When I get the new issue and always go read two columns first. Trains of Thought by Tonk K and then Andy S column in the back.
What are your favorites?
The Cover![:D]
[#ditto].
I follow the old dictum; “Begin at the beginning, read through until the end, then stop.” Actually it’s more like; Scan from cover to cover, bookmark things of immediate interest, then go back and read them in detail. Then I read the rest, except for the articles on elecronics that I don’t use and ads for things I don’t need.
Of course, I AM a speed reader, so the typical MR doesn’t take long to consume. It may take longer to digest.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Trackside Photos!
Well first I scan through the whole Magazine. The I read the Trackside Photo’s section. Later I move on to Train on Thought, then Scenery Step-by-Step. After that I read what ever looks interesting.
Usually I start at News & Products, not necessarily because it is the first feature in the magazine, but because I am always curious on where the hobby might be headed and that is a good place to find out.
#1 Railroad you can model
#2 Layout visit/tour articles–
#3 Santa Fe modeling articles IF they fit my period–
#4 Track plans–
#5 Operation re specific prototypes
I can’t help it ,I’m hooked on letters to the editor. I’m addicted to forum
I agree with Trackside Photos although this section seems to be shrinking in the last year or so. [:(!]
The centerfold
What is on sale, then the how to for about anything. I am realy looking hard at the layout photos to get more ideas and would like to see an overal of the layouts and THEN the close-ups.
And remember when it was pretty much each issue’s most anticipated monthly feature, back when it was placed near the center of the magazine? Back then it showcased a wide variety of contributors’ efforts, along with Model of the Month. Now Model of the Month is long gone and Trackside has been shifted to the very back of the magazine, like an after thought. Likewise, as others have pointed out, it now mainly incorporates the work of MR’s “staff” photogs, not outside contributors (although I admit that I do have a shot in Trackside in the September issue [;)] ).
CNJ831
I usually look at track plans first then layout visits.
Since I’m still trying to come up with a track plan, I like to see what others have done and maybe give me some ideas.
Same thing with the layout visits. I like to see how other modelers have made use of the space they have and the details they put into their layouts.
Bill
I look at the pictures.
Then I read the “How To” articles.
Then I make a wish list.
I eventually read every word it seems.
I generally go thru the whole thing ‘in order’ front to back, looking at pictures and for stuff referring to like the area I model etc. However sometimes I get to the start of the articles and skip ahead to the product reviews and Tony K’s column. That might be a habit going way back to the olden daze when the product reviews came in the front part of the mag - just got used to reading it that way.
[;)]
I guess some folk never change.I start with:
1.From The Editor
2.Train of Thought.
3.Letters To The Editor.
3.News and Products.
4.Product Review.
Then the rest of the magazine.
I sort of bounce around. If something on the cover intrigues me I look at that first. Otherwise it’s the table of contents. If nothing there grabs me then I leaf through the magazine just stopping at anything that looks interesting - sometimes front to back, sometimes back to front. Later I go back and go through it page by page.
Enjoy
Paul
Up until the time of the Internet, I would read the classified section first as I was always on the look out for certain brass. The Overland ad was always near the top also. Now, it is the reviews first and then other articles as they interest me.
Cheers
I start by skimming the “Letters to the Editor” column, seeking (usally in vain) for ANY letter that starts with something OTHER than (a) “I read with great interest …”; (b) “[So-and-so’s layout], featured last month, is simply THE most fantastic, awesome, stupendous layout in the History of Civilization, and [So-and-so} – who is Great Friend of Mine – is simply THE most fantastic, awesome, stupendous modeler in the History of Civilization…”; or (c) “Actually, there are 36 rivets, not 34, on that particular panel of the obscure boxcar featured in last month’s issue. I know because I worked for/lived nearby [that particular obscure railroad] for almost 13 years, back when I was in my mid-20’s.” Once I’ve confirmed that the “Letters to the Editor” that month are just as trite as they were the previous month, I move on to something else, usually finding something interesting, and scan the rest of the mag for ever-decreasing items of interest.
The “Famous Tony K”? Once a year, he’ll knock out a good column. As for the other eleven months? Well, if you’d like, I suppose, I could bore YOU to tears describing all of the anguished “thought processes” that went into my decision to build that little roadside house over there WITH a bay window instead of without a bay window, just as effectively as Koester can. (I will say this for him, though: He HAS managed to figure out a way to deduct all of his model railroading stuff as a tax deduction. Kudos to you, Tony!)
Finally, as much as I try to avoid doing so, I can’t somehow successfully ignore seeing those incredibly BAD comics that seem to appear whenever MR has either failed to sell enough ad space or the staff has taken off early. Look, Lynn Johnson’s hubby (“For Better or For Worse”) is a model railroader and she’s recently anno
What ever catches my eye or an artical about N scale.