Bruce Petrarca, MMR
Mark Pelletier
PebbleCreek Model Railroad Club member and President Bruce Petrarca has earned the title of Master Model Railroader (MMR) as designated by the National Model Railroad Association’s Achievement Program. Bruce is the 574th person to achieve this status in the 55 years since the program began.
The process to achieve the MMR is somewhat like the steps involved in the Eagle Scout program which Bruce also completed, but some years ago, of course. There is not a single set of requirements to be met. The applicant may select from a number of defined skills to be demonstrated, completing a certain number.
Bruce needed to show construction skills and you can see the results in structures and scenery in the South Bend area of the club’s layout. There are over 500 freight cars on our railroad, so I’m not sure which ones might be his creations. The NMRA sponsors “meets” frequently across the country featuring displays, seminars, modeling contests and railroad-related field trips. By judging in contests and presenting educational presentations, Bruce was able to satisfy two more of the necessary certificates.
Ironically, an engineering certificate was the seventh and final one he completed. Bruce is a graduate engineer and a nationally known expert on the electronics aspect of model railroading, authoring a monthly column for Model Railroad Hobbyist – an online magazine (mrhmag.com).
Our congratulations go to Bruce, whom I suspect is already working on some of those extra certification areas. But just for fun; you can’t win twice, Bruce.
Visit Bruce (and the rest of us) on Tuesday and Thursday mornings in Room 106 at the Eagle’s Nest Activity Center or at pcmrc.org on the web.