whole organization is not that way because I have visited Central Indiana and down there scale means nothing and model railroading means everything to a great bunch of folks.
To bad the idiots here can't comprehend that idea.
Hi Catt!! 
I've heard that before about some NMRA folks and I think it's a danged shame!!
I have my own opinions on different scales (as y'all know) but to just cut out so
many talented modelers just because you like something else better is purty
ignorant. (IMO) Look at the talented N-folks on this board!! Some really great work, and a lot of it stands up under micro-photography so well you are
hard-pressed to tell what scale it is!!
To me it's more that (as stated by others) we all benefit from the standards work and RP's. Maybe just lending support to those efforts is worth the cost, even if
one doesn't see much direct benefit from the clubs and programs, etc.
I'm not that much of a joiner. I think that many MRR's must greatly enjoy the
solitary aspect of the hobby, as well as the social side.
I've heard that before about some NMRA folks and I think it's a danged shame!!
I have my own opinions on different scales (as y'all know) but to just cut out so
many talented modelers just because you like something else better is purty
ignorant. (IMO)
Look at the talented N-folks on this board!! Some really great work, and a lot of it stands up under micro-photography so well you arehard-pressed to tell what scale it is!!
To me it's more that (as stated by others) we all benefit from the standards work and RP's. Maybe just lending support to those efforts is worth the cost, even if
one doesn't see much direct benefit from the clubs and programs, etc.
I'm not that much of a joiner. I think that many MRR's must greatly enjoy the
solitary aspect of the hobby, as well as the social side.
I am not a member of the NMRA. But don't get me wrong, I do like what they have
done about getting the standards set so that all comply. I pat those fine folks on the back for that. What the Gauge has taught me is more rewarding than anything that I have found so far. Shortly after becoming a "Gauger", I also joined another forum, went there a couple of times and will never go back again! The Gauge has not only taught me a lot about modeling, but has taught me alot about life itself, (like how not to stick my foot in my mouth anymore, thankyou Gauger's). So a long story made short, why join another org. when we have the Gauge to help us out in more ways than one. Like when my dad passed on a while back, At first I wished that I had not of posted it, thinking that, that was not something that anyone wanted to hear.
I never figured that so many strangers did care and voiced thier feelings to me. It helped out more than you can ever think of. So my final thought is that the Gauge is the only home for me!!
done about getting the standards set so that all comply. I pat those fine folks on the back for that. What the Gauge has taught me is more rewarding than anything that I have found so far. Shortly after becoming a "Gauger", I also joined another forum, went there a couple of times and will never go back again! The Gauge has not only taught me a lot about modeling, but has taught me alot about life itself, (like how not to stick my foot in my mouth anymore, thankyou Gauger's). So a long story made short, why join another org. when we have the Gauge to help us out in more ways than one. Like when my dad passed on a while back, At first I wished that I had not of posted it, thinking that, that was not something that anyone wanted to hear.
I never figured that so many strangers did care and voiced thier feelings to me. It helped out more than you can ever think of. So my final thought is that the Gauge is the only home for me!!
That's really bizarre Catt! Friendly ribbing about scale choice is one thing but sheesh! I can see why you'd avoid that!
Ralph
Ralph
C
Catt
Ralph,when ever I go down to central Indiana I am shocked at the difference between my part of Michigan and the NMRA in Indiana.Seems that to those folks it's the hobby and not the scale that matters.
I have no hard feelings toward the NMRA because they have made this hobby a better place to play.
I have no hard feelings toward the NMRA because they have made this hobby a better place to play.
I was a member for years, both to show support for the NMRA's past work with standards, and to enable me to attend conventions. But I finally grew tired of the constant contribution solicitations, and the ever-increasing dues. I think the headquarters building was an economic mistake, and I realized that their magazine never gave me anything I wasn't already getting elsewhere. And I had to admit that I didn't even get a whole lot of value from the conventions. It finally came down to, "What am I getting for my money?" Sadly my answer was, "nothing much".
So I quit.
Bill S
So I quit.
Bill S
As Catt said here in Central Indiana Model Railroading is more important than scale bashing. I am an N-Scaler and operates on an HO layout about once a month. All of my good friends are HO-scalers and they come and help me work on my N-scale layout and when they need help I am there for them. To bad there are some who cannot play well with others.
I looked into getting a life membership but it is WAYYYYYY too expensive. I can get a life membership with the NRA for around 700 bucks and a life membership with the ACA (american cichlid association(a fish club)) for around 300 bucks. the NMRA wants well over 1000.00 and you get the same things as both of those other associations.
hudsonelectric
Member
Bill Stone said:
Bill...
I did the same thing. I just couldn't justify the expense, no matter how large or small. The magazine didn't contain anything that I couldn't get elsewhere, as you mentioned. All my membership became was a very expensive magazine subscription. I attended a couple of conventions and attended excellent clinics, but the timing of the conventions doesn't always work out for me. There are other organizations that hold clinics, conventions, etc. like the National Narrow Gauge Convention. Outside of developing standards, the NMRA is really nothing more than a PR organization. It should stick to being a standards and technical information organization and get out of the PR business.
Russ