At the jointly convened annual conference of the Association of Railway Museums (ARM) and Tourist Railway Association (TRAIN) currently on-going in Montreal, Canada the members of both organizations overwhelmingly approved the merger of the two organizations. The new organization will be named the Association of Tourist Railroads and Railway Museums (ATRRM). The vote was taken on November 8, 2012.

The merger is not yet legal/official as the necessary paperwork to merge the two organizations have to be filed and approved by the appropriate state authorities in which the two organizations are incorporated. The merger is projected to be finalized sometime in mid-2013.

Thanks!

Just wondering if a more catchy name that does not repeat "railways" twice could have been found. Recently our organization has hired a branding firm to rebrand us, and as a result of the learning process I am keenly aware of how important the right name, branding, logos etc. are to an organization's image. The earlier names of the two organizations seem to have at least found names that can be shortened to "TRAIN" and "ARM" which are easily remembered. "ATTRM" isn't quite as catchy, IMO.

Not really a criticism, but a friendly note that at this time when a new organization is emerging that is going to try to merge together two distinct cultures, perhaps a professional branding firm should be consulted. Branding does not cost, it pays. Just ask GE, McDonalds, Ford, GM, Union Pacific, or just about any successful company as to the importance of brand identity.

I agree. This is the time to adopt a marketable name, especially in light of them giving up two great acronyms.

There has been an ongoing discussion on RYPN over the years of how to better market the industry both to the public and to the government... names and logos may seem inconsequential, but they are not.

Hopefulky Hot Metal's advice will be considered.

Rob

The problem here with a good name is

A.) How to correctly capture the variety found within the "association" itself and,

B.) Is that name or acronym already in use elsewhere?

Knowing those involved as I do, I would assume that every conceivable angle for a name was explored and this was probably the best solution. ATRRM is not all that bad either. When said quickly it kind of sounds like atrium, or atrim, or even with a bit of a stretch, a train. Could it be better, probably. But it may not be possible.

Mike S.

You are spot-on. There were very few issues on the merger that required extensive discussion or were controversial. One of the more difficult issues was choosing the name of the new organization. While I was on the ARM Board, and now on the ATR&RM Transition Board, I was not directly involved with the deliberations over the name other than to cast my vote in favor of it. There were numerous suggestions on the name of the new organization--some serious and some funny but not appropriate. I recall at a planning session that maybe 20-25 names were initially suggested. The ATR&RM Marketing Committee came up with the new name which, to me, is accurate in describing who and what we are.

The Marketing Committee and the transition working group should be commended for their diligence and hard work in all that they have done, and will do, to affect the combination of our two organizations. The process is not yet over as we now have to deal with governments in two states to gain the necessary approvals for the merger. A lot of work, most of which has been and will be done by folks who are not paid, still needs to be done. All I can say is: "Well done!"

Thanks!

The name, to me, seems eminently forgettable. The name itself is too long, and the abbreviation is inobvious, and essentially meaningless, even as a mnemonic aid to try to recall the full name of the organization.

That having been said, it may actually represent the best solution. The one thing I am sure of is that I know next to nothing about branding or marketing.

Doug -

I agree that the name is too long. Association of Tourist Railways & Museums (ATR&M) is shorter and still to the point. My 2 cents.

Les

Les,



I've been to a tourist railway, but never seen a tourist museum...

Bob -

Hee, hee! Good point! Maybe Tourist could be changed to Historic or Vintage.

Les

Well, my point is that I don't much like the name either, it's a lot like the "Department of Redundancy Department", but the second "Railway/road" is to clarify what type of Museums are part of the association. Otherwise it might appear it means museums of all types, not just those specific to rail.

The other catch is that it caters to ALL tourist railways, some of which are not historic or vintage in nature for various reasons. Not all tourist railways claim to be museums.

Bob -

I get your point. When organizations or companies merge, the surviving name is sometimes interesting to say the least. Years ago, two automobile makers merged with the new name being Studebaker-Packard. Logical. When the various "Hill Lines" merged (Northern Pacific; Great Northern; Chicago, Burlington & Quincy along with the SP&S) the name Burlington Northern honored parts of 3 of the 4 company names. Again, logical. But when BN merged with the Santa Fe, they came up with the name Burlington Northern Santa Fe, when NORTHERN had nothing to do with much of where the railroad ran and with no longer any reason to honor it, instead of choosing a much simpler Burlington Santa Fe or Santa Fe Burlington. Of course, today the railroad seems to simply go with BNSF so I guess it doesn't really matter. I guess the actual name of the new ARM/TRAIN merger is not as important as what it does.

Les

A name is just a name. It's what you do under that name that makes it important and memorable.

Mike S.