Metropolitan Division

Train Collectors Association

Who are we?
The Train Collectors Association was founded in Yardley, Pennsylvania in 1954. The first meeting was held in the barn of noted rail historian Ed Alexander. In the same year, collectors on the West Coast met and organized the Western Division. The result of these two meetings was the formation of the Train Collectors Association.  In 1957, the Train Collectors Association was incorporated as a non-profit corporation under the statutes of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.  METCA was established as a division of the Train Collectors Association in 1961. It encompasses Fairfield County, Connecticut, New York City, New York counties of Westchester, Putnam, Duchess, Ulster, Orange, Sullivan, Nassau, Suffolk and Rockland, New Jersey counties of Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Monmouth, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, and Union.  In 1977, the members of the Association built and dedicated the National Headquarters and Museum Building in Strasburg, Pennsylvania. The building houses the national business office and The National Toy Train Museum. The Museum has one of the finest collections of toy trains on display along with operating layouts in Standard, "0", "G", "S" and HO gauge. Members are admitted into the Museum free of charge and are encouraged to lend their special trains to the Museum for display. In 1983, an addition of 3,200 square feet was added to the Headquarters and Museum building.

Qualifications for Membership

Any person who collects or operates tinplate trains, (definition Below) who collects any items relating to tinplate trains, or professes a serious interest therein may apply for membership. Applicants for membership must file a membership application and must be recommended by two regular members. The member who signs the prospective member's application affirms to all other members the good character of the applicant.

"Tinplate" is a term applied to toy trains originally built of thin stamped metal, but more broadly it includes plastic trains as well, their over-riding characteristic being that they were built for mass-market enjoyment rather than the precise scale that some of today's model railroad craftsmen build and enjoy.

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