banks
New Member
Posts: 11
|
Post by banks on Jan 26, 2021 22:30:14 GMT
If you can't afford $50., You can't afford to buy trains, and you are not a true collector. That comment flat out pi$$es me off. If Isaid what I feel I'd be banned
|
|
|
Post by rtraincollector on Jan 26, 2021 23:38:58 GMT
If you can't afford $50., You can't afford to buy trains, and you are not a true collector. If your life revolves around York you need a life Also TCA does nothing for me.
|
|
|
Post by Country Joe on Jan 26, 2021 23:39:16 GMT
If you can't afford $50., You can't afford to buy trains, and you are not a true collector. That comment flat out pi$$es me off. If Isaid what I feel I'd be banned I understand how you feel. It's best to just let it roll off your back though I did answer.
|
|
|
TCA
Jan 27, 2021 2:09:36 GMT
Post by mrmeep on Jan 27, 2021 2:09:36 GMT
I'm an operator first and a "collector" (more like an ACCUMULATOR! LOL!) second.
My "collection" is first-and-foremost based on family involvement and traditions that began 110 years ago with my GrandFather and Great Uncle and also with my Father and his brothers. It continues to this day with those artifacts plus all that has been either handed down, traded or gotten at shows attended by myself with my Dad.
Our family has/had these artifacts as working toys to be taken care of, enjoyed and passed down as fun family artifacts. There is now two generations after me eagerly waiting to get them and they, too, have begun their own collections with the help of their own Dads and Uncles. (me included as Uncle)
Hopefully these fine pieces of workmanship will survive yet ANOTHER century and bring enjoyment and learning to those who will be stewards next.
|
|
|
Post by pebo on Jan 27, 2021 3:17:50 GMT
I renewed last week.....this is a hard time for non-profits......I didn’t even think about not renewing. I enjoy the TCA publications and I am thankful to the TCA for the many friends I have acquired and the 100s of acquaintances I have made over the years. Peter
|
|
|
Post by rockymountaineer on Jan 27, 2021 6:14:18 GMT
If you can't afford $50., You can't afford to buy trains, and you are not a true collector. An off-base and unnecessary comment among friends here, Eddie. If I choose to channel funds to the LCCA, LOTS or METCA, that's my business... and I don't owe you or anyone else any apologies for it. Nor will I cast dispersion your way, sir, for spending your money as you see fit for TCA memebership.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2021 14:15:12 GMT
I wasn't going to comment on this but my mouth has got me in a few arguments and even fights - just ask my wife.
If you like or feel the TCA is doing something for you or the hobby - pay your dues. If not no harm in not paying. At least you're doing something for our hobby.
I think there are more operator's than collector's now days. Maybe the TCA needs to lean toward operators? I pay my dues but every year question why. I get nothing out of the publications.
|
|
|
Post by joeh on Jan 27, 2021 14:20:11 GMT
If you can't afford $50., You can't afford to buy trains I can "afford" a Bentley, but I drive a Subaru.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2021 14:57:06 GMT
It is interesting, but not unexpected, how this topic has turned to TCA membership in general. Monday I found in my spam folder an email from the Fort Pitt TCA president asking me if I would be interested in joining in on the division board meetings via Zoom. I have a connection to him outside the hobby, so I don't know if I made it on a contact shortlist for that reason or if they are canvasing the division membership in general. I have only participated in a couple of their division meets even though they are held at a location a little less than an hour's drive away on my side of Pittsburgh. Other events are over an hour away, but certainly a small distance compared to how far many members across the country face for their Division meets.
After that background, on to the crux of my comment. Fortunately, the email had only been sent a week earlier. I have exchanged emails with him this week in the midst of learning what we have assumed, that the spring York meet is cancelled. He told me all Fort Pitt board meetings are open to the whole membership, and they encourage that for ideas and discussion with 'no pressure' to work on a project. I will probably attend the Zoom meetings. I seldom go to the division meets, because they are on Sundays, and until I get there after Church there isn't much time. Sundays are probably the best time to hold the events as more people are off work that day than any other day.
If a TCA member lives too far away to participate in Division events, then I can see that TCA becomes only York, a twice a year vacation for that person. Then if there is no York, that person's membership is just to support the TCA's task of promoting the hobby. Membership then becomes a personal matter if a person wants to donate as with any other non-profit. Involvement with a 'local' division then is a whole different dimension other than just a trip to York twice a year. I will give it time and renew again this year and see what happend.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2021 15:06:47 GMT
I remain a TCA member because I enjoy the TCA Quarterly and I like to support the organization. They have lost about 1/3 of their membership as eBay replaced the TCA bimonthly listings for buying and selling and the internet has replaced the organization as a source of information. Just a personal call, of course. To me, $50 is not much. Like Joe I can afford a Bentley but drive a Subaru (literally), so I am quite blessed in that regard. As another example, I am a member of the American Society of Hematology. For my $350 per year I get a weekly journal (which I could access from our University Library in any case) and get lots of emails about all sorts of scientific and clinical stuff, of varying interest. And I get a slight discount on the annual meeting (now virtual) that is fabulously expensive, when you factor in hotels, airfare, etc. In any case, this is my granfalloon (for those not familiar with Kurt Vonnegut's novels, just google it) . My intellectual forebearers and the people who I trained with were members so I'm a member. Thus I remain an ASH member even though the benefits aren't remotely what the cost is. We do these things for complicated reasons, and no one can tell us we are right or wrong, unless they like wasting their time, since we are not going to pay attention to how other people want us to spend our money or not. The world is full of people who think we should think like they do (witness the vitriolic hostility to fantasy paint schemes on the part of some scale modelers). It doesn't work like that, as we all know. Why anyone would think so is a mystery of human behavior.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
TCA
Jan 27, 2021 15:12:16 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2021 15:12:16 GMT
Bloody well put Neil ... pun intended
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
TCA
Jan 27, 2021 16:38:06 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2021 16:38:06 GMT
Bloody well put Neil ... pun intended
|
|
|
TCA
Jan 28, 2021 2:06:11 GMT
Post by JDaddy on Jan 28, 2021 2:06:11 GMT
I guess I am a fair weather friend to the TCA? I have more of a routine in renewing my membership. That is I really enjoy opening day on Thursday am. I have been known to help those who need bringing in product to their tables, lifting boxes and toting carts... but I look forward to renewing in person so I can flirt with the ladies... ! Cheers guys and don't get all tangled up in TCA dues, I donate when I can.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
TCA
Jan 28, 2021 3:33:45 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2021 3:33:45 GMT
"If a TCA member lives too far away to participate in Division events, then I can see that TCA becomes only York, a twice a year vacation for that person. Then if there is no York, that person's membership is just to support the TCA's task of promoting the hobby. Membership then becomes a personal matter if a person wants to donate as with any other non-profit. Involvement with a 'local' division then is a whole different dimension other than just a trip to York twice a year. I will give it time and renew again this year and see what happend."
Mark, you are fortunate to live in a part of the country where there is a lot of toy train-related activity. Up here in Maine, we're pretty much off the radar, and NETCA division activities are almost always in the Boston area. I would love to be more involved in TCA, but we Mainers seem to be forgotten.
I come from a family with a relatively long history of TCA membership, so I'm biased. TCA has been, and always will be, an important organization for me, for reasons far beyond "the ability to go to York." I joined in 1990, and prior to that I was a junior/family member under my Dad, who joined in 1966, and was an active member until he died in 2001.
Up until a few years ago, if someone wanted to join TCA, sponsorship was required; an applicant would need recommendation from 2 TCA members. In other words, an applicant had to show he/she was sincere about his/her interest in the hobby. In addition, the applicant would have to write a short paragraph explaining why he/she wanted to join. In my opinion, this vetting policy shouldn't have been eliminated. Now, anyone can join, and I think that decreases the value of membership. I can remember my Dad talking about TCA and how proud he was to be part of it. He joined not because it enabled him to go to York; in 1966, the York train meet hadn't started yet; he joined because he had a sincere interest in toy trains, wanted to learn about them, and believed he was supporting an organization that promotes the hobby he loved.
Bottom line, if you don't derive anything from your TCA membership other than the ability to attend a members-only train meet, then I believe you are missing the point of joining in the first place, and you probably shouldn't renew your membership. If a smaller membership means a smaller York meet, then so be it.
|
|
|
Post by thebigcrabcake on Jan 28, 2021 13:18:11 GMT
"If a TCA member lives too far away to participate in Division events, then I can see that TCA becomes only York, a twice a year vacation for that person. Then if there is no York, that person's membership is just to support the TCA's task of promoting the hobby. Membership then becomes a personal matter if a person wants to donate as with any other non-profit. Involvement with a 'local' division then is a whole different dimension other than just a trip to York twice a year. I will give it time and renew again this year and see what happend." Mark, you are fortunate to live in a part of the country where there is a lot of toy train-related activity. Up here in Maine, we're pretty much off the radar, and NETCA division activities are almost always in the Boston area. I would love to be more involved in TCA, but we Mainers seem to be forgotten. I come from a family with a relatively long history of TCA membership, so I'm biased. TCA has been, and always will be, an important organization for me, for reasons far beyond "the ability to go to York." I joined in 1990, and prior to that I was a junior/family member under my Dad, who joined in 1966, and was an active member until he died in 2001. Up until a few years ago, if someone wanted to join TCA, sponsorship was required; an applicant would need recommendation from 2 TCA members. In other words, an applicant had to show he/she was sincere about his/her interest in the hobby. In addition, the applicant would have to write a short paragraph explaining why he/she wanted to join. In my opinion, this vetting policy shouldn't have been eliminated. Now, anyone can join, and I think that decreases the value of membership. I can remember my Dad talking about TCA and how proud he was to be part of it. He joined not because it enabled him to go to York; in 1966, the York train meet hadn't started yet; he joined because he had a sincere interest in toy trains, wanted to learn about them, and believed he was supporting an organization that promotes the hobby he loved. Bottom line, if you don't derive anything from your TCA membership other than the ability to attend a members-only train meet, then I believe you are missing the point of joining in the first place. If a smaller membership means a smaller York meet, then so be it. That’s all true. The TCA is an important organization and I will continue to support it. Having said that, the TCA has lost a lot of it luster in recent years. It reminds me a a local hobby shop that refuses to accept modern technology and simply plans to ride out the final days until the owner closes up shop and retires. Nothing about the TCA says “Innovation”. It’s still doing the same things in the same way year after year. It should be leading, but I’m not sure it’s even following. I would imagine that will change soon. A majority of us are TCA Members and the rest are certainly prospective Members. I think we would all be grateful to hear their plans for the future of the TCA, so I’ve invited a Member of the TCA leadership to address the Forum. I think it will be a great opportunity for the TCA to interact with so many Members. I’m looking forward to giving the TCA a warm OGF welcome.
|
|