A proposed increase in National NRHS membership dues is sparking reaction from long-time members, and forcing national officials into a defensive, or "sales," mode:

http://nrhs.com/news/nrhs-faces-challen ... its-future

(For those unaware, there are two levels of membership: "at large" means you pay National dues and are a member of the organization alone; "Chapter" dues are paid in addition to these National dues and garner you whatever the local chapter gives: a newsletter, meetings, local museum membership, whatever. Members may belong to more than one chapter, and many do.)

This writer (disclaimer: 1st VP of his local chapter, Baltimore) has heard from representatives of several Chapters that appear to be making provisional plans to splinter off from the national NRHS. In effect, it's believed that the national NRHS is paying for contracted membership services that were formerly held by volunteers, and that those costs are ratcheting up to unpalatable levels, for what is viewed as less and less to show for it from the National NRHS. The magazine has shifted from a combined news and historical resource to little more than a rail photography salon.

I have personally heard from members that have quit, or plan to not renew whether or not the increase goes through. I have received communications from other chapters calling upon members to make their opinions heard to national administration. And I'm willing to wager good cash that the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society is receiving an uptick in membership inquiries.

I (and I assume many others) have received a form letter from the National President, Gregory P. Molloy, addressing many concerns and outlining pland for four new committees: Relationships, Development, Transactional, and Preservation (rail preservation, not preservation of the NRHS). The organization is presenting its future as a unifier of the rail preservation movement nationwide.

It is my opinion that there exist chapters that will exist just fine as a separate organization, many formally affiliated with prominent rail museums or excursion lines. And there are some that will likely perish without a unifying national structure for support.



NOTE: The opinions expressed above are mine alone, and do NOT necessarily represent the opinions or policies of the Baltimore Chapter NRHS, any other NRHS Chapter, or the NRHS in general.

I too, recieved the latest mailing from the NRHS with the explanations of its future plans, the one underlying theme of all NRHS literature is the need for more money, however, I question the intelligence in sending out a mass mailing such as this when only days before I recieved the latest newsletter from the same organization where the letter could have been published thusly reducing the extra mailing expenses involved with the letter.

I also recieved another mailing from the NRHS soliciting money (above and beyond membership) recently and enclosed was a pre addressed return envelope. This is well and fine if it helps the NRHS suppliment its operting funds, however can someone please explain to me why there was a pre addressed return envelope (addressed to NRHS membership) enclosed with the letter explaining the state of the NRHS's future, no reply was required in any manner, shape, or form to this letter, it is a true waste of the organizations money to enclose it, and a sign that something is very wrong with the NRHS, and their spending.

Just my thoughts,

Mick Nussbaum

I used to be an "at large" member, and did not join a local chapter.

After reviewing the benefits of that membership, which are the ability to attend the yearly convention and the newsletter, I decided it wasn't worth renewing.

On top of the dues issues, I know several chapters are not happy about the grants program either. Many chapters are struggling just to paint equipment, but the majority of the grants go to non-NRHS chapters/organizations.

What I gather from the mail I've received lately is that "central office" is looking to centralize the organization. (Hence the promulgation of the recent "most endangered list" and the new mission statement)

I have no idea why they expect me to bear the costs entailed in creating a more centralized bureaucracy. Centralization does produce a more effective allocation of scarce resources, it directs money away from local chapters to Philadelphia.

As a former NRHS member, I see more people that have NRHS chapter memberships moving to the Friends of/Adjunct memberships for chapters that have a physical plant (Museum, Building, Car, Kiosk, etc...) that they maintain/volunteer at.

Rich C.

I firmly believe that some of the more “active” HRHS chapters would benefit from operating as independent organizations. By eliminating the National dues, these organizations might very well become more financially appealing to a wider audience and even be able to charge a bit more for themselves. For example, a local chapter that charges $19 along with the $36.00 National rate could now charge $25 or $30 per year as an independent organization and would still seem a bargain by comparison. I also see value in giving chapters the option of local-only membership, with local-only benefits. Those who wanted to join the National could do so, without being forced into it.

A few years ago I let my NRHS membership lapse after my experiences with organizing the 2010 convention and witnessing first hand an organization that made the Keystone Cops look like a well oiled machine. Let’s see, some 60% of my membership goes to support this hierarchy? No thanks, I’ll put my money somewhere else. Would I rejoin if a local or “associate” membership were offered? Absolutely.

"few years ago I let my NRHS membership lapse after my experiences with organizing the 2010 convention and witnessing first hand an organization that made the Keystone Cops look like a well oiled machine."

And that's exactly the type of activity where they should be more, not less competent than the local Chapter. The convention is an annual affair, held in a different place. Every sponsoring Chapter is reinventing the wheel.

The National should be the place that helps each sponsor with the organizational constancies, providing a how to reservoir, while utilizing the local's knowledge of their own area.

Top ten lists don't really provide that much value either to the member or the chapter.

This is an extremely valid response for a lot of groups where fairly all allegiance is to one local museum or one "home town railroad". Decades ago, there were Chapters in the South whose sole reason for existence appeared to be to give the Southern (and later NS) a reason to run a steam excursion from their town by selling the tickets. No doubt some started that way, and some continue strong while others languish.

This does little for Chapters in situations like New York City or Boston or Chicago, where the loyalties get spread thin. In the case of Baltimore, for example, we maintain a joint library with the Baltimore Streetcar Museum, and have, or have had, members that also work(ed) with the B&O Railroad Museum, the Western Maryland Railroad Historical Society, both Ma & Pa groups, the Stewartstown and Walkersville Southern operations, the Mountain State Logging and RR group, the PRRT&HS, and even the Cumbres & Toltec and WW&F. The Baltimore Chapter functions pretty much as an "intermural" rail history group. (The joke, based in reality, is that the Chapter was started by a die-hard PRR fan in a B&O "company" town--and he was also a traction nut that later founded the Streetcar Museum.)

Attending the 2011 convention's board meeting (I have kept my membership in the original chapter in Florida I joined even though I haven't lived there since 1998 and they made me national director that year so I could represent them at the convention) really soured my view of the organization as a whole. High school clubs have better organization (and can be more mature).
I was awarded by 25 year pin right before I turned 40, probably the youngest member ever to do so. Since that convention, I've been pondering letting it lapse, but sending a letter to the powers that as to why and that they've lost a 25-year+ member in the process. That said, I've been a member for the majority of my lifetime, and I'm still not sure if I'll do that or not.
The idea that I'm seriously considering it should say something about what little I get out of being a member...

The NRHS National now and for several years has organized the National Convention, notice the recent conventions at locations that do not have chapters.

-Hudson

With all the documented problems at NRHS, the reformatted Bulletin is not one of them.

The new bulletin has better photo reproduction and, depending on the issue, better articles, such as the Conrail article that introduced the new format in 2005.

Why should the Bulletin be a news "resource" in the internet age? Anyone who reviews pre-2005 issues of the Bulletin will quickly remember how stale that publication's "news" was at the time, in this internet age, expecting news from a quarterly publication is a joke.

What NRHS needs to do is to offer an electronic delivery option for items such as the recent dues-increase-justification letter and, most importantly the all-color NRHS News. I do not need a printed copy of the News; a .pdf email would do nicely. NRHS spends too much time and money printing and mailing this publication.

Having an online dues-renewal option would be nice but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Another positive note: They got rid of the expensive to produce but seldom read "Annual Activities Issue."

Another case of "one man's meat is another's poison."

I used to read those Activities reports voraciously, as often there would be buried in some Chapter's report the news that they had acquired a certain piece of rolling stock (or scrapped it), or that some station was being restored with their help, or the like. Sometimes these reports were the only documentation that anyone could find of some rolling stock or structure's preservation. Of course, this is dependent upon a chapter's representative actually writing the news, and often "bad news" was deliberately obscured or not mentioned.

But, yes, the function of the Activities Annual could easily be replaced by a blog function on each Chapter's "NRHS.com/Chapters/XY&Z" page, and/or a total online database of all NRHS-owned rolling stock, stations, museums, etc.......

Agreed, most strongly. They have done a great job on that and I've bene very impressed in recent times with what is not on a competitive level with several of the RR magazines you can buy at hobby shops and news stands.
That said, I also agree with 'Alex the 4th' that the annual activities issue was something I always looked forward to. Some chapters really had a lot of interesting stuff to read, which was the only way you could see what each chapter was up to, all in one place.

The former Beaver Valley Junction Chapter separated from NRHS and became independent several years ago. Any others?