From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet
R. T. POTEET wrote:The purchaser is informed at the very front of the book that, except for the introductory chapter, the content is a rehash of previously published articles from either MR or special editions.
True, and I appreciate that most MR books are compilations of articles from the magazine. But this is something different, this is basically putting a new cover and title on an old book and selling it as a new book. I'd say at least 3/4ths of the articles/chapters in the book were already published in the previous book on modelling the '50's. I'm sure many people will buy this book as I did, assuming it's a follow-up to the first book, not the first book with a new title and a couple of new chapters.
I think it would have been better to list this book as a revised edition of the earlier book, rather than as a new book.
wjstix wrote:I just picked up the new MR "Modeling the '50s - The Glory Years of Rail" book. I couldn't help but notice that maybe 3/4ths of it is taken directly from their earlier book "Modeling Railroads of the 1950's" which came out a few years ago?? It even uses the same introduction by Tony Koester. I assumed it was going to more like a "volume 2" follow-up to the original, not a repackaging of the earlier book.
When I saw this (revised/new) book, I too had questioned if it might have overlap with the other one. I'd decided I would wait until I saw a copy somewhere (LHS or not-so-LHS) and skim to see how much duplication there was (and then decide if I wanted to buy it).
It's something like various versions of musical groups' "Greatest Hits" albums - some people may prefer the mix/arrangement in one better than another - but others don't.
Maybe you could sell your 'second' copy to someone who hasn't bought the original 1950's book. For him/her, it'd be worth more, since more of the articles would be new and useful.
Just my .
Jim in Cape Girardeau
As I mentioned in my "I honestly don't know anything about steam" reply post, I recently bought this book, dipped into it, but didn't get back into it until the last weekend of April. I noticed the disclaimer at the front of the book--and I was unaware of an earlier book of similar title. I also didn't recognize any of the material as coming from earlier issues of MR, but as I've told people for years, "I used to have a lousy memory, but since my T-bone car crash (I was the one who was T-boned--and I still think the kid ran the stop sign, but can't remember for sure!) in April of '95, I have NO memory!"
I do sympathize with those who bought the book thinking it was a second volume, not a rehash. Disney pulled a stunt like that with Christmas cartoon videos, some years back--and I promptly returned the one with fewer duplications: it didn't have one of my favorite Chip 'N' Dale cartoons. I think this is what the Brits call "a bit dicy" of Kalmbach, playing with fire, as it were! As I've mentioned in other posts, I spent the first 13 years of my life within 50 to 100 yards of the MILW double-tracked main line, in Pewaukee, WI, and we moved to Waukesha, seven miles away--another world entirely--after that. So, the '50s book is very nostalgic for me.
Waukesha, now the home of Kalmbach Publishing (I really miss that old building on N. 7th Street in Milwaukee, with it's creaky old elevator), and it was close enough--and interesting enough!--that MR published a lot of photos over the years. I finally decided to save wear an tear on my venerable bound volumes and bought the individual issues with all those familiar Soo Line, MILW, and C&NW sites and sights. I was blessed with an older brother who came back from the Air Force after the Korean War with a rabid case of Model Railroading Fever. He hauled me all over the place to hobby shops, RR sites, and even went into the Soo Line roundhouse in Waukesha to talk with the Shop Foreman. He later went to work for the MILW in the Muskego Yard, down in the valley, which got me into places we'd only seen from the 27th and 35th Street viaducts. Heady stuff for a kid of early to mid teens!
One can only hope that Kalmbach really does see the interest and brings out a second volume, with even more of those nostalgic and informative photos and stories!
Dean-58
(Dean H. Hammons
Duluth, MN)
Yes, most of the stories in the 1950s book are taken from the Model Railroader special issue on modeling the 50s. My colleagues in the books department tried to be very careful to point that fact out on any advertising that promoted the book.
We've actually published books based on material from MR for at least 50 years, because we've found that some people who missed the earlier stories wanted them, and others simply like having the stories on a particular topic all in one volume.
This may sound like publisher jargon, but while the 1950s book is based on a previous work, it's not a second edition for several reasons. The MR special was a magazine, which means we printed it on magazine paper, with a relatively lightweight cover, and sold it through newsstands and hobby shops (and sold some copies direct from Kalmbach). The new publication is a book, which means heavier paper, a heavier cover and binding, and a different channel of distribution for the most part. It's also redesigned and does have some new material.
If you've purchased the 1950s book directly from us and are disappointed because you also purchased the MR special issue on the same topic, feel free to give our customer service staff a call, and they'll be happy to assist you.
Either way, thanks for reading MR and our MR book line.
Terry
I might be remembering this wrong, since I have a lot of model railroad track planning and how to books (going back to 1932, it's sort of a hobby within the hobby), but it seems to me there was a book on track planning that started out with a section on prototype railroading that had a blurb saying something like "Chapters 2-4 were previously published as..." and then names the book it was from. (Maybe John Armstrong's "The Railroad - What It Is, What it Does"??)
Anyway, I think something like that here referring to the earlier "Modeling Railroads of the 1950's" would have been usefull in avoiding any confusion, especially when on a quick count about 10 of the chapters of the first publication made their way into the second one.
BTW I'm not really angry about this, or planning on cancelling any subscriptions or anything, I just wanted to point out that this maybe could have been handled a little differently.
MR's management made a mistake here. They should have described what is different between the first version and the second, as in what content has been added/deleted. Whether the publications is in magazine or soft-book style is irrelevant, other than descriptive. (Like, I bought the hard-bound issue, but now I need to buy the later-released paperback version thinking it is something new?) For myself, I never intended to purchase the new version because it had the same title as the earlier version, despite the advertising claim that the book was "new." Maybe if MR played up the additional content, I would have been interested. Better yet, MR should have gathered enough new content to have a completely new version: volume 2!
Let's see if they learn by their mistake.
Mark
Just to clarify "Modeling the '50s - The Glory Years of Rail" is the title of the new book, the old one was called "Modeling Railroads of the 1950's". Similar titles but not the same, which leads to a lot of confusion when 3/4ths of their content is the same.
Kalmbach has come out with several revised or updated editions of earlier books (like Westcott's book on benchwork, or John Armstrong's "Track Planning for Realistic Operations") and has always clearly labelled it as a "revised edition" so you know it's an updated version of an earlier book of the same title. They maybe should have done that here too, I think.
The photo on the front of the book,in the advert,gave it away to me-then I read a little further on...it's a reissue,pity.
Steve
steveiow wrote: The photo on the front of the book,in the advert,gave it away to me-then I read a little further on...it's a reissue,pity.Steve
Well really the problem is that it's "mostly" a reissue. Someone could easily pick it up on display at the LHS and open it to one of the new chapters / articles and buy it not realizing that most of the chapters were previously printed in the earlier publication which they maybe already have.
I'm sorry guys, but this is just business. There is not intenet to deceive, they are just filling a moarket need. The '50's are the most modeled time period and new people are coming into the hobby all the time.
That some of the "loyals" were confussed, not withstanding, it was a good move on MR's part.
Chip
Building the Rock Ridge Railroad with the slowest construction crew west of the Pecos.
SpaceMouse wrote: I'm sorry guys, but this is just business. There is not intenet to deceive, they are just filling a moarket need. The '50's are the most modeled time period and new people are coming into the hobby all the time. That some of the "loyals" were confussed, not withstanding, it was a good move on MR's part.
Well yes I'm sure they didn't intend to deceive anyone, but still it may do so unintentionally. I'm fine with them putting out a "new" book regarding 1950's modelling, but...well, I have a fair number of model RR books going back to the 1930's and it's not uncommon for the book to say inside the cover something like "this book was previously published under the title _____" or something similar. It would have been helpful if they had done something like that here referencing the earlier special edition.