Response to the first “book club” thread was encouraging, with over 1000 hits in a week and 25 comments total. Just as a reminder, the idea is to take advantage of the complete library of MR offered to those who subscribe to the new All Access Pass digital archives. Of course many of you also have the DVD of past MR issues, and a few of you have older issues in hard copy. All are welcome to comment and join in the discussion. Each week I will select a copy from the past; we’ll read it and then comment as we would in a book club. Everything is fair game from ads to articles to cover photos to letters to the editor.
Let’s stretch things back and start the month of February by going back to the February 1942 issue of MR.
One common thread that runs throughout the issue: the war, and the sudden absence of brass as an available material. Magnets were also getting scarce. Midlin track announced in its ad that for all practical purposes it was shutting down for the duration. Saginaw advertised that its PRR steam kits were about to disappear. Mantua advertised a new steel rail that came chemically darkened. You will notice other advertising, as well as editorial comment by the magazine, about the potential impact of the hobby on these wartime material shortages – and of course it was to get worse. After all this was just a few weeks after Pearl Harbor!
Maybe the funniest war related ad is from Kalmbach itself: Trains magazine advertises that it is humiliating to get kicked off of railroad property so subscribe to the magazine to get your supply of trackside scenes!
The letters to the editor section shows photos of some really impressive HOn3 models, but the builder announced that he was switching to On3 because he could not get motors small enough to power the engines he had built. There is also an article on modifying a Lionel scale Hudson to make a 4-6-4T –
Sounds like an interesting issue. I’ve read one or two wartime issues sometime in the past and the availability of items that involved critical war materials went to unobtanium status right away. This mostly went away after VJ Day, but spot shortages still occurred. Then Korea sent demand soaring for many materials again, also impacting supplies of model railroad goods.
Unfortunately, my paper archive starts about 1950, but I’m looking forward to hearing more from others about this week’s selection.
For some reason I cannot view the archieves. Yesterday morning it worked well. Then in the afternoon, I could only see the first few pages. Same thing today, before work it was back to normal and now I can only see the first few pages of any given issue.
Wonder if they are having server issues keeping up with demand?
EDIT: I contacted customer service on this problem.
I just joined the Digital Archive on Saturday Morning and am enjoying what I’m seeing. I’ve glanced at the Feb. 42 issue and will do more investigation in the next few days. This will be a great way to explore the archive!
So, I have paged through the issue suggested and a few things jump out at me. Maybe these have been brought up in the previous installment of this thread, I really did not pay attention, then. However, I do find it interesting that in 1942 Double O gauge was very prevalent! Here in the U.S. this size is all but forgotten. I remember in the early 60s when Treble O was being touted; but, really can’t say I heard anything about OO. So, sometime between 1942 and when I started paying attention to Model Railroading in the late 1950s and early 1960s, “OO” fell from grace with the model railroading public.
I also love looking through the advertisements at the end of the magazine. Not so much to drool over the low prices; but, because back then almost everything was a kit. If you wanted in, to this hobby, you had to be a model builder. That certainly isn’t like today. In fact, given my interests in the hobby, I feel much more at home in these earlier issues, than I do today! Much of the rolling stock and all of the locomotives are ready to run, now and this just doesn’t hold my interest!
Although there weren’t any photographs of layouts in this issue that jumped out at me, it is plain to me that Black and White photography made layout photos much more realistic looking. The addition of color photography added a dimension to photos that made it much more difficult to look as realistic, in my opinion!
Check out the photo of young Linn there in the first article. Looks like he just climbed off his motorcycle. And remember - he was a redhead.
Also in that same picture - check out how the leg braces are all perfectly notched around the legs. No wonder L girder was developed, doing all that notching does take a bit of skill to get them right. But then in the drawing in the same article is just shows the brace attached along the outside, no notches. Guess someone was being extra-fancy.
That article AND the George Allen one BOTH pretty much say no ‘real’ model railroad builds on a flat sheet of anything. So for over 70 years they’ve been trying to steer people away from the flat old 4x8 (5x9 was also popular as people made pingpong tables and you could at one time by plywood sheets in 5x9 size - maybe you still can, just not at the big box stores). Yet - a 4x8 is still the most common layout.
Interesting article on the Swedish club doing US prototype. Allen Rice (Eric La Nal’s real name) was stationed in Sweden with the US Navy, in probably a rare match of actual skills with the posting - he was very fluent in Swedish. And ever in his particular style of humor: “…where they speak Swedish without a Minnesota accent.”
And for some reason it made me think of the character of The Swede from Hell on Wheels - “but I am Norwegian”
Keep in mind the US didn’t go from a completely peace-time economy to a war economy overnight after Pearl Harbor. The US instituted a draft in 1940, and industries were busy building arms, ammo, tanks, planes, ships etc. for the British during 1940-41 under “Lend Lease”. No doubt a lot of planning occured before Pearl Harbor so that when the US entered the war, things could come into place quickly to get on a total war footing. The lesson of WW1, when the US was very slow to get up to speed, was still fresh in people’s memories.
That early though there was a lot of optimism - several of the ads seemed to have the idea that they would eb able to supply product, even if in some modified form, for the duration. Soon that was to change though, as those machines used for small model parts could also make small other kinds of parts. In the article on getting started it mentions, in the tool section about lathes - how you don’t need one right away, and how you probably can’t get one, but after the war, it might be a good investment. As if anticipating a quick end to the conflict.
One of the ones listed there is still there, on the same block! Haines Hobby House in Reading started in 1937 at 44 S. 6th St in Reading, and in 1947 they build a new building at 60 S. 6th St when they outgrew the original location. They are still there at the same address, as Iron Horse Hobby, renamed in 1979 when it was purchased from Mel Haines, the orginal founder.
Actually another one listed near me still exists - Bloch’s stopped being a paint store a long time ago. They’ve moved many times since 1942, but the store still does exist as a hobby shop.
The feature article on how I built my railroad was an HO layout. Tunnel through the chimney indeed…
COuple of reasons. One, it was one of the largest if not the largest railroad in the country. It covered at least 1/4 of the country, and PRR cars could be seen anywhere. Second, those Belpaire fireboxes gave extra room to fit the motors - particularly important for OO and HO scale. For the same reason, there were a bunch of early HO models made of Reading locos, with the big Wooten fireboxes. Most of Mantua’s pre-war HO locos were models of Reading prototypes. It wasn’t until the 50’s they got more generic. In other issues from that time and slightly earlier, you will see pictures of Mantua’s motor - the motor itself is shaped almost like a Wooten firebox.
"Model railroading isn’t too hard. Thousands of bank tellers, store clerks, lawyers, truck drivers, and whatever with no more mechanical experience than you, have made successful layouts.
All you need do is get started. The rest follows like a contagious disease"
It didn’t quite come through in my post above. However, I was being somewhat facetious! I went back and made it a little easier to understand where I am coming from. I understand how big and important the Pennsy was; but, I really don’t care why; or, the reasons that it was popular back then, similar to not caring that it is still popular, now!
This is no reflection on anyone who models the Pennsylvania RR! I’m happy that your happy with it and I am envious of the fact that there is so much equipment available for the Pennsy. Not having lived in the East, what’s big in the east, isn’t necessarily of interest to those of us who live elsewhere. However one of the prettiest Steam Locos was the Pennsylvania K-4 Pacific and I do love Camelbacks!
I can imagine there was some memory of WWI combined with a bit of good old fashion racism. Germany folded up pretty quick last go-round after America jumped in and Japan was, well, it was Japan and opinions weren’t so high about them as a group…to put it lightly. Probably not too much a leap to think a lot of people figured we’d learned a thing or two from the last one, without realizing the other side had too!
I just looked through the first post-war issue and the optimism of a new future was all over the place. Lots of “and we’re back!” or “we’re probably not going to have new stuff until '46” ads.
Actually, that’s one reason why OO was so popular, because even without a fancy big Belpaire firebox, OO offered extra room over HO. A small difference in scale could lead to a big difference in perceived size.
The other big reason for OO was the British industriousness in model making meant there was lots available, perhps better made than possible to do it yourself.
Bearz observations: Walthers appear to have been quick out of the blocks with their new 4 door reefer car, not far behind the prototype. O gauge only though.
Mr. Walthers explanation on the advantage of decals over printed sides, interesting, why do I still have problems?
15 cents for the 48 page HO catalogue.
Boomer Petes (Linn Westcott??) article “The New Model Railroad is still relevant today, apart from the actual scales. His quote “Scale and gauge? Tsk, tsk, tsk, I hate to get into any knock-down and drag-out fight about any old and worn subject such as this”, raised a grin; admittedly model railroaders had been around before Al Kalmbachs first issue 8 years earlier but an “old and worn subject”? I wonder what he’d say about some of the occasional spats today.
They do come up in discussions of “models they made more of than actually existed”, usually prompted by the introduction of another Big Boy. But the Docksider probably beats out Big Boys. It’s ahrd to count the number of layouts that started with the Varney Lil Joe - it was affordable and it ran on small radius track. B&O actually had what, 2, or was it 4, or them, TOTAL. There certainly have been more variations of that loco made than ever existed in real life. I have a Rivarossi one, and the box o’ junk I picked up a while back has a Life Like one in it.
Sure right about any of the smoking material, even just the pack sitting there to illustrate size. At least they didn;t pull a Lucasfilm and go back and edit out any smoking material ro reference to smoking in the old issues, like the way they edited out all guns in ET. It is what it is, an accurate reflection of the time it comes from - of course that means the Burlesque girls that Flieschmann used in a couple of their ads in the 60’s are still there in their, ahem, full glory as well. Those ads though DID generate complaints at the time they were published.
If you haven’t read any of the first few years - it truly was a battle of the gauges in the letters. It got pretty nasty at times.
I always thought “Boomer Pete” was Al, but in more literal meaning it would have applied more to Linn, who wasn’t necessarily a full time employee at the time. Or possibly Bill Rau.