What do you do with your old Model Railroader Magazines?

[trainfan1221]

I keep everything, though my method of "filing" leaves something to be desired.

[Anonymous]

Stack 'em on the bathroom counter, near the throne, so I always have reading material. The wife keeps moving them, though. I thought women would know by now that the bathroom is like a home office. Why are they so slow to learn?

[BentnoseWillie]

I archive 'em - I have MR back to around 1986 with few gaps, something between half and three-quarters of RMC for the same period, and a scattering of Trains, R&R, MRG, and RMJ, plus others. I also have Canadian Railway Modeller going back to the beginning off and on.

They're mainly stored in detergent boxes and I go through them twice or three times a year to put them back in order. [:)]

[Anonymous]

When we lived in a smaller place which also had no room for a layout I had an agreement with my wife that when we hit 1980, for example, I would discard all the train mags from the 70s. Now that I have room for a layout, the magazines are stored under the layout so they don't take up any additional room. I'm happy and she doesn't complain about the accumulation of "train books".

[Anonymous]

I have all of my train and model railroad magazines(CTC BOARD,PACIFIC RAIL NEWS,RAIL NEWS,MRJ,MRing,TRAINS,MR RMC,RAILROAD/RAILFAN,and various others) in air tight plastic containers,in numerical - year order. Once I get an issue,I tape the seam so that it does not tear from the staple parts,catalog it in a notebook,read it,then put it in my collection for later reference and use.Then when someone has a question,or is looking for a certain article or subject, I can pull it out,write a note to the person requesting the info,make a copy,and send it to them.The only thing I charge for is just the copy cost. If anyone is looking for a specific article,or subject,let me know,I may have it.

[Anonymous]

I keep the ones that I can uses. The others I give them to the kid down the street. Who just love them. He all ways at my back door every saturday morning to run trains

[n2mopac]

I make an index of article that I know will be of particular help in my own modeling/layout building on my computer. Then I file them away. I have been subscribing for 10 years now, so I am now starting to pull out the issue from 10 years ago each month and re-browse it.
Ron

[CBQ_Guy]

QUOTE: Originally posted by JPM335

i used to have about 70 of them. But "one who shall not be named" threw them away.[censored][censored][censored][censored][censored][censored]

Oh, you mean your EX?!

[Junctionfan]

Shelf them; you never know when you will really need to consult the oracle. Model Railroader is small enough it can get in the way no more than a book which would equall about 5 or 6 of them.

[Anonymous]

Usually just keep them all on one shelf. In any order? no, but I don't have a very large collection.

[Anonymous]

I keep em.[:D]
They spend up to 12 months in a bookcase in the "library".
Then they get boxed by year and put on shelves in the basement. Indexes aare placed in the top of the box for easy hunting!

[Anonymous]

I would be interested in selling my whole 57-year collection [ Sept 1947-now], if the right offer came in.
May be of interest mainly to Ontario, Canada, due to the sheer weight & volume of the magazines.
Interested parties are welcome to email me.
regards;
Mike Robertson.

[Anonymous]

i used to have about 70 of them. But "one who shall not be named" threw them away.[censored][censored][censored][censored][censored][censored]

[Big_Boy_4005]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jfugate

I store them the same way public libraries do ... vertically in magazine boxes. I order them chronologically and then whenever I do an index search on here, I go to the right box and pull the issue.

I have a complete collection of MR going all the way back into the 1950s. Every now and then I have need to pull an older issue when I'm doing research. I did the "cut out the stuff that looks interesting and save it" route on my old NMRA bulletins, then did an index search on here for a topic and found I had clipped and thrown out the part from that issue I wanted.

No more! I just save them in the cardboard boxes ... you can find them at OfficeMax and OfficeDepot for a reasonable price.

Absolutely Joe, if you have the space, don't destroy them. Just yesterday I looked something up when someone here asked a question. There is no substitute for a complete library, especially if you have already paid for the material.[;)]

[jfugate]

I store them the same way public libraries do ... vertically in magazine boxes. I order them chronologically and then whenever I do an index search on here, I go to the right box and pull the issue.

I have a complete collection of MR going all the way back into the 1950s. Every now and then I have need to pull an older issue when I'm doing research. I did the "cut out the stuff that looks interesting and save it" route on my old NMRA bulletins, then did an index search on here for a topic and found I had clipped and thrown out the part from that issue I wanted.

No more! I just save them in the cardboard boxes ... you can find them at OfficeMax and OfficeDepot for a reasonable price.

[Noah Hofrichter]

I finally signed up for a subscription a few years ago, but I get as many old MR's as I can and I keep them. I've got about thirty of just MR's right now, then about 20 Trains, and about 5 MRC. I used to read the current issue at the library, but then i decided I'd rather have the issues in my library.

Noah

[greendiamond]

For those in the recycle mode (magazine relocation-landfill,etc.), you might want to consider any retirement homes, nursing facilities, VA hospitals, scout troops, etc to see if they are interested. Most of these places or groups don't have the funds for subscriptions, but may be willing to take back issues off your hands for others to enjoy.

You might want to take a couple of issues with you to your next doctors appointment and leave them at the office. You know with the rest of the out dated magazines. Maybe someone will pick it up, take it home and get involved with the hobby.

Take some of your old magazines with you to the train shows you may attend and ask some of the parents if it's okay to give some to their children.

Remember if you are going to get rid of them anyway, why not share with others.

November is National Model Railroad Month....Contact your local library.....Maybe they will allow you to give them your magazines to pass out free to their patrons in November.

I too will begin to clip articles I want to save to thin the herd. Some magazines will not have anything removed and those will be donation fodder. The rest will be recycled.


Mike Tyl

[Anonymous]

I put them in a pile until I can go through them & keep the covers & cut all of the informative articles & put them in clear organizer storage envalopes & recycle the rest of the magazine! .............PS; I do wi***hat they'd put them all on CD programs for the computer! Kind of like what MAD Magazine has done. I've got the whole collection with EVERY page on just a few CD's.........."HAPPY RAILS"

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by CBQ_Guy
Finally, I really think those of you who only copy, tear out and keep the articles you're interested in are making a BIG mistake and will be sorry someday. I say this because your interests in the hobby may change at some point in the future, or you may become curious about some other facet, scale, whatever some day, and you won't have the magazines to go looking through for articles on that newly acquired interest. Too late!

I totally hear you, but unfortunately, if I kept every piece of paper / article related to my career, hobbies, etc. that I came across that could possibly interest me in the future, I'd probably have a 10,000 square foot library.

Trying to live on the leaner side of life here... (two moves in a year, plus helping a couple other people move has helped shape this attitude. Everyone has a reason for keeping their junk, that's why they have so much)

With the internet, there's even less reason to keep stuff.

At least now I'm mostly a digital packrat. I keep a lot of junk on my computer. By the time my day has come to go (I'm young, so I've got some time here) my offspring will only have to throw away the present day equivalent of a few dvd's! [:)]

[leighant]

I read my Model Railroader several times, then I catalogue it for various information:
Any rolling stock of Santa Fe Rwy. All data catalogued by car class.
Any photos, track diagrams of stations (locations, not just depot buildings) on ATSF.
Any layouts representing Santa Fe prototypes.
Any other Santa Fe information.
Railroads, other (ie other than Santa Fe). I keep detailed catalogues of info on rolling stock & other info on SP, MoPac, other RRs that operated in Texas, AND PRR.
Railroads, general information.
Industry-specific data on traffic and commodities of my 25 or so favorite industries.
Modeling information (general) on casting, couplers and trucks, electrical, freight car modeling, layouts outstandings (about 1 in 4 covered in Model Railroader
locomotives, operations, painting, passenger modeling, photography, scenery, signalling, structure techniques, track.
Structure plans and photographs usable for modeling, filed in about 20 subcategories.
Texas towns.
Texas layouts (located in Texas and model of Texas RRs)
Houston layouts (in and of)
East Texas forest industries and forest-related railroading.

Then I put the magazines in my library. I have some issues back to 1948. The collection is complete only from 1966.
My railroad information file is about 3MB. Sometimes I actually use some of it for modeling!!!

[CBQ_Guy]

I keep all mine for reference. Have all from 1966, IIRC, up to July of 1978, I believe. Then there is a large gap. Started subscribing again around 1990 or so, and have them all up to now. All are packed away in boxes in the basement, but as I work on room prep down there in anticipation of building the "dream layout", shelves will be installed to hold them, and others, too.

Many years ago I used to buy the binders, but they got too expensive, so when I take them out of the boxes, I think I'll just buy some kind of cheap, cardboard bin type holders for magazines and organize them by year.

Finally, I really think those of you who only copy, tear out and keep the articles you're interested in are making a BIG mistake and will be sorry someday. I say this because your interests in the hobby may change at some point in the future, or you may become curious about some other facet, scale, whatever some day, and you won't have the magazines to go looking through for articles on that newly acquired interest. Too late!

[krump]

I'm building a garage for magazine storage

[Anonymous]

I have constructed cabinets along one wall of my railroad shop. The bulk of the cabinets have drawers designed so that I can hang my MRs on stainless bars, three years worth to a drawer. I have full years of MR back to 1948, and intermittent copies back to 1937. I also have a listing of every article on locomotives (including drawings), cars, structures, and what have you so I can reference whatever I am working on. Give up a single issue of MR? Never! It is so easy to find railroad related information when you have your own archive and a complete index. Granted, it does take about a half day once a year to keep the index updated, but that is no real hassle with a computer. I do not present this as the best answer or the only answer to the problem of magazine storage. It is quite simply the system that works best for me.

For the thrill of a lifetime, blow some steam up your pant leg.

Tom

[JoeVoisinSr]

I keep all of my MR magazines, mostly in boxes but I do keep afile on articles of special interest to me. I also like to pick up older issues of MR at model railroad shows. You can usually pick them up for around 50 cents which is a great savings and the information in these older issues is still terrific. Joe Voisin Sr. NW Ohio

[Anonymous]

I have every issue since Sept 1947. There may be other categories than listed in the poll, as I think I save most of them for sentimental reasons rather than future reference....Years ago, I went through all of them, and made up a "future reference" index, and it was pretty well all on structure and detail projects that could be adapted to "today's" materials...although I am not hesitant to use "yesterday's" materials.
I keep them on steel shelving, under the layout, in those 'Bankers Box' foldup boxes, that hold magazines vertically.
The 40's-50's issues I have 3 years in a box....later there are two. For the 80's, a box holds one years' worth.Right now, about 15-16 issues fit in a box.
Even now, every once in a while, I'll get out a box and review some old articles, just for fun, and to reminisce.
I will be re-reading through many of John Armstrong's articles next.
regards;
Mike[:)]

[TrainFreak409]

Okay,
I may only be 15. And, I may have only signed up for MR a year ago. But, I have A LOT of train magazines. Let's see, I have MR, Trains, Classic Toy Trains, Garden Railways, MRC, Extra 2200 South, Railfan, and Railroad, S Gaugian, Walthers, Historic Rails, ummm, uh, there's more, I know there is.
And, working at a train store has helped me find very useful magazines. My oldest is from 1953.

I plan to never throw away a train magazine, no matter how much space they take up.

[8]TrainFreak409[8]

[darth9x9]

I keep a spreadsheet listing the articles that I may need in the future. I take my old issues and store them on a shelf in chorological order for easy retrieval.

[Anonymous]

When I buy a Model Railroader Magazine I store it away in a filing box for future reference.

[Big_Boy_4005]

QUOTE: Originally posted by TEFFY

This years issues are all over the house, but mostly on the floor on my side of the bed. The last 5 years are in the blue binders. After that they go in a 2 gallon zip lock bag and are under the layout in cardboard boxes. Some times if I feel like reading I'll go open an old year and just reread the whole year. The ads make me sick United ATSF 2-8-0 $39.95 and I only bought two.

Bob

Ahhh, finally someone else who reads the old ads. Those of you wielding sharp objects are killing me.[swg]

OK, I admit it. I'm lucky to have the space and money to be able to afford to keep them all in binders and on bookshelves.

The online index is really the key. if someone asks a question, it is a simple task to look up the answer. My reference library is always open, however it is not a lending library.