General Discussion (Model Railroader)

Folks:

It's got projects in it!  Little ones, but fun and inspiring.  The feed mill really makes me want to get down and build something.  It also helps fill a modern need..."what to build?"  I've realized that this can be a tough question...modelgenic buildings can be hard to spot!  The old photos can supply a start.   The mill itself is a fine structure, and I might just build it myself!

The ball signal is a little quickie project...almost a One Evening Project, for the auld-tymers out there.  The lineside-detail project has great little ideas too...three scratchbuilding-related projects in one MR! Wow!  The detail project isn't immediately applicable to my era, but the concept is.  I can always get useful ideas, stuff I'd not thought of, from a project like that...now I'm wondering if I could look up some fonts and get some decals made...

There's so much more than that, too, and in an August MR, of all times!  I have to hand it to the crew, you guys pulled the stops out this month!  This magazine has that kind of densely-packed, useful, and inspiring information that makes me want to go back and reread it again and again!

Fantastic job.  Don't mind if I rave a bit.  :D

 Agreed.  I enjoyed the issue a lot -- so far.

Any one notice how Dave Barrow has almost come full circle?  Of course as often as he changes layouts, that one's probably gone now too.  It would great for Cody to do a video with him to discuss his philosophy.  The various articles and interviews with him have followed a changing focus from mainline TCS with detailed scenary to minimialist switching to ???  I'd love to hear what he as to say. 

 My July copy of MR arrived just a few days ago and you guys are already commenting on the August issue. Come on, that´s not fair!

MR should review their distribution policy - releasing a magazines 5 weeks before the month starts is, IMHO, way too early (or does the US run on a different calendar than the rest of the world - could be, we still have to find out what other changes the Bush Administration introduced in those 8 years... )

Sir Madog:

 My July copy of MR arrived just a few days ago and you guys are already commenting on the August issue. Come on, that´s not fair!

MR should review their distribution policy - releasing a magazines 5 weeks before the month starts is, IMHO, way too early (or does the US run on a different calendar than the rest of the world - could be, we still have to find out what other changes the Bush Administration introduced in those 8 years... )

The magazine publishing industry in the US works this way. That is because of the lead time required to do paste up and get each page typeset and ready to be printed and bound. Thus the August issue was most likely ready for shipping on or around June 20, 2009. The July issue was probably mailed on or around May 20, 2009 and the September issue will most likely be deluvered to the post office on Jul 20, 2009.

Mosy people in the US will get their copies within two weeks of the mail date. Oversea, including Canada and Mexico wil take longer due to vagaries of international shipping which is dependent on the interface between the USPO and the post office in the partiocular country in which the reader might live.

There is also another factor consider and that is the shelf life of a particular magazine at the local newstand, kiosk or hobby shop. These issue can take several weeks to sell and so you want to make the issue date as far away as possible in order to get folks to buy it. In other words, if you have a June date on the current issue, you can forget about selling those copies after June 30.

Irv

I'm just going through this Feedmill project----I just added another project on the list of gotta do's!!

corsair7:

The magazine publishing industry in the US works this way. That is because of the lead time required to do paste up and get each page typeset and ready to be printed and bound. Thus the August issue was most likely ready for shipping on or around June 20, 2009. The July issue was probably mailed on or around May 20, 2009 and the September issue will most likely be deluvered to the post office on Jul 20, 2009.

Something else most posters/readers probably don't really appreciate is how long ago the August issue was actually completed. From my experience in the industry, the likely "drop dead date", the last date on which any meaningful alteration to the August issue's text and figures could be made, was probably in early May. And you wonder why new product announcements and current events info sometimes seems so dated when you see it in print, huh?

I also agree that the latest issue of MR is quite good. Let's hope that under Neil's editorship we see the trend of the past year or so of steadily improving and useful serious modeling content continue unabated. Kudos, Neil!

CNJ831 

CNJ831:

Something else most posters/readers probably don't really appreciate is how long ago the August issue was actually completed. From my experience in the industry, the likely "drop dead date", the last date on which any meaningful alteration to the August issue's text and figures could be made, was probably between May 4th and the 8th. And you wonder why new product announcements and current events info sometimes seems so dated when you see it in print, huh?

Something that I even forgot about---the ads that we placed in the program books for theater performances had to be in at least 8 weeks before the date the books would be published---I coordinated the dang things for the Drama dept at the university for a while.

 How different the world can be in small, little issue. I just bought my July copy of "Modelleisenbahner" (Model Railroader in German) at our local gas station. Release date was June 21st! Deadline for posting ads was a month earlier...

Why does it take two weeks for being delivered by the mail? The times of the Pony Express are long gone! 

I've had mine for a few days now, but only opened it last night due to other commitments.  I also noticed that several scratchbuilding articles had made their way into one issue, which I think is a great addition.  I began wondering of all of our complaints about the "Ready To Plop" articles of a year ago had something to do with it.  Certainly, the magazine is reaching out to the more experienced modeller.

At the same time, I'm already looking forward to next month's issue with Pelle Seborg showing us his techniques for getting great layout photos.  It should make for an interesting Weekend Photo Fun.

 Oh, shoot, guys, you are taking away all the tension. It´ll be at least three more weeks until I get my August copy and I already know now what´s inside!

I will be looking forward to Pelle´s article!

Sir Madog:

 Oh, shoot, guys, you are taking away all the tension. It´ll be at least three more weeks until I get my August copy and I already know now what´s inside!

I will be looking forward to Pelle´s article!

 

Wait until you see the naked pictures of Jack Burgess's Spectrum 4-4-0! .

Not to mention the Baldwin AS-616 in a highly suggestive pose next to Bruce Petty's tell-all article on scratchbuilding a feed mill.

And the side-bar in David Barrows's CM&SF article will drive you nuts. Wire nuts, that is. I think Dave's had as many layouts as Elizabeth Taylor's had husbands.

Dare I mention Tony Koester's latest "Trains Of Thought" wherein he discusses luring strangers into the basement?

Man, I gotta stop reading MR in the bathroom.

 As for Pelle's article, you'll have to wait quite a bit longer. It won't be out until September.

Andre

andrechapelon:

And the side-bar in David Barrows's CM&SF article will drive you nuts. Wire nuts, that is. I think Dave's had as many layouts as Elizabeth Taylor's had husbands.

That's the whole point of "dominoes".

Sometime I ought get out an old MR and hold up the plan of the second CM&SF and see how it compares to the current one.

dehusman:

andrechapelon:

And the side-bar in David Barrows's CM&SF article will drive you nuts. Wire nuts, that is. I think Dave's had as many layouts as Elizabeth Taylor's had husbands.

That's the whole point of "dominoes".

Sometime I ought get out an old MR and hold up the plan of the second CM&SF and see how it compares to the current one.

There are advantages to dominoes vs. Elizabeth Taylor's husbands. Lawyers aren't involved, there's no need for a property settlement, and the paparazzi aren't shoving cameras in your face. 

By the second CM&SF, I assume you're referring to the 1952 era CM&SF that appeared in the March, 1980, MR. From the standpoint of era, that's my favorite. OTOH, I'm biased, preferring steam and first-generation diesels. The newer things get, the less appealing they are, although Pelle Soeborg makes the current era look quite attractive, as does Eric Brooman. However, I actually prefer Brooman's original Utah Belt as it appeared in the late 1970's/early 1980's. That's probably because he was still using some first-gen diesels, every freight had a caboose and he used a believable paint scheme. The fact the the UB used SP style light clusters didn't hurt, either.

The Montana Northland in the current MR is appealing for some of the same reasons I liked the old Utab Belt. I particularly like the paint scheme. It has a look of "belonging" to the era.

Andre