What do you do with your old Model Railroader Magazines?

[Anonymous]

The blade has come out ladies & Gentleman. My MR's are getting hacked apart. Only keeping what I can't live without.

No offense, but those with many years of MR on file have motivated me even more. If I keep keeping 12 issues/year, I will have a serious issue in a few years!

I'm doing this with everything in my house and everywhere in my life as a matter of fact. Slimmin' down. Feels Great!!!

[Martin4]

I keep every one of them and often browse through any one I picked ; as long as you get experience many things shine under new light.

Martin
Québec City

[chutton01]

Count me among those who extract the articles I want from a given issue (this gives me a good idea of the quality of the issue - some months yield up only one article to save, some four or five) and recycle (or toss) the remaining 'hulk'. Since I purchase other mags like Rail Model Craftsman or Mainline Modeler only if they have several articles of interest to me, their quality quotient is rather skewed...
Although not quite as organized as mondotrains, I do use several accordian folders labeled for gross-level topics (locomotives, rolling stock, structures, scenery, construction, electrical, etc.), and also label each article as to it's fine-level category (prototype locomotive, model locomotive, weathering techniques, decalling techniques, painting techniques, and so on.) Some quick tips/reviews/hints are scanned or typed into my computer.
Certainly saved a lot of space.

[ozzy01]

I keep mine. Got them from Oct.1981-present. I keep them in magazine holders,they do a good job. Each one will hold a year. I keep them for modeling projects and looking at my favorite layouts.

[Anonymous]

Save them and pretty randomly read them over and over, especially in the morning during and .....ahem....after I have my coffee.
Mark
http://webusers.warwick.net/~u1015590/

[ClinchValleySD40]

After one year, I go through them and cut out any articles or such I want to keep. Some issues are so good I keep the entire thing. Any not cut up I give to a few young people that love trains. I've also been known to leave one in the dentist office waiting room.

[Anonymous]

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

[Anonymous]

I have all of mine in their blue binders from 1980-2003. I look back at the older issues and wonder wht the heck happened to such a fine magazine. Every now and again I "toy" with the idea of getting rid of them (let's face it, moving with them is a pain in the ***.), but then I remember about an article on building a 35mm view camera, or super detailing Bowser Atlantics, or detailing and weathering some Atlas structures. Then there's Gordon Odegard's wonderful series about scratchbuilding a brass mikado, and I am reminded of why these mags stick around in my life.

[lupo]

offcourse the magazines pile up within an arms lenght of my favourite spot on the couch, if you have four piles roughly the same height, put on a 4'x 4' piece plywood on top and you have a table to put your favourite magazines on! [:D][:D]

[krump]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ConrailGP38-2

I keep them. In unorderly stacks[:D]

I like this ! he's the honest guy in the crowd[^][^][^][^][8D][:D] more power to ya Conrail
cheers[C):-)][(-D][(-D][(-D]

[Anonymous]

I have several MR magazines that was given to me ,from 1934 to 1960. I think they are awsome. thanks

[Anonymous]

I'm fairly new to the hobby,but not too long a friend of mine gave me several several issues of MR dating from 1934 to 1960.(very inspiring) thankyou

[jrbernier]

I have MR 'complete' from about 1948(when they went to the larger format). Let's get then on CD-ROM or DVD - my shelves are feeling the strain!

Jim Bernier

[Hawks05]

i might start going through my mags even though i don't have many. that way i'll save myself some room.

[mondotrains]

Yup, I'm an organization nut.....must have been those 22 years I spent building computer systems for a large insurance company....the job required organization!

By the way, if any of you guys try my idea, please let me know if I've left out a category for my notebooks. Like I said, so far I've been able to find a spot for every article I want to save.

Have fun,
Mondo

QUOTE: Originally posted by kevlar9296

Mondo,

Awesome idea. You sound like an organization junkie like me. I can't even use mine as a reference, and it's only 4 or 5 years or so worth - just too much too sift through to find what I'm looking for.

Although MR is a great magazine, after all the ads, outdated electronics information (some of my mags are 15 years old), etc., I could really cut the fat off my collection by pulling out the articles I want and recycling the rest. Good call!

Maybe I'll really build a layout instead of just reading my "collection" of magazines now!

[AggroJones]

I keep em in milk crates. I've filled about 6 of them so far. A pretty sizable chunk is MR issues from the '70s and '80s.

[Anonymous]

i have 8 years werth on a book shelf in order the rest stacked about

[Anonymous]

I harvest out all the articals I want then chuck the mag. At one point, I had more than 2000 magazines. I had to do something. They were taking over and they were everywhere, so take only what I wanted and get rid of the rest.

[Anonymous]

Mondo,

Awesome idea. You sound like an organization junkie like me. I can't even use mine as a reference, and it's only 4 or 5 years or so worth - just too much too sift through to find what I'm looking for.

Although MR is a great magazine, after all the ads, outdated electronics information (some of my mags are 15 years old), etc., I could really cut the fat off my collection by pulling out the articles I want and recycling the rest. Good call!

Maybe I'll really build a layout instead of just reading my "collection" of magazines now!

[mondotrains]

Hi Guys,
I had accumulated 20 years worth of back issues of MR Magazine but storage became a problem and it was very difficult to use them as reference because how could I possibly remember where that great article on "Making Trees" was? I thought of making a cross-reference list as some have previously suggested in this thread but realized that only a small portion of each magazine is worthwhile saving, especially with my limited storage space.

What I did was buy 3-ring notebooks from "Staples" or "Office Max". Then I bought plastic sheet protectors with 3 holes for mounting them in notebooks (I think I got 100 for a few dollars. Inside each notebook, I have a few of those section dividers...you know those heavy cardboard sheets with tabs that we used in high school to separate sections of our notebooks. Each tab allows you to write a topic on a piece of paper and slip it inside the clear or colored tab. Each of my notebooks has labels on the end which are visible when they are placed on my shelves. The labels indicate which subject tabs are inside. The following are the list of topics that have worked for me:

Weathering
Electrical
Scenery Techniques
Trees
Grass/Weeds
Roads/Crossings
Signs
Layout Plans
Backdrops
Photography
Detailing (Including Decaling)
Painting
Engines
Rolling Stock
Benchwork/Track
Layout Scenes
Operation
Detailing Buildings
Projects: Buildings
Projects: Structures

I went through all 20 years of MR magazines and cut out any article I thought would potentially be of use "some day" and placed it in a plastic sleeve. The sleeve was then placed behind a notebook tab per the above list. So far, I've found my list to work fine but I'm sure one of these days I'll find a need for another subject tab.

By the way, all my articles fit in 6 notebooks, with about 3-4 topics in each. Again, let me say that I try to be sure every article that might be of interest is saved. Every once in a while I go through the notebooks and get rid of articles that have become obsolete because I've either found a better article on the same subject or I've tried an approach suggested and didn't like it. Thus my notebooks have stayed less than full and my storage problem hasn't grown. My 6 notebooks take up a lot less space than 240 magazines. And, it's so great to be about to add a new turnout for a siding and just grab the notebook that has "Benchwork/TracK" indicated on the end-label and turn to that section and find the article on how to lay turnouts.

I should tell you that as I've gotten older, it's easy for me to forget how I laminated a control panel or what size hole I drilled to mount those Tortoise switch machines. So, I always write down how I do things....heck....the complete plan for my control panels, right down to the size holes for toggle switches and piano hinges is written down, placed in a plastic sleeve, and placed in one of my notebooks. I guess what I'm saying is that I've added my own "articles" to the ones cut out of MR magazine for handy reference.

Hope this helps.
Mondo

[easyaces]

Between MR and MRC which are the only two magazines I usually get every month, I have back issues saved from about the mid 80's boxed up in my garage.

[Anonymous]

I have issues from 1939 until last month.... only that there'e nothing between 1939 and 1994, I'm missing several issues between 1999 and 2003 and 5 of them got recycled....stupid "maid! I left them in a neat stack on a table to read the whole "easy DCC" articles, and that idiot put them in a recyling bin! that was the last time my mother hired someone to help her around the house!
Well, enough of personal tragedy, I keep my remaining MRs in binders, and those that don't fit in my room are stcked in my sister's room. This may sound crazy, but I want to have every issue of MR in a rooom (by the time I make it, MR will have been around for about 90 years).

[Anonymous]

I save all of my magazines. I often go back to them for future reference and just to look back at old articles that I've enjoyed. I keep them all on a bookshelf here in the computer room.

[Anonymous]

I ended up with so many I started indexing them (Perl scripts running a database program through my web browser - 4 lines of code sets up a web server). Once I have the newer computer hooked up fully (it has issues) with the CDRW and scanner, these mags are going to start going through the scanner mill and getting burned to CD. I'll rearrange the articles into HTML documents with thumbnails and photos. Truly a task for the ages (because that's how long it'll take to accomplish).

Speaking of issues, if anyone has the following mags to sell, contact me at [e-mail]

MR 6/1946 or 3/55 or 9/73 - E2 article
RMC 11/66 - NW3 article
RMC 3/64 - NW4 article
MR 11/52 or 8/56 - Little Joe article
RMC 11/85 - HH1000 article

[Anonymous]

Well I have only had a suscription since Christmas so I don't have too many. I guess when they start falling apart i get rid of them, that's what happened to the one I bought a while back.

[Anonymous]

There's no way I can depart from my Model Railroaders! I own every one since 1995, including all from 1976-1979 and some from the 1980's, and early 90's.

[michealfarley]

I actually have duplicates from 1993-2001 due to inheriting my father's collection. I'd like for them to have a good home rather than recycling. Has anyone gotten creative with giving useful spares to others that could use them?

[Anonymous]

I keep them. In unorderly stacks[:D]

[Anonymous]

I'd love to see MRR produce a DVD of all of their back issues from start to either now or 2000, or even better, include this year since it makes for their 70th anniversary [:D] Less paper, a lot less space, easier to find which articles you are looking for, and it's printable to bring a copy in the workshop if needed. And it would allow the younger ones like me to buy the back issues on a handy format.

[dknelson]

Subscriber since 1965; like Elliot/Big- Boy I have a complete collection going back to 1950 with a few earlier copies and the reprint of 1934 Vol. 1. I try to at least skim through them all on a regular basis because as my interests change I keep finding older issues with things of value. As a purely practical matter, the older issues are valuable for plans and structure articles, and by the late 1950s -- when some pioneers started to use styrene -- the techniques become more up to date. If I was to advise someone on acquiring older issues, I would consider going back to at least 1970 and I think you'd find plenty of useful stuff in each issue.
Dave Nelson