Ed, I'm going to stand with one foot on a soapbox regarding the NMRA
the WGH effort or any organization for that matter.
First off the NMRA sponsors a very good insurance program. For instance
the all scales club that I'm president of is listed as a 100% NMRA club
for that reason. We can obtain liability insurance for our train show
and for our home layouts on tour at a very good rate (hundreds vs
thousands). This means if you fall down my stairway in my home while
visiting my layout your covered from two sources--in today's world, I
would call that a worthwhile benefit.
Much of the DCC program which has revolutionized our modeling is based
on some fine work by the NMRA. Sometime in the near future you'll be
able to obtain all kinds on information from the Kalmbach library on
line--discounts for NMRA members.
The NMRA, Prototype Modelers and other similar groups are great ways to
show and see what modeling is all about at a level that you feel
comfortable with. I suspect most folks have enjoyed the national
convention and trainshow even though the costs can be quiet high.
Perhaps you don't see a chart of the NASG membership numbers because
somebody didn't volunteer to do a study of the trends--studies like that
take interviews and gathering financial information over many years to
be somewhat accurate and then can be debated for many years thereafter.
Doing studies of train show attendance might be a good indicators of
folks to like trains or perhaps hope their kids like trains, but that
might be a totally different number than people who actually buy or
model. Our recent large train show put up billboards to attract anybody
with $6 to attend--to pay for the venue and to support a museum. I
doubt if more than half could be considered modelers.
Now, my other foot, the one on the ground, will state that the NMRA
probably does become too much 'business' by hiring office staff and
owning their own building. Or maybe it's because what used to be a
volunteer organization became too successful to be handled by volunteer
staff who can burn out or get sidetracked by a real life.
I objected to the way dues are collected and distributed down the the
state and division levels, because I felt it hurt chances of gaining new
members--who knows I haven't seen any studies, but certainly the NMRA is
a vast organization.
When I brought up this thread I thought a discussion of the future of
modeling railroading is likely to change drastically in the next few
years. Every group I belong to is pretty much filled with old white
guys. Like Jim K. pointed out that trains back in the 40's-60's were a
little expensive. At that time Blacks often didn't have a suitable
income to buy trains for the kids, so you see few modelers of color in
any age group. This club I belong to has about 100 members--one black
guy, and perhaps two of Latin decent. With our country becoming again a
nation of immigrants, trains are not often on the horizon.
Tony Koester's discussion in Duluth was only relevant to those who are
already in the hobby for one reason or another to make a change. S
could benefit from this trend. I volunteered to help with some
marketing efforts, but so far nobody has taken up my offer!
Bob Werre
BobWphoto.com
>
> There's a lot of talk about the growth of S Scale and what would work
> and what wouldn't. If the NASG leadership is concerned about it, why
> don't I see a chart showing the memberchip over the last 30 years? I'd
> also like to see an estimate of how many S folks there are who don't
> belong to the NASG since there is a tendency today to avoid
> organizations in every hobby. The last time I was a member of
> the NMRA, they published just such a list for the NMRA membership. It
> has been declining for years even with the WGH campaign. But to debunk
> the idea that NMRA membership (or NASG) is somehow a good indication
> of the health of the hobby in general, the attendance at the
> Springfield, Mass train show every Winter is far in excess of
> the world-wide NMRA membership. People are sick and tired of
> organizations (and government) that suck up time and money with no
> appreciable benefit. The fact that I'll likely never be a member of
> the NMRA again does not in any
> way correlate to my love for model railroading. It only indicates my
> dislike of the NMRA. If I want to socialize with like-minded folks
> I'll go to Church. For me, model railroading fill a comletely
> different need.
>
> The point is this: how do I know that S Scale participation is
> declining? Frankly I don't. I do know that the items I want to buy on
> ebay usually sell for more than I think they're worth. Somebody is out
> there buying the stuff. If it is declining, I doubt it's declining
> more than the hobby in general proportionally.
>
> Ed Kozlowsky
> Sanford, Maine
>
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