Celebrate what we've had in the hopes of keeping [some of] it!

[navyman636]

Reading other threads related to this, it's pretty clear there's a sense of deflation spreading around the community.  In the timespace between not knowing and knowing the future here, thinking about loss is really ordinary.  We won't know a single thing about what will be the future of MR and everything associated with it,  including the archival material, superb staff and contributors, until the new owner not only tells us, but produces what they promise.

 

Not fun to live with that, but there it is.

 

Meantime, I'm getting at least some enjoyment in recalling the impact MR and its many people and parts have had for me, in a span of time almost as long as my 71 year life.  Let's do some celebrating.  If the new guys are willing to pay any attention to preserving the impact and reach of MR, maybe we can give them plenty of food for thought about how to do so.

 

What have I gotten from MR?

 

I will struggle mightily to keep this short.  "Brief" might be too much to hope for.

 

I doubt I would ever have taken this hobby to heart the way I have, if it weren't for the pages of MR convincing me I could do so without making a complete fool of myself.  Yeah, I've been thru periods where I subscribed to other magazines, including lately.  But MR was always the constant.  I have never questioned its reliability for information I wanted/needed, or material to pique my interest.

 

It gave me what I needed to dare to double my railroad size by attempting a second deck, and then add a staging deck beneath.

 

It gave me Tony Koester, whose contribution is always my first and most frequently re-read part of the magazine.  The number of times I didn't get discouraged pursuing this hobby because at a low moment I asked myself, "What would Tony Koester try?" is a pretty large number.  Thanks, Tony!

 

It gave me DCC.  For decades before DCC settled in at my railroad I believed (and still believe) operating was pretty much a joke because no system existed that had received enough investment from a manufacturer that allowed anything close to realistic and expansive use.  I used to help run a nuclear power plant on a U.S. Navy submarine, so don't even go near my being incapable of or technologically unprepared to use what was out there.  Before DCC there were toys.  I never wanted a toy train.

 

MR has to be blamed for years of preoccupation, and all the not-yet-quite-properly mowed lawns, untended flower beds, un-tuned-up cars and a host of other things that had to wait because I eagerly awaited even the newest issue's ads.  They always suggested, at least one per issue, something I wanted to follow up on.

 

I got at least a few dozen pieces of rolling stock because MR either introduced me to them or gave me good reason to think about them.

 

Much the same can be said of locomotives.  I'm at the point now where I read every engine review whether it has anything to do with my era, locale, ops, etc., or any possibility of ever ending up in my collection because every review informs me of something useful.

 

Photographs are like mines.  You dig deep to get to the best stuff.  If MR hadn't set such a high standard for imagery, there'd be nothing worth taking a magnifying glass to, to answer all the "did they really do that?" questions.  If I could suggest a specific improvement the new folks could make quickly, it would be to code every photo in the print version of MR so we can visit it online and see it in full size and resolution.  In fact, that would be a great way to add to the value of the "you really have to keep this feature" forums:  give us access to the full-size pix and let us talk about them among ourselves.  Whatever else MR has been it has been an important teaching tool.

 

MR has different levels and aspects of significance, not all of which get the attention they deserve.  The railroad modeling hobby has had MR as its leading journal for most of its history.  The history of model railroading is also the history of this and all the other societies whose railroading history and activity have been covered in the magazine's pages.  I don't recall that anyone ever called MR a chronicle of the American nation.  But they could.  As a credentialed career-long practitioner in American History, I can defend that claim completely, and always enjoy the chance to do so.

 

Okay, I've gone on and could still go a piece.  But I'd rather hear you tell us, what have you gotten from MR?

[Overmod]

Most of my practical inspiration for modeling -- and my appreciation for the achievements and work of others -- came from issues of MR.  Not only contemporary, but back issues found in old book stores or libraries.  I would not have appreciated the joys of coreless motors or epoxy castings in RTV molds if not for early-Seventies issues, and it was at that period that I first saw model passenger cars indistinguishable from real ones... and how to detail and photograph models to get that effect.  Many hours spent dreaming about the items in the ads.

[AEP528]

It's a source of information. I enjoy reading it, but whether it exists or not is irrelevant to my interest in railroads, real and model.

Same thing with the Carstens publications. I gave White River a chance, but RMC got worse, not better, so I didn't renew. 

I'm a very visual and hands-on learner, so YouTube has become a much bigger source of information for me. Videos showing a process are much more valuable to me than written words. And I like layout tour videos that give a much better indication of design, scope, construction, etc.

Nobody know what will happen, but this is the reality of printed magazines. A small market, with small companies advertising, isn't sustainable. That's why they pushed into video, and special issues, and the hobby store.

I subscribe to two UK magazines, which have more advertising but are still more expensive even to subscribers in the UK. One is owned by a manufacturer, and the other is much like MR, offering special issues and commissioning products.

Would you pay for a larger magazine? People magazine, with almost 2.6 millions subscribers, charges $91 a year for their weekly subscription to celebrity gossip. That's even with the drug ads. What would a quality magazine like MR be worth to you?

[Tophias]

I'll try to be very brief.  First, Navyman, thank you for a very well crafted thread. I think it speaks for many of us here.  Model Railroader has been, and continues to be, a most influential source for all things model railroading.  Second, the year is 1977. I happen to be at a news stand and notice a magazine on model railroading. Having been deprived as a child of a train set I had always still been interested in the back of my mine. So I purchased a copy of Model Railroader. It instantly opened a new whole to me. A lifelong hobby. Marriage, work, family retarded my complete interest until 1985 when we purchased our now present home. Then slowly model railroading began to develop for me, as I then had room for an actual layout. MR was instrumental then and still continues to help me through all the phases of the hobby. It's what brought me here to the forum. Our RIP Track thread saddens me when a member needs to be added. I can't image how I'd feel if the entire forum roster was added one last time. Fingers crossed, hoping for the best.

Regards, Chris 

[MisterBeasley]

Weekend Photo Fun has made me a better modeler.  Since I started looking at it seriously, I began to see what was possible, and where my modeling fell short.  I started looking for nicer kits, more detail parts.  Instead of looking at a four-walls-and-a-roof kit as a lazy one-evening job, I thought of it as only a starting point.  In a short time, that one evening stretched into a month, with masking and painting for multi-colored structures, detailing windowsills, installing a better roof, adding top details like vents, cutting thin brick strips, painting them and gluing them inside the parapet on the roof.  As the building got assembled, I added interior walls and floors and, if the windows were large enough, some details that could be seen from outside.  Most structures got inside lights as well.  Some buildings got decals on the side, mostly old advertising to suit my era, but sometimes things like Civil Defense shelter markings.

Photo Fun has always been a product of our members, and I hope we'll continue the tradition in the future.

[selector]

It was the first hobby forum for me...of any hobby.  And I became probably over-active for the first few years, even volunteering to serve as a moderator for a while.  That was 14 years ago....already!  The forum software became unwieldy about six years ago, maybe seven, and I haven't been able to keep up with PMs the way I used to, mainly because I had no indication that people had left them.  I sometimes remembered to go look for a new thread.

On the grander scheme of things, I have reasonable health, wealth, and relationships, and time to enjoy them, so I AM contented.  The Peruvian toast goes, 'Salud, pesetas, y amor, y tiempo para gozarlos.' 

[nycmodel]

Model Railroader gave me my introduction to electronics through the Linn Westcott articles on TAT throttles and Twin T signaling back in the 60's. So much so that when I took my Electrical Engineering courses in college years later, most of it was old hat. I will be forever greatful for that early knowledge.

[Overmod]

Now that a credible source has assured us that the forums will be continued and improved -- 

I look forward to 'dedicated' threads here, possibly 'stickied', about advanced electronics topics, that can be both taken up and discussed in a much more technical way than could ever be possible in even a series of magazine articles.  One that I'd particularly relish would be standards development for the various data 'backchannels' for the DCC standard, something that has been pending for over a quarter century and which, if done right, massively contributes to the things possible for existing modulation.  Another is the definition of wireless DCC-compatible protocols for 'dead rail' and other applications that will allow seamless interworking with NMRA power-modulated control.  It's going to be a brighter and better world coming up...

[BATMAN]

I am delighted to know the forums will live on. 

Eighteen years ago when I joined the folks on here helped nurse-maid me through my return to the hobby and I am still most grateful for that.

I worked at Vancouver Airport and had a lot of downtime, so I had a bit of a tradition of heading to the local Safeway, usually in the middle of the night when I thought the latest issue of Model Railroader would hit the shelves, pick one up, head back to the airport and go airside, sit in the weeds in my truck at the end of the runway and read my MRR mag.

In the past, the moderators did a great job of keeping the temperature down, back then as now we seem to have a pretty civilized bunch here for the most part. There have been a few interesting characters showing up over the years and though given many chances by management they were eventually shown the door and rightly so.

Whatever happens, as the upcoming transition unfolds I will always have fond memories of the time spent here.