To summarize what's said below in longhand, let me quote the last two sentences as shorthand ..... since that seems to be Dave's point: "This is a hobby. H-O-B-B-Y! IF narcoa does not cease in its current overregulatory frame of mind, The hobby will split, a form of MCCA on the east coast will emerge AND there are enough of us old timers left who have the knowledge to succeed!"
For those who don't know ancient history, "Old NARCOA" as it existed back in 1991 allowed "local" speeder groups to exist under its banner. Hank Brown and others, recognizing that the now-defunct MCCA (under whose banner Hank and others conducted speeder excursions prior to 1991) was more interested in promoting the "historical" aspect of the hobby rather than the "operating" aspect, migrated to NARCOA. As 1991 moved toward 1994, two things were recognized: 1) the railroads in greater numbers were demanding that excursion coordinators provide the railroads provide liability coverage, and 2) the "Old NARCOA" directors, seeing the direction the hobby was going, decided to step down en mass, with the sole exception of Joel Williams (who remains a "New NARCOA" director to this day!) and allow a dynamic "New NARCOA" organization to be formed under the "NARCOA" name. Since the date that "New NARCOA" was formed in 1995, MCCA has gone out of business. In and of itself, this shows that the "dynamic" of the hobby was much more interested in the "operating" aspect of the hobby, rather than the "historical" perspective that MCCA had advocated.
Dave is correct when he suggests that the operating hobby as represented by "Old NARCOA" has "come out of the closet" of consisting of solely railroaders and ex-railroaders and embracing more of the general public that does need education (as Dave suggests) in the care, feeding, and operation of speeders. IMO, much needs to be done in this area, the issue having been taken up by the NARCOA board in 1996, if I recall correctly, but I haven't seen anything develop here.
Back to the 1994 timeframe when people, such as myself, Hank Brown, Joel Williams, and many others too numerous to name here, recognized the "insurance issue". It wasn't good enough to just ride the "backyard railroads" with a nod and wink from the division super as Old NARCOA members did years ago ...... Railroads were demanding liability insurance. As I said above, the real reason for "New NARCOA" is the "operating" hobby, and in order to operate the large number of railroads from which we now have to choose, liability insurance is mandatory. Thus, "protect the insurance" has become the hidden bylaw for NARCOA today. Tom Norman had a really tough time getting the latest insurance provider for NARCOA. Very few insurance underwriters understand our hobby, and getting an affordable premium from those underwriters is a HUGE task, and we owe Tom a great deal of THANKS for his continuing efforts on behalf of NARCOA's insurance program.
Now, back to the top of this email where I quoted Dave's last two sentences below. I invite you to "go ahead" and form a "New MCCA" organization out east, Dave. It's a free world, and I wish you luck! But, in today's litigous world, I don't think you will find the "backyard railroads" of the "Old NARCOA" age willing to accept you as they did 20 years ago ....... Times have changed. In order for NARCOA to "protect the insurance" and recognizing the new breed of speeder operators who are not ex-railroaders (and I am one of that group), it has become necessary to adopt rules and more rules, and judicial action for those operators who cannot keep their speeders on the rails or whose cars "smack" other cars (as happened to me in GA several years ago when my car was set on fire and the following car was incinerated). I personally think it is a pipe dream to think that the speeder world of 20 years ago is possible of recreation. Time marches on, and if we don't change with the times, we will be left behind with only our dreams of the "good old days".
Mike Paul
STROBX@aol.com wrote:
Ah. An old MCCAer!!!!!!!! When you said 13 years in the hobby, I thought, maybe folks would think it was me writting this. But before I really respond, I'd like to state that I am not leaving the hobby because I am mad at anybody nor because of what went on at the Narcoa BoD meeting (What ever that was). Basically I've fallen on a bit of hard times and I need the money and some other issues which have taken the enjoyment out of not only this hobby, but other things which at one time were fun, but now aren't. I will continue in the hobby from the outside as an inactive operator.If things get better, with my knowledge of the hobby, I know where to buy another car (at 4X the price they are now). Anyway. I believe in general, that geographic demagraphics influence one's thinking processes. perhaps having the Sun shinning 85% of the year in California has had an influence on thinking. Here in the mid west, people do not run their car! s(automobiles) into another in order to collect insurance. Over here folks are not so litigatous as the west coast. So when you live in such an invironment, you tend to think of ways to protect your assets! Ironically, The hobby really never started as a East coast VS West Coast thing. MCCA was HQ out of Wever Iowa and Narcoa out of Greendel NJ. Both organizations were centrally controlled. After about 4 years into the hobby, which I believe would put it about 1992- or 1993, It was discovered that the Narcoa Articles of Incorporation(By-laws, but the IRS doesn't wish to have them callec By-laws) allowed local chapters. It was then that MOW was formed. And in those years both groups had memberships in the hundreds, not thousands! So they did hand out liturature promoting the hobby. The unforseem consequences of this was the change in the type of operator entering the hobby. Instead of Railfans, ex railroaders, & active railroad employees, we now have the strictly r! ecreational operator many of whom think that when the escort asks us to be careful on frogs, think they have to becareful in the swamp! They care not what a railroad does, how it does it, or even why motorcars were made for in the first place! I have said many times before that you cannot legislate safety or common scence!
This is indicative of the "BIG BROTHER" phylosophy in which governing bodies believe that John Q Public is too stupid to come out of the rain! For now the Narcoa BoD has tabled the seatbelt issue, But in the future as the line from Poilterguist II said "They'rrrrrrr Backkkkkkkk". The Narcoa board is going to ram this down our throats oneway or another in some form or another. I have correspondance that some area reps are in favor of this even though the majority of the membership in a given area are not! That is why I have repeatedly stated be careful whom you choose as their rep. You will be stuck with them for two years. Another thing I'd like to point out is that this is not an official Narcoa Site. Narcoa cannot control the content of this forum. It is the Central Railroad Club of Iowa that can. If you don't believe me, use your search engine. As a qualified Narcoa/ Great Lakes Railcars Coordinator, I can tell you that rules are needed for those who lack the proper! mentality to conduct themselves in a safe manner. BUT,For goodness sakes, This is a hobby. H-O-B-B-Y! IF narcoa does not cease in its current overregulatory frame of mind, The hobby will split, a form of MCCA on the east coast will emerge AND there are enough of us old timers left who have the knowledge to succeed!
Dave Stroebe