I just finished re-reading my August1979 Issue of Model Railroader and remembered back when you saw a lot of local shortline Railroads, the Fonda Johnstown& gloversville RR was quite a little operation, not sure if its still running. The Magazine did an excellent job dedicating a lot of pages in the daily life of this small Railroad, the history, the equipment and the photos and drawings of their buildings were all top shelf. The Print is a little smaller i think maybe they used a different Font back then (or its just that I’ve gotten older and the Eye’s are going). this article got me going in rebuilding my own small bedroom size layout after trying many versions, this small railroad was just what I needed, Small grades, light ,but heavy weekly traffic,a chance to interact with Big Blue(Conrail). sometimes I wish MR would go back to this format and do an occasional local short line to the depth they did this one.Don’t take this as criticizing the magazine as this is not my intention, MR is still the Best out there. i wonder if any of my fellow modelers followed this track plan on their layouts
I cannot vouch for the accuracy of this, but according to Wikepedia,
"With the collapse of the leather business and other industry leaving, traffic declined to the point of the FJ&G closing down after 104 years of private ownership in January 1974. The Delaware Otsego Corporation acquired the line in 1974, but after only a decade of ownership the Delaware Otsego System abandoned the line in 1984. A trackmobile formed one last train that traveled the line collecting any equipment left on the dormant line in 1988, and the tracks were removed 2 years later. Some of the right of way was turned into a recreational trail from just south of the city of Johnstown to Denny’s Crossing near Broadalbin Junction. Another small portion near Vail Mills has also been converted to trail use, but the remainder of the original and now trackless FJ&G has remained unchanged for over 2 decades due to lack of funding, land disputes, and lack of interest. A small portion of the roadbed south of the city of Johnstown was built on by the Wal-Mart Distribution Center and the right of way in Vail Mills near routes 30 and 29 is soon to be altered with the intersection being converted to a traffic circle.
If the rails to trails is to continue the FJ&G will need to be paved from Denny’s Crossing toward Vail Mills to form a connection in that area and onward into Broadalbin. On the southern portion, the original right of way will need to be altered to go around the industrial park to continue south toward Fonda."
Rich
Fast forward to 2013 and there’s far more short lines then major railroads due to the major players spinning off branch lines-including profitable urban industrial branches.
I suspect the MR editors and staff would reply saying “if you write a good article on a shortline, we’d be glad to publish it!” I believe MR does sometimes assign a writer to do a story, but a lot of what’s in MR, RMC, NMRA Bulletin etc. are articles submitted by readers on a subject they’re interested in.
Has MR ever run a “How to write an Article!” article?
If so, it should be a sticky here.
About 30 years ago (when I was actively interested in writing) Writer magazine had an issue devoted to writing for niche markets. The Model Railroader author’s guidelines were included.
In every issue of the print magazine, at the bottom left corner of the editorial page is a little block, Contributing to Model Railroader, with a phone # and extension for the editorial associate who can provide guidance. I haven’t surfed the various blocks at the top of the Forums page - you might find what you’re looking for there.
Did I ever try to submit an article? No. My hobby writing was (and is) science fiction. My professional output mostly went into red covers with the security classification stamped on them - and every page.
Chuck (Former USAF statistician modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
What got published and where? I have read a great deal of pulp Science Fiction and still enjoy a good story when I find one. (Haven’t been looking hard of late.) It would be fun if I had already read some of your work.
Getting somewhat [#offtopic], but what the ****.
I’ve never tried to publish any of my work, for two reasons:
- A lot of my characters are real people, and I’ve never asked for permission to use their identities - required, even if the stories ARE set in the indeterminate future. My most recent novel revolves around a drop-dead gorgeous blonde who was a high school classmate and went on to be a journalist and memoirist. (1936-1994. RIP, Sally. Your kids are wonderful people.)
- I frequently use unattributed quotes from any number of (copyrighted) sources. Chasing down and paying all the copyright holders would be a thundering PITA.
So, I write to entertain myself - and make sure I properly acknowledge anything I enter into these forums or any other place that can be accessed by the general public. (I don’t have permission to publish the name of Sally’s cat - so I won’t.)
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
It would be nice to see the return of “A Railroad You Can Model” articles on a timely bases.Even a yearly special issue would work…MR’s sister magazine Trains could furnish the specialized authors and some of the material.
In this thread from long ago, many short lines were brought to light by forum members. It makes for good reading especially if you do more online research of the ones that catch your eye.
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/171488.aspx?sort=ASC&pi314=1
And the fun part once you choose one that catches your eye use Bing or Google maps to follow the track and look over the terrain using bird’s eye.
Your favorite drink and either one of the above maps is a good way to pass a cold blustery snowy winter’s day
The August 1979 issue of Model Railroader was one of the best issues they ever turned out. I don’t believe Model Railroader today is convinced that we want to read long articles so I doubt you will ever see something like August 1979 again.
For more info on the FJ&G, check out these sources.
Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville Yahoo Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/FJGRailroad/info
Gin DiCarlo’s FJ&G site. Scroll down past Paul’s book to ‘enter’ the main site.
http://www.fjgrr.org/Our_Railroad.html
Gino’s Railpage has lots of info on a number of relatively obscure New York shortlines and interurbans.
FJ&G photos on Don’s Depot site
http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr310.htm
I don’t do Facebook but here is a FB page for the FJ&G
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fonda-Johnstown-and-Gloversville-Railroad/144318905583319
For those interested in modeling the FJ&G, locomotive decals are the biggest obstacle. The diesels are easily available, Alco S-2’s from Atlas or Bachmann and the 44-tonner from Bachmann. The three Brill 55’s can be easily modeled from the Brill 55 kit from Model Railroad Warehouse. The main caboose in the diesel era is a former Delaware & Hudson wooden caboose. Older brass imports from NKP Models routinely appear on Ebay. There was also a wooden kit in the 70’s I believe for the D&H caboose. The line seemed to own little or no rolling stock until the Delaware-Otsego years when a couple hu
Whether real or fantasy, short lines are fun and doable for all MRs. They allow a certain freedom from nitpickers and rivet counters.
If it is short line articles you lust after, try the “Narrow Gauge and Shortline Gazzette”. They often run multi-issue runs of complete histories on various short lines and some need not be narrow gauge, either. They often advertise in MR.
A recent treatment of a Viginia short line I think the Sussex Surry and Shouthhampton traced, in some detail, its history from a 5 foot gauge rail road prior to the civil war up until its 3 foot gauge merging with the Atlantic and Danville in the 20’s or 30’s. All the motive power is examined and lots of photos of its lumber hauling around the turn of the last century. I found it fascinating. They do this stuff routinely.
True, the emphasis is on narrow gauge from 2 foot gauge on to odd 31/2 foot gauges, but the shortline stuff is detailed and can rarely be contained in just one issue. Lots of ideas for copying or morphing into your fantasy road.
Richard