When I saw the opportunity to download a PDF of Model Railroader’s first issue, I sezied the opportunity at once. Thank you, Model Railroader. I have seen photos of the front page many times, and there have been numerous mentions and even descriptions of the fabled first issue, but I have never before been able to actually read the issue.
I found it very interesting. Of course, it is a classic chicken-and-egg: Mr. Walthers needed contributors if the magazine were to be successful, but the contributors needed to be aware of the magazine. Perhaps this conundrum led to the decision to start, in the very first issue, the long tradition of detailed scale drawings of locomotives - material that would appeal to readers, but did not require volunteer outside contributors.
I was, however, surprised and disappointed by the poor quality of the editing. The most prominent editing failure is on page 2, with a feature title lacking a needed word ("How Do Like Our First? [sic]), the missing word being, of course, “You”. However, it is not the only editing failure. I won’t bother listing them, but what they all share, especially given the simple format and legible type sizes, is that they should / would have been caught by even a cursory proofread that would take 30 minutes or less.
This sloppiness would have given me, personally, much pause in considering a subscription.
It was interesting to see how much times have changed (pg.2 “question box”), and how much they have stayed the same (pg.9 “He is not constantly dishing out tips.”… a personal pet peeve of mine… but I digress).
Didn’t the original draft include “question box” question #4: Do you think the hobby is dying? [:D] (ducks flying objects)
It’s funny how on the layout articles, they start off by giving the layout owner’s full address. A big no-no in today’s world of identity theft!
LOL at the “Acme Model Locomotives” ad on pg.12. Weren’t they featured in a “Roadrunner and Coyote” cartoon once?
I was impressed by the craftsmanship and how prototypical the photos looked. The picture quality and graininess obscures the crudeness of the models (by today’s standards), but sure made it hard to tell you’re looking at a model. I’d like to get a close-up look at those (presumably scratch-built) scale track-gang figures on page 8! [:O]
Although the time of year is wrong, the “train hurled from precipice” story on page 10 looks like the beginnings of the long-standing April Fools Day articles.
I thought it might be fun if MR ran an updated version of the first edition, with the stories updated for 2018.
The “question box” answers would be super-easy: 1. Kadees, 2. DCC, 3. … actually, I’m not sure I understand the question [:S] styrene, maybe?
The Walthers story about the boys and their Christmas trains could be updated for 2018. Instead of “going to the telephone to call his pal”, the kid would use his smart phone to take a selfie and post it to social media. Dad’s “back in my day” speech would say he couldn’t remember it being much fun playing with rubber-band drive Athearns and horn-hook couplers, and he’d like to be a kid now and have the trains with all the factory-installed sound decoders, scale wire grab irons
One inflation calculator says $1 in April 1934 is the equivalent of $19 today. That one is based on the Consumer Price Index. The prices of paper and postage have both almost doubled that rate.
Paul,Today’s dollars has nothing to do with 1934 dollars since most blue collar factory workers was working for $30-40.00 a week. A dollar back then could buy lunch for a week.
At MR’s current subscription price anybody can afford to subscribe.
My Club, the Elkhart Model Railroad Club has been around since 1950. Somewhere in the past someone donated the first ten years of Model Railroader including the very first one. They are bound copies and reside in our library. The first 10 years makes some interesting reading.
Does, has Model Railroader management ever considered, MR offer PDF’s of ALL their old issues?
If you put a barcode of some kind on each pdf you could track any that got lose on the internet to the purchaser. (Once scanners got cheap anyone could do this with a print copy anyway so it isn’t a new issue)
Actually 110 volts to the mainline for a model layout wasn’t all that uncommon back in the 20’s and 30’s. Most of the major European manufacturers offered high voltage trains which ran on current straight from the wall socket to the tracks. To the best of my knowledge these trains were offered right up until WWII.
Since the digital subscription is not a pdf, I assume they considered that and rejected it. Exactly who is going to track it if I share my pdf with the model railroad club?
Unless you have a big scanner, scanning on a printer/scanner combo is slow, the resultant size of the pdf file is sometimes problematic to email.
I remember a time raising a family that going to Burger King was not affordable, or when in college I could not afford food and lost 20 lb or more in one semester away at school, my mom was shocked and I soon had a bigger budget. It is funny how some people forget the bad times.
