Projecting the Hobby in a Cooperative Way

e*Train Issue: Jan 2017 | Posted in: TCA Adventures

By Wayne Sheriff, TCA Past President Winter 2017

As we have noted before, TCA’s future and indeed that of our hobby depends in large part on our taking initiatives to acquaint the public with the joy of toy trains, and doing so in a cooperative way with other organizations

TCA’s Western Division has done just that. Our current endeavor involves a joint project at the Muzeo Museum in Anaheim, California in cooperation with the Toy Train Operating Society. Both train groups had previously created a toy train display at the Nixon Library.

With sponsorship by Macy’s and Metrolink, our exhibition Muzeo Express: Holiday Model Trainsis running from November 12, 2016 through January 8, 2017.

Muzeo Express celebrates trains and their importance in California history. It includes themed layouts of California landmarks as well as a vintage department store window sponsored by Macy’s.

“As we establish Muzeo Express as an annual holiday tradition, we are grateful for all of our sponsors, including Macy’s and Metrolink,” says Executive Director Dan Finley.

Other exhibit sponsors are Freeman, Visit Anaheim, the City of Anaheim, Bachmann Trains, Custom Model Vehicle Lighting (Toronto), GarGraves Track, MTH Trains, Milepost 38 Train Store (Arnie’s), LGB Trains, Lionel Trains and The Train Crossing (Costa Mesa).

The public opening on Saturday, November 12 included trackless train rides and other family activities, with a media preview the day before.

Additional holiday programming includes Polar Express Pajama Parties on December 2 and 10, as well as a Holiday Tea & Celtic Christmas Show performed by Tin Box Theatricals on December 4. The Main Gallery is also available for holiday party rentals set among the model trains.

Exhibition admission is $10 for adults, $9 for seniors, $6 for ages 4–12, and free for children 3 and under. Tickets are available for purchase at www.muzeo.org.

About Muzeo Museum and Cultural Center
The Muzeo is a unique community center and museum for the arts, education and culture dedicated to serving youth and adults. Its goal is to deliver high quality, relevant and diverse programming to celebrate the richness of culture, history, and people through exhibits, workshops, lectures and outreach activities. The 25,000-square-foot Muzeo complex features a state-of the art gallery space that includes Anaheim’s original Carnegie Library, built in 1908.

Muzeo is located at 241 South Anaheim Blvd, Anaheim, California 92805. Museum hours are 10am-5pm, Tuesday through Sunday. For private rentals, group sales or membership information, call 714-956-8936 or visit www.muzeo.org.

Read the Muzeo Express Newsletter, with full details here.

All TCA divisions are encourage to consider such efforts, and indeed some have. Let’s all work toward a broader appreciation of toy trains in today’s society!

Shop Amazon and Help TCA

TCA members who shop at Amazon.com can have each of their normal purchases generate a modest payment to TCA! And it won’t cost you anything!

The Train Collectors Association is now a participant with AmazonSmile, which is a special website operated by Amazon that lets customers enjoy the same wide selection of products, low prices and convenient shopping features as on Amazon.com.

The difference is that when customers shop at AmazonSmile (smile.amazon.com), the AmazonSmile Foundation donates 0.5% of the price of eligible purchases to the charitable organizations selected by customers.

The process is simple. Just search for and select Train Collectors Association when you sign up and shop at smile.amazon.com.

You use your regular Amazon.com username and password, but when you log in to smile.amazon.com, you’ll see that you are supporting TCA with your purchases:

Note that if you just log in to the regular amazon.com, this benefit does not operate.

There are no costs to either you or TCA, but TCA benefits!

This is a great way for TCA to earn extra cash to offset costs, so sign up today to help support TCA.

* Note: TCA is not a party to any of your Amazon transactions, and does not endorse any products or vendors.

Helping TCA with your ebay purchases when you use PayPal

If you’re an ebay user and have a PayPal account you use to make payments, you can designate a donation for TCA when you’re checking out — any amount, small or large.
If you’re a regular seller on ebay, you can pre-designate a percentage of your sales to be donated automatically in your name to TCA as long as the purchaser pays with their PayPal account.

In both cases, you will receive a donation receipt from the PayPal Giving Fund, and enjoy applicable tax advantages.

How to do it:

Click on the image above, or use this link. This will take you to ebay, where you will see the following page (log in to ebay if you are not already):

This offers TCA as an option. Click on the “Add to My Charities” button where indicated with the red arrow. Thereafter, when you make a purchase, at checkout you will be offered the option to make a donation to TCA in any amount of your choosing. Small amounts add up, larger ones are great! It’s always up to you!

The option will appear at the lower part of your checkout page, something like this:

If you’re a regular seller on ebay, you can allocate a portion of your sales proceeds to be donated to TCA. Look at the green arrow marked “Optional” above to see how to do it. Details on how ebay calculates the donation may be read here. This is a wonderful way to share the financial benefits of your hobby with the organization that promotes it!

An added benefit to TCA is that these donations are not subject to normal processing fees, so that makes your donation work harder!

* Note. TCA is not a party to any of your eBay transactions, and does not endorse any products or vendors. PayPal issues the receipts to you for your donation, not TCA.

Projecting the Hobby in a Cooperative Way

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