Would you like to see some old MRR articles reprinted?

[Fergmiester]

QUOTE: Originally posted by deschane

Brakie, I think you and I (and the other folks whom would like to see old articles) are talking about two different types of articles. Yes, I would not be interested in Model Railroader's 1943 version of how to clean track. I'm interested in the "water mark" articles written by folks instrumental in bring the hobby to where it is today and re-looking at some of the interesting layouts and projects and techniques used by the folks who were real craftsmen back then.

I'm with Mark on this one, yes there is repeatability within MR but Looking at the photo's everyone of them are different. Myself I get more education and understanding from photo's then reading. If MR ever where inclined to amass every thing then it would be nice if it was put into an Encyclopedia or into sperate books, each discussing a certain aspect of the hobby something akin to the Time-Life series of books. One book on electronics, another on scenery, painting, building, etc, etc .......

[lupo]

Fergmiester,
I think Kalmbach has some books about certain aspects of the hobby :
I have:
Trackside scenes you can model
Steamlocomotive Projects & Ideas
Maintainining & Repairing scale model trains
Trackwork and Linside detail for your model railroad
Basic painting and weathering
the MR guide to Locomotive Servicing Terminals
and on the Kalmbach site are some more,
Nice books with lots of pictures, tips and howto's. I do not know if these are reprints of former MR articles, because I have been subscribed to MRmagazine for 1 year.

lupo

[Anonymous]

Yes somewhat in a way just to compare where we was back then and were we are now

[BR60103]

Yes. Let's not just reprint the occasional article; let's reprint the entire magazine. This would be a good year to start reprinting the magazine from 70 years ago and forget all this modern stuff.
Maybe then I could catch up on all those techniques that I need for my modelling.

[Anonymous]

Hi
I would like too see the small stuff reprinted
like small structures and small layouts small becomes very large when translated to 'G"
and I have just about stopped buying MRR because of the lack of small stuff
a thirty by twenty basement layout is not small.very roughly eight by four becomes
thirty two by sixteen in "G"
regards John

[CBQ_Guy]

QUOTE: Originally posted by AntonioFP45

In the late 80s I believe there was a gentleman named Rick Kuykendall who had an excellent "medium sized American town" layout featured in MRR.

Would love to see it reprinted or even better, have MRR do an update. This layout was very well built and scenicked. Based on what I remember, my layout will slightly resemble his as far as theme.

Anyone have info on this. I think he's also featured on an Allen Keller video.[;)][:)]

Here ya go...

http://www.allenkeller.com/GMR21.htm

[AggroJones]

I've got GMR vol 21 right here. What do you want to know?

[Anonymous]

I am new to this forum. I am trying to uncover some of my grandfather's articles, Frank Ellison was my grandfather. When I was very young I remember the entire basement of our two story house in New Orleans was filled with model railroads. Every Wednesday night WDSU Channel 6 would come to our house for a live broadcast of Grandpapa and his trains.

When I can find some of these articles and photos, which I'm sure exist, I will reveal them.

Yours truly,
Cary Franklin Ellison

[jsoderq]

Definitely not! First, a waste of valuable space in todays magazine. Second, many old materials and supplies are no longer available or not the right material to use today. Modern passenger cars made out of wood aren't much (I know, I have many of the old ones - Walthers, JC, etc) Many of the old "scale" drawings are inaccurate or have major errors which explains some of the "bloopers " on models. The old draftsmen did not always have good source material, made decisions based on their own experience instead of fact, often working from someone elses originals which were not correct.
If you want old articles , buy them. There are tons of old magazines out there, some on ebay and others for sale from used book dealers including a couple who specialize in MR magazines.

[MidlandPacific]

Cary,

The guy to ask is probably Andy Sperandeo, but I have a bound volume of MR with a reprint of the four or five articles your grandfather wrote on operation; they published an obit for him just as the series was completed, so I'm thinking it's 1968 or thereabouts - not positive, but I can check on it when I get home.

I started reading MR in 1976 in the elementary school library, and I have to say that for all of the improvements in technique, there was a lot of magnificent artistry in that generation of modelers. I bought the '76 bound volume a year ago and since then I've been picking up the 1960s and 1970s bound volumes whenever I can find them. They usually fetch about ten dollars a copy. I like MR now, but having picked up a range of bound volumes going back to 1948, I'd have to say that the greatest editor the magazine ever had was probably Linn Westcott, and it was his editorial selection that made those volumes so interesting. There was a tremendous range of articles, covering literally every aspect of modeling, and while some of the stuff is no longer current technique (nowadays we would just shell out the money for DCC, rather than go to the elaborate lengths he suggested for measuring voltage and pulling power for doubleheading), I've never found a better primer than the MR of that era for all of the technical aspects of the hobby. Even where the stuff was impractical (I would probably not design a brake stand to enhance my throttle control), it's interesting. The detail of the instructional articles was greater and went further beneath the surface, and while a lot of the scratchbuilding directions presume levels of skill that are no longer commonplace in the average modeler, the articles on basic skill development are generally more detailed.

There was also a lot more interest in freelance modeling, and non-prototypical model railroads. It's probably just a generational prejudice, but I found (and find) some of the modeling and photography to be very pleasing.

[Anonymous]

Jsoderq, It might effect your opinion on this if you had read the whole string. Your positions on some of these points had been beaten to death earlier. I also think your opinions on the works of of the old folks being filled with mistakes and "bloopers", is overstated. Although as is still the case today, plenty of mistakes were made. Some of these discrepancies occurred because of production requirements. To think of older modelers in by gone eras as less capable of creating truly extraordinary works is perpetuating a chauvinism about how great we are today! Which, given my great age, I can state with acute accuracy; "We are not as good as we think"!

No ill intent was meant in this post!

[dknelson]

Obviously some older articles would need to be edited not just for safety reasons (shredded asbestos might make a great mountain but is not worth the health risk!) and also to update some product recommendations.

The best reason I can think of to rerun some older articles -- and I have MR solid back to 1950 -- is the better quality printing of photographs. A couple of years ago MR republished some John Allen photos that had been published before and I could hardly believe the improvement in focus and sparkle.

Dave Nelson

[Anonymous]

My grandfather started me on the path to scale modeling and prototypical operation with xerox copies of old articles. I still have many of these today, since we were not all blessed with such a benefactor, I for one would love to see MR reprint some classic stuff in either book or ("Classic Model Railroader Quarterly"?) magazine special format.
My Nomination for the first issue is ...

FRANK ELLISON

8/49 Blueprint for RR Design
11/49 Scenic Vignettes
12/49 Fast Freight
1/50 Freight Yard Design
2/50 Way Freight
3/50 Route Switching
6/50 Locating Your Industries
5/51 Short Line Railroading
6/51 Passenger Train Operation

I think these articles are timeless.

Of Historical Interest are several articles on scenery 12/50-1,2,3/51; Structures 9/51,
Track and Benchwork 5,7,8,10,11/50. It is amazing what he did with the materials avalible in that era.

I know ARCO published a book (540148833)(long out of print) of Mr. Ellison's MR articles in 1954 but do not have a copy.

[vsmith]

MR should have an occasionally reprint of classic stories, like John Allen's G&D only do it as a series, starting from the earliest article, then each next issue would have the next article in cronological order. Think what a body of work of these great modelers could still contribute today and what a boost to circulation these stories would provide. there is a tremendous amount of interest in these guys and very woefull sources outside of the used book stores or train swapmeets. Either this idea or collections reprinted in paperback books and made available thru Klambake,

[Anonymous]

I think it'd be a good idea. I'd be interested to see how things have changed over the years - I don't know much about the history of the hobby on the other side of the Atlantic so it would help fill in the gaps.

[Anonymous]

I started this thread back in April of 04. I think it was 50/50 as far as interest was concerned. The differance between then and now is almost all of the people in the hobby back then were modelers! Now the manufacturers are the modelers.

[Anonymous]

It couldn't be anything but interesting to see some of the articles. It would probably bring back many memories and make all of us realize how far we've come. Used to love some of the articles from the late 40's and early 50's. Couldn't get enough of it then and can't get enough of the new now.

[SilverSpike]

Put me in the YES column! I love the old back issues, especially the scratch building articles that walk you through putting together a structure or rolling stock. The old product lists might need to be updated, but I am sure that materials are still out there to be found.

A great idea and look forward to seeing it in the next issue of MR.

- Ryan

[dknelson]

Oh I agree that we do not need reprints of articles on how to paint an engine using stove polish or how to use shredded asbestos for scenery (that's no joke!) or how to make your own Mantua-style couplers out of tin can stock but I do not think that is what is being proposed for reprinting.
Almost any layout plan or layout plan idea by John Armstrong is still worth reading.
Some of the old layout tour type articles would make good reprints if the quality of photo reproduction was improved over the original -- esp if the author submitted color and MR originally printed it in black and white.
There are still many "railroad you can model" articles that are great sources of ideas that have not been reprinted in Kalmbach books.
I think almost any modeler could benefit from having access to the old Eric Stevens / Don Reschenberg "dollar car" series articles.
Dave Nelson

[DJM UP]

NO WAY....let em buy the back issues. You can get all on eBay, and quite cheap too. I have all bound back to '47. I sure is fun, when I have time to pick a year, then think about the year as I recall it, and crack open MR from that year. It realy takes you back.

PS: I too seem to have seen reprinted stories in MR too, but can't recall which ones.

[CBQ_Guy]

They already reprint them . . . and pass them off as books!

Let's be careful out there.

[Anonymous]

YES! Bring back the brilliant Bruce Chubb!

[on30francisco]

I enjoy reading some of the older articles especially the ones on scratchbuilding. I have recently built some projects from the information in some older articles (some going back to the 50s). Although some of the techniques and materials mentioned are obsolete, it is a simple matter to substitute modern materials and newer techniques for the obsolete ones.

[SpaceMouse]

I'm waying in really late on this but my feeling is this. Even the realy good articles have already been said and when you write an article from a new point of view you are updating it and speaking directly to the audience of today. I like the idea of old articles on CD, or even accessible via the Internet. But keep writing new stuff.

[Train 284]

I would like to see some by John Armatrong that for sure!

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Train 284

I would like to see some by John Armatrong that for sure!

Kalmbach already offers "Creative Layout Designs" book by John Armstrong. There is a ton of material in this one, probably better than looking at reprints.

Bob Boudreau

[Anonymous]

I voted no. I am fortunate to possess an extremely complete archive. But today one does not need an archive, or even reprinted old articles in MR. Kalmbach provides a service where, for a nominal price, we can order copies of most anything they have ever put into print, including old articles from MR. The computer age continues to arrive and improve, information is no longer difficult to access. We, IMHO, should let Kalmbach continue to carry MR forward into the future. We can access the past rather easily on our own.

Steam will even cook a hot dog. Try that with diesel exhaust.

Tom

[davekelly]

There's a couple of ways to go on that. One way would be to reprint some articles. The John Allen and Frank Ellison one's come to mind. But, perhaps alot of the folks on here are correct in that it would be better to publi***hem as a book.

What would be neat, and kind of along the lines of this thread is an article maybe once a quarter or so. "Looking Back" or "Where Have We Come From" or some such title. For instance it would be neat to see the evolution of the HO coupler. To liven up the artcile snippets from past articles could be referred to or quoted from or used as figures to the article. "A July 1955 readers poll showed most modelers preferred the Baker Coupler" and a picture could be used so that one knows what the heck a Baker coupler is. (BTW: I just made up this stat). Also in this could be a reprint of the original announcement of the Kadee etc etc etc. Other topics could be DCC, Computer Control, Sturcture building, track laying, scenery techniques etc etc.

Just a thought