The National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) is one of the world’s leading organizations dedicated to the art, craft, technology, and enjoyment of scale model railroading. Founded in 1935, the NMRA began with an important mission: establishing common standards that would allow locomotives, rolling stock, track, and other equipment produced by different manufacturers and modelers to operate together reliably. Those NMRA Standards and Recommended Practices have had an enormous influence on the development of model railroading and continue to guide both hobbyists and manufacturers today. Now a worldwide educational organization with more than thousands of members, associates, families, and clubs, the NMRA promotes model railroading through education, technical standards, advocacy, fellowship, local Divisions and Regions, conventions, contests, clinics, and outreach to new generations of builders. Its educational programs include the Achievement Program, through which members can develop skills in areas such as structures, scenery, rolling stock, motive power, trackwork, electrical systems, and operations, ultimately providing a path toward the prestigious Master Model Railroader® designation. The organization also offers programs including EduTRAIN® and Modeling with the Masters®, providing clinics, demonstrations, workshops, and hands-on opportunities for modelers of different experience levels. From meticulously detailed locomotives and rolling stock to expansive layouts featuring realistic scenery, structures, industries, towns, and railroad operations, model railroading brings together history, engineering, electronics, research, craftsmanship, artistry, and storytelling in a uniquely immersive form of scale modeling. The NMRA helps preserve those traditions while embracing the technologies shaping the hobby’s future, providing a worldwide community where railroad enthusiasts can learn, build, operate, share their knowledge, and celebrate the fascination of recreating the world of railroads in miniature.