PeeCee
Junior Member
Posts: 70 
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Post by PeeCee on Apr 24, 2017 10:07:59 GMT -8
Hi fellas I have a question I've been wondering about for a while. Maybe this is a regional thing (I'm in So Cal), but I've noticed that about 99.9% of the formal HO model railroading clubs around here with a paying membership also require that a member be a fully paid NMRA member too. The clubs will even demand proof of NMRA membership. Does anybody know for sure why that is? NMRA membership is not really cheap, $116 annual last I checked. There are cheaper options, but not when a club is involved. I see plenty of 'old timers' with lots of experience sitting in those clubs, so it's not about gaining the requisite experience to be a productive club member, I think. Maybe it has to do with having 'group insurance' in case somebody has an accident at one of the club shows? But that seems like a weak excuse, if true. Sometimes I get the feeling it's like in some of those old mob movies, where the gangsters tell the shopkeeper: buy our 'protection' (it's for your own good, you need it, or else)!!  |
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Post by dharris on Apr 24, 2017 11:41:13 GMT -8
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Post by grahamline on Apr 24, 2017 13:24:21 GMT -8
I'm paying $44 a year for NMRA membership (no magazine) because the PNR Div 2 people are putting together some good programs. Our club, which is not and likely never will be 100% NMRA, found a decent liability policy through a broker and are paying less than they would through the NMRA. Look at www.nmra.org/classes-nmra-membershipMaybe the OP was looking at NRMA membership, which is roadside assistance for New South Wales, Australia. That starts at $110. |
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Post by peoriaman on Apr 25, 2017 3:26:03 GMT -8
At my former club, there were a few old guys - VERY old guys - who seemed to regret that we did not require NMRA membership. Kind of as if not requiring NMRA membership opened the door to a lot of rif-raf joining the club instead.
By and large, these were the guys who were still running their cast-zinc Penn Line steam engines they bought/assembled back when their prototypes were still in service, and their freight cars were made of wood blocks with tin sheets on the sides with grab irons made from staples. For them, modelling "modern" meant buying a plastic freight car. As one of them would say - "That's not Model Railroading!!"
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Post by roadkill on Apr 25, 2017 9:07:56 GMT -8
Any club that would require me to join the NMRA is a club I would never consider joining. Who the **** are they to tell me what organizations to join???
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gnfan
Full Member
Posts: 111
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Post by gnfan on Apr 25, 2017 9:53:03 GMT -8
It's an insurance thing. 100% NMRA clubs get free or very low cost insurance through the NMRA.
David
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Post by dti406 on Apr 25, 2017 10:30:13 GMT -8
It's an insurance thing. 100% NMRA clubs get free or very low cost insurance through the NMRA. David The cost of 22 members at $44.00 each far outweighs our insurance costs of $372.00 a year for liability insurance. I also object to having to join a Division I live in because I am just over the county line from where my club is which is in a different Division. Rick Jesionowski |
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PeeCee
Junior Member
Posts: 70
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Post by PeeCee on Apr 25, 2017 10:46:35 GMT -8
The cost of 22 members at $44.00 each Rick Jesionowski But I think it may be way more than that, Rick. Click on the link below and search the page for the words Sustaining Member. The NMRA seems to be saying this is the only option for when it is conjoined to Club membership. nmra.org/membership-application-and-renewalHere, just for you lazy dudes, I cut and pasted the description below also: Sustaining Member Mandatory for all group memberships such as Clubs, Associations, Corporations or other Businesses. Sustaining membership includes all the rights and privileges of membership including the NMRA Magazine. The NMRA is a 501 (C) (3) nonprofit educational organization and your professional association as a sustaining member is tax deductible. Any individual may also support the NMRA as a sustaining member in which ½ the cost of membership is eligible as a tax-deductible donation. Cost - $116.00 (US) per year. |
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Post by roadkill on Apr 26, 2017 5:26:17 GMT -8
I've got better things to do with $116.00 than join the NMRA. Unless, of course, we're talking about the National Mustang Racing Association. Yes, that's a thing  . www.nmradigital.com/ |
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Post by Paul Cutler III on Apr 26, 2017 18:07:02 GMT -8
None of the clubs in the Boston area require NMRA membership that I know of. My club certainly doesn't, and we're one of the oldest and biggest in all of New England. We used to, back in the day...and I mean 40+ years ago or more when we only had a couple dozen members. We used to have a certificate on the wall that said we were 100% NMRA members, even. But that requirement was dropped ages ago...long before I joined in 1993. All of that was based on insurance, but we then got a member who worked in insurance and we quickly switched to a better, less-expensive option. With 65+ members, it just made sense for us.
But for a small club, NMRA membership may be the cheaper option...especially if some of the guys are already members.
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Post by Brakie on Apr 27, 2017 7:41:21 GMT -8
Any club that would require me to join the NMRA is a club I would never consider joining. Who the **** are they to tell me what organizations to join??? Roger, At one time you had to be a NMRA member to join 90% of the better clubs of course that was when the NMRA was still adapting standards and RPs that we enjoy today and every Division had activities including swap meets without commercial dealers. These swap meets was fun to attend with detailed models on display, clinics, slide shows and yes, the attendees(modelers) would have models for sale or trade. However..  Some where along the pike everything changed and the NMRA membership wasn't all that exciting any more and swap meets became commercial train shows with trains running warp speed on a modular layout.  More the pity. |
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PeeCee
Junior Member
Posts: 70
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Post by PeeCee on Apr 27, 2017 9:31:18 GMT -8
Some where along the pike everything changed and the NMRA membership wasn't all that exciting any more and swap meets became commercial train shows with trains running warp speed on a modular layout. More the pity. Yup. I guess this topic is also related to the debate of whether the NMRA has relevancy any more. Most folks won't perish without it, seems like. |
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Post by Brakie on Apr 27, 2017 10:03:33 GMT -8
Some where along the pike everything changed and the NMRA membership wasn't all that exciting any more and swap meets became commercial train shows with trains running warp speed on a modular layout. More the pity. Yup. I guess this topic is also related to the debate of whether the NMRA has relevancy any more. Most folks won't perish without it, seems like. I would join the NMRA if I could join my old Division 5 but,I'm on the border line with Division 6 and no can do or so I've been told. Division 5 remains very active and most of Division 6 activities is in Northern Ohio near Cleveland and that's to far to drive-around 2 1/2 hours.. |
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