angelob6660 Sure the magazine has it's ups and downs that doesn't mean you need to complain about it. Like it was said before just stop buying the magazine and/or hobby and get a new one.
Sure the magazine has it's ups and downs that doesn't mean you need to complain about it. Like it was said before just stop buying the magazine and/or hobby and get a new one.
Have you read the thread? You would have noticed that I am not changing hobbies but am changing scales to help get me excited again. If MR works for you, fine. But for me and some others, not so much anymore.
Chuck - Modeling in HO scale and anything narrow gauge
What good is this thread for?
Each and everyone is intitled to his/her opinion, but it is sometimes wiser to keep them between one´s own ears.
Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses!
I have been receiving MR for over 30 years, and I would say about 5 to 10 articles a year really interests me, the rest I could care less. I blame that on me and not MR. MR is trying to cover a broad audience and my interests are very specific, i.e B&O railroad; eastern panhandle of West Virginia; 1920s; scratchbuilding and high end craftsman kits. MR has to cover beginner level to craftsman; civil war era to contemporary; tight budget to sky is the limit; the entire North America; shelve layouts to massive choo-choo barns etc. Therefore I am very patient with MR during the times it does not cover my interests. I am grateful that it captures a large audience to continue the popularity of this hobby so that there will be plenty of resources available for all of us modelers.
I am towards the begineer/intermediate (closer to intermediate) modeler, and I agree with some of the mags. Although, not every magazine is going to be a gem, they mostly all do have two or three great articles, and I do enjoy the "Trains of thought" as well. Plus the N scale section is good, even if I model only HO scale-it's still refreshing to see what other modelers can do. There is one thing that I am not a super fan of-how much exposure Pelle Soleberg is getting. He's an amazing model railroader, his work is great and inspiring, but how many times can you have an article with his layout? It seems like currently they are mostly focusing on modern era layouts-while I am a sucker for the transition era stuff. Regardless, even if there is one "bad" month, the next month usually makes up for it.
(My Model Railroad, My Rules)
These are the opinions of an under 35 , from the east end of, and modeling, the same section of the Wheeling and Lake Erie railway. As well as a freelanced road (Austinville and Dynamite City railroad).
This topic appears about twice a year and runs for three or more pages and then dies a natural death. Not sure, having read all the posts, that everyone ends up happy after the discussion.
I spent three years moderating this forum as a form of service, along with at least four other gentlemen. This is where I found my information, but also the diversity of personality and experience, but also interests in the hobby, that sometimes sparked some nasty flames. Our Op is but the latest to say the hobby has grown stale to a large extent, and that MR doesn't seem to make any headway from issue-to-issue in helping to keep it interesting, even developmental.
I recall maybe three years ago many of us were rather cross, and largely in agreement, that our hosts were dropping the ball and simply running old articles aimed at beginners. I do honestly believe that they kept an eye on what we were saying and the issues began to improve noticeably, and appreciably, by mid 2011 or so.
I have changed. My tastes and ambitions have gelled and been largely achieved, so the magazine just doesn't get to my particular interests much, or as often. Hence, I have not purchased a single one this year. I would be a liar, though, if I didn't admit I look forward to, and scrutinize each issue to make sure I'm not passing up a good one.
-Crandell
The biggest problem I have with MRR is all the first person narrative writing. I grow tired of "and then I", "then I" or "next I"....
English is my native language and the only foriegn language I have ever studied and in my freshman English class at the university we had to write without first person pro-nouns. That was truely a challenge. I would like to see more articles written without first person pro-nouns.
Just my own opinion....
Modeling a railroad hypothetically set in time.
It's just like the LHS.. decline, The internet has changed everything.
You can find a lot of info online.
Used to be that magazines (and the LHS) were your only source, besides traveling Model RR shows.
Even newspapers have seen a decline in readership.
It's the Big Bad Internet that's the problem.
Drew4950The biggest problem I have with MRR is all the first person narrative writing. I grow tired of "and then I", "then I" or "next I"....
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
I have been a subscriber for decades, and have no plan to let my subscription lapse.
That said, I can count the references to my prototype in the last fifty years on the fingers of one hand and still have several left to scratch my ear. Note that said prototype isn't the Podunk and Northern (six miles of track, a Whitcomb diesel and serves two lumber yards and a china clay pit.) It's a national railway system that has, and needs, stretches of main eight tracks wide! (I won't even consider modeling that part.) The ads don't help me, either. (The only one featuring something I might run was for a 1:24 scale D51. I model in 1:80.)
So, why do I subscribe? For articles on signal detection, specifics of modeling a scene, plans for a resistance soldering rig. More recently, to help support this forum. Fairly recently I shed a subscription for a mag that was big on detailing specific rolling stock - that I will never own and couldn't use if I did. If they had an equivalent forum...
Just my . Other opinions are equally valid.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
tomikawaTTNote that said prototype isn't the Podunk and Northern (six miles of track, a Whitcomb diesel and serves two lumber yards and a china clay pit.)
Chuck,Think you would like the old Hooten Hollow & Western..It uses a RS3,is 12 miles long and handles lumber,puplwood and wood chips.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
trwroute In February of this year, I broke a 40+ year tradition of buying Model Railroader magazine. My Dad and I either purchased the mag at the LHS or subscribed to it since 1972. It doesn't have much of anything that excites me like it once did. I'm not sure what it is, perhaps too much effort is going into MRVP, I don't know. It's just all pretty pictures with no substance. I do subscribe to MRVP, but now that I've seen what I want to see, that may be on the way out also. I absolutely loved MR and eagerly looked forward to each and every issue. Columns, such as Paint Shop, were great fun to read and were a monthly favorite. I was talking to a friend of mine that works at the LHS and his response was that I'm not missing anything. That pretty much summed it up for me. Even the forums (all forums, not just this one) are stale. Maybe I'm suffering a case of burnout, but my modeling still goes on as strong as it always has. Who knows. Sorry for the rambling...
In February of this year, I broke a 40+ year tradition of buying Model Railroader magazine. My Dad and I either purchased the mag at the LHS or subscribed to it since 1972. It doesn't have much of anything that excites me like it once did. I'm not sure what it is, perhaps too much effort is going into MRVP, I don't know. It's just all pretty pictures with no substance.
I do subscribe to MRVP, but now that I've seen what I want to see, that may be on the way out also.
I absolutely loved MR and eagerly looked forward to each and every issue. Columns, such as Paint Shop, were great fun to read and were a monthly favorite.
I was talking to a friend of mine that works at the LHS and his response was that I'm not missing anything. That pretty much summed it up for me.
Even the forums (all forums, not just this one) are stale. Maybe I'm suffering a case of burnout, but my modeling still goes on as strong as it always has. Who knows.
Sorry for the rambling...
Chuck
Many of us probably feel the same way, but don't tell us, email the editor of MR.
They must be interested in knowing our thoughts since we spend money with them.
CZ
trwroute.....but my modeling still goes on as strong as it always has.
Cheers, the Bear.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
I don't have it here in front of me but I believe the last issue had an article on how to weather track. Again. When I first saw it I thought, good grief, not another article on weathering track! But then I thought back to when that part of the hobby was REALLY important to me and I would have really liked another article on making scale track look more like the real thing.
It has to be tough producing a magazine, any magazine,.... fishing, hunting, photography... whatever, and keep the ones that have read what seems to be a thousand articles on the subject interested while not going over the heads of beginners.
I think MRR magazine is still a fine publication and hope to be able to subscribe for years to come.
I think the magazine is still great, I plan to keep on subscribing.
Mike
nw2 I wish they published more articles on locomotive and rolling stock plans with prototype information regarding ownership/ service history etc.
The magazines Mainline Modeller, Model Railroading, and Rail Model Journal used to have many articles similar to what you request. I guess there was just not enough desire for those articles since all three magazines are no longer published.
trwroute,There's one thing missing from your posts: you don't say what you want to see in MR or on the Forums. In yon olden days over on rec.models.railroad, when someone complained about the signal-to-noise content of the group, the usual refrain was, "Well, then start a good thread you like."
While that advice doesn't really apply to MR, it might be more helpful to the magazine and to us all if you were to list some things you'd like to see in MR besides "Paint Shop" (and you can forget about ever seeing that column again because there aren't that many people custom painting anymore...not like 20 years ago). Just remember that MR is a for-profit business, and they want the widest net to catch the most readers.
One thing I'd like to add: say what you will about MR, they are a professional quality magazine. There are few if any typos. The photo captions are not simply repeated text from the story. The photo reproduction is first rate, and the choices of photos used are the same. It so easily could not be.
Paul A. Cutler III
Ouch gang if this is what I think may be the future our magazines may only be found online with a subscription
to full content either emailed and referenced to this site using our passwords and no more monthly hard cover
paper versions. I'll probably won't ever be a digital only subscriber if that should eventually happen.
I will be 73 in a couple of weeks and have subscribed/read MR since the early 1950's. I used to love the scratch build artiles by Jack Work and a few others whose names I can't recall. When stryrene came into the hobby it was a 'big deal' as it changed the scratch building method and a new line of articles was evolving. Today, RTR or plastic structure kits or built ups seems to be the norm. The hobby has definately changed and I have changed with it. Seven years ago I started my first HO layout in 30 years based on how I built my previous layout. I soon realized that there were newer and sometimes better ways to do things. I tried using caulk to hold the cork roadbed and track down. Wow, what a difference. Then two years ago I tried DCC (and only because of MR magazine and this forum; info, questions, answers, photos and videos). I now have 60 engines: 30 are DCC and 15 of those have sound. I never dreamed I would be using a laptop computer to 'program' my locomotives. Now it is no big deal. And whether MR magazine has improved or not, the hobby has forced it to change. I still enjoy the magazine and most of the articles (even if they don't reflect my interests) and will continue to subscribe. They can't please all of the readers all of the time and I can understand if someone looses interest in the magazine, especially if it doesn't feed your interest.
-Bob
PS: I don't know what the circulation of MR is but I know it 'ain't one of the most popular ones'. If I can help keep it in production with my subscription then I will feel like I am contributing to the hobby's survival.
Life is what happens while you are making other plans!
"Model Railroader" is a magazine about the aspiration to produce the finest in model trains. It is not designed for new model railroaders, but is there to instruct the "old hands" and to inspire all.
"Model Trains" is a magazine that is an introduction to model railroading. It is a basic magazine for beginners.
Ed
Way back in the 70s, thanks to an adult friend (Thank you Mr. Bowman!), I had a chance to read MR all the way back to 1947.
Way back then, the letter columns had letters about how the hobby was changing for the worse and MR was going downhill and somebody or the other was dropping their subscription.
Some things never change.
Disclaimer: This post may contain humor, sarcasm, and/or flatulence.
Michael Mornard
Bringing the North Woods to South Dakota!
My trouble with the mag is that it has not kept up with the times as far as construction and on some articles I have to wince at the wrong info being given out or not listing all the steps. As far as MRH, their first couple showed real promise and their article on the reality of S curves is a must read but they have gotten away from that only because they have found that doing a quarterly is a lot different than doing a monthly, just not enough content submitted. Forums seem to be dying somewhat too.
My 2 cents:
I have subscribed, then unsubscribed, then re-subscribed- so I have been all over that map. I guess I just like the idea of looking forward to getting a new issue in my mailbox each month. Kind of like looking forward to a good dinner out at a restaurant every so often.
Someone (on this forum) recently said that "if you haven't read it yet, it's a new issue", so if I finally get the $200 MR disc, I guess I have a lot of reading enjoyment ahead of me, but there is another thought about content that I would like to offer.
When I research a new project, I often come across blogs by model railroaders that appear to be "lone wolves" on the internet, but who publish their work and their techniques as a sort of public service. I greatly enjoy coming across these and I wonder if MR should try to reach out to such writers for new material. That might enliven the magazine significantly, but how that process would occur I do not know. I wonder if someone at MR has a favorites list of such modeler's websites, but has not made the effort to directly contact them about publishing in MR?
Cedarwoodron
mobilman44 wrote: However, I can't say that MR (or Playboy for that matter) is as exciting to me as it once was.
However, I can't say that MR (or Playboy for that matter) is as exciting to me as it once was.
I decided to combine both interests:
On the back wall of the roundhouse, above the workbench between the center and right tracks, there are era-appropriate playmates. I made the images larger than scale so you could see them better.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
All of the members of my personal model railroad club are Playmates.
Rich
Alton Junction
I'm so glad this thread hasn't gone off the rails!
There are at least two things I would like to see come back...
1) Railroads You Can Model - There are so many shortlines around now that are unknown to a lot of modelers.
2) Paint Shop - Like was mentioned, probably not. The articles did have a bit of a story behind the featured item being modeled and they were always informative.
Anything that goes in-depth, such as the sort-of-recent freight car articles that were in RMC. That is what MR used to have, but not so much anymore. To me, the MR articles (a lot of them, anyway) just scratch the surface. There are still a bunch of us that like to build and detail things, but unfortunately, there aren't many magazines that cover this stuff anymore.
I realize this will never happen, look at what happened to RMJ, MRG, and Mainline Modeler. I miss them.
IMO- Things I like about the magazine
The From the Editor
The RPO
The information Desk
Step by Step/Workshop tips
The product reviews/DCC corner
Things I don't like
Not much focus on Kit building/scratch building
Before this year- a distinct focus on the modern era modeling and a lack of steam articles-although the weathering article was great, but not a lot of steam era layoutsA focus only on giant basement sized layouts, and not on what a person can do with a limited space. I remember a few years ago that Model railroader used to always have at least one tiny layout a magazine, now we are lucky if we get a handful in a year. This year has been an improvement though
Just something in general that bugs me; I would love to see Model railroader start a series about modeling railroads if you are not finanically well off. Call it something like "model railroading economically". Then again, I would love to see Walthers introduce a line of affordable products for those starting out.
I also like the idea posted above about starting up the "railroad you can model" again. For example, there is a great shortline in SW PA-the Pennsylvania southwestern railroad, or the Wheeling and Lake Erie.
trwroute,Do you realize that you are suggesting that MR become like it's distantly 2nd place competition? Or become like three defunct competitors? MR's circulation is roughly 3 times that of RMC's, and why is that?
The facts are obvious: in-depth articles are not a sales leader. If they were, RMC would be No. 1, and MM, RMJ, et al, would still be in business while MR would be gone.
Paul3 trwroute,Do you realize that you are suggesting that MR become like it's distantly 2nd place competition? Or become like three defunct competitors? MR's circulation is roughly 3 times that of RMC's, and why is that? The facts are obvious: in-depth articles are not a sales leader. If they were, RMC would be No. 1, and MM, RMJ, et al, would still be in business while MR would be gone.
That's why I said what I did in my last post. It's too bad those aren't still around, but I'm not asking MR to be just like those. There can be a balance. Just finding that balance seems to be hard.
With those 3 being gone and RMC with their own problems, I think the door would be wide open for not only with most of what MR is now, but to also include stuff like what's been talked about here. I wouldn't think it would be too difficult, but since I've never run a magazine...
I think if MR did feature more in-depth articles along with the current stuff, it would only help their circulation. I would sure buy it again.