Some nice articles full of layout pictures. No articles on building rolling stock, locomotives, structures, bridges. No photos or plans. I didn't notice anything clever for April 1.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
dstarrI didn't notice anything clever for April 1.
Gotcha!
Exactly why I won't renew. I really enjoy RMC, so they will get my money.
Chuck - Modeling in HO scale and anything narrow gauge
trwroute Exactly why I won't renew. I really enjoy RMC, so they will get my money.
I dropped my RMC sub because I got tired of 50 page "glue these commercial detail parts to this model" articles. I much prefer construction articles that focus on highlights and unique challenges that need to be solved.
Oh, and scenery IS building.
I guess each reader has different expectations.
I thought the new issue was great. I loved all the pictures. I also enjoyed the April Fools article.
York1 John
BEAUSABREdstarr I didn't notice anything clever for April 1.
I didn't notice anything clever for April 1.
Scratch building structures and rolling stock used to be a necessary part of model railroading. Now they are just options. RTR rolling stock and built up structures make it possible to build convincing scenes using ready made components and/or kit built structures. RMC still caters to those who want to build layouts the old fashioned way. I would rather take advantage of the modern conveniences in this hobby wherever I can.
John-NYBW Scratch building structures and rolling stock used to be a necessary part of model railroading. Now they are just options. RTR rolling stock and built up structures make it possible to build convincing scenes using ready made components and/or kit built structures. RMC still caters to those who want to build layouts the old fashioned way. I would rather take advantage of the modern conveniences in this hobby wherever I can.
I like doing both, and still get both magazines.
Sheldon
I subscribe to MR but will occasionally pick up a copy of RMC if I'm in my LHS and see something that interests me.
John-NYBW I subscribe to MR but will occasionally pick up a copy of RMC if I'm in my LHS and see something that interests me.
Me too.
As magazine content goes, my first preference is layout articles - how the builder developed his ideas of era, location, operation, construction and scenery into a working model RR, given the constraints of space.
Next would be the how-to articles, whether buildings, RR models, kit-bashing, scenery technique, etc. I keep an listing of articles by category so I can find 'em when I need 'em.
Jim
I'd say the DCC column in MR is about doing and making, of a sort.
I write for three modeling or railfan publications, all very small. I have no illusions about how wonderful my articles are, or the quality of the modeling techniques I show, or the photos I take. Maybe it's all for my ego, who knows. But I do know this. I get published largely because I can write and nobody else is submitting ANYTHING. People are doing, of that I am sure. All those great layout visit articles in MR and RMC and the NMRA Magazine show that. But they are not writing it up or evidently taking photos of the process even though publishable photos are easier than ever.
I also try to find people willing to give clinics and presentations for a model railroad group and a railfan group. Again people are doing. They are taking photos and gathering information. But you cannot find anyone who wants to stand in front of an audience (or for that matter, sit in front of their own laptop for a Zoom presentation) and talk to others about what they do. I do not know if the level of shyness has gone up in the population, or if it is that the urge to volunteer and contribute has gone down. People are not shy about posting where they are or what they just ate or drank or purchased, so I do not think shyness is the problem.
Do we blame the schools for not teaching more about organized structured thinking, classroom recitation, and writing using topic sentences?
One place to look if you want some articles about doing stuff is the NMRA magazine. There is an open loads artlce in every issue for example.
I'd close by saying that a week never goes by that there is not a posting on these forums that would not make a very publishable article that many MR subscribers would enjoy and benefit from. I assume we on the forums are a SMALLER audience. And unless Wayne has been taking money under the table we are not paid for what is written here. So these doers and makers who are not writing and submitting are leaving money on the table. As Mark Twain said "It is un-American. It is un-British. It is French."
A strange world
Dave Nelson
dstarr I didn't notice anything clever for April 1.
Go back and look again. I thought it was lame and soooo obvious. Its interesting that you missed it. If you can't find it I'll give you the page number.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
dknelson'd close by saying that a week never goes by that there is not a posting on these forums that would not make a very publishable article that many MR subscribers would enjoy and benefit from.
Matt (a forum member surely bound to make a huge grammatical blunder any minute now, if there's any justice in this world)
EDIT: And there it is. The typo in 'someone'. I'm stetting it, because it's only just deserts.
Returning to model railroading after 40 years and taking unconscionable liberties with the SP&S, Northern Pacific and Great Northern roads in the '40s and '50s.
crossthedogEDIT: And there it is. The typo in 'someone'. I'm stetting it, because it's only just deserts.
Well, alrighty then!
dehusman dstarr I didn't notice anything clever for April 1. Go back and look again. I thought it was lame and soooo obvious. Its interesting that you missed it. If you can't find it I'll give you the page number.
I gotta agree with you here. The classic April Fools joke leads the reader along, to thinking all is legit... until the last, "head smacking" moment.
This one had a neon sign in every sentence, that screamed "danger - joke ahead!!!"
The April (and other recent issues) tended to cater to the newbies. In the past, this typically hits in the winter months. While we would all like to see the latest MR filled with articles that interest us (seasoned MRs), the Mag must cultivate the new folks to the hobby in their attempt to assure that there will be MR's in the future.
IMO, its just good business sense..........
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
ATLANTIC CENTRAL John-NYBW Scratch building structures and rolling stock used to be a necessary part of model railroading. Now they are just options. RTR rolling stock and built up structures make it possible to build convincing scenes using ready made components and/or kit built structures. RMC still caters to those who want to build layouts the old fashioned way. I would rather take advantage of the modern conveniences in this hobby wherever I can. I like doing both, and still get both magazines. Sheldon
I agree.
I have subscribed to both MR and RMC for over 50 years. I still look forward to each of them every month.
I have found that articles that don't interest me now, may be of interest in the future. So I have saved every issue.
Paul
When I first subscribed to MR, the feature article was on John Allen's recent passing, so I have subscribed for some time and shall continue to do so. Yep, not all articles are something that I would "gobble up", but I enjoy the articles anyway and the publication in general.
I have always found that looking at something in a positive frame of mind always leads me in a great direction and most MRs do that for me.
Don; Prez, CEO or whatever of the Wishram, Oregon and Western RR
dknelson
'd close by saying that a week never goes by that there is not a posting on these forums that would not make a very publishable article that many MR subscribers would enjoy and benefit from.
As someoone who writes and edits for a living, I will enjoy twitting you, Dave, for your triple negative here, which if read carefully indicates that there are no weeks where no postings are unpublishable
Not my proudest moment as a writer I agree.
DK Nelson is right. I worked in news publishing for decades and with a model railroad publication for about 10 years, and well-written, accurately researched, well-illustrated magazine articles are scarce. Dave's are among the good ones, and the professional approach is the reason you see work by people like Paul Dolkos and Pelle Soeborg over and over again. Sure, a good editor can encourage a new author and sometimes salvage a good idea, but it takes hours of work that someone will want compensation for.
More common is the situation of a modeler seeing an article, deciding they can do as well, and packaging up a story. Every time brand X ran an article on making trees, there would be a dozen more stories submitted within a couple of months. An original technique for engines or weathering or buildings, not so much.
AEP528 The editor who was buying the impossibly long stories to publish in RMC -- he hsn't been there for a couple of years. trwroute Exactly why I won't renew. I really enjoy RMC, so they will get my money. I dropped my RMC sub because I got tired of 50 page "glue these commercial detail parts to this model" articles. I much prefer construction articles that focus on highlights and unique challenges that need to be solved. Oh, and scenery IS building.
The editor who was buying the impossibly long stories to publish in RMC -- he hsn't been there for a couple of years.