The NMRA is a world wide organisation and to encourage modelling they have something called the Achievement Programme.

From the NMRA website:

Introduction

In simple terms, the Achievement Program (AP) is a travel guide, to help you on your journey through the world of model railroading. The AP also provides incentive 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.

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.

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. Use the links on the right to explore the different certificates and requirements.

We 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. Please visit the AP Staff Roster page to find contact information for your Regional AP Manager.

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.

Golden Spike Award

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 we 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.

For more details click here to see the NMRA BR website.

My Achievement Programme Progress

I have been working hard on the AP but it is not a quick endeavour. You have to do 7 certificates and I have 1 down and 6 to go. To help encourage other people we have set up a local NMRA group to talk about the AP and what everyone is up to. We meet every couple of months and discuss one of the certificates.

What is a Merit Award?

To achieve many of the certificates you need to obtain Merit Awards. A Merit Award is achieved when you get 87.5 points out of 125 in areas such as construction, details, conformity (to prototype), finish and lettering and scratch building. You don't need to enter a competition to be judged, a British Region AP helper would be happy to do so.

My progress so far is:

To finish, I need to build a speeder from scratch (started), scratchbuild 3 more structures (I expect they will be very simple!), scratchbuild 3 turnouts (probably on30 dual gauge), scenic enough of my layout (more square footage to be done as I have a rather scattergun approach with no areas totally finished), wire in the engine terminal with motor storage isolated tracks and write the whole lot up.

Individual Certificate Progress:

Motive Power
3 models / 1 scratchbuilt / 3 Merit Awards
		Scratch built	Merit Award	Type	Finished
1.	Porter & scratch built slope back tender	No	Yes		Yes
2.	J-2 New Haven conversion	No	Yes		Yes
3.	Speeder	Yes			No	Started but in a box somewhere (not even sure where!)
Cars
Eight cars / 4 scratch built / 4 types incl passenger cars
		Scratch built	Merit Award	Type	Finished
1.	Camp Car (6 of them)	No		A	Yes
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
A	Passenger Cars/Camp Cars
B	Tank Car
C	Box Car
D	Flat Car
Structures
12 Structures / 1 bridge / 6 scratch built / 6 Merit Awards
		Scratch built	Merit Award	Type	Finished
1.	OO UK terraced houses	Yes	Yes	A	Yes
2.	HO Elevated ramp section	No		B	Almost (needs etched brass rail based on NY High Line)
3.	HO NEBISCO buildings	No		F	Yes
4.	HO Bowyer Manufacturing	No		E	Yes
5.	O Gas Station	No	Yes	E	Yes
6.	O General Store	No	Yes	D	Yes
7.	O Repair Barn	Yes	Yes	D	Yes
8.	HO NEBISCO billboards	Yes	No	D	Yes
9.	Martin Machine	No	Yes	D/E	Yes
10.	Bikini Car Wash	No	Yes	D	Yes
11.	These will be on my On30 modules or as I have enough merit awards, I may put together some simple bridges etc which will cover this.
12.
A	Styrene Structure
B	Bridge
C	Wood Trestle
D	Wooden Structure
E	Plaster Structure
F	Plastic Kit Structure
Scenery
32 sq foot including terrain, structures, background, lighting and realism/conformity.
Photos and description are needed plus a Merit Award on the section being judged.
Civil Engineering			Satisfied by:		Finished
1.	Original Scale Drawing including:		Plan		Yes
A	Adequate terminal facilities for handling freight and/or passenger cars		Plan		Yes
B	Adequate terminal facilities for storage and service of motive power		Plan		Yes
C	A minimum of one mainline passing siding		Plan		Yes
D	Four switching locations, not counting yards, interchanges, wyes, and reversing loops		Plan		Yes
E	Provision for turning motive power (except for switchbacks, trolley lines, etc.)		Plan		Yes
F	Provision for simultaneous operation of at least two mainline trains in either direction.		Plan		Yes
2.	Construct and demonstrate, the satisfactory operation of a completed section of the model railroad and track work described in #1. Containing at least 50 linear feet in HO.
	1. Passing Siding		Layout		Yes
	2. Spur		Layout		Yes
	3. Crossover		Layout		Yes
	8. Turntable		Layout		Yes
	15. Coal Dump Track		Layout		Yes
	18. Grade Elevation		Layout		Yes
3.	Construct for Merit Judging, scratch built scale models of any three of the following. and demonstrate their satisfactory operation:
			Merit Award		Finished
	1. Turnout					FremOn30 modules
	5. Crossing					FremOn30 modules
	10. Gauge Separation Turnout					FremOn30 modules - I want to do a full standard O/On30 dual gauge track crossing the module main line. The narrow gauge will branch off and join the main line at a turnout. I can't decide if the main line would have tie plates or not as the module main line certainly won't - it is a cheap logging line.
Electrical			Satisfied by:		Finished
A	Construct and demonstrate on own or club layout, the satisfactory operation of an electrical control system on a model railroad capable of simultaneous and independent control of two mainline trains in either direction, and containing at least:
1.	For command control wiring (DCC, TMCC, and others), sufficient gaps and switches to maintain polarity, phase if needed, and troubleshooting.		Layout		Yes
2.	One mainline passing siding.		Storage Loop		Yes
3.	One reversing loop, wye, turntable, or transfer table.		Lower Level		Yes
4.	One yard with a minimum of three tracks and a switching lead independent of the main line.		Port		Yes
5.	Facilities for the storing of at least two unused motive power units		Storage Yards		Yes
6.	One power supply with protective devices (short indicator or circuit breaker) to ensure safe operation.		DCC System		Yes
B.	Wire and demonstrate the electrical operation of at least three of the following items:
	1. Turnout		Layout		Yes
	3. Crossover		Layout		Yes
	4. Double Crossover		Layout		Yes
C.	Wire and demonstrate the electrical operation of at least three of the following items:
	1. Electrical turnout position indication		Layout		Yes
	4. Engine terminal		Layout		Yes
	15. Installation of a command control throttle buss line		Layout		Yes
D.	Prepare a schematic drawing		Layout		Yes
Volunteer
	Have served actively on one or more NMRA committees (National, Regional, or Division) long enough to accumulate sixty (60) certified time units (TUs). The TUs you receive for various types of service are listed below:
			Dates		Time Units
3.	Active satisfactory service as a Region committee Manager, or on a National committee: 2 TUs per month.
	Running Ardenrail Exhibition		1/6/06 - 30/06/07		26
4.	Active satisfactory service as a Region committee member, a Division Officer or committee Manager: 1 TU per month.
	Running Ardenrail Exhibition		1/7/07-30/6/08		12
	Running Arden Subdivision		1/12/06 to now		26
10.	Individuals (and their crews) who open their home or club layout for layout tours in conjunction with NMRA conventions or other NMRA sponsored events earn credit as follows for each day that the layout is open for viewing.
	c. Divisional Event 3 Time Units / day (3 TUs maximum per event)	Layout open day	30/4/05		3
		Layout open day	26/11/05		3
		Layout open day	8/4/06		3
		Layout open day	11/11/06		3
		Layout open day	24/11/07		3
		Layout open day	12/4/08		3
		Layout open day	15/11/08		3
	TOTAL				85
	Achieved October 2008
Author
1.	Prepare and submit material on any of the following subjects:
	Model Railroading.
	Prototype Railroading, Applicable to Modeling.
	NMRA Administration (e.g. Officers or Committee Reports)
	The material being claimed must be the work of the author, photographer, artist, draftsperson, etc. applying for the certificate. A total of forty-two (42) points must be earned from a combination of material in the following areas:
A.	Published Articles
	This is material that appears in printed media, such as magazines or newsletters and may include text, photographs, drawings, etc. Material that has been published or accepted for publication, may be claimed. A copy of the published material or of the acceptance receipt from the publication, must be submitted as proof. Points are awarded regardless of size or number of features appearing in any particular issue.
	Points per Full Page
	Item	National Publ'n	NMRA National	NMRA Region	NMRA Divis'n
	Article or Column	3	3	2	1
	Photos or Art Work	3	3	2	1
	Scale Drawing of Prototype	6	6	4	2
	Scale Drawing of Track Plan	3	3	2	1
	NMRA Data/RP Sheet-One Subject	-	6	-	-
	A "page" is approximately 1200 words. Credit may be claimed for partial pages down to quarter pages.
	NMRA Publications (including SIG publications) with a circulation of more than 2000 may be considered National Publications; those with a circulation of more than 1000 may be considered Region Publications.
	Material published in 100% NMRA Club publications earns half the number of points as for an NMRA Division publication.
	No more than half of the total required points (21) may be claimed for Division or 100% NMRA Club publications.
	Article	Date	Type	Pages	Points
	Continental Modeller	June 09	National	1.5	4.5
	Continental Modeller	July 09	National	1.75	5.25
	Model Railroader	March 11	National	5	15
	Total				24.75
D.	Electronic Publications
	This is for material published on a public electronic forum, such as the Internet. This material earns credit at the same rate as Published Articles in Region publications. (See above) All photos, drawings, etc.are treated as 1/3 of a page.
	Material that is published in more than one place or way (for example, both in a magazine and electronically, or in multiple electronic formats) can only earn credit once.
	The address (URL) of the material must be included with the certificate application. If the material is published on a non-publicly accessible forum (e.g. a private BBS), it is not eligible for credit.
	No more than half of the total required points (21) may be claimed for Electronic Publications.
	Website	Page	Type	Pages	Points
	www.kathymillatt.co.uk	Layout			17.25
	TOTAL				42
	Achieved October 2011