Got my MRP 2010 today in the midst of wild weather (thunderstorms with hail and high winds are uncommon on the California Central Coast). Just leafing through it, I am impressed by what’s on offer, particularly Jim Six’s NYC Michigan Branch and Paul Dolkos’s Baltimore Harbor District and Charlie Duckworth’s Bagnell Branch. There’s not a dud in the entire issue, something that can’t be said for all the issues since inception in 1995.
Good issue. Get it, read it, enjoy it.
Andre
Got mine in the mail about two hours ago. It’s still in the wrapper. All those mundane things like dinner and visiting with the wife got in the way of opening it. [:o)] I’ll be checking it out later.
Tom
Haven’t gotten mine yet, but I did get to operate on Paul’s Baltimore layout a few weeks ago. Even though the center pennisula is not yet built, the rest of the railroad was more than enough to provide a fantastic session… It really shows what you can do with great planning.
Dale Latham, Piedmont Southern Railroad, GMR 2009
I loved MRP last year (the first year I ever bought an issue). looks like it’s going to be on my buy list until I get the funds for it this year.
I had the opposite opinion actually. While I certainly enjoyed receiving it and reading it, I didn’t think it was as good as years past. I think previous issues went much further into facets of planning and design than the current issue. However, anything with model trains in it is a definite “must read” for me, so it was definitely enjoyable in any case.
John
It is a good issue and I always look forward to receiving MRP although there are some prior years’ that have more of interest and relevance to me, in particular those that go into more depth about Layout Design Elements and how to capture prototype track arrangements and situations in practical model form. I had not realized that Paul Dolkos had dismantled his wonderful Boston & Maine layout until I read it in the issue. I guess I had also not realized that last year’s issue left out the Reader’s Forum letters until I read the doubled up Reader’s Forum in MRP 2010.
Dave Nelson
Thank you all for your comments on Model Railroad Planning. As editorial director of MRP – I help editor Tony Koester get the magazine through editing, design, and production here at Kalmbach Publishing – let me say that we appreciate your readership. The best way to get your comments to Tony, whether for publication in MRP’s Reader Forum or to make your opinions known, is to to e-mail them to him in care of mrmag@mrmag.com.
Thanks again,
Andy
Looks like I’ll need to get this one. I’ve always enjoyed Paul Dolkos’ work, his paper mill article in MR inspired the construction and operation of my layout’s main industry… And I grew up in Baltimore, and worked in the Candler Building, which was on the harbor belt railroad… I’ll be interested to see if he includes shipments of paper to White Rose in “the Building” as we used to call it…
I also remember McCormick’s Spice being downtown creating dizzying aromas as they ground cinnamon, allspice, and all sorts of other tasty things.
Lee
I just got mine, and I agree to the upmost.
More on Baltimore than MRP, but…
A couple of years ago, my work sent me to Baltimore for some tech training.
I was excited to go because the probablity was high that I’d have enough free time to go to the B&O museum.
Let me tell you that Baltimore is a VERY railroad oriented town.
From the airport, we rode the light rail system (which I bought a week pass for for all of $16 and rode that out easy) past “Camden Yards” home of the ravens and former B&O (hence “yards”), Penn Station, and a marvelous B&O station right after a tunnel, past the light rail car barn, and past a lot of the former Ma&Pa right of way (which still had some old equipment on it), and the McCormick plant, which definately did smell of spice. They also have a subway system, but I didn’t get a chance to ride it.
The supermarket near our hotel had a G scale B&O 2-8-2 running on a suspended track the entire lenght of the back isle of the store. the diner we ate lunc at one day had wals covered with train photos and had sandwitches named for trains, engines and railroad jobs and heros.
I did get to the Mount Claire B&O museum and saw the new rebuild of the roundhouse after the snow incident. You can ridr the very first mile of track ever laid in the USA. I wish I’d had time to go to the Elicot’s Mills, but didn’t.
Baltimore is also full of US history like where the Star Spangled Banner was written, and has a wonderful inner harbor area with lots to do and see, like the last surviving ship tha twas at Pearl harbor, and the USS Constitution from the 1600-1700 era.
I would highly reccomend Baltimore for tourism, if you like Americn history and railroad history!
Thanks Andy. Until your post I am guessing that 90% of the population had no idea what MRP was.