The Train Collectors Association
From Mod Mania
MOD MANIA
The Train Collectors Association, (TCA) – Assessment Task 1
Toy train collecting has been around for many years now however, until you take a closer look the sheer size of the network that has been created you cant truly grasp the concept of train collecting. As a child I started out with a small wooden train set that required physical movement to push the train around the track. This then developed into a “Tommy The Tank engine” train set, operated with two double A batteries and ran on a plastic rail network. From here there was really nowhere to go without investing heavily in some tin plated trains that as I will show, form the foundation for the group I am going to look into, the TCA.
The Train Collectors Association was started up in 1954, in Pennsylvania. The founders of the TCA started holding meetings in a barn out the back of one of the member’s houses. These meetings developed over the years and now the TCA has over 30,000 members worldwide.
The guidelines as to who can join the group are relatively relaxed although, it is required that you are interested in the collection of tin plate trains and or own a set. On top of this the applicant must also obtain the signatures of two full members for his application form to be valid. Although the TCA is a non-profit organization, there is still a joining fee of $25 plus the annual fees of $35.
To gain further knowledge into how this organization of hobbyists work, it’s necessary to follow one aspect of the group in more detail. For this I chose the TCA, Western Division. This Division is based in Los Angeles, California. This division gives some interesting incites into the way in which people are encouraged and enticed into joining the club and showing off the passion and love for model trains. The club is a place where their skills and collections are acknowledged and rather than feel like an outcast for having an obscure hobby, they feel part of the team.
The TCA Western Division encourages fellow TCA members from other divisions to drop in on the monthly meetings that are held in Los Angeles. This encourages the spread of knowledge across the states in America. Each month the Western Division holds a meeting where they auction off train sets, observe other fellow members collections and present you collection giving the story behind the meaning involved in the set. By holding auctions at these meetings there is an opportunity to build upon your train collection each month. Members sell unwanted or spare parts that can then be collected by other members in order to change their individual sets. These Auctions are held in order to facilitate the re-circulation of the train items within the membership at reasonable prices. After all one member’s junk may be another member’s treasure.
The TCA Western Division is also working hard to encourage young people to get involved in the on going hobby of collecting trains. They have initiated a program with the Boy Scouts of America where the scouts can earn a merit badge in model railroading through the completion of several exercises. There are also “Children’s Meets”, where children of all ages, disabilities and social backgrounds are encouraged to come and have a go. For children under the age of 18, it is free to join and once they turn 18 there membership rolls into a full membership allowing them to skip the joining fee. This is the best way that kids are able to learn about toy trains and how the hobby works.
Modifying your train can be done in numerous different ways. One of the fantastic things that the TCA meetings promote is the purchasing of new parts to add to your train. On top of this the members are all more than happy to help by sharing their knowledge of the trains and mechanics involved in running them. In many cases modifying your train will actually decrease the value of the train. An example of this would be when you compare a train that has been restored with the same train in a un touched condition. Having said this, there are other occasions where you can modify components of the engines to work more efficiently and smoother to add more value to it. For hobbyists modifying a train is like personalizing it so that it is unique to them. Major variations such as changing the exterior and interior color and the size, color and placement of the graphics on the toy trains will usually increase the value of the train. As I mentioned before the idea is to then meet up weekly and “show off”, your train set in front of other TCA members.
On a much larger scale the TCA meets annually with all of the other 20 Divisions that are a part of the TCA. For instance, the 2003, TCA 49th National Convention, Ontario, California, was the last publicly published convention that I could find. 681 TCA members registered and the total size of the event hosted over 1400 people from all over the US. There was also an international presence with people having traveled from South America and Europe. This event is the largest event of the year where people are able to see some unique train set up’s in massive display areas. There is a theme every year to the manner in which the TCA members prepare for the event. The theme for this particular year was “Hollywood and Trains”, this was displayed with extensive movie memorabilia from films where movies were part of the cast.
This convention is great; it brings together a group of people who all have the same common interest in model trains. The passion and time that goes into the preparation involved to run and organize everything is evident by the grand success. Every year this event is changing it is being modified by the youth that has been thriving though as new members and beginning to have an impact on what is “hot or not.” The youth will be the foundation for the TCA and initiatives such as scout’s free memberships is encouraging them to join up and thus ensure the future of the TCA. I would be fantastic to be part of an organization that really takes pride in the hobby. The TCA is a classic example of how something that started with an Annual Convention of just 68 members has grown into a huge train model train society.
Bibliography 1. http://www.tcamembers.org/newsandevents/nationalconvention.htm 2. http://www.tcawestern.org/ 3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Train_Collectors_Association 4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qUco5pl1EE 5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7T3k9W1mLs 6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He_Yl7Td5Dw 7. http://tca-midwest.org/
