The principal purpose of the Operations SIG is to discuss, develop and disseminate ways of operating model railroads to realistically emulate practices of the prototype railroads. This includes sharing information on various methods of generating, moving and controlling traffic to heighten the feeling that our models are an active and integral part of the national rail transportation network serving shippers and consignees throughout the nation. We will also discuss and communicate information about the methods and procedures used by the real railroads and ways of most practically and realistically adapting them to the model world.
| OPSIG Contact information. |
Our Bylaws are available online (PDF Format)
OPSIG membership fee is $15 per year in US and Canada, $25 elsewhere. Electronic membership (full membership, but newsletter only by PDF file download) is $5.00 per year everywhere. NMRA membership is encouraged but not required.
Please complete the downloadable PDF application form and send with your payment.
Make check or money order payable to "Operations SIG" and send to PO Box 67, Wood Dale, IL 60191-0067 OR you may pay by credit card or in foreign currency by using PayPal at http://www.paypal.com/ with payment to OperSIG@yahoo.com. (Please note that this is NOT an email address, and correspondence sent to that address will not be read.) For information on membership, renewals, address changes, etc., please contact Membership@OPSIG.org. (Please include "OPSIG" in the subject line)
Member services include a listing of OPSIG members in your region, including contact for the Regional Coordinator who can facilitate meeting other operations-oriented people in your area. We also provide members with the CallBoard, a registry of operating layouts which welcome visiting operators to their operating sessions (by invitation). Listings of organized operating weekends in various parts of the country available for signup are also offered.
OPSIG sponsors operating sessions and other activities at regional and national NMRA conventions. Event plans and signup forms will be available on this site when plans are complete.
The group publishes a quarterly newsletter, the Dispatcher's Office. The membership fee includes four issues of the newsletter per year. To see an index of available issues, click here. For queries about the newsletter, or to submit articles, contact editor@opsig.org. If you are planning a submission, please read over the Submission Guidelines.
For information about planned OPSIG activities at the NMRA national convention, click here. 2008 Information Posted
For a list of Internet resources on operations and related railroad topics, click here.
The OPSIG maintains an Operations Bibliography of over 300 magazine articles related to Operations. We are also compiling a list of books of interest to OPSIG members.
The Operations SIG PRIMER provides answers to frequently-asked questions (FAQ) concerning topics related to model railroad operations.
The OPSIG Industry Database contains approximately 40,000 real industries throughout North America, for use in waybilling model traffic.
The Operations Special Interest Group Inc. is incorporated in Connecticut.
Current Directors and terms of office are:
Dave Cochrun (2009)
Jeff Leaman (2010)
Phil Monat, President (2008)
Seth Neumann, Vice President (2009)
Al Oneto, Secretary (2008)
John Zach, Treasurer
Jim Allamian, Assistant Treasurer
Directors are elected by the membership through a mail vote on a ballot mailed in the Dispatcher's Office. Nominations are welcome.
For further information, or to offer suggestions, contact:
| General queries: Operations SIG PO Box 67 Wood Dale, IL 60191-0067 info@OPSIG.org Please include "OPSIG" in the subject line |
Dispatcher's Office queries or submissions: Keith DeVault 546 Aspen Street, Morgantown, WV 26505 editor@OPSIG.org |