National Model Railroad Association - Achievement Award


Greg@mnrr

Greg@mnrr

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I recently re-joined the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) and I am interested to see if my layout would qualify for an NMRA Achievement Award.

Has any of the Forum members earned this award and if you did please share your experiences with how the judging was done and the steps you took to enter your layout and what was looked at on the layout during the visit by representatives of the NMRA.

Thanks.

Greg
 
Ken: The reason is to keep me motivated to improve the layout where ever I can and see if I can meet the criteria set by the NMRA and then pass the test by the judges from the NMRA.

More of a self improvement than anything else.

Greg
 
D&J RailRoad said:
Not sure why you would want that.
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I can think of at least three, Ken. First, to learn. By placing one's work before others, one can hope to receive feedback, even maybe tips if nobody cares to criticize. From learning comes capacity, and from capacity comes longevity and lateral development. God knows we need a lot of lateral development in this hobby.

Secondly, to serve as an aim, or a goal. Without objectives, most of us wander aimlessly, without focus, or without much enthusiasm or purpose. Having goals, necessarily those out of reach, keeps us motivated. "A man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?"

Lastly, to strive to get the best out of oneself. I can't be certain of this, but I saw a quote once attributed to Socrates:

"It is the duty of every citizen to keep himself physically strong, ready to serve his country at a moment's notice. The privileges of citizenship demand it likewise. For, how dangerous it would be for a nation of poorly trained citizens in times of war or danger. Finally, what a disgrace it would be for a man to grow old without every having seen the strength and beauty of which his body is capable." Change all that to be about any field of pursuit, any hobby, any enterprise or academic development, and it has the same meaning and value.
 
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Just mussing here. In the past, there have been threads about how people critique other peoples layouts and everybody jumps on board the thread to proclaim that is one of the lowest things one could do about someone else's empire.
Just having other modelers over to operate on your layout should provide all the incentive you would need to improve existing items or to try other things. That's only if you are open to criticism though.
 
Greg@mnrr said:
I recently re-joined the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) and I am interested to see if my layout would qualify for an NMRA Achievement Award.
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I have not. But I am envious you are going for it. I joined NMRA back in 2006 or so to work through the achievement system. So far I am certain I qualify for at least 5 of them, but every time I start the paperwork something else comes up and there it sits. I have "achieved" nothing.
 
D&J RailRoad said:
Just mussing here. In the past, there have been threads about how people critique other peoples layouts and everybody jumps on board the thread to proclaim that is one of the lowest things one could do about someone else's empire.
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There's a wide gulf between soliciting constructive criticism in order to improve one's techniques, and receiving completely unsolicited and non-constructive criticism that insults the model builder and his or her work.
 
cv_acr said:
There's a wide gulf between soliciting constructive criticism in order to improve one's techniques, and receiving completely unsolicited and non-constructive criticism that insults the model builder and his or her work.
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smirk, wait until you get an inspection by a NMRA judge. Dang, you would think you're getting your car appraised by a dealer for trade-in.
Hey, don't take this so seriously. Like I said, I'm just mussing the topic.
 
Yeah, that's part of what makes our discussions here lively, sometimes entertaining, and often informative, Ken. I have always felt that criticism is good, but there is an art to delivering it. Just as you notice that some tats aren't first tier, the same applies to the way we express ourselves.

We can offer unsolicited advice, but we should be prepared to be ignored or to have it rejected, even not terribly nicely. :oops: When I feel the urge to offer a person a tip, or to point out something that I think is worth mentioning, I offer the information, but I qualify my statement with something like, "I hope you won't mind my mentioning this, but...….. If you find my observations unwelcome, please do not respond; I'll just keep silent." Most often, not always, I get a reply, even if it is via PM. And truthfully, I have been told to stick it. :(
 
I'm sure even George Sellious and John Allen received some form of criticism about their model skills and layouts.

I welcome criticism and with every model railroad layout I see, I get new ideas or methods. I can't sleep at night after seeing all the layouts at Milwaukee's TrainFest with the new ideas floating in my head. o_O

Thanks.

Greg
 
Greg- I am not on expert of the NMRA contests, but I think you are looking for a Golden Spike award, which would judge your layout as a whole.
Check the NMRA website under contests for requirements for this and the achievement program which judges different categories like rolling stock, structures, electrical, association volunteer and author. Contact your local division Achievement Program chairman about judging your layout.
In structures, you will tell how you made it, how it was painted and weathered, scratch built parts, lettering and finishing and added details. Filling out the paperwork in great detail will often get a higher score, providing a separate page for each part with details of a hand drawn plan, picture of a prototype and build pictures, special weathering or paint and how scratch built parts were made.
Yes, they will count off for glue smears, paint on window panes and misaligned joints.
Nice layout models and contest quality models are often two different things.
I was insulted at the score for my first contest model entry. An experienced club member went over the model and paperwork with me. I expanded details on the paperwork, improved the weathering, added signage and lettering to submit for another division contest. I won third place and learned a lot about submitting a contest model.
I hope these comments help you .
 
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The whole idea behind the Achievement Program is to become a better modeler. There are quite a few Master Model Railroaders in the club I belonged to. They got to the level they were at by competing against other modelers and by completing all the requirements. I can't see a reason not to give it a try. Worst that can happen is they will give you a poor score, but every judge I have seen will tell you what to do to improve it for the next time. Yes, they are very critical. They have to be, especially at big events. There are a lot of excellent modelers, so every little detail counts. One of the most important things is to document how everything was done from start to finish.
 
Greg@mnrr said:
Lloyd: Please let me know how the judging when for you and how it was accomplished.

Thanks.

Greg
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Hi Greg,

Two people from the NMRA came over to my house today to evaluate what I had done so far on my layout, to see if I would qualify for the Golden Spike Award. After spending 1 1/2 hrs looking at my layout, me explaining my layout and how I had done things, they said I had done more than what was required and I would be getting the Golden Spike Award.
They even suggested that I had done lots to also qualify for the Achievement Program and that I should take a look at getting my Master Model Railroader. I might look into it, but for now I need to concentrate on getting ready for operations, starting in October.
 
Congratulations Lloyd. You have impressed me with all that you have done in what I consider a very short period of time. Must be those long winters there in Ontario.:cool:
 
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