Dear Member:

The ERA Board of Directors would like to express our sincere gratitude for your loyal support over the years. Access to our monthly meetings was greatly expanded for viewers and presenters everywhere in the world when we launched live Zoom presentations in 2020. Under the leadership of Editor-in-Chief Jeff Erlitz, the Bulletin has expanded its high quality and on-time standards. Volume three of Eric Oszustowicz's highly successful Elevated Railways of Brooklyn series, covering BMT photographs and rosters, has gone to press. Another volume of ERA's Elevated Railways or an issue of Headlights magazine are in development for 2026. ERA's ongoing project to scan and post PDFs of all pre-digital issues of the Bulletin, Electric Railroads and Headlights continues, as well as uploading our Zoom presentations to ERA-TV, our popular YouTube channel.

All of this new online content advances our founding principles of educating and informing the public about electric traction. These archives are truly a wonderful trove of information spanning decades that cannot be found anywhere else. It has been well received and along with the readily accessible Zoom meetings, encouraged new membership signups.

Thanks to our members' unprecedented generosity in providing substantial tax-deductible contributions during 2025 and the continuing controls on our operating costs, our financial picture continues on a favorable path. There will be no increase in dues for 2026. In addition, LRTA is offering ERA members a reduced-price digital subscription for Tramways & Urban Transit PDFs.

ERA's 2024 Edmonton-Calgary convention featured tours of their transit systems, historic traction operations in Edmonton and Edmonton/Calgary parks, shop tours and briefings with senior transit managers and executives. Our 2025 convention is planned for Kansas City and St. Louis. From April 29 to May 14, 2026, we will offer our bi-annual international tour Scotland, Northern England, and the Isle of Man. In addition to our annual convention and international tour, we are continuing to offer two in-person dinner meetings as well as our immensely successful Zoom meetings.

How can you help?

First and foremost, please renew (or join if first time member) your membership, and select the e-mail option if you can. Nearly 70 percent of our members already opt for receiving the Bulletin this way. Printing and mailing the Bulletin costs nearly $14,000 per year.

Second, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to the ERA and, again, thank you for your generosity this year. Any amount is welcome and can easily be added to your membership renewal payment (online at erausa.org/membership/joinrenew, or by mail). The ERA is a 501c3 non-profit organization.

Finally, you can remember the ERA by making a significant donation as part of your estate planning at any time. We would have been in an impossible financial situation several years ago if the late James Mattina, our long-serving office manager, hadn't generously donated $157,000 to our organization in his will. We also received a very welcome $20,000 donation from the estate of Harold Golk; a long-time and very active member. See the bequests page for details on donations and estate planning

This will be our only notice requesting renewal. Please take a moment now to complete the 2026 Dues Renewal Form / New Member Joining Form by January 31, 2026. We look forward to your continued support of the ERA’s long record of traction education and entertainment. Please be aware that a renewal for 2026 is necessary to be entitled to future books and Headlights magazines.

And a note about our long-term subscription relationship with LRTA of Great Britain: They operate on a strictly calendar-year basis and set their next-year’s mailing list by December of the current year. So, if you are subscribing to either Tramways and Urban Transit or Tramway Review, you must be renewed by November 30, 2025 to avoid interruption of those publications.

Sincerely,
The Board of Directors
Electric Railroaders Association, Inc.