i know that noone has commented on this in about a year but whatever...
I am a teenaged modeler and i'm HUGE into the hobby. i read mr cover-to cover (skipping the ads) every month. I don't remember when it was, but maybe a year back, some young guy wrote an article on the Gennessee & Wyoming layout he was biulding based on the pacific northwest... that really struck me. i don't remember anybody even mentioning the G&W family of shortlines in ANY previous layout visit, much less model it. on the other hand, how many stories have we read about the New Haven, which has been gone for 40 years? the point is that MR's content is geared toward the older modeler.... this isn't all bad, because that adds "wow" factor for us young guys, but what kind of shape will MR be in 40 years when that generation of modelers is dead, and all us young guys are the "ruling class" of the hobby? doesn't it make sense to give the future (and the NOW) of the hobby some air time?
In a world of proto:87, superdetailed brass engines, and 600 square foot layouts, it was nice to read about people like me who were actually biulding layouts.
I own two old back-issues of Model Railroader that contain the student fare column. I have them both virtually memorized. What strain would it cause mr to set up a student fare online and have Lionel Strang moderate it monthly? sure, it might caust you 300 bucks a month, but if you can keep 100 teens in the hobby (aka subscribing to MR) a year, you have broke even and done this hobby a great service.
let's say that MR decides that it is too much expense. OK, fine. let's have a teen track-planning contest. give us a 10*12 room, and let us go nuts. the acnolegement of us would make us feel more accepted, and i believe that we would have some good ideas. It's virtually free, and mr could help themselves and the hobby in the future.
Owl:
Just sent you a pm ... maybe I can be of some assistance.
Joe Fugate Modeling the 1980s SP Siskiyou Line in southern Oregon
jfugate Just for the record, a few months ago I spoke at length with Rick Selby (the columnist who did Student Fare) about the demise of Student Fare and he told me he needed to move on to other things in his life, so he bowed out of doing the column. MR had no one to replace him, so they dropped the column. Rick said there was no big, bad "we don't care about students" motive on the part of MR or Kalmbach, it's just that you need somebody who has the writer skills and the stick-to-it-ive-ness to keep writing the column month after month after month. Anybody on here with those qualifications who would like to contact MR? I bet they would jump at the chance. They have a very big interest in seeing the hobby grow among the young, for obvious reasons!
Just for the record, a few months ago I spoke at length with Rick Selby (the columnist who did Student Fare) about the demise of Student Fare and he told me he needed to move on to other things in his life, so he bowed out of doing the column. MR had no one to replace him, so they dropped the column.
Rick said there was no big, bad "we don't care about students" motive on the part of MR or Kalmbach, it's just that you need somebody who has the writer skills and the stick-to-it-ive-ness to keep writing the column month after month after month.
Anybody on here with those qualifications who would like to contact MR? I bet they would jump at the chance. They have a very big interest in seeing the hobby grow among the young, for obvious reasons!
I would like to see Student Fare come back. It gave students an opprotunity to see that there were other teenagers out there interested in the hobby which can at least give them some comfort to know they aren't alone. For me, I heard about the TAMR through that column which lead to many great personal opprotunities for me in the hobby such as visiting well known model railroads, touring real railroad facilities, and writing a column for MR's competitor Model Railroad News about the TAMR for 3 years. I also made a lot of friends who I still see. It would be nice to have an outlet for students/teenagers out there just so they know they aren't alone.
TAMR159,I for one support teen modelers however,I see NO good thing in Student Fare other then a show and tell and generation gap no more no less.Why can't a teenager do a article on detailing? Perhaps a scratch build structure? A track plan? That would out shine Student Fare by a long shot.There are other ways for MR to show case teen modelers as well IF they wish to.
Joe,I haven't seen anybody that can't be replace if the company wants to replace that person even with a Associate Editor..Sorry..
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
P.S. Rick Selby has been a guest operator on my HO Siskiyou Line a few times, so I know him personally.
QUOTE: Originally posted by Grayhound Challenger I voted a yes to Return Student Fare. When it was closed it was the first time I ever remember being absolutly pissed with the Magazine and almost let my subscription run out. I also dearly miss the Paint Shop. That was where I generated about 2/3s of my modeling ideas. I agree that while stuent fare might not directly contribute to recruiting younger members to the hobby, it will (did) give them a place to show what they have accomplished and make them feel like they are a welcome and valued member of the model railroad hobby.
QUOTE: Originally posted by skibbs4 Why bring back Student Fare when the whole magazine is devoted to beginners now? If MR went back to publishing the best of the best and stopped dumbing down their content in an attempt to gain readership, then there would be more of a need for Student Fare type content. Right now, all the articles are shorter, less detail is given, articles are of a more basic nature, and in an attempt to make all articles as widespread as possible, everything feels washed out. I think MR needs to rekindle some WOW factor, and show everyone some amazing modeling so that we can dream about being better modelers and then work to become better modelers. Give us something to strive for. Mike Skibbe www.cgwrr.com
Bill Carl (modeling Chessie and predecessors from 1973-1983) Member of Four County Society of Model Engineers NCE DCC Master Visit the FCSME at www.FCSME.org Modular railroading at its best! If it has an X in it, it sucks! And yes, I just had my modeler's license renewed last week!
QUOTE: Originally posted by rda1964 On another tack, I would also like to see reprints of the best "how to" articles from MR past issues. These cost nothing, other than the time to scan them into the computer, and would I think be well recieved by the readership. Randy
QUOTE: Originally posted by rsn48 Fergus, It isn't the kids that are intimidated by the electronics, they live in an electronics world; for them, there never was anything else. Its us getting old farts who are more likely to be intimidated by electronics.
"Being misunderstood is the fate of all true geniuses"
EXPERIMENTATION TO BRING INNOVATION
http://community.webshots.com/album/288541251nntnEK?start=588
QUOTE: Originally posted by rsn48 Fergus, It isn't the kids that are intimidated by the electronics....