East Troy Electric Railroad

April
Sunday
21
WISE Division members and their families only - pre-registration required due to limited space. This is an Extra Fare Event - inludes Train Ride, Car Barn Tours, Lunch. More details and times to be announced closer to the event.

Membership Benefits

Why join the WISE Division of the National Model Railroad Association?

When you join the NMRA, you automatically become a member of the WISE Division. The benefits of the NMRA and the WISE Division include:

Fellowship
As a member you rub elbows with future and experienced modelers, and everyone in between. Come and join the swap meet that occurs before each meet.

Trade railroad stories with former and retired employees of the railroad, editors of magazines, photographers, hobby shop owners and everyone in between.

Meets
The WISE Division is fortunate to have monthly meets from September through April in which members come together to share what they know with others. Members educate other members with slide shows, power point presentations, movies, and talking about model railroading in general. Meets are held at various locations within the Division’s seven-county boundary. And at each meet we hold a contest with prizes. Check out Contest page for more information.

National/Regional Conventions
The NMRA has yearly National Conventions that take place all over the country. In 2010 Milwaukee hosted the National Convention. At the National Convention, you will see presenters from all over the world, tour different venues from the area, and meet people from all over the world who share your love of model railroading. Midwest Region conventions are a bit closer to home and take place every spring in the midwest.

The WISE Division Newsletter – Owl Car
The WISE Division Newsletter is issued monthly. It contains information about upcoming meets, the presenters at a meet, contest winners and other important information. To receive a copy of the newsletter by mail you must be a member of the division.

The NMRA Magazine (formerly Scale Rails)
The NMRA Magazine comes out monthly from the National organization. It highlights many articles and topics that are timely and deal with different aspects of the hobby.

Insurance coverage for club layouts, meets and shows

NMRA Standards and recommended practices
Standards and practices are detailed at http://www.nmra.org/

Participation with fellow members in photo and model contests
The WISE Division has a popular vote contest. First place winners in a category receive a new dash plaque and two $10.00 gift certificates from a local hobby shop. The winner of BEST OF SHOW gets a larger plaque and two-$10.00 gift certificates from local hobby shops.

Bus Trips
The WISE Division sponsors a bus trip, or two, to a rail oriented venue. The cost includes the bus ride, and coffee and donuts to enjoy on the way to the destination.

Rail Event
The WISE Division sponsors a rail event (picnic) in August for members and their families to participate in.

Hobby Shops
Hobby shops are the backbone of our hobby. They supply us with track, track cleaner, locomotives, railcars, boxcars, detail parts, switches, turn outs, track bed, buildings and everything else we need to make a layout the very best it can be.

There are five terrific hobby shops in the greater Milwaukee area that are more than willing to give assistance when needed. See the hobby shop page. Each hobby shop owner/salesperson is well versed in the hobby and most are model railroaders themselves. You may receive a discount when you present your NMRA membership card.

Donations
Donations have been given to organizations who qualify under the sec. 501(c)3. The WISE Division has made donations to the East Troy Railway, Milwaukee Light Engineering Society, the Milwaukee Public Library, the Ronald McDonald House, Channel 10/36 auction, the Mid-Continent Railroad Museum’s Fish Car restoration (pictured below) and other charities.

The Motive Power
The Achievement Program (AP) is a travel guide to help you on your journey through the world of model railroading. The AP program provides incentives to learn and master the many crafts and skills necessary in the hobby of model railroading.

The AP requirements are a set of standards serving as a set of guideposts for those who are new, near new or not so new to the hobby.

The AP is a system of requirements for demonstrating a superior level of skill in various aspects of the hobby. Sounds complicated?? It’s not. AP covers not only building various types of models, but building other things that are important to the hobby that you might not even think of. These things are important to the hobby: scenery, structures, track work, and wiring. AP also recognizes service to the hobby and the NMRA.

With the completion of each category, you will be issued a certificate acknowledging your achievement. The following are the AP categories:

While progressing through the Achievement Program (completing 7 of the 11 AP categories) you reach - Master Model Railroader.

Master Model Railroader
An NMRA member qualifies as a Master Model Railroader when he/she has obtained at least seven of the eleven Achievement Certificates provided that he/she has earned at least one Achievement Certificate in each of the four areas of the Regulations. Earning the title of Master Model Railroader is the ultimate goal for many participants in the Achievement Program.

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Come Meet Us:

Trial NMRA Membership

East Troy Electric Railro...

April
Sunday
21
WISE Division members and their families only - pre-registration required due to limited space. This is an Extra Fare Event - inludes Train Ride, Car Barn Tours, Lunch. More details and times to be announced closer to the event.