I do! Books are some of my most prized possessions! I have many model railroading books, most (but not all) are published by Kalmbach. I feel without these I wouldn’t really be able to be a good model railroader, as so much information is printed within these books about how to do almost everything within this hobby. I like nothing better than to be thinking about a new project and the problems I might encounter. I sit in front of the TV watching a favorite program and during the commercials, study how to surmount those problems, or get ideas on how to do so from the written ideas of others whom have gone on before. I also have many books on the prototype and reference catalogs from Walthers, Bowser, NWSL, Mantua, MDC etc. My library of information
continues to grow and I would love to add some of the more costly books available, but with limited funds, these get put on the back burner for more critical books or models.
I get the feeling that some of the newer folks starting out, think the best (only?) place to get information is here on the internet. While I feel the internet is certainly a good tool, you never know how much experience the person responding actually has and therefore it is likely their input can be less than reliable! No, give me my books and I recommend people starting out buy books to help them on there way to becoming successful model railroaders.
Sure do…but in my experience (which is limited in model railroading) you almost always get a valid and information filled answer to a properly asked question on this forum. I also find that the wealth of knowledge found on this forum works in tandem with my books. Someone may suggest something completely different than what I was thinking, and in many cases their suggestions turn out to be better. I always check my books for added info to compliment/confirm replies I’ve gotten.
Books rock, especially the ones with lots of pictures[:p]
I have the Kalmbach Wiring and Benchwork Books and reference books like Color Pictures of my favorite railroad freight cars and engines. Also have the NKP Story, Pennsy Power I & II etc. for reference material.
I also save certain magazines, I like the 60’ and 86’ auto parts cars and have followed James Kincaid’s series on these cars in Mainline Modeler. These are among my most used reference material for painting and decaling these cars correctly.
I use books and videos for a lot of prototype information. I’m not a big prototype nut but I want things to look correct for the most part. There was an article a few months ago in MR about things that just don’t look right. Different era equipment and so forth.
I couldn’t get started in this hobby without first studying my books…Kalmbach publications has made a fortune from me, but that’s ok…there is nothing worse than thinking you know what you are doing just to find out later after many wasted man hours and material that:…I shoudd’a read the book first!.. Chuck
Very much so!
Books not only give me the valuable how to’s, but give me many ideas to help with my planning. Having been an educator in the technical areas, I also know that the education is not complete without transfer of knowledge gained from the experience of others. Thus, the forums serve as a valuable conduit to this experience transferred from people like yourself.
Given that my layout is freelenced from several small industrail rail lines from around the country, of course I use BOOKS, and magazines, and whatever photos I can find on-line.
My latest aquisition…MR’s Locomotive Encyclopedia. OMG whatta book! More info that my tiny brain could handle!
I got to see the diesel encyclopedia also, these two are an absolute MUST for anyone who wants to detail their engines!!!
I’m starting to accumulate quite a number of reference books. Some of them I just initially glance through, then go back and really look at them more fully later on. Others, I can only digest a little at a time.
Sometimes I don’t understand or appreciate something until I have gained some additional experience. It’s funny. Something that didn’t catch my eye a few months ago about some aspect of MRRing, now jumps off the page at me.
Learning is kind of a neat process. Although, sometimes I wish it would come a little quicker…[:)]
Most surley I use books. Since I model alot of traction+ urban scenery I tend to (gulp) grab the more expensive hardbacks for morning sun etc.Research makes for a better layout building experience,seeing how things were done on the real world make the modelling be it selective compression or building true to scale a whole lot easier. i’ve nearly orn out my copies of the F&SM book and the V&O story as well. Both books give great inspiration. Rob
Morning Sun? Ouch! I was looking at a NYC Facilities book of theirs a few months ago and they wanted $60 for it! Nice photos but…that’s a lotta dough for one cookie!
yep sure do,
not only “how To” books, any book on trains or railroading is interesting,
and offcourse books can be taken to be read everywhere,
always take some train books and magazines with me , when travelling,
Sure do. While the answers to questions here are very good and fast, it is the books that give me the questions. If you don’t have the questions, being able to ask is a moot point.
Given a choice between the two, I would chose books over the internet in a heartbeat… The internet is a great source for immediate, thoough usually superficial information on a topic. The meat of the subject is found in books.
I have a small library of Railroad books which get a workout. The top three shelves are my RR collection, all of which are showing signs of wear.
I also make use of the small RR collection at the library in town and more use of the regional library system where I can usually find nearly anything I need and it is delivered via UPS or, as today, the bookmobile comes to town & brings what I’ve ordered. Recently, I borrowed through this system, books on the D&H, a book on Adirondack logging, a book about life in local logging camps and videos of logging & sawmill life in Maine and one on iron mining in my area.
I use the online catalog of the system to search for books I’m interested in and order them online. Then they just show up here, either at my door, at the bookmobile or in town at the library. I love it. Most areas have similar interlibrary services and they are a hugely important yet overlooked resource.
I probably spend as much or more on books than I do on locomotives and rolling stock each year.
Since I write a modeling column six times a year, I need to have a good collection of reference material-- most of it is books, though there are photos, equipment, structure and trackwork diagrams, and original paperwork. Nearly all of my book purchases are for prototype information.
As much as I’m not wild about spending $50+ on all-color photo books, the information I’ve been able to get out of them has been worth many times the price. The recent Morning Sun book with Emery Gulash’s photos of Downriver Detroit answered enough questions in one pass-through to make possible a good two or three years of new projects, and to finish half a dozen existing ones.
I use books a fair bit, however, it’s pretty much impossible to find books on anything other than British railways over here in libraries. I can get hold of Kalmbach-published books via my very helpful local bookstore - they’re willing to make special orders which usually take about a month to arrive. For this reason, I only bother buying books that are likely to be of real use - I won’t hunt down a book just to find one fact that I can either discover here or with a little Google work. This saves time and more importantly money!
Emphatically yes. My railroad library is on 4 book shelves each 3 1/2 ft long. Plus I have another couple of dozen books that don’t fit on the shelves. The magazine back issues are another story. In addition to giving a lot of information for modeling, I just like reading about railroads. I don’t use the library much, because they get a little miffed if they don’t get them back.[:(]
Could not have started my logging layout without a BOOK, got a copy of Logging By Rail, The B.C. Story , as I live on the bald-headed prairies, the book was a castoff from our library, I paid $1.00 for it, you wonder where your tax dollars go? I have friends who have never read a book since high school-yikes ! ! How could you possibly survive in this world without a book??, I guess there are not too many books read in the local bar eh? for those who have chosen not to read, I must explain, its not just the elitist wealthy upper -class gentry who reads, I was in a bookstore a few years back and stood beside 2 -12 or 14 year old boys reading and discussing a book on celestial navigation, I guess we will be O.K. in the future with a few of these little spitfires around. I applied for (and got) a job when the boss’s first question , what was the last book I had read.
