We’re going way back for this week’s Book Club – whether you use the All Access Pass Digital Archive, the older DVD, have the issue in hard copy, or just want to chime in, all are welcome and encouraged to discuss or argue about any aspect of the April 1946 issue of MR.
The first thing one notices is the color cover, a rarity back then and not standard for MR until the later issues of 1964. The war was over, although material shortages continued per Mantua’s ad, and one notices far more advertising than during the war years. Some of it was for 12 volt motors and power supplies - as we mentioned in a prior Book Club, before the war 6 volts for HO was popular but there was much expectation that the post war years would see a switch over to 12 volts and presumably many modelers were retro-fitting their older engines with new and better motors.
Red Ball’s ad in the inside front cover shows some surprisingly impressive brake wheel models; on page 284 is an ad from the Kramer Brothers, Lou and Sol – they later founded what became LifeLike.
The Layout of the Month Contest featured a first prize of $50 and actually that would be a pretty nice prize even today, although the polished nature of the drawings from the contestants suggests there was no MR Art Department to step in for them and only good draftsmen were likely to enter. Note that second prize ($20) went to one John H. Armstrong, whose plan crams in lots of track and operation as was his habit, and some punning place names. Of his plan, MR wrote “Mr. Armstrong … does not care too much for the return loops which appear on so many model railroads … and so, feeling they are nonetheless necessary, has consolidated several of them in a hidden form in the mountain of the lower corner of the layout.”
I’ll be interested to read your comments about the various track plans themselves, including the hono
I’m not so sure the paper cap as a torpedo trick would work in HO scale!
I’m also skeptical of the fidelity of the P-61 on page 297. That nose and the cowlings are all wrong!
What’s interesting is that John Armstrong came in second in the layout design contest! Butlook at that layout - classic Armstrong, even way back then. The end loops are stacked and hidden, to save space and not be obvious. There is a mix of made up names and real names. Delehanna River, combination of the Delware and Susquehanna. Down in that corner where there is a crossing at the interchange, he calls it “Carcross”. Down the center penninsula is a viewblock so you can only see one side at a time - VERY modern thinking for 1946! And find the mine on the left of the middle pennisula - Simon Legree Mine! If you don’t recognize the name, here’s a hint - Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
Preview of things to come - the Eric LaNal article on HH gauge. Slightly alrger than what would become N scale, at 1:150, 9.6mm track.
As for P-61’s - yeah, just a ‘little’ off. A local museum is rebuilding one - and by ‘rebuilding’ it’s prety much 'build a compeltely new one" since what they started with was the mangled remains of a wreck that sat on the side fo a jungle mountain for 40 some years. http://www.maam.org/p61.html
–Randy
I hate to fixate on the P-61, but its my favorite warbird. I look forward to seeing the Reading one, even if its static. I’ve seen half of the extant ones already and I hope to see all four of them in my life.
…But ammonia and iodine might.
For those commenting on the ad for the Maircraft balsa wood model of the Black Widow P-61, did you notice the letter of complaint about their ads in the Letters to the Editor section - arguing that it violated Al Kalmbach’s pledge to have a magazine devoted entirely to trains?
The response was that that pledge applied to editorial content, not advertising, and if someone wanted to pay for an unrelated advertisement, that ad revenue could only help the magazine be better. I also noticed that the Maircraft ad mentioned the use of plastic parts for the considerable “glass” content of a P-61. Interestingly in the February 1946 issue, there is a letter to the editor suggesting that makers of motors should be investigating some of the new silicone materials that were developed during the war. The early rumblings of the plastics revolution in the hobby.
When I was a boy I briefly dabbled in the balsa/tissue paper/dope airplane kits that were still popular at the time. My efforts were a spectacular failure but those balsa kits supplied wood I used for model railroading for years - I think I still have some!
Dave Nelson
Yeah, the same company had an ad in prior months, whch was what the letter writer was complaining about.
Looking at it more closely, I’m not so sure they have the cowl shape all wrong as it’s just a really bad job of reproducing the image - what appears to be some sort of cone shape closing the front opernign of the engine cowling may in fact just be the blurring they added for the prop. Hard to tell. ANyone have that particular kit?
I love the response to the letter write - to the point that, why do you care if this company thinks spending advertising money in a model railroad magazine will sell more aiplane kits? Their money that paid for the ad goes to generating more model railroad articles. If they want to ‘waste’ their money advertising in a model railroad magazine, it makes no difference, we’ll gladly take their money.
Letter writer also needed to be reminded that until Model Railroader, the only place model trains got advertised were in other model magazines not devoted to trains.
–Randy
The Armstrong layout was a winner. What was his status in the hobby at this time?
Was he considered one of the leading planners at this time or did that come later?
In 1946 John Armstrong was, I think, all of 26 years old - and did not have the stature he was later to attain. When you use the magazine index on this website the first entry for John you find is August 1948 issue of MR, which had a track plan for the then version of his Canandaigua Southern layout. The brief write up mentions that the layout was then 10 years old.
So I assume this second place finish in the layout contest was his first actual appearance in MR, uncredited in the index. Does anybody know of an earlier one – a letter to the editor for example?
Dave Nelson
What caught my eye this edition.
The Heavy Mikado and caboose constructed by Mr. Duncan on Guadalualcanal. While it may have been a rear echelon facility for the last 18 months of the Pacific campaign, it must still have been quite a task, though what a great way to “escape” from the war, (I see it was his 2nd war). I wonder how much was kit, and how much was scratch built?
As an aside, some of the members of the Royal New Zealand Air Force Servicing Units in the Solomons at the same time were, in their spare time, sand casting model Corsairs, and I believe Venturas, and selling them. My “Uncle” who was a Corsair pilot up in the islands had a highly polished sand cast Corsair on a stand which sat on his study desk.
I guess that the “Handee motor Tool” is a forerunner to the “Dremel”, andshock/horror it’s in another Model Aircraft ad, though they do stock railroad stuff! I might have to update my spectacles but that P61 in the Maircaft ad is surely an artists impression, isn’t it?
I was particularly taken with the Varney ad on page 277. Building that kit and getting it to come out right must have been quite a challenge.
Enjoy
Paul
Sometimes I do wonder why there’s no…how to put it…not-model railroad ads in the magazine. I’ve read plenty of MR, RMC, Trains, R&R, and FSM in my time walking around on this planet and definitely noticed (and somewhat impressed) that they can fill out adspace with only in-interest ads. Other, more occupational, things I read do this too. The space trade rags are all space and very occasionally defense related. I should check my dad’s boat magazines to compare. My suspicion is its one of those very simple “we’re just not interested” answers that belies a much larger explanation and rationale.
I don’t think it would bother me if ads for something not-hobby related showed up. Unless it was those ads for the “special medicine” that turn up in Golf and I should talk to my doctor about.
Another fun visit to the archive. Here’s what caught my eye…
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the paragraph near the front that noted the NMRA had developed “10 layout rules that should be observed in the planning and operation of a scale model railroad”. I found that a bit amusing. Not to take away from the very good advice there-in, “rules that should be observed” seems a bit strong; i.e., maybe “experienced based considerations…” would have been better. Hopefully no one got banned from the NMRA for rule breaking.
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Overall, I am impressed by the nice quality of some of the model offerings back then, maybe 10 years before my first entry.
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I did take note of the HH scale article, realizing I don’t know the evolution and differences between the current and past scales. A MR article on same would be of interest, but maybe I just need to ask Wikipedia. I think the HH scale is/was 1:150, though the article comments on some 1:300 one-offs.
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I’ll second the kudos to MR for currently and typically managing ads to content related to, at least, modelling. I can’t overstate my annoyance in the past / present to ads such as smokes and medicinal help in specialty mags, whether MR, golf, etc. I understand and support the free market approach, but I also consider when I renew how I feel about a subscribed mag overall. I suspect MR has resisted some financial tempations to keep the focus. Thanks!