I would be interested in buying one of there is.
Not really. There have been several attempts over the years, but they are all dated. At best they provide an historical insight into the hobby.
Enjoy
Paul
That would be an handy publication…
A lot of the books that seem to want to fill this niche come from the UK, which understandably reflects the hobby as practiced in Europe.
Another thing is that nobody seems to have attempted an history of model railroading. If you read enough back issues of the magazines, you can piece together most of the important points, and there was that series of columns in Railroad Model Craftsman, but nobody seems to have developed a history of the hobby as a whole.
Not possible as there are too many variables. The book would be huge and can become dated as model railroading is evolving quite a lot since the Internet came around. As an example, some colleges and Universities have cut back on books for courses as the material is available on line.
Best bet is to use Google or Yahoo to search for info if you are not into instant answers and instant gratification.
http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en
http://search.yahoo.com/web?fr=yfp-t-701
Since those track you, you can use the below search and they discard the search results. I have found out they do track me. I can see it in the search results., but they are popular search engines
[quote user=“richg1998”]
Not possible as there are too many variables. The book would be huge and can become dated as model railroading is evolving quite a lot since the Internet came around. As an example, some colleges and Universities have cut back on books for courses as the material is available on line.
Best bet is to use Google or Yahoo to search for info if you are not into instant answers and instant gratification.
http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en
http://search.yahoo.com/web?fr=yfp-t-701
Since those track you, you can use the below search and they discard the search results. I have found out they do track me. I can see it in the search results., but they are popular search engines.
Build the Favorite folder in your browser for all the different subjects under model railroading
I have been doing that since 1998 or so and have accumulated tons of info. Just have to keep your URL’s updated and easily found.
Many like Google books will link to Amazon or ebay for publications if you like hard copy.
Quite often I find books at good prices and can download PDF’s on some of the subjects.
The Internet and your PC are fantastic tools for finding data
With the Internet, it i fairly easy to do a comparison study on a subject. I have done that a lot and find some errors or opinions that are not correct.
Many times in forum messages I find opinions gathered from someone else opinions and are not completely correct. With the 'Net, it is fairly easy to narrow down stuff. I have seen that in Wikipedia at times.
When I wanted some accurate info about NYC Pacemaker cabooses, I did get some opinions here and finally found some on line info that gave me exactly what happended with these cabooses and I found what I needed to model one in HO.
Someone here gave me a link to modifying a different Trix NYC caboose that was not as accurate as it should be. He did the article in MR magazine.
Through Google, I found a book on NYC rolling stock and another on NYC rolling stock with quite a few color photos. Both under $30.00 each on ebay, used but very good condition.
I use all the options I can. This is 2011.
Rich
I´d still rather pay for someone to sit and compile the material and publish it in a readable format…
Yes, this would be very nice in an iPad, a great device for reading eBooks. I read a recipe in mine at the counter and splash a little liquid on it and no problem. Just wipe it off.
Good for reading instructions at the work bench also.
Again, this book would become dated. Much, to much in the way of different subjects in model railroading which is a very general term if you take time to think about all the possibilities outside the scale you model in. And all kinds of techniques are being realized as you read the forums about just layout scenery for one thing. You have to think outside the box you might say.
I am approaching seventy and see things continually evolving from when I started model railroading back in 1953. Many are stuck in one or two forums and never realize how the hobby is continually changing. If all I used was a MR magazine, I would be missing a lot.
Right now I subscribe to a free on line eZine about model railroading that includes videos in some of the articles. I can download the issue each month right into my PC or iPad.
Rich
I have an encyclopedia of model railroading.
It occupies ten linear feet of wall, four shelves high - and is far from complete! It consists of half a century of two model magazines, MR and Tetsudo Mokei Shumi, rather less than half a century of several other periodicals (discontinued when they became less valuable to my personal needs) and a number of the Kalmbach `textbooks’ on specific modeling subjects, great layouts and such.
Of course, it only took me a half-century to accumulate it, and major portions are of no use whatever to a person whose rail interests are (North American) continental and not global. OTOH, it also has HUGE holes where there should be information about AAR standards, ICC rulings and the various mogrifications of Baldwin locomotives built in the years since Japan stopped importing them.
As for a single volume, back in the Dark Ages Kalmbach published the Model Railroader Cyclopedia, which was a pretty complete compilation of the best practices and methods of the day. It has about the same relationship to present-day knowledge that the Dick and Jane readers have to the Brittanica.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
I can buy that it is a viable option to sit and search the web, compiling info and do all the stuff a researcher does, IF you have a LOT of spare time!
I work, and I rather work 1 hour to pay for something that would at least take me possibly 100:s of hours to research myself. There is a reason that Authors take a lot of time to do research…
I think that the Kindle and varius Tablets are wonderful tech-gizmo´s, but as far as using them for all and everything? No, not for me!
I have collected a few Encyclopedias of Model railroading over the years, and I find them very fascinating to read.