Out of print books

One thing I hope the new owners of Model Railroader and the Trains dot com store will consider is to release older books that out of print in digital download formats. Some of these already exist. But there are some obvious examples that seem odd that they are no longer available in print or digital. The best example being Armstrong’s Track Planning for Realistic Operation. I’m sure there is more to publishing than just creating a good scan and putting into the store, rights alone are probably tricky, I get it.
But it sure would be nice to put an end to some of the silly price gouging I have seen on eBay or Amazon while looking for some of the out print books. While the 1st edition of Armstrong’s eminent book is widely available at a fairly reasonable price I have seen the 3rd edition listed for over $200. I’ve seen Koester’s book on Realistic Operations also listed for over $200.
I hope Firecrown will consider releasing some of these old but valuable titles in a digital format if the economics of another printing don’t make sense, if at all possible.

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Glad I bought all those books when they came out.

It would be interesting to know if Kalmbach owns the sole rights or if the authors or their heirs hold any rights to the republication of those older titles.

Just another reason I have all my print media…

Sheldon

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I see a few of those on eBay, but they don’t sell. If you check Sold Items and Completed Listings, there are a lot sales at very reasonable prices.

Rich

Likewise. I prefer a printed item.

David

How did I know you couldn’t resist commenting. :grinning:

I have quite a few in print as well, but only because they are only available in print. I just wish Kalbach had been more consistent. It seems completely random which books are and are not available digitally and when. Moving forward I wish they would be consistent. Frankly I think every hard copy should come with a digital download. And when the printed copies run out, it immediately is available for download only. Why would not want to have something available for sale that you could? But as others have mentioned it probably comes down to who owns the publishing rights to the books.

I like printed to nothing like holding a book in your hands.

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Oh I’m aware. You can also do a saved search and that can email you when a new one is available. That is how I just grabbed a copy of Track Planning for Realistic Operation (3rd Edition) for only twice the cover price. LOL

and Sheldon should be happy to learn that when it arrives, I’ll have hard copies of all three editions of the book then.

To each their own. But I think it’s fair to keep in mind that that is a privilege only some can afford. If you were around and paying attention and had spare income when they were published, you could get them for a reasonable price. Once it’s out a print, it’s a crap shoot if you’ll be able to find a copy and if you do, how much will someone want to part with it. If it’s not all that popular or they are tons of copies for sale, then it may even be cheaper. If it’s in high demand and not many are for sale, you see ridiculous prices of at least double the cover price if not 5 or 10 times the cover price.
If digital downloads were available for all or most of the books, that eliminates the or limits the price gouging and makes the book available to more at a reasonable price. Most of the digital library I had I even waited for it to go on sale, making it far more affordable. This is one small way a publisher could make the hobby more affordable to those of more limited means.

Although online auctions are convenient for purchasing second-hand books, I also use BookFinder.com. When I found out about it around 2000, I was so excited. I was impressed that I could find books that I had only known the title of in second-hand bookstores all over the world, and that this was truly the age of the Internet.

However, in 2011, I was even more surprised by HOseeker.net . I felt that heaven on earth had been realized, because I could see the contents of old model catalogs in detail.

By the way, the National Diet Library of Japan (website) makes books that are no longer under copyright available for free online. At one time, I enjoyed looking through all the records of Japanese people visiting the United States more than 100 years ago. I’m sure that appropriate libraries in the United States offer similar Internet facilities.


“Miscellaneous notes from a trip to the United States” published in 1901 (If you are interested in this book, please translate the post I digitized on my blog.)

As someone who is not good at English, I am grateful that digital books can automatically translate. However, I was surprised when my younger son held his smartphone over printed English text and the Japanese text was displayed.

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I have used thrifbooks.com and found a lot of railroad book at great prices. Both model and real trains.

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Another way is to be old enough to have bought them when they were on the magazine shelves of the hobby shops, and either smart enough or lazy enough to have not thrown them away in the intervening 50 years.

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WOW!! I remember some of those!!

Showing your age, amflyer1? LOL.

Rich

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yes i’m not a spring chicken no more LOL had no idea what lol meant , had to ask kids

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Not to worry, I have to ask my grandkids stuff like that.

Rich

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HA HA glad i’m not the only one. :laughing:

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It was not my intent to show my age, just that if it is a train item I keep everything.

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Yes, we knew that. :smiley:

Rich

yes we do :grinning:

Fortunately I have plenty of space to keep everything.
The biggest space hogs are the 100+ Snow village buildings in the styrofoam boxes and cardboard sleeves. The books and magazines fit in book cabinets or on shelves.

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