November / December 2018

Salt Lake City's "Early Bird Special" ends soon!
 
There's n ot much time left to save a bunch on 2019 National NMRA Convention registration. The "Early Bird Special" of $119.00 is going away soon. This is a great Deal! Don't miss out. Register today at   http://www.nmra2019slc.org/registration/ .

We've got a full schedule with a ton of things to do:  150+ clinics, free admission to the National Train Show, great prototype tours, the 150th anniversary celebration of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad at Promontory, Utah, and  special guests like the world famous Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square and dinosaurs.

It's f un for the whole family!  Take advantage of our "Early Bird Special" now, before time runs out.

Another new partner in our Partnership Program
 
These 36 companies are giving NMRA members discounts for buying their products when using a special discount code.  You can find their websites and discount codes on our Partnership Page at  https://www.nmra.org/partnerships .  Remember you need to be logged into the site as a member to see the codes!  (New partner in red)

CatzPaw Innovations
Clever Models LLC
Deluxe Materials
East Coast Circuits
Great Decals
Green Frog Productions
Hot Wire Foam Factory
Jason's Brass Poles
K.I.S.S. Method
LARC Products
Logic Rail Technologies
Micro-Mark
MinuteMan Scale Models
Model Railroad Benchwork
Model Train Catalogue
Modelers Decals and Paint
Motrak Models
MRC (Model Rectifier Corporation)
OK Engines/Streamliners
Old West Scenery - N-scale buildings & scenery products
Ram-Track
RR-CirKits
Rusty Stumps
Scale Model Plans
Scalecoat Paint
Scenery Solutions/Fusion Fiber
Showcase Miniatures
Team Track Models
The N-Scale Architect
The Train Show, Inc.
Train Installations, LLC
Trainmasters TV/Model RR Hobbyist
UGears
Unreal Details (Magic Water)
USA Airbrush Supply/Badger Airbrush
WiFi Model Railroad, LLC
 
If you're a manufacturer or know of one who'd like to join our Partnership Program, please contact Jim Gore, At-Large North American Director, at alnadir@nmra.org.

The NMRA announces an award to honor the Union Pacific

Meetings and Trade Show Chairman

Because this coming year celebrates the 150th anniversary of the driving of the Golden Spike at Promontory Summit, the NMRA will honor the Union Pacific with a new award that will be presented annually.

The award will be given to the scale model that is the best representation of a Union Pacific building, engine, car, diorama or other item.  A plaque will be awarded to the modeler for his or her winning  model, and a plaque will be given to the Union Pacific.  With the modeler's permission, the model will be given to the Union Pacific Railroad for display in Omaha.
 
Additional details will be provided as soon as they are completed.  This means that there are ongoing discussions taking place about this event and perhaps more surprises.  

So, get working on your model; it could be on display in the UP headquarters in Omaha this time next year!

The Diamond Club image scanning continues

The Diamond Club was founded in 2010 with donations from NMRA members. Those donations fund the scanning of the tens of thousands of railroad images that have been generously bequeathed to the NMRA Library over the years.  The scans are available for download or viewing on the NMRA website by clicking on "NMRA Archives" in the red bar at the very top of the NMRA homepage or by clicking here if you're already logged into the NMRA website.
 
This month, NMRA Western Director Stephen Priest returned the recently scanned material to the archive at Headquarters and picked up additional material to be scanned, including slides, prints, large format negatives, and large format drawings. Stephen also upgraded the software used for scanning and reworked the hardware on the image server and RAID arrays while he was in Soddy Daisy. This server is where the scanned images reside in their high-resolution format. Tens of thousands of images and drawings have been scanned over the past eight years with tens of thousands more awaiting to be digitized.

If you, your club, or organization haven't donated to the Diamond Club recently, now's the time!  Click  here  to make a donation online, or call HQ at  (423) 892-2846.  This important NMRA effort will not only help your research, but will help preserve our rail heritage for generations to come.


Important NMRA eBulletin news you may have missed

Thanks to volunteer Tom Bensberg, all NMRA eBulletin issues are archived on the NMRA website and these links will send you directly to them.

Remember: your email address has to be registered on the website (not just with Headquarters) to get to the Members Only section of our website!

Go to  https://www.nmra.org/user/register  to 
register your name on the website.

::
Editor:  Gerry Leone , MMR, HLM  
::
The NMRA eBulletin is an official bi-monthly production of the National Model Railroad Association, Inc. Publishing Department (Don Phillips, Manager). Its purpose is to keep every NMRA member informed about organization news and events.  If you know of an NMRA member who is not receiving this mailing, please direct them to here to update their email address.  If you no longer wish to receive these mailings, please don't mark them as SPAM.  Instead, click the Safe Unsubscribe link at the bottom of this page. ©2018 National Model Railroad Association, Inc., P.O. Box 1328, Soddy Daisy TN 37384.

A few words from the new president

Celebrating our great hobby
 
Here in the Northern Mitten the leaves have now turned to oranges, yellows and reds, the temperatures are dropping faster than the leaves, the autumn winds are increasing, and the daylight is several hours shorter than it was just a few short months ago. Time to get back in Training!

For many of us, November is National Model Railroad Month, and it's time to celebrate our hobby. What better way to kick off the festivities than with a Division Open House, especially when it, as it was last Sunday in my Division, is aimed at the area Newcomer's Club? This group consists of folks who are new to the area, and may also be newly retired, looking for a new hobby and/or all of the above. Yes, we "jumped the gun," so to speak, in that November didn't start until a few days later, but the weather cooperated and somewhere around sixty folks toured six area model railroads to learn about the hobby and the NMRA. Initial reports from railroad owners are that "a good time was had by all."

This is entirely as it should be. This is a great hobby! Whether our efforts will result in new Division members has yet to be determined, but things look promising. I am aware of one couple where he was mildly interested, but she was asking a zillion questions, taking photos, wanted to know everything and was "into" the process in a big way. I suspect that there will be a new railroad in that household, and that Madame will be the General Superintendent. Life is good....

The best part of the festivities is that with a relatively new Division in place, this suggestion came from one of the newer members, who took the proverbial ball and ran with it. He put together everything, ensured that the appropriate signage was in place, made the brochures, organized the "help," and so on. 

We had support from NMRA HQ in the form of NMRA Magazines, applications, brochures and so on, yes.  But again, the Division stepped up and made things happen. Division volunteers ran trains, answered questions, provided security, funneled visitors in and out in manageable groups, and had a ball doing it. I suspect that they'll also be pleasantly surprised when the Division Superintendent announces that their efforts have earned them some Association Volunteer time units in the Achievement Program. And for the record, all of the participants had fun today. This is that kind of hobby....

So what's your Division or Region doing to further the hobby and the NMRA in the coming months? I know that several of you will be participating in various train shows, exhibitions, festivals and so on over the traditional holiday period, but what of the rest of you? You might consider the "Open House" idea and see what shakes out. We did this, by the way, with an "Invitation Only" process to target a specific group of potential members. Other groups have more open programs, such as the "Piedmont Pilgrimage" in the Southeast Region or the "Tour de Chooch" in the Northeast Region, details for which appear in several places on the Web. Don't forget the youth groups such as Scouts, 4-H and such, either. Their members are young, enthusiastic, interested, and entirely capable of operating railroads in a prototypical manner, whether on their phones or using a traditional throttle.

So please give this some thought! Deck the halls and have a ball! Celebrate!   It's National Model Railroad Month, it's a time of Thanksgiving here in the United States. Spring is springing in the Southern Hemisphere, the "old year" is winding down, a new year full of promise is approaching, and we have a lot for which to be thankful. Let's make the most of things!

This is our association and we all need to make things work. Let's do it! May your season be the best one ever.

High Green!
Kansas City "Social Media" clinics are now
in our video library

NMRA Marketing Consultant

Everyone loves a great clinic.  That's why we decided to try some non-modeling clinics... clinics aimed at explaining and using social media. These clinics will help give members an additional way to promote themselves, their Divisions and their Regions. 

Three different clinics were presented in Kansas City and recorded for the NMRA Library.  There's one for beginners, one for intermediates, and one for experts.

Here are the overviews of each clinic. All three can be found here, or by logging into your member account at nmra.org , clicking on "Education" and then "National Convention Clinic Videos."  (See pink sidebar)

Social Media for Beginners - Focused on the individual modeler; includes h ow to sign up for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.
  1. What is social media?
  2. Discussion of the NMRA's social media presence
  3. Explanation of how social media can benefit individuals
  4. Brief explanation of sharing, commenting, and other things you can do with posts -- either your own or others'

Intermediate Social Media - Focused on the Division/Region

  1. Explanation of a Facebook Page versus a Facebook Group
  2. Explanation of public versus closed or secret Facebook Groups
  3. Examples of good photos and other things to post
  4. Overview of basic administrator and moderator resources
  5. How to view and use tools such as Page Statistics
  6. How to schedule posts
  7. The top things a Division/Region can do to boost visibility of their pages
Mass Communications for Regions & Divisions - Focused on social media and other types of communication
  1. Overview of different types of media
  2. Explanation of paid posts/ads
  3. Examples of how to promote events
  4. Overview of advertising options
  5. Explanation of press releases and their purpose
  6. Discussion of podcasts
  7. Discussion on how to run a successful show booth
  8. Examples of current NMRA promotional tools
Please watch these videos and feel free to contact me at  marketing@nmra.org  with any questions!

Got 4 hours and 36 minutes to spare? 
We've got 20 new professional videos to fill 'em up!

Thanks to the generosity of Model Railroader Video Plus (MRVP) and Model Railroad Academy (MRA), the NMRA Video Library has added over 4 1/2 hours of new, professionally produced videos for NMRA members.
 
With topics ranging from tracklaying pointers to DCC installation to prototype railroad operation, these new videos feature some of the best shows MRVP and MRA have to offer.  As in years past, they've donated them to the NMRA in exchange for us sending our members monthly promotional email.

All told, our professional video partners have donated over 15 hours' worth of videos in the three years that this program has been in place.  Coupled with videos of many of the National Convention clinics, these new videos really make the NMRA Video Library a huge member benefit.

If you haven't watched any of the professional videos yet, head over to  https://www.nmra.org/members/videos on our website.  Remember, you have to have your email address registered on the website (see pink sidebar), and you have to be logged in.  Once you're logged in, click on "Membership" then "Member Home" on the drop-down menu, then "Benefits" in the red bar and "Member Video Library" on the drop-down menu.  The videos are listed with the newest ones first.

Give these videos a look...you might even see some familiar faces!

Region and National Conventions 
(Only those Regional conventions occurring in the next three months are listed)


July 7 - 13, 2019:   2019 National NMRA Convention, Salt Lake City, UT

No Regional conventions in the next 3 months

Newest Master Model Railroaders

618:  Jerry Lauchle, MER
619:  Kurt Thompson, MER
620:  Jeff Palmer, LSR
621:  Andy Doll, PNR
622:  Dennis Krausman, RMR
623:  Gilbert Brauch, Jr., MER

In an upcoming issue of NMRA Magazine

  • Couples Operating Session
  • Wye Route Control
  • Mississippi River Towboat
  • Love those loads!
  • Women in model railroading: Brook Qualman
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