Imagine that you have just been appointed editor of CTT, and didn’t have a board at corporate Kalmbach to report to. What articles would you like to see? What changes to editorial policy would you make? How would you make the magazine a compelling subscription read once again for all in the hobby? Here are some suggestions to begin a discussion:
1. Redefine Classic toy trains as O & S gauge period. Doesn't matter what era, doesn't matter by whom, when or where they were made. We old timers who grew up with O/S in the 1950's have heard just about every trivia story, and the newer generations who will someday become the future of the hobby could care less about "Lionel in 1960!"
2, There was a time when layout master craftsmen were noted by their skills at “making something out of nothing.” Dave Frary’s 1st edition layout book is a prime example of this philosophy. This was the era of Rit, bags of sawdust, salvaged marble/granite, hikes in the woods for dried twigs, and a trip to your PVC/plumbing supplier for fittings for a refinery or Area 51 diorama If you are going to do a “how to build a layout article” then be candid with the total costs of prefabricated bench work, advertiser building kits, and packaged landscape materials.
3. Stuff that doesn’t work is bad for hobbyists and is bad for business all the way down the hobby food chain. While it might be a stretch to expect CTT to become a consumer advocate, it is long overdue for a published spreadsheet comparing various manufacturers’ warranties, replacement board costs & commitments to future parts availability, the number & distribution of authorized service centers, and training programs for want to be service techs. Does the company have a return to (U.S.) OEM distribution/factory policy? Who pays for shipping there/return? Warranty information should be included, at least, with every new product reviewed.
4. Get serious with your York coverage. No, I’m not talking about a few plugs for your paid advertisers or the latest Kalmbach publication you are promoting there. I’m talking about sending editors to see what is moving in both the dealer and member halls and at what prices! Heresy? Hardly! It is the secondary markets like the large train shows/meets & online auctions that define on going values of Classic Toy Trains.
5. Enough with stories such that meaningless PW Thunderbird set. There are plenty of collectible modern sets/series such as the colorful MTH M&M series, the MTH MTA yellow work train series, completely die cast freight cars as were issued by Kline et al, or the difficult to find Kline 21” passengers. And enough with repeating those same old tired myths. Madison Hardware was not the Greatest Train store that ever was. nor were the 1950’s a simpler, more genteel time.
6. Speaking of railroad, hobby & modeling clichés. How about an article summarizing such expressions as: “at the point or lashup, ” Where did they come from, what do they mean, and do real railroad men actually use those phrases? If this is only appropriate for Trains magazine then please, lets not burden us all with what otherwise sounds like insider babble.
7. How about a comprehensive/comparative article on available signaling systems, along with a comprehensive article on signaling & lighting on real railroad systems and which system is a) simplest install b) most scale like c) most adaptable to real railroad operational modeling
8. What are the major Clubs/Organizations in the hobby. What are the costs to join? Annual thereafter dues? Complicated to join (like the TCA)? Do they sponsor show/meets? What are the benefits? What are the top 10 (by square footage or other relevant parameter) layouts in the country? Outside the US? Web site references? Publicly available schedule?
What I'm suggesting is CTT becoming the credible go to resource in the hobby, and abandoning this schizophrenic mission of being the beginners magazine on the one hand, while at the same time rigidly locked into retelling the same tired PW story again, and again, and again.
Excellent comments and I agree with almost all your points. They are accurate, specific and well thought out. I hope these ideas are are implemented by CTT. I especially like your comment about YORK. I really enjoy CTT but all good things can be improved. Once again I support your comments. Glen
I really enjoyed your excellent comments and I am in full support, especially about YORK. CCT is a great magazine but all good things can be improved. THIS IS EARTH NOT HEAVEN Thanks again for your insightful comments Glen
CTT is not a manufacturer rag so they don't receive product from the manufacturers for free - read: CTT Staff has to pay for the products they review. So if they have no use for an item, why would they want to pay for the item for it to just sit around?As for the York Train Meet... there are a lot of rules governing what can and cannot be done during the show. It would also be hard for the CTT staff to monitor what is going on within the halls as they just cannot simply stand around and 'listen in' the halls are loud and the walk ways are cramped. They cannot take pictures within the halls because camera and phone use is banned within the halls. So what would a York Train Meet article look like? Answer: look at my post.
Just a comment or two. 11st Street writes: "Imagine that you have just been appointed editor of CTT, and didn’t have a board at corporate Kalmbach to report to."
I've been here nearly 15 years and I've never heard of anyone on any of the corporate boards or committees direct any Kalmbach title as to the regards of the magazine content. Budget, yes. Marketing and circulation, of course. Content? Nope
The editor (primarily) and the magazine staff decides the content. The publisher (Russ Larson when I arrived, Terry Thompson since Russ retired) generally shapes the direction and emphasis, but he doesn't sit down and read manuscript submissions.
MTH and Atlas O have been excellent in sending us new products, but as overall production of new types has declined, so too has what they've shipped us for review. Lionel has been a bit more of a challenge, and many review products have been purchased by myself or Kent Johnson for home use.
Bob Keller
11th. St. - It's obvious that you have given this a lot of thought. I'll address some of your points:
1. "Classic" - To be classic, a car must be between 25 and 40 years old. Beyond 40 years is "antique," so I guess the right thing to do would be to rename the magazine "Antique Toy Trains," or just leave the name alone. Also, I really dig the articles on Standard gauge trains which you left out completely. You're asking the magazine to lose its uniqueness which, to me, would be a big mistake.
2. Making stuff - Nowadays everybody wants to buy ready made, nobody wants to make, and that's a shame. Two of the finer articles in the magazine last year were on building a modern sanding facility and how to make unique buildings from common kits.
4. I couldn't care less about York except in terms of new product announcements, but I realize that to many foks York is quite the obsession. Color me neutral here.
5. One person's meaningless is another's meaningful. I enjoyed the article on the T-Bird set, and I've grown to love Roger's articles on classics, oops I mean antiques, and toy train history.
I sure don't know what's the greatest train store that ever was, but Madison Hardware was a pilgrimage made by thousands. (Aside - To me the greatest train stores were Polk's Hobby Department Store, on Fifth Avenue just South of 32nd st., and Model Railroad Equipment Corp. on 45th st. between Fifth and Sixth.)
7. There's oodles of info re prototype signaling systems in other publications and on the internet. I'm much more interested in learning how to use good ol' 153's in a train control block system on a conventionally operated layout. I'm aware that there's plenty of products and ways to accomplish that, so I'm not sure that it needs to be in the magazine.
8. A thorough guide to clubs and organizations is a good idea, but I don't think the magazine needs to publish costs. A pointer to a website or a telephone number would suffice.
I can't say if CTT is compelling, but I do seem to keep renewing my subscription.
Pete
"You can’t study the darkness by flooding it with light." - Edward Abbey -
York ?
Overall I think the rag does a good job covering a fairly diverse segment of the hobby, I'd appreciate some more coverage of Marx and other older trains, the way some here are talking you'd think the entire universe consisted of Lionel, AF and MTH, despite the fact that there were lots of other makes in the CTT universe, how about some articles of older trains like Hafner, Dorf, etc, I cant find squat on these older trains beyond what few websites there are,
And HEY KALMBACH would you please update and reprint the Marx guides once again? I'd like to know what the hork I'm buying and what was made over their 40 YEAR RUN
Seriously NO GUIDE for Marx? yet Lionel & AF get a new one every couple years???? Toytrain discrimination?????
Have fun with your trains
As far as YORK comment, KENT JOHNSON did a nice job blogging in on what he saw at the YORK meet a few years ago. Every few hours he wrote in on a thread here on this forum. It was the first of its kind on CTT. Before it was just one of us stating what we saw.
laz57
We'll never re-issue the old large "Greenberg's Guide To ..." references for Lionel, Marx, or Flyer again – at least not in print form.
If you publish something and can't recover your costs, you don't do it again. I suspect that since there are not a lot of ready references to Marx, Flyer, Dorfan, etc. in book stores suggests other hobby publishers also know this.
We have had some York coverage in the past – and we usually got hate mail from TCA members running along the line of "What happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas."
In the Fall York, we were going to reprise the attempt of some live web coverage, but the wireless router connection in the hall could not sync with our equipment, so it didn't happen.
Pete, the distinction between "classic" and "antique" for automobiles (in Texas) has noting to do with their age: Any car at least 25 years old can be registered as either. The difference is that classic cars must pass the annual safety inspection, while antique cars are exempted but have restrictions on how they can be operated.
Bob Nelson
It's all a matter of semantics.
Here is the description of this forum. I assume that CTT magazine covers the same format.
Alton Junction
I would like to see a story about The Old Buddy L Trains
Steve,
We've run two stories on Buddy L trains: "Buddy L for Christmas," Dec 1995 p. 94 and "All Aboard the Outdoor Railroad," Nov 1991 p.76.
OK - that was 16 and 20 years ago
I doubt if that topic will ever be revisited ...
Really - Classic Toy Trains - What could be more of a Classic Toy Train that The Old Buddy L from the 1920s - Hey - other Guys out there - I'm sure there are a few of you who collect Buddy L - any thing to say about this question ?
Considering that old Greenburg Marx guides are routinely selling for between $80 and a $100 dollars...must be some sort of demand.
An example I use is that if you print 1,000 copies of a book, and 8 years later there are still 800 copies in inventory, that pretty much means you don't do it again.
If there was a significant demand - and someone thought they could make money at it, someone would publish a reference book for it. And trust me, if we thought we could make money on it, we would tackle it.
More Marx Train articles.
Much more flyer articles. Much less "how to build a bedroom layout" articles. More about history, less about today. I would really like to see some articles on the history of S gauge manufacturers other than AF, such as Kinsman, Perma Bilt, etc. However, I realize that topic most likely doesn't fit into the definition of what most of us would onsider a classic toy train and that S gauge enthusiasts seem to be in the minoriy of the readerhip. Also more repair and restoration articles.
PHM
I would like to see CTT become devoted exclusively to American Flyer; pre-war and post-war. I'm holding my breath...
Regards,
Timboy, The American Flyer Nerd
Timboy I would like to see CTT become devoted exclusively to American Flyer; pre-war and post-war. I'm holding my breath... Regards, Timboy, The American Flyer Nerd
Keep Holding it !
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
Ogaugeoverlord An example I use is that if you print 1,000 copies of a book, and 8 years later there are still 800 copies in inventory, that pretty much means you don't do it again. If there was a significant demand - and someone thought they could make money at it, someone would publish a reference book for it. And trust me, if we thought we could make money on it, we would tackle it.
If one of those 800 copies is a Marx Guide I will GLADLY take one off your hands
vsmith Ogaugeoverlord: An example I use is that if you print 1,000 copies of a book, and 8 years later there are still 800 copies in inventory, that pretty much means you don't do it again. If there was a significant demand - and someone thought they could make money at it, someone would publish a reference book for it. And trust me, if we thought we could make money on it, we would tackle it. If one of those 800 copies is a Marx Guide I will GLADLY take one off your hands
Ogaugeoverlord: An example I use is that if you print 1,000 copies of a book, and 8 years later there are still 800 copies in inventory, that pretty much means you don't do it again. If there was a significant demand - and someone thought they could make money at it, someone would publish a reference book for it. And trust me, if we thought we could make money on it, we would tackle it.
I was gonna say the same thing! Those Greenberg Guides have a lot of great info in them no matter how outdated the price guide numbers may be. I'd buy them in a heartbeat if I could get a new copy at the original MSRP!
Copying over and augmenting what I mentioned on the other thread...
1: More American Flyer. Like many others out there, I rely on the printed CTT as a source of information. Not just current, but historical too. I really enjoyed the articles you've done in the past on Lionel employees, Gilbert employees and the like. For someone like me who wasn't even born till after Lionel, Flyer and Ives were part of General Mills, the memoirs of those who were there are both fun and important. So not only more Flyer layouts, but more about the A.C. Gilbert company would be greatly appreciated.
2: More Standard Gauge. (And pre-war O too!) Lionel, AF, Dorfan, Ives, Hafner...
3: More photos. I often see from the diagrams published with the layout articles that the photos were taken of less than half of the layout being featured. I realize that there are a lot of factors involved which are unique to each situation, but often there's something drawn on the diagram I wish someone had taken a picture of.
4: More CTT! Seriously, when are we going to get to 12? (I'm gonna keep poking y'all till ya do!)
5: Display layouts. If you're going to build a layout special for an article, why not re-create the great Lionel and Flyer display layouts with modern techniques? I'm not talking about going out and making mountains out of steel or anything like that, but ideas on how to "fake it" would be fun.
The subject of recycling came up here and since I have some experience with that kind of modeling I'll chime in with a few ideas. I recently became fascinated with Lionel pre-war display layouts, and while there's some info in Roger Carp's "Lionel Display Layouts You Can Build", I'd love to know more about the techniques involved. For example, while I honestly don't believe I've ever seen one in person, I was able to gleam from photos of Lionel scenic plots for sale on Ebay that Lionel's trees were often made from jute, hemp or sisal rope. I also know that the "leaves" were green sawdust but I don't know what they used to coat the rope to make the bark. More info would make this type of tree both easy and cheap to produce for an "authentic looking" pre-war layout.
Last but not least, #6: Articles on restoration techniques. Including ideas of how to strip, repaint and reletter tinplate, how to touch-up scratches in lithography and how to properly document and either mark or provide info with your restorations so future collectors will know what you've done.
Just my . (again )
Becky
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
Alas, the last of the old guides was blown out via the Greenberg Books cage at the York show a decade ago. The only copies we have are in the company library, the books dept. archive, and a few in staff offices.
Becky:
I think we could liberate one of those copies for the people from the CTT offices. We'll go in with an innocuous cover. You distract them with some form of misdirection and I will use stealth to find one and conceal it till we make our get-a-way. We'll need a Geek on the outside who can get access to the CTT office floor plan and track all employees, warning and directing us through our implant commo devices. I've seen it done. We could do it!
Timboy, The American Flyer Sekrit Agent
Why do I suddenly have the theme to Mission Impossible running through my head?
11th Street What I'm suggesting is CTT becoming the credible go to resource in the hobby, and abandoning this schizophrenic mission of being the beginners magazine on the one hand, while at the same time rigidly locked into retelling the same tired PW story again, and again, and again.
I agree with 11 Street, we are no longer beginners so it seem thet CTT is trying to work the beginners part of the hobby. I know when I got into the hobby 12 years ago I used the Kalmbach Bookstore for the info.
"3-rail operators? I call my self a 2 railers with a spare!"
I may be recalling it incorrectly, but I believe that the last time we surveyed the question of whether readers consider themselves beginners, moderate, or experienced members of the hobby, about 30 percent classified themselves as beginners.
This is a good thing.
It shows that there is a turnover in who makes up the hobby - replacements for the guys/gals who move on to baseball cards, vintage cars, or model kits, or who pass on to the great hobby shop in the sky.
This influx needs to be considered when we formulate magazine contents (which we do roughly a year in advance).
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