The magazine runs disclaimers, or safety posts in it’s articles and forums now! I don’t see this as being an insurmountable issue. As a mater of fact, we know more hazardous materials now, than we did in the past. So, identifying the Hazardous Materials used then, is easier now!
In the late 80s I believe there was a gentleman named Rick Kuykendall who had an excellent “medium sized American town” layout featured in MRR.
Would love to see it reprinted or even better, have MRR do an update. This layout was very well built and scenicked. Based on what I remember, my layout will slightly resemble his as far as theme.
Anyone have info on this. I think he’s also featured on an Allen Keller video.[;)][:)]
It seems to me there was a Ron Kuykendal’s layout featured in one of the recent GMRs or MRPs.
No. Waste of mag space. They periodically take a bunch and put them into book form, on a specific topic. They (MR) also provide a service to send you any articles you might want. Search the index and find it, call them and you’ve got it. I’ve got all the articles from 30 years of subscription I need.
I have to agree with clinchvalley here, the place for such material is in a separate book, not repeated in the pages of MR. And while I personally treasure the long ago articles regarding the scratchbuilding of this or that, unless you already have a background in the older modeling techniques most readers will quickly become lost in the terminology many of the older authors used to describe their materials and methods. Likwise, so many of these same techniques and materials have been superseded today that one wouldn’t want to follow the instructions found in an articles anyway.
The place for hobby revere is in a separate, stand-alone publication, not the pages of MR.
CNJ831
I just bought 2 large boxes of Model railroader, Trains and another publication relating to trains at an auction. These date back as far as the 1960’s and they a blast to read. MRR is full of layouts and scratch building articles. These old articles are really enjoyable. As to those who say this would be a waste of space let me say that a layout is a layout is a layout whether it was built in 1950 or 2004. And for those who want period scrarchbuilding projects thes old articles are perfect. I will use several myself. track plans are as useful today as they were then.
Well, CNJ831 disagrees with me, imagine that!
I don’t think the modelers of the past spoke in terminology that wouldn’t be understandable today. Basswood, balsa wood and strathmore are still available and in use. The old Ambroid, Duco and other glues or cements are also in use and the old materials would be usable with the new adhesives we use anyway.
Some of you feel this would be a waste of space in the magazine and that certainly is your right! However, the way modelers used to build from scratch, the plans they drew up, the items they built and the ingenuity they used are as relevant and usable today, as they where back then, as are the layouts they built.
Some of us may tend to believe that things were simple, crude and old fashioned, not as refined, elligant or cultivated in days gone past as they are now. I’m here to tell you that this country has lost her craftsmen and a revisiting of the craftsman’s works is an education in what talent could bring forth with very simple tools.
Another thing that’s really great about going through old issues are the advertisements. You can really see how far the hobby has come in a short period of time. And the prices (in old time dollars was still expensive), like new Atlas HO engines for $10. A lot of fun to leaf through them.
Mark ,Just look over the last say 5-7 years of your back issues then you will see the repeats I am talking about…Its bad enough we have to be repeatedly told how to clean track and what tools we need but it goes beyond that if you look closely.
Brakie, I think you and I (and the other folks whom would like to see old articles) are talking about two different types of articles. Yes, I would not be interested in Model Railroader’s 1943 version of how to clean track. I’m interested in the “Bench Mark” articles written by folks instrumental in bring the hobby to where it is today and re-looking at some of the interesting layouts and projects and techniques used by the folks who were real craftsmen back then.
I’m with Mark on this one, yes there is repeatability within MR but Looking at the photo’s everyone of them are different. Myself I get more education and understanding from photo’s then reading. If MR ever where inclined to amass every thing then it would be nice if it was put into an Encyclopedia or into sperate books, each discussing a certain aspect of the hobby something akin to the Time-Life series of books. One book on electronics, another on scenery, painting, building, etc, etc …
Fergmiester,
I think Kalmbach has some books about certain aspects of the hobby :
I have:
Trackside scenes you can model
Steamlocomotive Projects & Ideas
Maintainining & Repairing scale model trains
Trackwork and Linside detail for your model railroad
Basic painting and weathering
the MR guide to Locomotive Servicing Terminals
and on the Kalmbach site are some more,
Nice books with lots of pictures, tips and howto’s. I do not know if these are reprints of former MR articles, because I have been subscribed to MRmagazine for 1 year.
lupo
Yes somewhat in a way just to compare where we was back then and were we are now
Yes. Let’s not just reprint the occasional article; let’s reprint the entire magazine. This would be a good year to start reprinting the magazine from 70 years ago and forget all this modern stuff.
Maybe then I could catch up on all those techniques that I need for my modelling.
Hi
I would like too see the small stuff reprinted
like small structures and small layouts small becomes very large when translated to 'G"
and I have just about stopped buying MRR because of the lack of small stuff
a thirty by twenty basement layout is not small.very roughly eight by four becomes
thirty two by sixteen in “G”
regards John
Here ya go…
I’ve got GMR vol 21 right here. What do you want to know?
I am new to this forum. I am trying to uncover some of my grandfather’s articles, Frank Ellison was my grandfather. When I was very young I remember the entire basement of our two story house in New Orleans was filled with model railroads. Every Wednesday night WDSU Channel 6 would come to our house for a live broadcast of Grandpapa and his trains.
When I can find some of these articles and photos, which I’m sure exist, I will reveal them.
Yours truly,
Cary Franklin Ellison
Definitely not! First, a waste of valuable space in todays magazine. Second, many old materials and supplies are no longer available or not the right material to use today. Modern passenger cars made out of wood aren’t much (I know, I have many of the old ones - Walthers, JC, etc) Many of the old “scale” drawings are inaccurate or have major errors which explains some of the "bloopers " on models. The old draftsmen did not always have good source material, made decisions based on their own experience instead of fact, often working from someone elses originals which were not correct.
If you want old articles , buy them. There are tons of old magazines out there, some on ebay and others for sale from used book dealers including a couple who specialize in MR magazines.
Cary,
The guy to ask is probably Andy Sperandeo, but I have a bound volume of MR with a reprint of the four or five articles your grandfather wrote on operation; they published an obit for him just as the series was completed, so I’m thinking it’s 1968 or thereabouts - not positive, but I can check on it when I get home.
I started reading MR in 1976 in the elementary school library, and I have to say that for all of the improvements in technique, there was a lot of magnificent artistry in that generation of modelers. I bought the '76 bound volume a year ago and since then I’ve been picking up the 1960s and 1970s bound volumes whenever I can find them. They usually fetch about ten dollars a copy. I like MR now, but having picked up a range of bound volumes going back to 1948, I’d have to say that the greatest editor the magazine ever had was probably Linn Westcott, and it was his editorial selection that made those volumes so interesting. There was a tremendous range of articles, covering literally every aspect of modeling, and while some of the stuff is no longer current technique (nowadays we would just shell out the money for DCC, rather than go to the elaborate lengths he suggested for measuring voltage and pulling power for doubleheading), I’ve never found a better primer than the MR of that era for all of the technical aspects of the hobby. Even where the stuff was impractical (I would probably not design a brake stand to enhance my throttle control), it’s interesting. The detail of the instructional articles was greater and went further beneath the surface, and while a lot of the scratchbuilding directions presume levels of skill that are no longer commonplace in the average modeler, the articles on basic skill development are generally more detailed.
There was also a lot more interest in freelance modeling, and non-prototypical model railroads. It’s probably just a generational prejudice, but I found (and find) some of the modeling and photography to be very