The All Access Pass/Back Issue/Digital Archives Book Club Number 13 for the week of April 20, 2015 will focus on April 1993 Model Railroader

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
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The idea behind this book club, as with any book club, is that we all read the same thing and then chat about it – about any aspect that strikes us, positive or negative. It was started as a way to get more of us to explore the complete set of prior MR issues that is on the All Acess Pass Digital Archive, but of course anyone who has read the issue is certainly invited to chime in, whether they have it on hard copy or have the Model Railroader DVD. Last week’s issue had relatively few comments but a fairly impressive number of “hits.”

This issue is from the editorship of Russ Larson, and there are many familiar names on the masthead: Andy Sperandeo, Jim Hediger, Jim Kelly, Roger Carp, Jeff Wilson, and the late Keith Thompson.

The cover story for this issue is the Piermont Division of Howard Zane, who is a familiar name to Forum regulars for his frequent postings. It is a large layout (the track plan is from before the current practice of showing people in the aisles to give a sense of size). It also photographs extremely well which is not always the case with large layouts.

For those who like modeling projects with some meat on the bones this issue has some dandy ones: John Nehrich on kitbashing a baggage car using Athearn and Rivarossi cars as source material; a Mont Switzer upgrade for an Athearn blue box 50’ boxcar, a B23-7 built from parts; Lou Sassi on making trees from peppergrass, and an amusingly influential article by Art Curren about using green astroturf to make cornfields. Within months of this article appearing in print you started to see those astroturf cornfields everywhere, it seemed.

There are also a number of Paint Shop features – a column that many wish could be returned to the pages of MR.

When the issue came out my favorite article was the photo feature by Harry Bonham on the Great Western Chemical Company plant in Eugene OR. To me, then and now, this is a great example of a

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A few thoughts after a quick flick.
The ad for the ‘58 Impala grabbed my attention, pure nostalgia, my friend had a ‘58 Belaire and as teenagers in the 70s we used to “cruise the main”, shades of American Graffiti, of course without the American or the Graffiti, happy days! [8D][(-D]
Every time someone mentions that the current issue, at that time, of MR has nothing that is of interest them, I have to raise an eyebrow. [^o)] While I have no interest in modelling O or traction, the South Shasta Line, and the Crooked Mountain Lines always impressed and inspired me, not only for the brilliance of the modelling but the dedication to the hobby, especially by Mr Humann, (6 decades of sharing with the public). I see in an early thread Mrs Hegge said that the Crooked Mountain layout had been sold intact but couldn’t remember to who, still I have the photos and articles to drool over.
I believe that Mr Zane recently invited forum members over for a look and an operate (?) and thought at the time if I was a bit closer I would have “dived in with both boots on”.
I had to laugh at myself regarding a comme

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I just gave the issue a quick look through and what struck me immediately was the Thomas the Tank Engine article. The few pages it was given didn’t do the creators near enough justice, but it sure brought back some fond memories. My kids were just at the age when Thomas was really popular and we spent a lot of time together watching the series. I was as much into it as they were! The quality of the animation was truly excellent. The fact that Ringo Star saw fit to narrate many of the episodes was also amazing to me.

We have tossed out many of our sons’ toys but Thomas (and Star Wars) stuff is still in boxes for his kids. (Just to clarify, we lost one son in 2005 so that is why I refer to the plural ‘sons’ but the toys are only now saved for one son’s offspring).

Dave

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My name appeared in March 1983 issue of MR Student Fare. I was 14 at the time. I’m still into model trains to this day. Earl is out…

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Just a quick scan through, showed that the Live Steam ad for “Little Engines” was still around in 1993. They had to have been one of the longest advertizers in the magazine?!

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I think LICHTZ may have been around longer.

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Early 90’s, last gasp of the giant length issues, mainly because of allt he supporting multi page ads. Soon these companies would realize that instead of taking out expensive 4-6 page ads, they could take out a small partial column ad and refer people to their web site where they could have as many pages as they wanted to list all their stock.

Another installment of Frary’s PRR - another layout I always wanted to build. As built it needed a bit of help for operations, but the start was there, with the nice mine branch and all. The more recent article with the current owner of that layout and how it was expanded shows what it could be.

A few mentions of command control systems - I had recently coincidently read the July 1993 issue which had a roundup of current command control systems (with few exceptions, all incompatible with each other). What’s kind of funny about that is that just the next month, August 1993, at the NMRA convention in Valley Forge, PA, the first DCC systems were unveiled.

–Randy

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And thank goodness for DCC and the NMRA. Can you imagine how balkanized the hobby would be if there were half a dozen or more competing systems out there? [I know, I know, they are out there anyway, just irrelevant for the most part]

BTW, speaking of the cover shot on Zane’s layout, what is the track gang carrying with the rail tongs? I have no idea, but maybe it’s just a bad angle. I don’t see the rail and there looks like there’s some other large diameter object in the tongs. Maybe a signal mast?

I like how the table of contents is formatted and the typeface. Classy. And breaking out “Prototype Data and Drawings” is classy, too. The “Innovator 3000” handheld DC memory throttle on page 5 is pretty cool, but I don’t recall the ad. Must’ve not lasted long.

The long lists of new decal sets and detail parts in multiple scales are pretty nostalgic – and missed.

The fancy formatting in the AHC ad was a change. Not sure if that lasted near as long as the several older versions of their ads did. Was this the last style they used?

Train World was coming on strong, as their ad just goes on and on and on…in small print.

Those Overland F-units were so sweet and just not in the budget. Thank goodness for Genesis. And those who couldn’t afford that Challenger Imports Zephyr were eventually rewarded with beautiful and much more affordable plastic versions. Isn’t it a great hobby?

That layout of Zane’s is something else in those pics. Lou Sassi’s work is standout among the Trackside Photos. And Mont Switzer’s stuff will always teach you something new, even if the subject matter isn’t immediately inspiring (although his Monon stuff always is [;)] )

The letter reminding us fellows there are women in the hobby is probably as apt today as it was in 93.

Big, modern Conrail B-B power…now there’s some nostaligia on several levels.

The Montana Western just LOOKS so big. The mira

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I wonder if those are the same Russians I’ve seen at Timonium a few times, selling their rather unique Russian prototype locos?

–Randy

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Dunno. My guess is it’s the ones you never meet who send a lot of spam. The ad seemed worded with just enough model RR content to get it into MR. I can imagine there were a few model RRers in the former Soviet Union just looking to swap letters with Western modelers, but a much larger pool of those who wanted a somewhere, err, more personally profitable relationship. There have been some goofily tangential ads in MR over the years (IIRC there was some commemorative boxcar promotion ad in 4/93 that was a bit strange, too, but at least you knew what that was about.)

On the other hand, maybe the Timonium Russians found a penpal and a visa to a better place? That would be one heck of a cool story.

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Actually, don’t think so, found the guys who usually have a table at Timonium - they’re called Red Star Railways, out of Delaware.

–Randy