Railroading Merit Badge

Start the badge the right way Milestone

Meet your unit leader, get a counselor and a signed blue card before working with them. That process is the same for every badge and is set out on its own page.

Work to the requirements in force when you start Document

These requirements are republished yearly. A Scout who has already begun may finish under the ones they started with.

Usually comes after Start the badge the right way.

Merit badge requirements are republished annually. A Scout beginning work uses the requirements as they stand then; a Scout already working may finish under the ones they started with. Guide to Advancement 7.0.4.3 governs which applies. This page records the date its copy was read. Check it against the official page before relying on it.

1. Three of four, and all four are reading Requirement

THREE of the four, so exactly one gets dropped. None of them needs anything bought, visited or arranged, which makes this the cheapest decision on the badge and one you can change your mind about.

Usually comes after Work to the requirements in force when you start.

1(a). Three types of modern freight train, and why unit trains win Optional May not apply Task

Naming three types is the easy half. The question is the second half: why a unit train, carrying one commodity from one place to one other place, is more efficient than a mixed freight that has to be taken apart and put back together at yards along the way.

You have not answered "Requirement 1: which three of the four?" yet.

1(b). One real railroad, in four dimensions Optional May not apply Often forgotten Task

One Class I or regional railroad, then its major cities, the locations of its major terminals, service facilities AND crew change points, and the major commodities it carries. The most research of the four options here and the one that makes the whole badge less abstract.

You have not answered "Requirement 1: which three of the four?" yet.

1(c). Ten types of car, using models or pictures Optional May not apply Task

Ten freight or passenger car types identified AND the purpose of each explained. The purposes are the requirement; a labelled picture with no explanation has done half of it. Quick, visual, and free.

You have not answered "Requirement 1: which three of the four?" yet.

1(d). How a locomotive develops power Optional May not apply Task

A modern diesel or electric one, plus two named terms: dynamic braking and radial steering trucks. Those two are specific pieces of vocabulary rather than things to reason out, so look them up rather than guessing from the words.

You have not answered "Requirement 1: which three of the four?" yet.

2. Amtrak, a planned trip, and rail transit Requirement

Both parts required. 2(a) is three jobs in one: what Amtrak is and why it was formed, a real trip planned from a timetable, and the details of that trip listed. 2(b) is a survey of rail based public transit.

2(a). Amtrak, then plan a trip of at least 500 miles Often forgotten Task

The purpose AND formation of Amtrak, then a trip between two cities at least 500 miles apart planned BY THE USE OF A TIMETABLE, with departure and arrival times, the train NUMBER AND NAME, and the type of service you want. If you are taking requirement 7 Option B choice 4, plan that real trip alongside this one.

THREE JOBS IN ONE REQUIREMENT, AND THE LAST ONE HAS THREE DETAILS PEOPLE MISS. The jobs are the purpose AND formation of Amtrak, a trip planned from a timetable, and the details of that trip listed. On the trip: the two cities must be AT LEAST 500 MILES APART, so check the distance before you settle on a route. The requirement asks for the train NUMBER AND NAME, which is two things, and long distance services usually have both, so a named train makes that half answer itself. And TYPE OF SERVICE means what you would actually be buying, a seat or a room to sleep in, which the schedule for your route sets out. IF YOU ARE TAKING REQUIREMENT 7 OPTION B AND ITS FOURTH CHOICE, plan both trips at the same sitting, because that choice is this requirement carried out for real and the badge never tells you so.

2(b). Every form of rail based public transit Task

List AND explain, which is two things about each. Heavy rail metros, light rail, streetcars, commuter rail, people movers and monorails are all rail. The explanation is what distinguishes them: where they run, what they run on, and who they serve.

3. One of four, and only one of them involves a person Requirement

Only one of the four is needed, and they are not the same size. Three can be answered from a railroad company's own web pages or an evening's reading. The fourth puts you in front of somebody who works on the railroad, which means approvals and somebody else's diary.

3(a). Four departments of a railroad company Optional May not apply Task

Name four and describe what each does. Real railroads publish their own structure, so this is checkable against a company rather than assembled from general reading: operations, engineering, mechanical, marketing, and more besides.

You have not answered "Requirement 3: departments, opportunities, industries or an interview?" yet.

3(b). What interests you most, and why Optional May not apply Task

The shortest thing on the badge, and the easiest to answer badly. It asks for the WHY, so a list of things you like is not the answer. One thing, and a real reason, is worth more than four things and none.

You have not answered "Requirement 3: departments, opportunities, industries or an interview?" yet.

3(c). Four rail support industries Optional May not apply Task

Name four and describe the function of each. Support industries are the ones that are not railroads but could not exist without them: locomotive and car builders, leasing companies, signalling and communications suppliers, track and maintenance-of-way contractors, and the firms that repair what breaks.

You have not answered "Requirement 3: departments, opportunities, industries or an interview?" yet.

3(d). Interview somebody in the rail industry Optional May not apply Often forgotten Task

TWO APPROVALS BEFORE YOU ARRANGE IT: your parent or guardian's and your counselor's. Then three questions of the person: what they do, how they became interested in railroading, and what schooling and training the position requires. The only option here that needs somebody else to say yes.

You have not answered "Requirement 3: departments, opportunities, industries or an interview?" yet.

4. Operation Lifesaver, and four safety answers from it Requirement

All five parts required, and every one of them is answered out of a single organisation, which 4(a) names. Eighteen numbered items are asked for across parts (b) and (c) alone, which is more than every other list on this badge put together.

PARTS (b) AND (c) BOTH ASK FOR NINE ITEMS AND THEY ARE NOT THE SAME NINE. 4(b) wants nine tips for being around a railroad track. 4(c) wants nine considerations for walking near one. They read almost identically, they are eighteen items in total, and writing one list and repeating it answers half of what was asked. KEEP THEM APART BY KEEPING THE SITUATIONS APART: 4(b) is about the place, where the property line is, how far a train overhangs, how quietly it arrives, how long it takes to stop, and why the space between two tracks is not a refuge. 4(c) is about being on foot, on ballast, on a bridge or in a cutting with nowhere to step aside, with headphones in, or in the dark. DO 4(a) BEFORE THE OTHER FOUR: the organisation it names, Operation Lifesaver, publishes the material that answers every remaining part of this requirement.

4(a). What Operation Lifesaver is and what it is for Task

Purpose and mission are two answers rather than one: why the organisation was founded, and what it sets out to achieve. It is the shortest part of requirement 4, which is exactly why it gets skimmed, and skimming it is what leaves the remaining four parts looking like four unrelated searches.

4(b). Nine tips for being around a track Often forgotten Task

Nine, counted. This one is about the place: where railroad property begins, what a train overhangs, how quietly one arrives, how far it takes to stop, why the gap between two tracks is not a refuge, and what to do about a vehicle stuck on a crossing. NOT THE SAME LIST AS 4(c).

4(c). Nine considerations for walking near a track Often forgotten Task

Another nine, and they are different from 4(b)'s nine. This one is about being on foot: ballast and sleepers underfoot, bridges and cuttings with nowhere to step aside, headphones, darkness, and crossing on foot rather than in a vehicle. Eighteen items are being asked for across the two parts.

4(d). What a driver can do near tracks Task

A different audience again: somebody behind a wheel. Approaching a crossing, never stopping on one, what to do if the vehicle stalls or the gates come down around it, low ground clearance crossings, and why a driver must never try to beat a train.

4(e). Light rail and commuter train precautions Task

The one part of requirement 4 that is about a system many readers actually use. Light rail runs in streets and on shared alignments, is quieter than freight, and can come from either direction on either track. Platforms, doors, gaps and the space beyond the yellow line are all part of this answer.

5. Six kinds of sign, all of them what you see from the road Requirement

No menu here: all six lettered parts are required. Everything in requirement 5 is what a driver or a person on foot sees at or near a crossing, which is what separates it from requirement 6. Both the APPEARANCE and the MEANING are asked for.

5(a). Passive signs and active signs Task

The distinction the rest of the requirement is built on. A passive sign always says the same thing and tells you a crossing is there. An active device changes to tell you a train is coming. Get this pair right and the other five parts sort themselves into two piles.

5(b). Devices at the crossing itself Task

Flashing red lights with or without bells, flashing red lights with gates, and cantilever flashing lights. All three are active devices. Appearance and meaning are both asked for, and the meaning of all three is the same instruction given with different amounts of hardware.

5(c). Markings on the road Task

Pavement markings and stop bars, which is the part of a crossing most people have never consciously looked at. The stop bar in particular is doing a specific job: it marks how far back a vehicle has to be to be clear of the train.

5(d). Signs before you reach the crossing Often forgotten Task

Four of them: the advance warning sign, the advance warning sign for side streets, the no train horn sign, and the low ground clearance grade crossing sign. The last two are the interesting ones, because both exist to warn about something that is not the train itself.

5(e). Signs along railroad property Task

The no trespassing sign, and it is the shortest part of requirement 5. It is also the one with a legal meaning behind it, which is worth a sentence: railroad property is private property, and the sign is the notice that makes walking there an offence rather than a bad idea.

5(f). Signs at the crossing Often forgotten Task

Five: the crossbuck, the emergency notification system sign, the multiple track sign, the stop sign and the yield sign. THE EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION SYSTEM SIGN IS THE ONE TO KNOW BY HEART, because it carries the number to call and the crossing identifier to give when something is wrong at that crossing.

6. Four signals, all of them what the crew sees and hears Requirement

EACH of the four is required. Where requirement 5 was the road side of a crossing, this is the railroad side: what the train is told, what the train tells you, and what the train carries at the back.

6(a). How railroad signals operate, and two of them shown Task

Explain the operation, then SHOW two basic signal types using colour or configuration. Showing means a drawing, a model, or a picture you can talk over, so decide what you are going to show before you start reading.

6(b). Three horn signals Task

Three, with their meanings. The sequence sounded on approach to a crossing is the one everybody has heard and few could recite, and the others are instructions to people on the ground rather than to the public.

6(c). How to signal a train to stop in an emergency Often forgotten Task

THE ONE PART OF REQUIREMENTS 5 AND 6 THAT IS NOT A FACT TO BE LOOKED UP AND FORGOTTEN. A signal that a crew will recognise instantly at a distance, given by somebody they can see. Requirement 4 taught you how long a train takes to stop, which is why this has to be given early to be worth anything.

6(d). The end-of-train device Task

The EOTD, also called a FRED, on the last car of most freight trains. Use AND function, which is two answers: what it is for from the crew's point of view, and what it actually does, which is more than being a light.

7. One option, two choices, and the whole cost of the badge Often forgotten Requirement

THE ONLY REQUIREMENT HERE THAT COSTS TIME OR MONEY, AND IT IS NUMBERED LAST. Both options need your parent or guardian's and your counselor's approval first, and both then ask for TWO choices. The names mislead: the option called Model Railroading contains the cheapest work on the badge.

THIS IS THE ONLY REQUIREMENT ON THE BADGE THAT COSTS ANYTHING, AND IT IS NUMBERED LAST. Requirements 1 to 6 are reading and explaining, and can all be done at a table. This one asks you to choose an option, get your parent or guardian's AND your counselor's approval, and then do two things. DECIDE IT FIRST EVEN THOUGH IT IS PRINTED LAST, because it is the only decision here with a cost attached and the approval has to be given before you start rather than shown afterwards. AND DO NOT CHOOSE BY THE NAMES. Option A is called Model Railroading and contains a layout drawn with a pencil, four websites, and an explanation of direct current against digital command control, three of which need nothing bought. Option B is called Railfanning and two of its four choices require purchasing tickets. The option that sounds expensive is the one that can be finished for nothing.

7(a). Option A: Model Railroading, two of eight Optional May not apply Task

APPROVAL FROM YOUR PARENT OR GUARDIAN AND YOUR COUNSELOR FIRST. Then two of eight, and the eight range from a pencil drawing to a fully built and wired layout. Three of them need nothing bought at all, so this option can be finished at a desk by anybody who wants it finished at a desk.

You have not answered "Requirement 7: Model Railroading or Railfanning?" yet.

THREE OF THESE EIGHT NEED NOTHING BOUGHT, AND YOU ONLY HAVE TO DO TWO. A1 is a layout drawn on paper. A4 is four websites located and their information printed and discussed. A8 is an explanation of the difference between direct current and digital command control. Any two of those three finish this option at a desk, which makes the option named after models the cheapest route through the whole badge. IF YOU ALREADY MODEL, PAIR A5 WITH A6 INSTEAD: the structure you build, paint and weather in A5 has to be mounted on a layout or diorama, and A6 is where that layout gets built, so the two become one job. AVOID A7 UNLESS YOU HAVE CHECKED: a switching contest on a timesaver layout needs somebody else to be running one, usually a club or a show, and it is the only choice here you cannot arrange by yourself. Your parent or guardian and your counselor must approve before any of it starts.

7(b). Option B: Railfanning, two of four Optional May not apply Task

APPROVAL FROM YOUR PARENT OR GUARDIAN AND YOUR COUNSELOR FIRST. Then two of four, and TWO OF THE FOUR REQUIRE BUYING TICKETS. The cheapest honest pair is the museum visit and the preservation group.

You have not answered "Requirement 7: Model Railroading or Railfanning?" yet.

TWO OF THESE FOUR REQUIRE BUYING TICKETS, AND YOU HAVE TO DO TWO. B2 says purchase tickets and ride a scenic or historic railroad. B4 says purchase the tickets and make the trip. That leaves B1, a visit to a museum, a historical display or a railroad-sponsored public event, and B3, four preservation groups researched online followed by a conversation with a member of one. THAT PAIR IS THE CHEAP ROUTE THROUGH THIS OPTION, and a sponsored public event is often free to attend. It is also the better pair on its merits, because B3 ends by asking how you might help, which is how a Scout ends up welcome on a heritage railway rather than merely having visited one. If your family is taking a rail journey anyway, B4 becomes free and is worth pairing with B1 or B3. Your parent or guardian and your counselor must approve before any of it starts.

Counselor signs it off Milestone

The completion date is the date you met the requirements, not the date of the signature.

Usually comes after 7. One option, two choices, and the whole cost of the badge.

7(a)(1). Draw a layout Optional May not apply Task

Your own model railroad or one that could be built in your home. Point-to-point or a loop with different routings, and it MUST include one of four things: a turnaround, a terminal, a yard or a siding. Paper and a pencil, and the cheapest choice anywhere on this badge.

You have not answered "Requirement 7: Model Railroading or Railfanning?" yet.

7(a)(2). Build one kit Optional May not apply Task

One model railroad car kit or one locomotive kit. A self contained evening or two, and the cost is the kit and nothing else.

You have not answered "Requirement 7: Model Railroading or Railfanning?" yet.

7(a)(3). Four gauges, then four scales identified Optional May not apply Often forgotten Task

Two halves. Naming the scale of four popular model railroad gauges is reading. IDENTIFYING the scale of four actual model cars or locomotives needs models in front of you, so this one is free if you or a friend already model and needs a hobby shop visit if not.

You have not answered "Requirement 7: Model Railroading or Railfanning?" yet.

7(a)(4). Four manufacturers or publishers Optional May not apply Task

Locate four websites, print information about their products and services, and discuss it with your counselor. Free, quick, and the printing is part of the requirement rather than a suggestion.

You have not answered "Requirement 7: Model Railroading or Railfanning?" yet.

7(a)(5). Build, paint, weather and place a structure Optional May not apply Often forgotten Task

From scratch or from a kit, then painted AND weathered, then mounted on your layout or diorama, then the surrounding area made scenic. Four verbs, and weathering is the one people skip. PAIRS WITH A6, where the layout it is mounted on gets built.

You have not answered "Requirement 7: Model Railroading or Railfanning?" yet.

7(a)(6). Build a working layout Optional May not apply Task

The largest single piece of work available on this badge. Alone or with others: a model railroad or modular layout including ballast and scenery, with electrical connections made and a train run on it. Then describe what you enjoyed most, which is part of the requirement.

You have not answered "Requirement 7: Model Railroading or Railfanning?" yet.

7(a)(7). A switching contest on a timesaver layout Optional May not apply Often forgotten Task

Participate and record your time. NEEDS SOMEBODY ELSE TO BE RUNNING ONE, which in practice means a model railroad club, a show or a camp with the layout set up. Check that one exists within reach before you choose this, because you cannot arrange it alone.

You have not answered "Requirement 7: Model Railroading or Railfanning?" yet.

7(a)(8). Direct current against digital command control Optional May not apply Task

Explain the difference in POWERING and in CONTROLLING a layout, which is two comparisons rather than one. Pure reading, nothing bought, and together with A1 it finishes this option without leaving the table.

You have not answered "Requirement 7: Model Railroading or Railfanning?" yet.

7(b)(1). Visit a museum, display or railroad event Optional May not apply Task

A railroad museum, a historical display, or a prototype railroad-sponsored public event. Then, WITH PERMISSION, photograph, record or sketch items of interest, and explain what you saw. A sponsored public event is often free, which makes it the cheapest way to satisfy this.

You have not answered "Requirement 7: Model Railroading or Railfanning?" yet.

7(b)(2). Ride a scenic or historic railroad Optional May not apply Task

PURCHASE TICKETS. Photograph the equipment under supervision, then discuss the historic significance of the operation with your counselor. The discussion is the requirement; the ride is how you earn the right to have it.

You have not answered "Requirement 7: Model Railroading or Railfanning?" yet.

7(b)(3). Four historical groups, then talk to a member Optional May not apply Often forgotten Task

Locate four websites, find the history and purpose of each preservation operation, THEN TALK WITH A MEMBER of one of them and find out how you might help. Free, and the only choice on this badge that ends by asking what you could do for somebody.

You have not answered "Requirement 7: Model Railroading or Railfanning?" yet.

7(b)(4). Plan a trip, buy the tickets, make it Optional May not apply Often forgotten Task

Obtain a schedule, explain when the train should arrive at TWO INTERMEDIATE POINTS, buy the tickets, take the trip, and explain what you saw. THIS IS REQUIREMENT 2(a) CARRIED OUT, so if you are doing both, plan them as one piece of research.

You have not answered "Requirement 7: Model Railroading or Railfanning?" yet.