Community service groups and railroads

Boy Scout Railroading Badge Makes a Comeback

By MALCOLM TAYLOR

BSA Merit Badge Councilor

New Hampshire Rail Transit Authority

Railroading was one of the Boy Scouts of America most popular merit badges in the early 20th century. During those years every boy and his family had fond memories of traveling to be with Grandma or setting on holiday by train. As automobiles became the main form of transportation following WWII, interest in the badge tailed off. It was revived, however, during the National Boy Scout Jamboree Railroading Pavilions that followed thanks to such organizations as Progressive Railroading and Railway Age magazines, Kalmbach Publishing, Amtrak, the Federal Railroad Administration, GE Transportation, Union Pacific Railroad, UPS and Hertz and Operation Lifesaver.

To qualify for the Railroading Merit Badge, in addition to booking and taking an inter-city trip by rail, each boy (ages 11-18) must be generally aware of the workings of a typical locomotive, how trains are made up and of what types of cars, how Amtrak was established and how to read a schedule, track gauge and rolling resistance (which is what makes rail travel so efficient). Just as important is how to be safe around trains including at grade crossings. That is where Operation Lifesaver comes in.

READ MORE AT:

http://www.enotrans.org/eno-brief/boy-scout-railroading-badge-makes-a-comeback