Any opinions on the binders Kalmbach sells for Classic Trains and Model Railroader? Are they durable? Are they bulky and take up a lot of room? My shelf space is limited but right now the mags just lie flat on the shelves and i was looking for a better way to store them.
Thanks,
oldline1
When my folks got me my first subscription to MR back in the 1960s they also got me the binder, and continued doing so until I was of an age and income to get my own subscription and binders each year. The oldest binder is thus well over 50 years old, and I really do read or consult those older issues alot, so they have proven durable. Through swap meets and estate sales I have MR solid back to 1948 but those first five years are bound volumes, and I was able to get used binders which might be even older than 50 years for the 1954 to 1964 MRs. Again, yes they are all quite durable regardless of age.
When MR started to get larger and larger in the 1970s so did the binders. By the 1980s/90s the binders were getting very bulky but then, so was the magazine. In more recent years the magazine has gone back to something closer to its 1960s page count (and has gotten a bit shorter too) but the binders, at least the recent ones I have seen, remain the same and are now VERY oversize. The problem is that when the issues are "loose" in the binders they tend to get damaged with torn pages starting at the centerfold.
What I have found in fact is that the very wide binders can hold TWO years of current MR -- .050" or .055" music wire from the hardware store cut to length enables me to replicate the dozen wires the binders come with, so I can double up in that way, and those two years' worth are no tighter in their big fat binder than my early 1960s issues were and are in their slender binders.
Oddly when I started getting Trains magazine I got a few of their red binders but soon switched to the sort of cardboard or plastic magazine holders that many public libraries use. That is also what I use for my RMCs, issues of GMR and MRP, and magazines from rail historical societies. Perhaps a bit more efficient use of space, but not quite as nice looking on the shelves as the blue binders with gold lettering of the MR binders, from 2017 back to 1954.
Dave Nelson
Dave,
Thanks for all that information. Something to consider using a binder for 2 years. I'm actually more concerned with Classic Trains as I have them from the beginning and want to keep them. Years ago I saved all my MR, RMC, MLM, Railfan and others but quickly ran out of room. So now I take out anything important I find in MR and just keep it in a 3-ring binder. It saves a lot of room and there isn't much worth saving to justify the high cost (my opinion) of the binders and space.
I think I'll get some CT binders for my stuff once I figure out how many I'll need. They have free shipping now so I will take advantage of that offer.
I used to have some, I forget how I got them, I think I got 4 or 5 years worth of the magazine with each year in a binder. This was early 80's when a whole year was quite thick, the binders were rather large and bulky. Since that time I had collected nearly every year from 1966 to present, and a good number of ones before that (oldest set was 1944). Before I got the 75 year DVD and got rid of all of the older ones (except the 1944's - they are the smaller size when they had to conserve paper during the war, and also they are in near perfect condition), I used plain cheap plastic magazine holders such as you find at Walmart. The regualr ones worked for all but a few years - that period when the average issue was 230+ pages - those needed the wider versions. I labeled each holder with the magazine name and year, and they stacked very neatly on my shelves.
ANother issue I had with the MR binders - they hold the magazines with a rod you run through the center of each issue. You have to be careful when picking up a loaded binder, the issues want to tip out. Maybe the new ones aren;t like the old ones, but that's how they always used to be.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
I actually have a few years of bound volumes. Don;t know if they even offer those anymore. You can pay for binders with the magazine name already on them, but any office supply store will have magazine boxes. Anything from fold-up cardboard bins to molded plastic, to nice looking fake leather. Visit Staples or Office Max or similar and search "magazine files". I use them for service manuals for my technical systems in my shop.
I have several that I bought in the 70's. They have held up well over the years. They are bulkier than just stacking the magazines flat on a shelf or in the cardboard magazine holders.
Paul
oldline1 Any opinions on the binders Kalmbach sells for Classic Trains and Model Railroader? Are they durable? Are they bulky and take up a lot of room? My shelf space is limited but right now the mags just lie flat on the shelves and i was looking for a better way to store them. Thanks, oldline1
I have MR and RMC back into the 40's/50's. I got rid of the MR binders years ago. These work much better:
https://www.officedepot.com/a/products/474311/Bankers-Box-60percent-Recycled-Low-Cost/
Shop around they can be bought in bulk cheaper than this link.
Sheldon