Just got the latest issue of MR in the mail yesterday. I just flipped through it from cover to cover last night. Haven’t had a chance to actually read any of it yet, but my first impression was that this issue looks to be really good [tup]. Or in the words of Larry David, “Pret-taay, pret-taay, pret-taay good!” [:D]
If nothing else, at least it was shipped to me on time, which is more than I can say for some other magazine publishers [:-^] (the other magazine should be in the mail this week, according to the publisher’s rep I spoke to on the phone yesterday… just in case anyone else was wondering)
I don’t know, the last few MR issues were very good (almost up to the standards of the 1980s!), this was kind of a …meh… effort.
Not much stood out, except maybe for the ‘roll-your-own’ steel coils (which were rust-red - I don’t every remember seeing any images of coils being shipped as light grey metallic colors - mind bending!), and the DCC checklist, which was kind of useful.
Oh, and the ‘repaint a NW2 switcher’ article, which didn’t have anything regular readers of this forum didn’t know, except a.) They didn’t use brake-fluid or alcohol for paint stripping - heh, and b) how the heck do they get such nice smooth paint finishes, using our favorite airbrush nemisis Polly Scale! (I’ve been ‘practicing’ for 2 decades now, and I still don’t get nice finishes like that switcher had.
Funny, I am the opposite. I like the MR much more in recent years and just cancelled my Trains subscriptions because they were just yawners to me. However, I did have to pick up the latest Trains issue that focused on grain shipments–notice the tie in to that article in the new MR about modeling the grain industry? Jamie
I’ve loved the MR issues so far this year. Read them pretty much cover to cover; even the articles that aren’t N scale. I tihnk I’m going to let my Trains subscription run out though, and get one to RMC instead.
The cover of this new issue showed up on the forum’s masthead last Friday; I begin watching for this feature about the 20th of each month and this month it showed up on the advertised. I normally get this in five to seven days later–you figure this one out; for some strange reason my MR has a habit of showing up in my mailbox on a Saturday. I am hoping mine will arrive today but, per usual, it will probably be here tomorrow.
My new wife and I are coming up on our fifth anniversary; she doesn’t quite understand my anticipation with the arrival of my hobby-oriented periodicals nor why I resist parting with my fifty-plus years collection of train magazines. Perhaps this is because I really have not done too awfully much with the hobby since we married; unfortunately to her the hobby has mainly consisted of acquiring–and reading–periodicals. My layout was pushed up against a wall in the front room of my mobile home gathering dust; all my equipment was in storage boxes and I had allowed junk to collect underneath and in front of it so it couldn’t have been operated anyway. About a year and a half ago I manhandled it out into the carport, ran it for a little while hooked up to an extension cord, and then junked it–she did get to see it run that one time. She only knows that I have a number of boxes storing N-Scale buildings–most of which are scratchbuilt by the way–which she finds “cute”; she doesn’t seem to comprehend that that word is anathema in the model railroad hobby. Had I have known that less than five months after I discarded my layout she would wind up foreclosing on her mobile home on the adjacent lot giving me a space in which to set it up I would probably have hung onto it; it would/could have provided a stepping-stone to a more extensive layout.
I have had an on-again-off-again love-hate relationship with the hobby press for quite awhile; in the 1980s I went through a g
Funny you should mention MR’s in the 80’s. I been lookin thru some of those and I think those are some of my favorite years. They sure had a lot more ads back then,but the thing I like is the narrow gauge articles. Harry Brunk was a hot writer back then and Malcom Furlow had the Carbondale central,while having a simple track plan it was loaded with structures ,in his flood the place with detail style, and he made it look easy. I don’t know how those guys stay focussed. BILL
I think the beer line series is great since they are taking it to a 360 degree level. I also liked the N&W branch on a shelf. The level of detail was excellent. I usually like to read Tony Koester first then savor all the rest of the magazine.
May issue came & I don’t know what happened , but the center staples were firmly in place. I feel like this may be one of the better issues we’ve had for a while. You can’t please everyone, seems the May issue was more balanced in it’s content . R
Indeed, Bill, some of the author’s in the 1980’s were outstanding, prolific and widely variable in their subject matter. Clever guys with interesting writing styles.
Re the Carbondale Central, I regard that as by a wide margin the best thing Furlow ever did and far more realistic than his caricaturish narrow gauge efforts. The CC was, in my opinion, one of the timeless small layouts in the hobby’s history, right up there with the great Gumstump & Snowshoe shelf layout.
Incidentally, if you liked the content of the issues from the 80’s, you’d have been enthralled by those from the 50’s and 60’s, when the magazine was all about true craftsman modeling project, ideas and prototype concepts.
I got mine last Tuesday. It seems to get here earlier than it use to. Did anyone notice that the DCC system on the Beer Line project changed to Digitrax for the group session without a mention?
All things considered, I enjoyed the Beer Line story. [8D]
I found the the article “A B&O Branch Line for A Garage” both interesting and disappointing as I live in the area. My problem with the article is the period that was selected to be modeled. In the 1950’s the growing and production of apple products was the main industry. There were three large apple cold storages as mentioned one of which is the largest in the country. Since that time there are many interesting industries in the area to model, everthing from flour milling & pasta products, plastic bottles for the soft drink industry to steel fabrication. Some of the maunfacturers are Cives Steel Products, Crown Cork and Steel makes metal cans an the pop tops that go on canned drinks, Trex which manufactures artificial lumber, Rubbermaid Commercial Products and the list goes on and on, all of which use the rail road. For me, the difficulty is to choose the one’s I can put on my layout. Otherwise I enjoyed the article.
After posting the above about the apple industry on the first page of today’s local paper was the attached picture and a lenghty article about the industry’s down turn.
I read that article last night and was kind of puzzled by the author’s story as well. He said none of the buildings, and the town in general, were interesting from a modeling perspective. But then he went on to discuss all the various industries and switching opportunities in the area. I thought having a lot of industries and stuff was a good thing when it came to modeling! Maybe the individual buildings weren’t “pretty enough” for his tastes. I dunno [%-)]
Neat issue. Haven’t perused it all, but I went straight to the review of the Sunset brass SP 2-6-0. Now when’s the last time you saw a BRASS steamer reviewed by anyone, let alone MR? They gave it a pretty positive review, and the price really isn’t THAT much more than some of the current plastic steamers on the market.
Oh, and for us strictly DC’ers, the loco is available in straight DC for about fifty dollars less.
I also got a huge kick out of the Bullfrog Snot instant traction tire review. That’s going to be a boon for those of us with some of the early P2K steamers that need more tractive effort. I’m going to get me some, see how it works.
I have to question the research done for this article as Winchester is a quaint historical town. George Washington had his surveying office here and it is a tourist attraction along with many other historical houses and buildings. The city’s largest hotel which has been restored and operating is located across the street from the B&O station which is now used as a yard office.
The apple wharehouses and their cold storages were not particularly attractive, not like the tobacco wharehouses further South which were quite ornate and have been restored for other uses. This was my complaint with the time period chosen. The industries developed here since the 1950’s are as attractive and desireable for modeling if not more so than many other areas of the country. For one thing they are more modern and in good condition.
It seems the article describes the switching oportunities of today but the industries of yester year. Also the sand mine is located in VA not WV. The mine owns the Winchester & Western, a local short line.
Pehaps the local train club should have been contacted to have really gotten things right. (I’m not a member). In fact that would be a good idea for MR to follow when ever writing an article of an area.
I concur that the glory days of good publishing/content disappeared long ago.
At least reading this May edition, it won’t take long… It’ll only take ( as mine did ) 10 minutes to read the articles in this issue. Around 100 pages…
I used to anticipate it’s arrival each month and basically pour over the articles word for word including adverts with a fine tooth comb.
Big disappointment in my opinion.
Perhaps if they took the content from the twenty other spin-off model railroading themed magazines they print- they could properly fill this one magazine substantially once a month and keep everyone interested. Geesh !
As for it’s prettiness…it’s lipstick on…you know
I’m already envisioning a non renewal coming - and sticking with the Nscale mags I subscribe to. They seem to be growing in content and credibility.
Have been reading MR since late 50’s when I first discovered it. Have read it ever since, most of the time I have subscribed. My May issue along with Trains arrived here in KC yesterday. I think it is a very good mag, for me the grain article was of great interest since my Santa Fe in Oklahoma 1989 has a total of 13 grain elevator structures on it, and my largest number of any car type is the covered hopper for grain service.
