Touchy topic, perhaps...

I've been a member since 1997, Philadelphia chapter, even longer. Why?

Initially I wanted to keep up with my local chapter and support local events and restoration /operation of the Reading F's. I also supported and enjoyed a few SEPTA excursions. Then, if I recall, we were all told you have to be a member of the national chapter to be a member of the local chapter. OK - why not. Seemed a good cause.

But like my condominium dues, I've been wondering just where my money is being spent and if perhaps it would be better spent elsewhere - perhaps joining yet another "Friends" group. A good chunk of my condo dues go towards the swimming pool which I never use. A large chunk goes to "professional management fees"... Am I correct in thinking a good portion of my national dues goes towards "professional management" and regular /irregular NRHS "magazines"? I do not need to supplement my current railfan magazine subscriptions, I already get that content. And then there are the railfan camps. I know quite a few young'ns who had a "volunteer career" at a local railroad, had a great time but have since left the hobby in their later years.

Tell me your thoughts?

I'm all for a STRONG national society which benefits and both the hobby and preservation in general, but then, maybe my money goes further through TRAINS magazine awards and Friends groups, charters and tip boxes?

/Mitch

You are not alone. I have heard of talks of "seccession" from various places due to the perception of a lack of support to the Chapters and a disassociation with modern realities. The only thing that National is is giving you for the usuriously high dues is a "High Falutin' " name and 4 issues of a generally mediocre magazine (although the last issue was very good)

Rebelliously Yours,

And a National Convention.....

This question about the value that the national organization provides the local chapters was asked of one of the national officers at a question and answer session held by one of the chapters a few years ago. If I recall the answer correctly it was "Without us (the national) they (the chapters) would just be a bunch of slide showing clubs".

At that point, the well known retired editor of a major magazine suddenly erupted from passive mode and loudly commented:

"OMG, I can't believe he <%#@&%> said that!"

Or maybe it was...

"OMG, I can't <%#@&%> believe he said that!"

Names have been omitted to protect the guilty.....

Anyway that's pretty close to the correct quotes, and many people heard it. It was one of those memorable moments when the glass house gets completely shattered.

PC

Good ol' JB...I miss him.

Yes, he was indeed unique. That "JB moment" was the subject of some recent conversations outside this forum.

PC

I was a member of the NRHS for a number of years and have been a member of Wilmington and Western RR for 30+ years. I let the NRHS go and maintain my membership plus annual giving to the WWRR. I see it as the local NRHS has a monthly slide show and sponsors a trolley trip in Philly once in a while but the WWRR is running a whole darn railroad with two active steamers.

I know there is a good reason to have a national organization but I choose to put my money into my local tourist railroad. The thing is the local chapter is the face we see in our cities and towns.

I would feel differently if my local chapter was doing something more tangible. For example if they had a station museum, adopted a backlot piece of equipment at WWRR and made it their project, or sponsored more excursions (excursions are tough but not impossible).

I don't know the answer, in many cases the local chapters are getting older and older and doing less and less. If the NRHS is going to last they need to do something.

I agree the situation with the NRHS is bleak. The local chapters - especially the large ones, such as Bluewater Michigan, are withering quickly, due to the inability to run excursions and a lack of volunteers. The National sits on very large holdings of books, films, etc. which are expensive to store, and at least in the case of the books, don't have much demand to be used any more. And the National suffers from a lack of volunteers as well. I think many, many people will look at the $58 pricetag of their renewal this year (more if you belong to multiple chapters, as many do) and will put it into the round filing can.

I would argue that it may be time to disband NRHS and start over with a more workable model. It is better to make a decision such as this too early rather than too late.

Chris.

I have never been a member of NHRS, but I went through a similar decision process before dropping my membership in the Steamship Historical Society of America after over 30 years. The quarterly publication was great, but it worked out to something like $15 a copy and I decided to use that money elsewhere.

Wesley

All groups that depend on volunteers who have to travel some distance have lost some of their support the past few years due to the economy and the cost of gasoline, but I get remarkably similar comments from friends who no longer run and jump when the NRHS asks them to, and the reasons usually are not economic. The most common observations are:

1. They make little effort to publicize their events outside the current NRHS membership. If they can't be bothered taking a couple minutes to post their events on their websites why should they expect anybody to drive a long distance to volunteer their time and participate?

2. If you do make the effort to get there and participate they waste peoples time with foolishness (excessively time consuming business meetings, for example).

One recent development that is rather curious is a couple of chapters that require you to join some other social networking organization (Facebook or Yahoo Groups for example) to find out where and when their events are held and what is on the schedule of activities. It is a bit difficult to see why an organization that claims an "educational" function and a "public benefit" as part of their tax exempt status needs to hide access to what they are doing behind the requirement to join another organization in order to find out. I wonder if this is the modern extension of the old practice at a few chapters of setting up hurdles to keep the "rabble" out. (like requiring attendance at a certain number of meetings and having the membership vote on whether you can join or not).

PC

There were some reps from NRHS at last month's ARM-TRAIN meeting. The idea was raised that after the dust settles from the ARM-TRAIN merger, there should be discussion of whether it makes sense for some NRHS national chapter services to also merge. (Another step towards Hankey's "Train World"?)

ARM / TRAIN would be wise to refuse to touch NRHS as a partner. ARM / TRAIN is a vital trade organization, NRHS a dying old men's social club. NRHS needs to reinvent itself from the inside out or deservedly disappear. I dropped my membership back in the 1980's due to the sort of foolishness PC outlines above, and never saw fit to reconsider. The last straw was a 2.75 hour discussion of what color T shirts car hosts would wear on our Southern Steam excursion, when we hadn't even sold a ticket. I'm in complete agreement with those who choose to support groups creating meaninful change in our industry.

dave

As the president of one of the ex-chapters; the Rochester Chapter (as in NY); I can share some thoughts about or relationship with the NRHS. We only left this past summer. You see, we changed our name to better reflect what it is that we do - Rochester & Genesee Valley RR Museum.

There is a part of me that sees it as being sad that we parted ways - we were one of the oldest chapters (I suppose there is some topic about preserving preservation groups...). But, while we still have slide shows; a large part of what we do is our museum (restore, operate, educate); which for the most part the NRHS was not providing a lot of support - other than their grant program; which non-chapters are eligible too.

The straw that broke the back was the up-coming bylaws. We were exploring the possibility to provide non-nrhs membership - but the proposed changes to the bylaws (which as a chapter we could never get a copy of until they were published); took what might have been a "grey" area, and made it a black and white 'no-no'.

For almost 10 years, we never once raised our dues (A paltry $21); while nationals raised them numerous times; at each turn we lost some members; gained some others but didn't get anymore benefits. Since leaving; we've raised our dues to a grand $25; and have probably gotten more members ($25 is a lot less than $57). While nationals was able to offset it's increasing costs, we were not.

Its unfortunate; it would have been nice to stay a chapter; but for the sake of preserving our group it made sense to leave (Granted we can become at-large members). The NRHS is certainly trying to remedy some of its issues; those bylaws changes addressed some of them (I do think a 150+ person board is overkill); the yearbook etc. They need to change to address the changing world we live in - Just as an example, this forum we are all using - why doesnt the NRHS have something like
this?

It's been about 20 years since I dropped out of the NRHS, after joining about 1975. Things may have changed, but 1 gripe I had was that, except for the National Convention, National Activities were for National Directors only. They got to go on the good trips and tours.
Often, the reason for having an activity, tour or trip is so the volunteer organizer can do something he likes, and sell enough tickets to the members to avoid a loss. But, if the NRHS and chapter officers who are eligible to be trip organizers are also professional railroaders, they may already be able to go on those trips as part of their jobs, and don't have to get the members involved. "I run trains every day for a living, why should I inflict that agony on the members?"
If National dues really are $57, that's too expensive for me. $25 is my breaking point for charity: for even $35, there has to be another benefit to get my donation.

No ... the national dues were not $57 - that was the total ; $21 local and $36 national. Sorry for the confusion.

Just for the record, the Blackhawk Chapter has supported various local museums and organizations in rail preservation projects in our area, including a monetary donation to Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum toward its successful efforts to move Grasselli Tower from East Chicago, Indiana to the museum. We are very appreciative of their efforts toward rail preservation. They have also been awarding a scholarship to a young person to attend the Annual RailCamp; an effort that has been ongoing now since, I think, about 2007.

Les Beckman (HVRM/North Judson, Indiana)