No. I don’t want to get into the subject too deeply. I’m 63, and I still prefer hardcover for example, I don’t like reading digital. I usually only obtain PDFs so I can print them out. Cost is not the barrier to me it might be for some.
I have downloaded a great heap of files from here, but I likely expect to purchase a subscription to Model Railroader. I like getting something in the mail occasionally
I am wondering, I have looked around, no apparent mention of buying past issues from here.
I’m guessing there is no money in that. I welcome any mention of where a person might encounter something like that. The cost to print out 80+ pages in colour is not ‘user friendly’ hehe
I suppose I’m just too old school to embrace digital too greatly. I don’t for instance have a cell phone. I am so not going to squint to use a screen that small. I sure would like to know why they can’t sell us a 10 inch tablet phone.
Anyway, I am new to the forum community. Arrived recently, I have a free trial to employ.
I am guarded about getting too attached to forums though. They were cool for about 3 years after 2000. But I have yet to encounter a single topic/subject/function forum that masters the fine art of remaining civil. Which is unfortunate.
My father is responsible for my loving trains. He worked his whole working life for CN as a dispatcher. He was one of the original creators of the concept we now call ‘Train Shows’ more than 45 years ago. Not hobby show, and not craft show, it was about trains only
I deeply miss him. He is gone, most of his trains are gone. I managed to hold on to some though. I have his expertly painted CN 6060 in 1/87 scale (seriously, it won’t let me type the two well known letters here ). I think I will be needing to go with N Scale though myself. Been wanting a train layout for a LOOOONG time.
Read the recent thread on T gauge, and look at the pictures of Penzance…
My advice to anyone new is to be judicious in the threads you choose to read and comment in. There are what I call ‘tar-baby’ threads that pull you in and get you entangled, when the wiser and more grown-up (euphemism inserted for compliance) thing to do is ‘not to play’.
I’m 56 and also much prefer print. I still use some digital, but mostly for photo or article reference if there are tables or a list of steps.
I used to be an avid reader of books, though I find reading difficult these days as my mind wanders after just a couple paragraphs. I treat books with reverence. My dad used to fold the covers and pages back and it absolutely horrified me.
The forum is a little…
Messy right now. Anyway, I use both print and digital. While I prefer print and am willing to spend about $10 more for a print subscription to MR, when it gets cheap enough I’ll buy 25 years of digitized CTT magazine on DVD!
On the left side menu, you can find a link to the Trains.com Store. The store sells hundreds of back copies of Model Railroader, and they are fairly cheap. You might want to check there.
Welcome! I agree i like a book/magazine in my hands too! This is a pretty good forum with alot of good pics on the wknds and Two for Tuesdays. Im in N scale,it has alot to offer nowadays so its a good choice too.
I mostly use Digital, as I find it a bit easier than Print, But I do like a good book or magazine in my hands. I do find however that digitizations of things can be a bit blurry (Ex. Blueprint Dimensions)
I like somethings in print. Mostly I like magazines in print and books digital. This is due to the fact that many of my textbooks for my BSN program were digital and i just got used to it.
Al
I prefer print and will never pay for a digital subscription. A printed item can be easily carried anywhere, doesn’t have to be charged or plugged in, can be read in bright sunlight, won’t break if it is dropped, won’t become unusable because of software changes, etc.
Mark Vinski
I’ll always prefer paper in my hands to electronic data my device can lose without warning because someone created a virus or my hard drive developed a fault.
Print definitely. I’m old school and like actual magazines because I want actual physical copies of any media I buy. I like knowing that when I pay for something it’s mine and that I’m not just renting it.
when reading for recreation i get books from the library which i usually read in bed. These often include RR books. Of course, not all RR books are digital (or I at least don’t have access) and have copies.
But tidbit information: short articles, photos, diagrams are often more easily accessible and locatable if electronic.
I think I was an early adopter of personal web pages are work when I learned about the web in the 1990s. A milestone event was when a colleague called from a different location and said to enter some URL in my browser and I realized we were both looking at the same thing while talking on the phone. Of course now a days, there’s zoom, google meet and there use to be skype.
After learning about the web I started writing all my notes in html as web pages on my corporate account, which made them easily accessible whereever I was: office, lab, someone else’s office, home.
Another milestone was when I called a colleague that I had posted a new version of code on my site and he said he had already checked and downloaded it.
I just learned how to use gihub as a website, as well as archive electronic information for collaboration with version control (see Mahanoy Ry).
hardcopy and digital information both have their advantages
23y/o guy here, and I much prefer physical copies to digital reading. Something about reading anything digital makes it so easy for me to get distracted and/or lose interest, while having a print copy is engaging and draws me into the text, whether thats a book or a magazine.
And like a couple of others have said, N scale is a great option, and gets closer and closer to parity with larger scales all the time!
Welcome to the community, use it however you will (I mostly just share my work and stay out of a lot of other things) and enjoy playing with trains!
Something I just remembered: years ago I paid out fifty bucks for a very large, very detailed paper model download - print - build kit of the Battleship Yamato. I started building the hull but ran into difficulties and set the model’s 3 foot long interior hull superstructure aside while I looked for a better method of building a smooth paper hull of that size. (The answer turned out to be expanding styrene foam.). Before I could go back to work on it I had a hard drive failure and lost the data.
So solid state will always win over photons and electrons.
For magazines I like electronic but for books, I like print. I was kind of disappointed that the last time that I renewed my Classic Trains sub, they offered print, or print and electronic, but not just electronic.
I prefer print but have purchased unlimited Trains.com access. I’ve tried numerous times tonight to sign in, change passwords, use new password, same thing every time - “invalid credentials.Won’t waste my money again.
