I didn’t start this to flame our forum host - MR Mag. i.e. trains.com.
Getting back into model rr after 20 years is quite an eye opener, there is soooo much that has changed.
I have a subscription to MR Mag., as I did many years ago, but would like to know what other publications that model railroaders read and why they read it?
For Model RRing I also read;
Garden Railroading, devoted to large scale
Narrow Gauge and Short Line Gazette, If I have to exlain why, you wont understand.
Finescale Railroader, exceptional modeling
Timber Times , info for us narrow gauge nuts.
Light Iron Digest, critters, critters, critters.
Outside the hobby;
Bike magazine, everyones got to have a hobby
This Old House, buy an 85 year old house, then you’ll understand.
American Bungalow, see above.
Hi Dave;
I subscribe to Mainline Modeler (MM), Model Railroading (MRG), Model Railroad News MRN), Model Railroader and Trains. I occassionally pick up copies of Railroad Model Journal (RJM) and Railroad Model Craftsman (RMC), and I belong to some of Jim Six’s e-groups on Yahoo!®.
MM for techniques and obscure prototype information - like signs, etc.
MRG for the comic, and various multi-issue projects like the current saw mill completx.
MRN because of the trial offer, probably will not renew. On both the good and the bad side, the authors are not experts (and they are comfortable with that), so from time to time poor information is passed along, especially related to DCC.
MR for the ads, Tony’s column and the layouts.
I specifically look for articles by: Tom Dressler, Jim Six, Larry Puckett, Mike Rose, and others that I cannot remember off the top of my head.
I subscribe to Model Railroader and Classic Trains. I buy N Scale, N Scale Railroading, and the GM&O Historical Society Newsletter at the hobby shop, every issue.
The model magazines I mentioned above are the ones that I feel I cannot do without, having the best and latest and most comprehensive coverage of the hobby. I read Classic Trains because I model the transition era, and I read the GM&O Historical Society Newsletter because I am fascinated with the GM&O and its predecessor, the Alton.
I will pick up Railroad Model Craftsman, Mainline Modeler, Trains, Finescale Modeler, Model Railroading, Railmodel Journal, Railfan and Railroad (rarely) and the publications of the C&NW, Soo Line, and Milwaukee Road historical societies, if they have interesting articles. (I find it interesting that ship-aviation-military modelers seem to use different modeling techniques from model railroaders, and there seems to be little exchange between them.)
I used to read the now defunct Vintage Rails and Prototype Modeler.
I used to get the NMRA Bulletin, but outside of NMRA organizational information, it did nothing for me.
When I was first consciously entering the hobby back in the 1970s, I used to subscribe to Railroad Model Craftsman. When I returned to the hobby in the early 1980s, I religiously picked up RMC with the other magazines, but at a certain point, RMC’s quality began to slip, and I no longer felt the need to own every issue. (I believe RMC’s best years were when Tony Koester was editor.)
Garden Railroader (subscription) and Trains.com, regularly. When I’m going out of town on business, my wife will pick up any one of the other magazines for me to read on the train or plane. They tend to be about model railroading, although I like Kalmbach’s Trains mag as well as MR and GR.
I assume you mean other railroad-related publications. Quite frankly, MR is the only general model railroading magazine I rad–I’ve never cared much for Railroad Model Craftsman etcetera. I did pick up a few narrow-gauge magazines (Light Iron Digest, Narrow Gauge & Short Line Gazette) when I was still fixated on narrow gauge. I tend to dig around a lot for old issues of TRACTION & MODELS, highly recommended if you’re into traction but no longer being produced.
I’m a pretty voracious reader so whenever possible I try to get old model railroad books used–from swap meets, used bookstores (sometimes they get some surprisingly good stuff for cheap) and discount bins. I’m fortunate to have a world-class railroad museum in town with a vast library, and take advantage of that when I can. Even if one is a “free-lance” modeler, prototype research can be helpful in illustrating how real railroads did things
I subscribe to MR.Also buy RMC because their stories are in more depth and I like east coast (Erie) railroads.Once in a while I buy NG& SL Gazette and OLD issues of Railroad Magazine.Another one I subscribe to is Analog Science Fiction.
Model Railroader - but of course…
Trains - ditto
Railpace - great quality photos, extensive coverage of my old stomping grounds in the northeast
British Railway Modelling - always been fascinated with trains in the UK and their modelling is wonderful. Their approach is often a little different but the results are well worth our attention.
Railroad Model Craftsman - slightly different focus than MR that makes for a good balance.
Keyboard - completely off-topic, which is the point. I’m also a musician and there is life after trains.
Cheers.
Model Railroader is the only US-based mag I read - it’s the only one you can get over here with any regularity! Other magazines I read include:
Model Rail (British prototypes, with a leaning towards “how to” articles)
British Railway Modelling (Interesting, a bit too “rivet-counter” for my tastes as they seem obsessed with pointless details and they seem to regard brass kits as being the only way to create a really decent model)
Railway Modeller (This is at least as old as Model Railroader, and the editorial style shows this… Still, they have interesting articles and decent adverts)
Continental Modeller (Same publishers as RM, but covering overseas prototypes. Plenty of US stuff along with European, South American, and others. Best source for adverts for US HO scale in Britain).
Apart from those, various Land Rover magazines (Land Rover Owner is the best in my opinion), and also fiction (I’m a big fan of Terry Pratchett, Tom Holt, et al.).
Books… [:D]
Just teasin who has time for reading?? j/k
I pretty much stick with MR and otherwise I’m into cars so I’ve been reading Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords, Mustang Monthly and I believe the other one is Mustangs and Fords. (Think I like Mustangs?)
I’d suggest going to your Local Hobbyshop and purchasing some MR books (thick ones [8D] ) I have several of those that I look to for inspiration on occasion.
-Dale
I read
Model Railroader, Trains, Railroad Model Craftsman, Garden Railways, and Classic Trains. I am however starting to become unsatisfied to the content of model railraoder and have many times contemplated dropping my subscription. However, I still renew for busness concerns I need to track current trends in the hobby and MR seems to the place where most of them are brought to light.
so far all i have to read are books but i do have November issues of MR and Trains. i plan on subscribing to MR but i’ll continue to pick up Trains. only have enough money to subscribe to one right now.
outside of MR i subscribe to Sports Illustrated, The Sporting News, and ESPN the Magazine. if you can’t tell i’m a big sports fan.
Mostly MR but i will read anything related to model railroading doesnt matter what the scale of magazine be it N scale or Garden Railways because the ideas and solutions that they give you can be made to work with whatever scale you are modeling in or at least get you ging in the right direction
Regards
Larry
I subscribe to MR, while I enjoy most of the articles I really like its emphasis on layouts.
I also subscribe to RMC which I feel kind of rounds out MR with more modeling articles and prototype articles. I subscribe to S Gaugian, because I’m in S scale and it provides scale specific articles and ads. I subscribe to Classic Toy Trains just because I like them. As a member of the NMRA and NASG I get their publications also. I usually buy each issue of Classic Trains and Maine 2 Foot Quarterly as well as occaisional issues of others when they have an article that interests me.
Enjoy
Paul
Model Railroader (and OLD Model Railroaders I read again and again, and catalog, and sometimes if it has been 20 years since I cataloged that particular batch, I go through and catalog em again since my interests and focuses have changed, and I see things I hadn’t seen before.)
Warbonnet, the publication of the Santa Fe Railway Historical and Modeling Society.
“N Gauge” the magazine. (mostly to drool over the things I would like to buy but don’t have money for when they are available, and when I do have a little money handy, they are no longer available.)
If it sparks my interest, I read it.
Model Railroading, Model Railroad Craftsman, Model Railroader, and most Kalmbach books.
Trains, R & R, The Short Line
RMC
I also pick up copies of Mainline Modeler and Model Railroading if I can find them at hobby shops.
John
I read Narrow Gauge and Shortline Gazette, Light Iron Digest, Model Railroading, Railroad Model Craftsman, old issues of Model Railroader (at the public library), books on cosmology, particle physics, exotic places, history of rock & roll and jazz and many other subjects.
Model Railroader, Railroad Model Craftsman, Model Railroading, Railmodel Journal, Trains, Railpace, Diesel Era, and TRP. That does it for train related stuff but I also read CPU Computer magazine, Sports Illustrated, and ESPN Magazine.