Thought I’d throw a fun thread in. I have found over the years the way I read an MR has changed. Now before I go any further this is not a thread to slag MR so please save your MR slagging for another thread. This is about openly admitting you anxiously await the next issue and aren’t afraid to tell the world. There has been enough negative posts about MR. But I for one still wait for it the most of all the mags - and heck - I’m in N scale (and trust me, the guys at MR will get that joke).
So when you get home, how do you read MR? Do you plow through it in one sitting, do you hunt and peck looking for specific articles, do you go slow rationing portions out over time. How do you read MR?
I’ve found that for me, it has changed over time. When I first read it, it was a two night affair, with specific articles sought and read in the first night. Then it was finished the second night. All my reading is done at night.
Now, when I first purchase it and get it home, I first go through it quickly, not really reading anything specifically but getting a feel for it. I mentally bookmark certain articles I want to read. I now call my method the “slow tease” approach. The second night I will read what I have bookmarked as my favourites, there are usually three or four articles that call out to me immediately.
From there, I go to the “secondary articles.” They could be secondary because its something I’m very familiar with - like a how to ballast approach - and am skilled at, to issues that I’m interested in but have put on the back burner - like directional running.
Then there are articles where I want to be fully awake, bright and bushy tailed before I approach them, often this read is on day 3 or 4 of the mag being home. Any article by Bruce Chubb will fall into this category and anything slightly electronically challenging to me also falls into this category. I’m fairly secure in DCC basics so that the DCC article has to be a bit complex befo
Well, I for one am glad to hear that someone else truly enjoys reading MR on a monthly basis. I often wonder why many on this forum bother subscribing to a mag which they seem to enjoy so little. Anway, that said, I read MR by beginning at the front cover and reading the short articles as I go. When I get to the features I save them for last. I especially enjoy Tony Koester’s column. I read all byt the features the first day usually. Then I ration the features over the course of a week. As I go I make my own index on my computer of articles that I believe my be useful to me personally in my own modeling.
Ron
For me, it varies a bit. If there’s a cover article that really draws me in (Scottish steam engines of the 1920’s), I read that first. Otherwise, I may flip through it. I look at the list of adverisers inside the back cover and find that there’s an old editorial or article there instead, so I read that. Then I go to the contents to see where the cartoon is. Then I look through all the little columns and hobbyshop ads looking for the cartoon. Then I read the little columns at the back, and work my way forward. (That’s because our newspaper used to have the comics on the 3rd last page of the inside section.) Then I look at the articles to see if there’s anything urgent.
Then my wife calls me for supper and I put the magazine down. When I get back, It’s been tidied away to the shelf my magazines always go to. I spend the rest of the month reading bits and pieces from all the magazines on the shelf.
I have a pretty solid collection back to 1959, and I never throw out. You never know when you might decide to model the Santa Fe line through the Alleghenies.
Ist thing I do is page through the entire mag, just pulling out the renewal cards for MR and Trains.[:(!] I already get both magazines! I wonder how many trees we could save by only putting them in copies destined for the newsstand[?]
Then a quick scan of the articles and its off to the “throne room”[:0], where a special spot on the bookcase awaits it. Then over the month, in 15 minute breaks, I get from cover to cover read. Ditto with Trains.[^]
I think too many people rag on MR. Theirs is truly a great magazine (up there with Time wich I enjoy)
I read it on the light rail going home from wherever I went to run errands.
When I get home I fini***he articles and go to the layout photos in the back, then the MR issue gets stuck alongside the other 11 boxes of magazines I have.
Popular Science
Popular Mechanics
Time
U.S news
(MR at the newstand)
Hey All, I generaly read MR over a couple of nights. Maybe an article a night or more. I usually then send if off to my custom built mag drawer by my Thrown and reread and peruse the adds and products. I will add that the bashing of MR around here is kind of odd… I mean they provide a great mag and forum for us to discuss are thoughts to others and to help get are questions answered.
I curently model in “S” and look to start in “G” MR doesn’t cover these scales as often as I like but I take ideas from other scales and “kitbash” them to mine.[2c]
My month would not be complete without MR. I normally pick it up at the LHS, thumb through it, look at the pictures and put it in my brief case. When I go to sea out it comes and I read a section before lights out. makes going to sea all that much bearable.
It’s my favorite magazine of the month, but I have no particular way to read it. Sometimes straight through, sometimes I poke around. Some aricles are skimmed some are read twice. I keep all back issues and have bought more - I have all but about 6 issues back to thru 1950, plus several more from the 40’s.
Enjoy
Paul
Over & over & over again until the next one comes out then I start the same process all over again.
I also try to read back issues I have as well. I pick one or two a month & scour it for ideas.
Waiting a whole month for another issue I try to make the new information last a week.
Day 1. There is always one article from the cover that tickles my interest more than the rest so I read it first. Then go back to the index and read the next article or two of intrest.
Day 2. I start from the front and read all the articles - scale doesn’t matter - I always learn something from every article.
Day 3. I go back and re-read the articles that I found most interesting, absorbing the information at a much slower pace, thinking about how this could apply to my modeling and/or layout.
Day 4. I leaf through looking closely at the photos and think about what I’ve learned from each article.
Day 5. Test day! I look over the cover and index, recalling the info from each article and how I can apply the info to my modeling and layout.
Day 6 until next issue. I read the ads, look at pictures and photos looking forward to the next issue.
In reality… I wish I could discipline myself to do the above but I can’t put the dern thing down and end up craming day1-5 into one day and wishing that it was a weekly publication!! [:D]
First I truly enjoy the magazine and look forward to receiving it each month. I think it’s the best overall coverage of the hobby that’s available. I’ll usually flip threough the whole magazine, scanning everything that’s there. Then I’ll go back and read articles and product reviews that are of particular interest. Then over the next several days i’ll read it thouroughly but in no particular order. I do pay attention to the ads large and small. I’ll look at the large ads from merchandisers for particularly good prices and the really small ads for cool stuff that I want and need. I agree that web sites are becoming more important to me.
I’ll also admit that “Trains of Thought” is usually read from start to finish on the first pass through. I don’t always agree with Mr. Koester’s viewpoint, but his column is well written and it makes me think about the hobby, about various approaches to it, where it is going , and where I want to go with it. I consider that time well spent.
Day One - when it arrives I start plotting when I will have a chance to look at it
Day Two - (which is generally the next night) - Start reading from cover to cover before bed, ignoring the ads
Day Three - finish reading cover-to-cover before bed
Day Four - go back and review the ads.
Sometimes I get a little anxious and skip the product reviews until the second night.
I know it has been a busy week when I haven’t been able to finish it. I’m still working on the May issue at the clip of two articles a week. It’s been a very, very hectic month!
Wow! Oh kindred souls! I too anxiously await my next issue through the last week of every month. It takes enormous restraint on my part to keep from devouring it as soon as I get it. I generally start with the cover and inside the cover ads then page by page until I get to a featured article or layout. I may go through that with a fine tooth comb for a day or three before continuing on. Sometimes I come back during the month with a magnifying glass looking at layout features. If something really grabs me I will keep an issue out on the reading stand for a month or more revisiting it. Usually, though I am finished at the end of the second or beginning of the third week. Then I have a system using the small 40 load laundry detergent boxes, one for each year complete with the Greatest Layouts, and MR Planning annuals. I keep these on shelves under the layout for reference when I am doing a particular project. Keep 'em coming! John
Just kidding! MR is the only model railroading magazine I take and I look forward to it arriving in the mailbox each month. I read it cover to cover and enjoy it (though I miss the cartoons!!). Most of my reading takes place on the throne…
I generally skim through all of the articles and departments looking for items that particularly catch my eye to read first. Other stuff gets reviewed in declining order of interest until the whole thing has been read. I will then re-read endlessly articles of particular interest. Also, although I model in a particular scale, I consider most of the material to be non-scale specific. I am looking for ideas and inspiration, not, “put n scale peg A in n scale hole b”.
I usually start from the begining and page through it in order, untill I have read all the articles. This could take an hour or a week, It depends on how interesting the articles are. Then I go back and re-read the articles I like again, and again and agian, looking at the ads as I go. I also agree that if the companies don’t have a website where I can look further at a product, I put it out of my mind.
That might make me part with $5.37 (cover price plus Washington State sales tax). Otherwise, I’ve found I’ve outgrown MR based on its typical content these days. RMC, Narrow Gauge & Short Line Gazette, and the British model railway magazines stimulate my modeling efforts more. MR back issues from the '60s through to about a couple years ago – there’s good stuff in there.
Sad to say, but true – I don’t find much in today’s MR worth reading.