So far there have been threads about what models we would like to see in the near future, now I ask:
What kind of articles would you like MR to publish in the near future?
Here are my ideas:
A complete article about John Allen’s Gorre & Daphetid
A series about scratchbuilding a brass… something
More layouts set in the midwest (there have been too much east coast layouts lately)
Drawings of the M-10000, early EMD E units or some unusual piece of rolling stock
The return of “Student Fare” and “Along The Line” (I miss those sections!)
An article about scratchbuilding with wood (I’m tired of styrene)
I’m in for building with wood and more articles on weathering (step by step would be nice. That article last month on painting brick and stone was excellent, Thank you
I’d like to see MR publish one plan per issue. Buildings, freight cars, passenger cars, steam or diesel; it doesn’t matter. Heck, raid the 75+ years worth of backissues and start republishing plans. We few remaining scratchbuilders need SOME inspiration!
i’d like to see something geared towards teenagers, sounds like that Student Fare is it. this is probably biased but more HO modern style layouts. i’m a teenager and i never grew up around steam engines so i don’t really care about them all that much. i’m all about the modern day locomotives and stuff. thats just me though.
It was. Modelers in that age range sent their letters, photos, and even an occassional article - the January 1997 issue features a remarkable piece about containers that was written by a 15 year old.
There was this other section called “Bull Session” where they displayed the odds and ends of the hobby. I recall a letter sent by a noted modeler about a grasshopper that got runover by one of his trains! There was also this piece about a brass Super Chief consist that sold for a stinkin’ $15,000.
The section I miss the most was Along The Line. It featured a really nice model photo accompanied with little story. It really itcked me off when they took that one off.
I would like to see more photos in the layout articles. It seems like many times a few key areas of a layout are photographed but I would like to see what the rest of the layout looks like.
I want to see the return of Student Fare and Paint Shop. Those were my two most favorite columns. The Return of One Readers Opinion would be nice as well.
I am somewhat surprised at the request for G&D material. From roughly 1955 through John Allan’s death there was rarely an issue of MR that didn’t have photos or articles about the G&D including a couple of issues that took up nearly the entire magazine. In addition Kalmbach published one of their soft cover books that is probably still available about the G&D. John Allan was a man who advanced the hobby on many fronts incouding scenery, operation, photography and layout design. He did things with materials and rolling stock that would be thrown away today. I have to say that when the G&D was destroyed along with John Allan and Linn westcotts deaths back to back was a very upsetting couple of months. I don’t think the G&D needs to be covered in the magazine at this time. I think most people would be disappointed as it would be a very dated railroad and not what most people are interested in based on the above mentioned items. Beside, I think every picture taken has been published. Just look for the issues from that era.
I would like to see more “Back to the basics” articles…There are a lot of new people in the hobby and they need some of the most basic questions answered, especially on wiring, kitbashing, decaling, benchwork, painting, DCC or DC, ect…most of the time MR has really high tech articles which are fine too, but they can turn a lot of people away from the hobby if the easy simple stuff isn’t explained more throughly…Chuck[:D]
I disagree with ndbprr ( by the way you should put some info in your profile ) as I think many young modelers would enjoy seeing what John did with his layout. They would see what can be done with steam engines and may even get bitten by the " Steam Bug "
The G&D was a " timeless layout " in the use of features that are still innovative today.
John interjected humor throughout his layout. Even the name was humorous. Also some may not have the $ to spend on the book which I think is out of print. Ray
Deffinatley student fare, I like reading all the old magazines and reading what other kids did befor i was born. It be nice to see what other kids my age were doing.
John Allen died in the early 1970s. (There was another famous model railroader who died about the same time, but his name escapes me.) Linn Westcott died in the early 1980s.
What I’d most like to see is the return of Paint Shop & at least one scale drawing per issue, preferably 1 structure and one locomotive/rolling stock drawing.
Student Fare would be nice, but I don’t really miss it as much as Paint Shop.