Evidently, prior to 1954 previous attempts to organize train collectors were either short lived or ill fated. If you think about it, most communication would have to be by word of mouth, letters, dial up phone calls or formal published advertising to spread the word. Possibly train magazines and hobby store owners might feel threatened by a club etc.
In 1954, Bill Krames (hobby store owner) and Edwin Alexander (RR book author and model builder) got people together in Alexander's barn (just south of York across the Maryland line) to meet on June 19. 20 and discuss an organization effort. The photo I saw had 14 men and one woman at the meeting.
Subsequently, another meeting was held in October and the organization was formed with 27 members. All who joined by the end of the year (68 people) were "founding" members. A group of 6 men in Socal formed a division which was also included in the national club.
