Thoughts On A Year You Can Model

[JDCoop]

After I received the January issue of MR and browsed through it, I didn't give a whole lot of thought to the article "A Year You Can Model." After a few days, I went back and read the article and I started thinking. Why not expand on this type of article. Some creative sort could expand the one article into a series of articles. You could choose a year and over a span of, say 4 or 5 issues, could present information for a Year to Model in specific regions. Types of information that could be presented in the articles could be as follows: the major commodities flowing into and out of the region, photos of buildings (both railroad & non-railroad), trains, autos, billboards etc... for that year to give readers an idea of how life appeared in that year, info on the railroads of the time & their operations, and the list goes on. All of this information would concentrate on a particular year in a particular region of the country such as the Northeast, West, Northwest, East, Southeast, Midwest, etc... I think the commodities information would be interesting as what railroads are hauling today may or may not be similiar to say, the 1950's. I know where I live, the trains used to haul local coal throughout the region, now all of the trains are hauling western coal into the region. Another twist would be to change the year in each issue. For instance, say the March issue had the Midwest in 1942, the April issue could have the Northwest in 1955, the May issue could have the Northeast in 1967, and so on. Well, it's just a thought for whatever it's worth. Does anyone think this could work or has the stress of the holidays have me a little delirous?

Jeff

[Pruitt]

It would sure be nice to GET my January issue!!!

[Anonymous]

I think it's a GREAT idea! I would love to see photos of a specific time and place so I can get an idea of what would be appropriate to model.

Terry (Ohio)

[leighant]

I model more or less "the year of Sputnik"-- 1957 because that is a balance between the time I started seeing pictures of, reading about and forming my mental picture of railroading (and not necessarily the railroading I witnessed personally), diesel power which runs more dependably in my scale, and the height of modern developments in the pre-Amtrak passenger train (not necessarily the height of frequency of service.) My "period" research includes reading through all the bound volumes of "Business Week" at the public library a few years before and after my chosen year. Especially the ads which cover industrial products and applications. I model East Texas with forest related industries and I learned an ad from "Business Week" that Staley marketed specially-engineered STARCHES to the kraft paper industry to stiffen paper for corrugated cardboard boxes. A little known but appropriate use of Intermountain's Staley tank cars on a forest line that I wouldn't have known about otherwise. I bought a 1957 set of World Book encyclopedias for $5, discarded by the local library. World Book has state-by-state maps that show what was produced where IN MY ERA. An old almanac for my era that gives per capita consumption of various commodities which helps me guesstimate appropriate volumes of shipments of consumer goods to the market area served by my line. Texas Almanac and Industrial Guide, for my era, gives a year by year listing of carloads of various commodities carried by railroads in this state. Lots of sources from old original material. One grain of salt to take it with-- period ads, PR handouts and industrial development commission materials are written to show things in their most favorable light.

Kenneth L. Anthony (Texas)

[Anonymous]

AS to reply to a year to model why not join a historical society there is allways someone who can tell you things about what the railroad hauled or just some research at a local library.It would be nice to do a column on it to those who subsribe to the magazine just would not be helpfull to those that do not subsribe.

[CNJ831]

The January MR article worked well because it was highly generalized. Similarly, since it dealt with a war era, it was applicable to many/most railroads in commodities moved and practices followed.

A series of articles dealing with different regions in various other eras is a difficult task unless it deals with a specific railroad since different roads often did not carry similar products in quantity. What might well be a more profitable concept to cover would be the Americana (buildings, signage, vehicles, road-types, etc.) of a given region during a specific era. The variation in these factors, from region to region and era to era, are so distinctive that I'd say most modelers can quickly recognize a general region and era from just a single photo.

John

[Sperandeo]

Thank you John,

And thanks to everyone else who appreciated my 1942 article. We are considering more articles of this type, and your suggestions are most welcome.

Happy New Year,

Andy Sperandeo
MODEL RAILROADER Magazine

[BRAKIE]

Perhaps MR could set a new stardard and become a MODElING magazine instead of a "Look what I did" type of magazine.Naw,never work! Forget it!

[MarvinKlassen]

I think that it is a really good idea although it would be better to focus on the region instead of one single railroad.

[Anonymous]

yeah i would like to find a Janaury issue i cant get one anywhere

[Anonymous]

I would love to see "A Year You Can Model" as a regular feature!

[steamage]

When I first got into model railroading in the early 1960s, I modeled steam of the 40s. I never was around it and had to use old B&W photographs. Now I model the early 1960s and I photographed and remember just about everything needed to build my layout. [:D]

[Anonymous]

I'd like to find info on the Toledo, Ohio terminal to perhaps model it, if anyone has sources please E-mail me at [e-mail]. Thank you very much.