Just curious how long you all keep an issue of Trains, Model Railroader, or whatever? Are you the read it a few times and out with the garbage it goes or are you the pack rat where you can’t throw anything away.
I tend to fall in the pack rat category. I keep a magazine until something disastrous happens like ripped pages, something spilled on it, or the pages start to stink and fade. lol
Right now I have my soon to be 1 year collection of Trains Magazines in one of those fancy binders they sell in the back. Hopefully that will help to keep my references in check.
I’ve got everything I ever bought in the library down here; when you red my obituary I will have died under a collapsed set of shelves. I think my Trains collection goes back to about 1956, with some issues before that (I’ve bought a few back issues; started buying my own in 1962).
I applaud your efforts to properly store your copies. I was fortunate to rapidly build a large collection as our local library thinned their back copies of magazines in addition to my own subscriptions. But I just stacked everything up in rough chronological order, and occasionally took an old copy to read on the train. Finally, I decided to simplify life by getting rid of practically everything - to the recycle bin, the Illinois Railway Museum, give-aways to youngsters, and now I’m leaving one copy behind at the end of my commute - my fellow train-riders pick up everything readable - maybe it’ll spark something - heck, I fell into this hobby by coming across an MR. Eventually I’ll just keep about a year’s worth of CTT.
I heard that the land under Lombard started to subside in 1962 and is now in danger of becoming an inner harbor of Lake Michigan.[:D][:D][:D].
I think I have 6 years back. The online “Index of Magazines” (See Above) allows for good back reference.
A little off the topic, but Northwestern University’s Transportation Library has every issue from 1,1. There is probably a complete set located at a secret site in Waukesha, WI, but I’d guess permission to play in Mr. Kalmbach’s sand box is rarely granted.
Among private collectors, I seem to recall Don Phillips reporting that Dave Gunn has a complete set. (Or maybe it was only a complete set of issues that have columns by Mr Phillips).
It would be interesting to see who among the forum members have the most years.
I have never thrown away a Trains Mag. They are not take care of really well, but should be here. I started in May, 1972, the cover painting of a Hollywood female star detraining the Super Chief. That hooked me at the age of 16.
Not yet, at least not on purpose. Same goes for fire service magazines. If push comes to shove - they’ll go to an appropriate club or other organization. My RR stuff goes back to about 73 or 74, when I really discovered the hobbies, and my FD stuff goes to around 77, when I discovered Firehouse Magazine. And I have some older stuff I’ve managed to collect.
I agree, I never heard of such a thing as throwing them away. By the way Doug, I’ve bought a good few magazines from the Illinois Railroad museum, so I bet a few might have formerly been yours. Don’t knwo that for sure though.
I didn’t buy every issue until about four years ago, but I bought all the “All Diesel” issues from No 3, and bought back issues to complete that set and some others back to 1962.
A lot of the 1960s issues lose their cover, because it splits down the fold, a feature of the heavy paper used. I’ve found ways to repair all of these (NEVER use tape!)
Trains is one of my smaller collections - I had every copy of “Modern Railways” from 1967 to 1998, and four Australian magazines for longer periods.
When I moved from my old office to this one, I inherited a nearly complete set of bound volumes. I’m missing only volume No. 55, which was 1995.
Granted, I need to be able to reference articles from older issues as we put out new ones, but I do love looking back and learning not only about railroading, but especially about the people whose thoughts and hands went into creating each issue. It’s very humbling to follow them.
… which I really need to get back to. February’s calling…
I started buying Trains in the 1960s and still have every issue. some are not in very good shape[:(]. I still have an issue my parents bought me when I was 4years old!Needless to say,it looks like it has seen much hard use.It looks like an old SP unit that hasn’t been painted in many years and most of the lettering
has faded away.
I have full years of “Trains” going back to 1977, and odd issues as far back as 1971.
I also have about 5 straight years worth of “Model Railroader” from the late 80’s-early 90’s. And now “Classic Trains” from the first issue on.
I also have complete years of “Railfan” back to 1984, and odd issues back to 1977.
Also add in “CTC Board”, “Extra 2200 South”, and several years worth of the “CNW” and “Soo Line” historical society mags, and I’ve got quite a collection, with very little storage space.[V]
Although Trains is older than I am, I made a major effort in the late 1970s to complete the set and finally found all of them including Vol.1#1. It took almost a year to track down a decent copy. I use the mags as a reference so they’re not a pristine, plastic envelope bound collection by any stretch. I still haven’t sprung for the preproduction sample (Vol.1 #0??) even though I’ve seen two of them at a show. I was afraid to ask the price for fear I’d do something stupid! It’s been an amazing run for one magazine.
All of you go back further than me. My first year with Trains was '99 and my last year was 2003. I still have every one of them along with all the catalogues and X Mas cats. They’re just not in any special order.
