Another magazine falls

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Garden railways magazine has come to an end. It is a Kalmbach publication. Last issue is in the Fall. I do believe that is the last of the large scale magazines. The upside should be an increase for MR as those rticles should be appearing there again. When Kalmbach bought GRM, the large scale articles mostly moved to GRM. Wonder how many readers know that magazines like that need articles from the readers to keep going? To make it worth while for advertisers to spend the money to advertis. Maybe MR should put a half page notice in the issues to be a reminder and way to get more contributions.

I have a locomovtive that is scratch built. The orginal article appeared in GRM in the 90’s by the original builder. It has since traveled the world (literally) and is in my hands undergoing an extensive rebuild. It needed it bad. I was hopeing to write it up and have that appear in GRM along with the story of its travels.

Shane

2

My interest in building a garden railway came and went pretty fast.

When I had the landcape curbing put around the house 15 years ago, there are “balloons” that are integrated into the design that were intended to house the loops of track.

It never went anywhere, and now I have funny looking landscaping…

-Kevin

3

I was bitten by the garden railroad bug in the late '90s.

IMG_1129 by Edmund, on Flickr

LGB, Aristo-Craft and USA Trains were three of the “big players” back then. One of the big frustrations was coupler compatibility. Yes, Kadee has a large selectoion of replacement couplers but the compatibility of mounting, for me, was still an issue.

After several remodeling projects I’ve taken up all my track and actually built a large shed to house the equipment. At 64 I don’t know if I’ll ever get around to ever laying any track again.

Depot_view by Edmund, on Flickr

I doubt I’d get 10¢ on the dollar if I wanted to sell it off.

Cheers, Ed

4

I got the Garden Railroad bug in 2004 and it was great until . . . . Varmints got the better of it. There wasn’t any mention of the Varmint problems in the magazine. Maybe it was just Bakersfield Varmints.

I should have known better and anticipated the problems but the G gauge stuff got the better on me. Both my wife and I really loved our garden railroad.

Between the Bakersfield Heat, ants using the rails as freeways, spiders everywhere, pigeons doing their thing, frogs homesteading in the buildings, and pets digging up everything our garden railroad only lasted two summers.

When everything went right it was wonderful.

It wouldn’t have been much longer before the garden railroad would have to come to an end, old age and Arthritis would have put an end to it. By 2008 I couldn’t get down on my knees anymore and it’s a lot worse now.

Mel

My Model Railroad
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/

Bakersfield, California

I’m beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

5

I should have opted for the “Extra-Strength” Goat Repellant!

Curious Goats by Edmund, on Flickr

[:D]

Cheers, Ed

6

Wow, Ed.

At least our varmints didn’t eat our garden railroad but having to run a track cleaner before running my trains was a pta. If the wheels crush the freeway ants and you don’t clean the rails their body acids will eat the rails and the wheels. Again nothing about that in the magazines.

Mel

My Model Railroad
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/

Bakersfield, California

I’m beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

7

I hope they find a place, but I would rather that not be between the MR covers.

8

Since I’m fairly new to model railroading, I was interested in a garden railroad.

One of the big improvements for that scale is the battery power and radio control. The tracks can get dirty, there’s not the issue of digging for wiring, etc.

That said, I was surprised at the cost.

9

I have always liked the idea of a garden railroad, and would have attempted one at one time. However, I came to the hobby quite late, in my 50’s, and by then I had been bitten by the HO world and all that was available and being promised/promoted. So, for me, it soon became another pipe dream gone by.

That said, if someone nearby proclaimed their intent to build a large outdoor G-Scale layout on an acreage, and said they’ve love some help, I’d be there at sunup in June.

10

There are some really neat public garden railroads.

One of them is in Omaha’s Lauritzen Gardens. It was after I saw this that I decided to get into model railroading. I couldn’t do the garden route, though.

11

Looking back, using chicken grit as ballast while raising free-range chickens may not have been the best choice either!

I hired some cats to keep the chickens at bay and all they did was fall asleep on the track!

Spring 2010 217 by Edmund, on Flickr

Spring 2010 225CROP_edited-2 by Edmund, on Flickr

Cheers, Ed

12

The only G Scale layout I ever seen was a around the walls of a basement…

I know there is a private G Scale club in Wyandot County. I found this out by a talkative railfan from that area while railfaning 4 years ago…

Ed, Do you know what they call chickens in Southern Ohio? Walking Sunday dinner.

13

I just got to say I missed that goat. It’s good to see him again[:D] I forgot the cats name Ed but man thats a big kitty. Unless that’s a picture when the goat was little.

My MR Club host Gary has a G scale train and track he wants to lay out in the front yard. Then have a portal in the fence so It can go in the backyard to be safe at night. Which reminds me I got to make some time to get over there and help him with that before the Summer’s over.

TF

14

Last week I received a popup ad wanting me to subscribe to the magazine. Was this sudden decision?

15

Also got notice today that Scale Auto (another Kalmbach publication) is also coming to an end. Apparently it is going to be blended in with Fine Scale Modeler.

Actually, I’m not surprised. The cost of the magazine has gone up exponentially over the years with less content. Maybe these combinations will bolster the overall content of the two magazines. As for what’s new articles, they are for the most part, old news by the time the magazine reaches the news stand.

Mark.

16

Well, I think the closing of ARISTO CRAFT a few years ago was very telling about the future of large scale and garden railroading.

I had some friends that were into it in addition to HO, and I knew of several others here locally with moderately large garden layouts.

BUT, they were/are all older than me (I’m 63), several have passed away, others are now having health issues which limit these kinds outdoor activities.

Right away, the very first time I saw a garden layout, I saw “high maintenance”, I don’t really like yard work…

I think the popularity of large scale ran hand in hand with the revival of three rail O guage, which also seems to have “run its course” somewhat compared to 10-20 years ago.

We have a local shop here that built its whole business mainly around O and large scale. The owner is now just hanging on to sell off what he can and retire completely. 25 years ago he started the business as a “retirement gig”. Not sure how that worked out for him?

He says interest in O gauge and largescale is way down.

Sheldon

17

I wonder if part of the problem was it being only about “garden” railroading and not ‘large scale’ in general. There are folks and clubs out there who have 1:20.3 or 1:29 scale indoor layouts too. Kinda like how “Classic Toy Trains” usually omits stories about 1:48 ‘hi-rail scale’ model railroad layouts.

18

Most leading model railroading magazines in my country cover all scales - from Z scale all the way up to G scale indoors or outdoors. There are a number of smaller publications specializing in O scale, or G scale, but they are struggling nowadays, as hobby money gets tighter and forums have taken over much of the role of those special magazines.

Model railroading is a niche hobby and I leave it up to smarter guys than I am to debate, whether a segmentation of a small niche into even smaller niches is sustainable under the given circumstances.

19

That is another reason the local hobby shops are closing, they can not cover all the niches.

20

The news of Scale Auto Enthusiast is not fully surprising. I have been a subscriber on and off for a few years.

There is a very limited amount of topics you can cover. There are not that many different ways to build a model of an automobile. The content is pretty repetitive.

That said, their equivelent of Trackside Photos was always amazing. There are two types of modelers that I think stand head-and-shoulders over the rest of us. Scale Automobile Modelers, and Commcercial Airliner Modelers.

These two guys can make ZERO mistakes. If you are building a model of a show car, it must be in show car condition. Commercial Airliner models also need to be perfect.

The Model Railroaders, Figure Painters, and Military Modelers can always cover mistakes with weathering, warts/wounds, or battle damage. If a Scale Automobile Modeler makes a blemish, the model is ruined.

You think NKP modelers are picky about Berkshires? Try entering a scale model of a 1973 Chevrolet Corvette into a modeling contest… it will be nitpicked to shreds like nothing any model railroader has ever been subjected to.

Every model in Scale Auto Enthusiast was always very impressive. I have never built a model anywhere near perfect enough to be in that club.

The SAE content should roll nicely into Fine Scale Modeler. I subscribe to FSM also, and have for years.

I hope this move assures that Fine Scale Modeler has a solid future. We model railroaders would dream to have all the resin detail/conversion parts available that Scale Auto and Military Modelers have. Most of these are still Mom & Pop Garage Businesses, so the advertising sales might be easier and a better fit.

These modelers are still quite craftsmen, and the ready-to-run world has not hit their hobby like ours.

Fine Scale Modeler has also done a very nice job rolling into the future and widening their unbrella. They are no longer