Mine got a new home, The old box was busting at the seems so I got a bigger one. Here is a pic…
my mags
So where do your mags live? and which is you favorite? Mine is july 1955, it has some great articles and plans. One plan is for a small coal mine and I am planning on building it.
july 1955
Please share with me [:)]
You need more, larger boxes. Those things just keep multiplying and multiplying.
My favorite, hmmmmmmm that is like asking me to pick my favorite child (and I only have two daughters) when each brings so much joy and heart ache.
Build the mine and enjoy, look for more new “favorites” and for goodness sake get more boxes!!!
Will
I keep mine in binders, magazine boxes, and some are stacked up on bookshelves. My favorite is the December 1971 issue. It was the second issue I bought and I loved the track plan for the East Broad Top - even though I don’t model 3 ft gauge.
Enjoy
Paul
I have those plastic magazine racks to store mine in, one year to each plastic thing, with the year on the spin with a label. Some of my older years I don’t have full year collections, so I have groups of “Misc 1950’s” for example. I have 3 shelving units, 2 rows each, completely full. I need a new shelving unit to store any more.
I’ve been scooping up any 1950’s issues with John Armstrong articles, as those articles often cover the ideas presented in Track Planning for Realistic Operation, although with a 4-5 page article devoted to each subject, vs. a page or half page in the book.
–Randy
I go through mine, take out what I like or think I’ll need, and throw them out. I just keep folders of the articles,photos etc,for reference.Too many adds and information I don’t need, plus it saves space
I pretty much do the same thing as Randy using the plastic magazine holders with a label on the spine. My MR collection is fairly complete back to the late 1970’s and sporadic to the late 1960’s. Before that, there were no articles on N scale. These holders are on two 4 foot long shelves right above my computer. After this year, they will start filling the top (3rd) shelf which now holds my N Scale magazine collection, Walther’s reference books and some miscellaneous magazines.
On the wall next to my desk is another set of four shelves, 3 feet long which holds my collections of RMC’s, Model Railroading, track planning and Great Model annuals along with more miscellaneous magazines. There is no extra space on these shelves, so after this year, I have to come up with a new plan.
I will probably have to come up with a new plan for ALL of these magazines, since this is the spare bedroom that I am considering for my next layout. The only furniture in the room is this computer desk, a small nightstand partially under the current layout, my old computer on a roll-around stand and a heavy electric lift chair that was my Mother’s. One thought I had was to use small bookcases to hold the magazine collections and use the bookcases as supports for my new layout. I have
My MR mags and drumming mags were getting out of control. I had 15 or so years of drumming mags, and 5 or 6 years of MR (a couple years at a time from different phases of being interested in the hobby).
Finally, when my wife and I moved to our present house, I realized I was sick and tired of lugging all these magazines around.
I took a razor blade and cut out any articles I couldn’t live without, and scanned them on the computer scanner.
Now I have really nice directories of magazine articles on my computer - stored way better than they could be stored in paper form. Even if you rip them out and put them in a folder, sometimes the end of one article is on the opposite side of the paper as the beginning of the next - making for a categorizing nightmare.
Now I just go to my “David Barrow” directory for tons of David Barrow articles, “V & O” for all my V & O articles, etc.
“George Selios” for all of the F & SM articles.
“handlaying track & turnouts” for all those articles, etc.
Not a single advertisement in my collection!
It is totally awesome!!!
I used to waste too much time flipping through mags to find a certain article, then end up reading something else, etc. Now I go directly to what I need.
Also, I’m only 30. If I kept collecting MR’s for the rest of my life, it would be totally out of control.
In fact, now I’m only scanning things I REALLY can’t live without. If I’m at all going, “hmmmm… I don’t know…” - it’s off to the recycle bin baby.
The few that I have are very precious to me. I keep them here in my desk drawer so not just anyone can snatch them up and start fumbling through them as if they’re a People’s magazine or something… Such great books deserve respect!.
“Happy railroading”
Tracklayer
My collection of MR and RMC goes back to around 1970, and I keep them and all the other ones in recycled detergent boxes. These large boxes are about 3" wide, and I cut the tops off and one side at an angle. The earlier years are kept in a closet, stacked on layers with heavy cardboard between layers. More recent issues are on some steel shelving in my hobby room annex (I took over the room across the hall!). And I have several heavy duty shelves in my hobby room.
I think I’ll have to thin them out, as the pile keeps getting bigger all the time! I had the thought of disposing of the oldest years each year, to make room for newer ones coming in. I would do like others have done, cut out any relevant articles before recycling the magazines. Now all I need is the ambition to start!
Bob Boudreau
Roughly 70 years worth going all the way back to the 1930s, in a large closet… which is why I don’t subscribe anymore… A lot of it is repeatitive except for the newer technology… No longer do I feel the need to pay $5 or even the $3.33 subscription price (in the case of MR) for magazines full of ads.
Favorite issue, Several but the ones I recently rediscovered,Jan, Feb, March 1988, Malcom Furlow, Carbondale Central… Probably one of the best project layouts I ever saw done in MR.
Jeff
[8D]
I incorporated a couple dozen linear feet of bookshelves tall enough to accomodate magazines in cardboard or plastic holders into my benchwork design. My CTTs (back to the Premier issue), my MRs (some '70s, some '80s, most of the '90s, a few more recent), RMCs, Trains, Railfan/RRs, NGSGs, OSTs, and various books all fit onto these shelves along with my Two-cylinders, Greem Magazines, Motor Pools, and Antique Powers. My American Rifleman (back to the late '80s) and related mags take up a long shelf on another bookcase across from the layout.
For me Model Train mags are like Pokemon, Gotta Have them all.
Anyone wishting to get rid of their magazines, I am seeking donations to my library. I need Model Rairlaoders before Jan 1996 Issiue (Exception is I have the entire year 1954) RMCs Pre March 1998 Trains Pre 8-99 Garden Railrways Pre 1998. And then any other titles that you may have.
James
I’m trying to someday have them all myself. But those 30’s issues are nearly impossible to aquire - even the reprint of the first year that was done in the 40’s is rare, and not complete due to differences in the way they typeset it or something.
I may have to be happy with Postwar to present.
My father-in-law cuts his apart and files articles - I find it easy to just keep the issue whole, especially with the online index. I was building my own index to search several years ago, but sort of gave up after cataloging about 2 year’s worth. Now t’s not needed since there is the online resource. Easy enough, find the referenceonline, go to my shelves, pull the year in question, and all 12 monthly issues are there in order.
–Randy
I keep my exponetionally growing collection in little folder boxes, if you know what I’m talking about. I found a few months ago that my LHS was giving away back issues from the past 40 or so years for free! That was a good day!
Trainboy
I use photocopy paper boxes, they are perfect for storing magazines.
I use the plastic file boxes,they’re about a buck and a half at Walmart and work well. Prior to a house fire about 3 years ago I had unbroken MRs to 1940 and Mainline Modelers from issue 1 along w/ RMCs back to the 50s all cross filed on 3X5 file cards. Presently They go back to the fire, Oct. 2003 and I keep track of the articles I think I might be interested in on this Evil Machine (in fact, one of the main reasons I got this Evil Machine)
I’ve got MRR mags going back to the early 70’s of course this doesn’t mean I’ve got all of those issues, probably about half to 3/4 of them. I store the newer ones in the magazine holders, 1 for each year, and the older ones in a larger file-folder box. I don’t subscribe, I usually check the magazine out before I consider buying it and with some luck someone out of my Model railroad club will just give me the issues that I’m missing down the road.
Last month I fellow from the club gave me an entire run from 1996-2001, since he was cleaning out his workshop.
I keep mine in the same type of containers as TA462; a perfect size.
i am like bxcarmike i keep mine in folders… i had most of the trains, rmc, mr , etc from 1970… i found that moving as i did a few years ago was a problem… the magazines filled 2 x box trailers 4’6" x 6’6"… so i removed all of the things i was interested in and through away all the junk (ad,s etc )now i have binders for lots of different subjects… for example tree,…i would have perhaps 50 articles about how to make trees…i also have binders of interesting photos… these show a scene that i may be able to use or a bridge design i like… i could never do what carr fan did and scan them… it would take me days… thankspeter… ps i find that mr mag from the 80’s has far better articles… Q what do you think… yes or no
I agree… I find with more recent ones, particularly on the “layout tours” the articles are lacking… It’s disappointing to see just a few photos of the owners favorite loco in a couple different scenes… I would really like to see more what the overall layout looks like… The people who’s writing I really enjoyed are either gone on or moved on to other things… I mentioned Malcom Furlow above, Gordon Odegard is another (rip). Many others, those two are just the ones that come to immediate mind… Maybe that’s just me though. I guess it’ll depend on exacly what you are interested in.
Jeff
[8D]