MOROP
The European association of Modelrailroader and Railroad Friends (MOROP) is a European association that federates national associations of (real) railroad and model railroad enthusiasts. MOROP has been founded in Genova (Italy) in 1954 and now has its headquarters in Berne (Switzerland). In 2006, MOROP federated 22 national associations from 17 European countries, with a total of more than 30,000 members.
The most important activity of the MOROP is to define and maintain the NEM standards for model railroads. Since 1994, close ties have been established with the NMRA which defines model railroad standards for the North American and other markets. For example, the NEM standards for DCC have been defined by working with the NMRA.
The NEM standards and other official documents of the MOROP are published in French and German. Some NEM standards have been translated into English, but these translations are not currently normative. The MOROP web site is currently available in French, German and English.
The MOROP holds annual public conventions which usually are scheduled in September in various European locations.
- Unfortunately, not all NEM Standards are not available in English at this time. German and French versions are available.
From their website:
The products of the different and most known producers of model railway parts and equipment were very different due to development reasons. With the expanding model railway hobby new producers entered the market after 1950 which brought rolling stock, track systems and other accessories onto the market. It soon became obvious that the missing uniformity in scale, track width, current supply, couplings and track and wheel set dimensioning was more and more a disadvantage.
In the meantime, national associations of model railway friends were founded and they created the MOROP (initially called Organization of the Model Railway Friends Europe and later renamed “Organization of Model Railroaders and Railway Friends Europe).
The European umbrella organization MOROP consist today of 21 national organizations with more than 30.000 members in 16 European countries. Like in the EU the longer participating organizations of the founder countries have been augmented by members from Hungary, Poland, Rumania, Slovakia and Czekia. The main task of the Organization is the development and renewal of the Norms of European Model Railway (NEM). The duty of the Technical Commission is to adjust the whole collection of norms continuously to the changing development of the products. The members of MOROP send representatives into the TC.
The annual MOROP Congress takes place each year in August/September in one of the member countries. On top of the meeting of the Technical Commission the general assembly of the members will discuss the further work and policy of the MOROP. Next to the “duty” program, excursions to interesting cultural and railway locations will be offered to the participants, which make the long journey to the meetings worthwhile and offers an interesting variety of hotspots around the locations. The participation at the Congress is open to everybody. You don’t have to be a member in an association or organization. The program and the registration form is normally available on the MOROP site at the beginning of the year to download. (January 15 2019)
MOROP Standards
See also
- NMRA - National Model Railroad Association
- NEM - NEM standards for model railroads, defined by the MOROP