Welcome to the NMRA Mid-Eastern Region on the Web, Achievement Program Pages

While participation is strictly voluntary, all NMRA Mid-Eastern Region members are welcome and encouraged to participate in the Achievement Program.

The Achievement Program is an educational program for you to learn and master the many crafts and skills necessary in the hobby of model railroading. With the completion of each category, you will be issued a certificate acknowledging your achievement.

Please visit the Mid-Eastern Region AP Staff page to find contact information for your Regional and Division AP Chairman.

MMR The ultimate honor bestowed by the Achievement Program is the title:

Master Model Railroader.

An NMRA member qualifies as a MASTER MODEL RAILROADER when he or she has obtained at least seven of the eleven Achievement Certificates provided that he or she has earned at least one Achievement Certificate in each of the four areas of the Regulations.

Earning the title of Master Model Railroader is the ultimate goal for many participants in the Achievement Program.

If you are interested in knowing which NMRA Mid-Eastern Region members have succeeded in earning the prestigous title of Master Model Railroader, please click her for here for lists of MMRs by Division

Briefly, the AP is a system of requirements for demonstrating a superior level of skill in various aspects of our hobby. It covers not only building various types of models, but also building other things which are important to the hobby, such as scenery, structures, track work, and wiring. It also recognizes service to the hobby and the NMRA, which are important as well.

The AP requirements are a set of standards, but they can also serve as a set of guideposts for those who are new, near-new, and not-so-new to the hobby. Not because they lead to some sort of official pat-on-the-back, but because they are a source of ideas for projects that can help us learn to become better modelers.

The standards for the AP are high, as they should be if the recognition is to have any meaning. Use the Achievement Program as a guide for whatever you may be doing, you will soon realize that the standards are not unattainable, they just push the edge of your modeling envelope a bit.

Some people may be reluctant to participate in the AP, because the rules seem difficult to understand. The following pages explain each of the different categories in the AP, and what the exact requirements are.

If you are new to the AP, may I recommend that you take a look at the Golden Spike Award , although not an actual AP category, its requirements are structured along the same lines.

I hope that you will soon find just how easy it is to participate in the Achievement Program, and if you are not yet involved, start you off on the right foot.

Requirements for Completion

Basic to each Achievement Program category are specific requirements pertinent to that category, these requirements are described in detail on the following pages.

The following requirements are pertinent to all categories.

Each member who has been granted an Achievement Certificate must:

  1. Have completed all of the requirements for that category
  2. Be a current NMRA member at the time of requesting certification.
  3. Request certification on the official AP Statement Of Qualification form (SOQ) and submit two copies to the AP Chairman of the Region ( By way of the Divisional or Area Chairman. ) in which the menber currently resides.
  4. Submit a typed or legibly printed SOQ and the required supplementary attatchments.
    Note: Association Official, Association Volunteer, and MMR Categories specifically provide that the SOQs may be initiated by others.
  5. Include on or with the SOQ all of the following:

 

Golden Spike

The Golden Spike Award

The Golden spike award is an excellent way start your journey down the AP trail. It's requirements delve into basic model railroading skills, in moderate doses. If you already have a small home layout, chances are that you are mighty close to earning your own Golden Spike Award.

Use the Golden Spike Award Application Form as a checklist, you may have already qualified!

 

Achievement Program Categories

The eleven Achievement Program categories are grouped into four areas:

Model Railroad Equipment:

  1. Master Builder - Motive Power.
  2. Master Builder - Cars.
Settings:

  1. Master Builder - Structures.
  2. Master Builder - Scenery.
  3. Master Builder - Prototype Models.
Engineering and Operation:

  1. Model Railroad Engineer - Civil.
  2. Model Railroad Engineer - Electrical.
  3. Chief Dispatcher
Service to the Hobby:

  1. Association Official
  2. Association Volunteer
  3. Model Railroad Author

No matter what prompted you to join the NMRA, there is bound to be an area matching your interests.

Other information available from this site...

Definitions of many of the AP terms can be found on the Definitions page.

All available online Achievement Program forms (as well as Contest Entry / Judging forms) are linked into Online forms page

For in depth information regarding AP and Contest Judging parameters take a look at the Judging Guidelines pages.

Additional helpful interpretations are available within category specific articles converted from The Bulletin series "The Masters" This series further explains Category requirements, and what it takes to earn an Achievement Certificate.

Bill Porter's Achievement Program Checklist is available online. Print out the checklist and use it to keep track of what you've accomplished.

If you have a question concerning the Achievement Program? Check out the AP Q&A Page.

For more information about the Achievement Program, contact the Mid-Eastern Region Chairman:
Graham Harvey, MMR graharvery@aol.com.
Clint Hyde. Interesting pix occasionally from other places, credit unknown and unknowable :)