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Railway Scouting Program
Ask your activity advisor to subscribe to our
announcement
email list.
Merit Badge Sessions
Next HALF-DAY Sign-off Session: April 27
Sign-up Now
Send: Name Phone number Troop number
by email to RRMB at ncry.org
SPACE IS LIMITED TO 16 SCOUTS PER SESSION
Study Guides
- requirement 1a
Train Identification
- requirement 1c
Car Identification
- requirement 1d
Locomotive power, Dynamic brakes
- requirement 2a
Plan a train trip
(Amtrak website)
- requirement 2b
Rail Trainsit
- requirement 3c
Support Industries
- requirement 4
Operation Lifesaver
OLI's Mission
- requirement 5
OLI Safety Tips
OLI more safety
Tips for drivers
Railfan Safety Rules
- requirement 6
OLI Crossing Info
- requirement 7c
Stop a train in an emergency
- requirement 7d
FRED & EOTD
- requirement 8a, 8b
Model Railroad and Railfanning
Useful Links
BSA
MeritBadge Wiki
- Merit Badge List
- - Railroading
- - - Worksheet
2009 MB pamphlet
GSA
NC Coastal Pines
- Council Badges
- - Railroading PDF
Aviation:
Hiller Aviation Museum,
San Carlos, CA
We are also looking for other pointers to local
Aviation and
Truck
Transportation merit badge programs, and will list their links here for scouts who want to
complete all three transportation-related badges.
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Railroading Merit Badge 2013 Program Information
Subscribe to our
announcement
email list.
The Boy Scouts of America have recognized a
Railroading Merit Badge since 1952. This is the fifth year of our Scouting program at
the Niles Canyon Railway.
During 2013, the Pacific Locomotive Association will sponsor many half-day merit
badge study sessions at the railroad's service facility (called 'Brightside') in the
canyon, to sign-off some of their requirements. We may also sponsor a few
full-day programs* (see pre-requisites
for the full day sessions below) at Brightside, to help Scouts complete their Railroading
Merit Badge or Council Badge.
OUR HALF-DAY STUDY SESSIONS IN 2013
JAN 26, FEB 23, MAR 23, APR 27, MAY 25, JUN 22, JUL 27, AUG 24, SEP 28
The half-day sessions are a drop-in format (come any time between 9 am and noon).
There is no cost for our sessions, but you must RSVP in email by 7 PM on the
Thursday before the session. If there are no RSVPs, we will cancel the session,
and tweet that it is cancelled. This allows our volunteers to prepare to work on other
activities if the scouts have not planned to visit. Please be prepared, and RSVP
(and follow @ncryrrmb on twitter.)
During these half-day sessions, we will work on one or two requirements at a time.
Priority will be given for scouts to sign off other requirements on that day, if they
have studied some requirements and they come to the session prepared to sign off. The
sessions will be held from 9 am to noon.
Girl Scouts can attend our sessions as well! Juniors will be able to earn a
Railroading
Council Badge from the
North Carolina
Coastal Pines Council, because that council badge closely follows what we are teaching for
the BSA Railroading merit badge. GSA leaders should contact us for more information.
Mission Peak District's Merit Badge Extravaganzas: There are currently no MBX's
on the Mission Peak calendar for 2013. If they are able to host them later in 2013, we
will try to be tere for the Railroading Merit Badge.
Scouts are strongly encouraged to review the current
Railroading
Merit Badge Requirements on the Internet (and explore the helpful links at the bottom
of that web page). Scouts should also consider buying or borrowing a new (color) revision of the
2009
Railroading Merit Badge Handbook. This new rewrite hasn't changed the
requirements, but it has added a LOT of good, useful information, making it a better resource for
learning what a Scout will need to know for this merit badge.
The
Merit Badge dot Org website also has a Railroading Merit Badge Worksheet
avalable in
PDF
format. While it is not a requirement to use this form, using the worksheet is a great way for
a scout to organize their notes to be prepared for their sign-off.
Did you know that California led all 50 states in 2007 - 2010 for the most
fatalities, and the most serious injuries, from trespassing along the railroad right-of-way?
Operation Lifesaver is trying to change that through
Education, Enforcement, and
Engineering. (Hint: Part of their Mission is the reason that both BSA and GSA
badge programs have a requirement to learn about this important organization.)
Sign-off Meetings with a Railroad Merit Badge counselor may be possible to schedule
(by email, in advance) to come to a troop meeting, or to meet at the
Sunol Depot during regular NCRy operating days (please
check the main NCRy web page for our operating dates).
Send email to
RRMB at ncry.org
to:
- Sign
up to attend a session
- Ask
questions about the requirements
- Arrange
a sign-off meeting with a counselor
When you come to a session at the railroad, the first rule is "Safety First",
and we start with a Safety Briefing *outside* the gates to the yard, *before*
we go into the facility itself. Drivers should park safely to the side of the road,
outside the gates. We have limited parking in the facility, and we reserve that for our
volunteers who are bringing tools to work on restoration projects, so that they do not
need to walk their tools in and out. We appreciate your compliance with these rules.
* Our full-day sessions are currently only open to scouts who have signed off
at least 4 specific requirements towards their Railroading merit badge
(requirements 1c,
2a,
4, and their choice of
8a or 8b). These
particular requirements are best studied at home, and/or on the web, and can then get these
requirements signed off at one of our half-day study sessions. The more requirements the
scout has signed off before their full-day visit, the higher their position will be on
the waiting list for the next full-day sessions. The full-day sessions are meant to help
a scout add depth to the learning they have already begun.
The all-day session begins with a safety briefing at the maintenance yard at Brightside.
The morning is spent discussing the various requirements for the merit badge. After lunch,
there is a walking tour of the yard to see the equipment, to visit some of the departments
that make the railroad and museum work, and to observe some of the jobs that the Scouts
have been studying. After the tour, we focus on sign-off of the requirements.
These full-day events last about 7 hours, and scouts who have already done some studying
before they attend will benefit the most.
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