I just received 12 issues of “The Model Railroader” for 1937. They were found in an attic and put up for sale ($50).
The magazine back then was only 20 cents per issue, $2.00 per year, and only had O and HO scale. Editor was A. C. Kalmbach, published by Modelmaker Corp.
Articles were like “How to build a locomotive”, “Home Made Switch Motor”, “Making Coach Diaphragms”, “Drive Wheel Machining”, and “History of Model Railroading (from 1904)”. This last one shows a 110V loco built in 1913.
There’s also a note from Walthers saying they moved to downtown Milwaukee (“a 10 minute walk from any depot”). My favorite is an ad from a company called “Atlas” selling lathes, shapers, and presses for model makers.
Wish I could share more, but I’ve got to find some museum-quality protective covers, cotton gloves, and a sturdy airproof, waterproof box (with lock).
Yes indeedy those old magazines can be quite instructive. I had (until a house fire 3 years ago) an unbroken set of MRs going back to 1940. What was striking about them was the relative crudity compared to the general trend now. There were some that were outstanding by even today’s standards, but the bulk of the stuff wouldn’t rate being published now. The all timer was a photo of a “super detailed” Pacific that had both an Elesco fedwater heater on the smokebox front and a Worthington on the left side w/ “piping” that looked like it was made of #12 wire running w/o rhime or reason diagonally along the boiler.
I love nastagia. My MRR only go back to 44 and the adds are better than the articals, though it seems everyone was recomending plaster with asbestos for scenery and the pinups in the adds were a bit racey even for this age. Some of the scenery articals were good. The early G&D stuff is also interesting. I miss all the comics. MRR could publish a book of old cartoons, or maybe a calendar. Lets share mre asa we go along.
I love looking through old magazines. My oldest would be from 1953. They are some really great articles in the majority of my collection. I’ve had the ability to pick up old copies for free, since the store I work at gives them away. I have over 150 magazines, with plenty of information to build a railroad. My piece of advice, whenever you see someone giving away free magazines, look through them, you never know what you’ll find.[:D]
Re MR’s comic features, I believe Paul Geczl’s The Silver Plate Road , my personal favorite and a staple in the magazine in the 1940’s and 50’s, was offered briefly as a compilation long, long ago.
I’ve got to say that as crude as the state of the hobby might have been 50+ years ago, there were indeed some urban scenery layouts that would appear to vie with many of the better ones even today, particularly with regard to their grandeous scratchbuilt stations and office buildings, in a time when nothing of this sort was available as kits or, heaven forbid, RTR!
In addition, the magazine had a much more personal feel to it, like it was written by one of your modeling buddies. There were columns about who was doing what on their layout, insider info regarding what the manufacturers were up to, clubs forming and the eventual results of their efforts. The Railway Postoffice was full of useful commentary, There was no atta boy flag waving back then. And how about when MR published a list of all the commercial hobby shops in the country…and NYC had more than 125 listed, with Chicago right behind at 113 !
And there were guys like Ted Saunders, whose MR ad offered, “Any Type of Bridge from culvert to a cantilever. PRR, B&O, Pratt, Pettit, Warren, Pegram, Howe, through and deck trusses. Stone, concrete, or steel arches. Individually designed but sold as kits, unassembled, semi-assembled, or finished.” Pricing was supposed to be very reasonable…today you’d be ta
It’s amazing how closely your description above of MR magazine in the ‘good old days’ fits with the feel of this very forum hosted by good old MR in our present day and age! Sure times change, but sometimes the more they change, the more they stay the same.[:)][:)][8D]
…Ain’t modern technology grand? (Thanks, MR!) [:D]
-Dave
You’re right, Mark! The story of MR’s cartoon,The Silver Plate Road, is actually rather more complex and convoluted than my brief citation of Paul Geczl being its artist. In fact, Paul was one of three authors to draw this strip over the years but it happened to have been his name that first came to mind.
TSPR was originated by John Kalback and first appeared in the pages of MR in December of 1939. He provided monthly installments until early in 1945, when the military shipped him overseas and he was unable to continue the strip on a regular basis.
Paul Geczl re-instated the cartoon in early 1947 and continued until September of '48. Surprisingly, during this period it seems to be drawn with a technique identical to John Kalback’s.
I don’t ever recall seeing an explanation why the cartoon was absent from the October '48 issue but the next month it re-appears with Bill McClanahan as the new author. Now Bill was a sports cartoonist for the Dallas Morning News , so during his watch the renderings were much more refined than earlier and I’d guess the cartoon reached the peak of its popularity.
I’m not quite sure just when The Silver Plate Road ceased to appear in MR but its total run must have been something like 20 years.
Not sure, but I think the Atlas company you mention is our current day Atlas Model RR Company. IIRC, they’re name until farily recently was the Atlas Tool Company, or some such.
Yes, Dave, there are definitely some obvious parallels between vintage MRs and today’s MR Forum. The magazine’s Along the Division equates to the general discussion of what individual modelers are currently doing. Construction Kinks can be likened to assistance offered to modelers posing questions or with the posting of possible new modeling techniques. And Trade Topics covered what was new or anticipated in the industry, as do today’s often lively debates as to the pros and cons of what the manufacturers are up to!
Of course, all these subjects were covered in a far more orderly and organized fashion in the magazine and largely lacked the controversy that occasionally appears on today’s Forum. [;)]
ARTHILL,
Thanks. I posted a bunch of picturees a few months ago. Click on my name & search archive. It took forever to do this with rock molds. It’s also the only part of my layout done so far.