Personal: Master Model Railroader #772

I recently completed the requirements for the NMRA’s Master Model Railroader (MMR) in their Achievement Program. This program has been around for something like 50 years, and that over 700 people have fulfilled the requirements before me tells you that it is certainly a doable project for plenty of modelers.

Years ago, when I was the editor of the newsletter for NMRA’s Division 2 of Mid-Central Region (Pittsburgh), I wrote a piece about the Achievement Program. In it, I stated that the MMR is doable with patience and dedication, a little bit like deciding to visit all the National Parks in the United States. Yes, it would take awhile and some resources, but it’s entirely possible if you make the effort.

The program has 11 categories of achievement, of which the modeler has to complete at least seven. I had completed four by 1990, when I still lived in Pittsburgh, but then moving and being without a layout for awhile, I kind of lost momentum in the MMR program. 

Recently, though, I read my friend Seth Neumann’s write-up of his meeting the requirements for one of the certificates, Model Railroad Engineer — Electrical, and I thought, “Heck, I’ve done enough to qualify for that.” 

And so it proved, along with two of the “layout” categories, Master Builder – Structures, and Master Builder — Scenery, as part of progress on my layout. That made seven.

One thing that results from receiving one’s certificate of completion is an article in the NMRA Magazine, with whatever kind of biography one wishes to submit. I wrote one up, but was disappointed they didn’t use one photo I sent them, documenting my pretty nearly life-long interest in trains. It was taken when I was rather small, showing me admiring an International–Great Northern (Mopac) Ten-wheeler at Cotulla, Texas, where my parents lived at the time.

Here is the article as presented in the NMRA Magazine’s November 2024 issue, with this cover:

The first page looked like this. If you click on the image to enlarge it, it’s readable (should you wish to do so). They did use this contemporary photo of me alongside the layout.

The second page, including a listing of the seven certificates I completed, was this:

I am glad to finish something I started so long ago, and despite a little embarrassment about the long gap in my efforts, still feel gratified that it finally all turned out. But just the same, it doesn’t make me one iota different as a modeler or a person than I used to be.

Tony Thompson