More recommended reading

[Jeff]

Gary,

Imagine there's no advertising. None. Now... What is the name of the newest release from Broadway Limited? Yes, Gary, there is a reason for advertising, even if those of us old enough remember when some of it was on radio and not tv ... and especially not the internet (WHAT Internet???)

[glakedylan]

Jeff...i do not have a problem with the publisher meeting costs with advertising. My chagrin is in seeing the difference in a current version of their mags as compared to 10 or 20 yrs ago. only 1/2 as many pages and "more" advertising.

besides, i get an email from my LHS each month with listings of new releases and to be released items. this in addition to the Walther's flyer.

Would just like to see more interesting and helpful articles for the $1.00.

Sincerely,
Gary

[Jeff]

I suspect that's true with almost ALL magazines these days, sad as it is to someone who grew up with 'the Good Old Days'. On the other hand, a few hundred bucks and an ereader lets you carry around the equivalent of a small public library in your pocket. I haven't decided if the printed word loses "flavor" or not when chopped into bits. There certainly are advantages to the new ways, especially when backed by an internet connection. An example of a magazine changing with the times is one of the computer mags I read. You can get a year's subscription for 99 cents an issue- electronically published OR significantly more in paper form.

[Mike from CT]

Gary:

Have you tried Model Railroad Hobbyist (model-railroad-hobbyist.com)?  It's completely free and downloadable or viewable on line (yes, it supports itself on advertisers) and has some great articles.  I'm not a fan of its forums - they strike me as an in group of modelling snobs (last time I lasted long enough to read one refer to N Scale as a "fringe scale" that was irrelevant to the discussion of radio controlled, battery operated systems available in some of the larger scales. (Not all - or even most - but doesn't take many to ruin the tone.)

The articles tend to be at that higher level (no 4x8 plywood plains or how to customize a Woodland Scenics/DPM kit), but they're a great way to see what the best of the hobby is like, without having to put up with snobbery of the worst of the best.

[glakedylan]

Mike, yes! Thanks for noting.

I read it online each month and it is a wonderful resource well within my price range. ;-)

And, while when it comes to books, I prefer the feel of paper in my hands, for a magazine or periodical, the online--view on computer--option is truly appreciated.

I think it is a trend setter and others will follow suit.  I did have an online subscription to MR but I could never get it to actually work.

Thanks again, Mike, for noting this!

Sincerely,
Gary L Lake Dillensnyder

[RhB_HJ]

Trains Nov 2013
Special issue all about automobile traffic on the railroads; I didn't realize just how far back that goes. Some very interesting pictures.

[RhB_HJ]

Great Model Railroads 2014. Usually I'm underwhelmed by GMR, but the 2014 edition has a a lot of good stuff about the hows and whys and whynots. And this sprinkled across the gamut of model railroading aspects; from time to time I had to check that I was really reading GMR.   

[Jeff]

"radio controlled, battery operated systems available in some of the larger scales"

I'm a snob. They sound just like 'toys', to me .

[Jeff]

Great Model Railroads 2014. Usually I'm underwhelmed by GMR, but the 2014 edition has a a lot of good stuff about the hows and whys and whynots. And this sprinkled across the gamut of model railroading aspects; from time to time I had to check that I was really reading GMR.   

I agree, H-J. Keep looking. Once in a while (like the 2006 issue) they do come up with things I end up reading over, just for the ideas included.

[RhB_HJ]

"radio controlled, battery operated systems available in some of the larger scales"

I'm a snob. They sound just like 'toys', to me .

Tread carefully!   There are a lot of battery-addicted Large Scalers. Every time I praise DCC in a NA LS forum their shorts get tied in knots. 

[Jeff]

That's ok by me! I'm a happy snob... I wonder if those things run on plastic rails under the Christmas tree?

[RhB_HJ]

Model Railroad Planning 2014; amongst lots of good stuff a layout representing Philly 30th Street Station in HO. A wrap around concept using five sides of an octagon. In case someone should ask, no, there are no engine facilities.   
The other thing that turns my crank is circular HO display layout, clever track arrangement with BC scenery; can't beat that!       

[Mike from CT]

LOL....

That Philadelphia station had gotten me thinking about alternative arrangements for my dream (now likely to be reality) layout's primary station, given my previous stations tend to be laid out on straightaways and not curves (more like the NOUPT station in the same magazine, which MR has featured in only 247 articles... not that it isn't a scenic gem, but as a layout design one.... eh!     But I like "interesting" ¹ yard and station throats.)

As for the loop-de-loop..... double "eh!"  You need a better crank.... 

BTW, I have a number of pet peeves - and MRP Planning 2014 seems to have enthused over all of them.

I hate roadways to nowhere... Those Rix highway overpasses that run from blank backgrounds to cliffs over the side of the layout (pg 69) and tracks with posed trains on them that look great in the photos but, when you look at the layout plans, don't make even semi-decent DCC programming tracks.

As long as I'm being cranky, model railroads are meant to be seen and operated "live", not built as settings for highly cropped photos published in Model Railroader.  If the whole scene, when seen, offends one's sensibilities, I don't give a damn how good the truck being loaded from a boxcar next to a rural creek with a wooden bridge looks, when there's a mega urban yard five inches away on a different pass though the same turf.

¹  Jeff thinks a yard without an engine service facility isn't interesting; I think a yard throat without at least 8 ways to reach each of the four platform tracks isn't.  Okay, that be a slight exaggeration, but you get the idea....

[Jeff]

Hey! I may resent that remark when I figure out what you're saying.

To clarify, I think that the usual 500 scale mile mainline without engine service seems just as ridiculous as your rural team track/urban yard combo is to you. If that puts me in your ridicule cross-hairs, so be it....

I also tend to agree with your idea of interesting, but the near-total lack of special trackage makes me feel like giving up on the whole idea. And I really don't want to get into hand-building them in N scale.

[Mike from CT]

Jeff,

It was a bit of a teasing (like I made fun of my own proclivity for excessive trackwork), but not ridicule at all.

We all have our quirks/priorities/preferences that make each of us unique in our designs - and I'm jealous of some of your quirks/priorities/preferences, just as I'm jealous of some of HJ's.  (I can't comment on the European style designers, because I have no experience with European practices, but I still think "shunting", whatever it is, is something best left to couples in the privacy of their homes, not in rail yards full of moving trains.)