rrinker I used Ad Block Plus and I haven't seen an ad here in ages. And all those inline ads in YouTube? None of those, either. My YouTube watching is blissfully ad free. Clearly works - because on this page, ie, clicking on this thread, it blocked 5 ads so far. And there are no pop ads in the digital version of the magazine, or the digital versions of special issues, or any of the books. --Randy
I used Ad Block Plus and I haven't seen an ad here in ages. And all those inline ads in YouTube? None of those, either. My YouTube watching is blissfully ad free. Clearly works - because on this page, ie, clicking on this thread, it blocked 5 ads so far.
And there are no pop ads in the digital version of the magazine, or the digital versions of special issues, or any of the books.
--Randy
Yep, same for me.
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Must have allowed them. I used Ad Block Plus and I haven't seen an ad here in ages. And all those inline ads in YouTube? None of those, either. My YouTube watching is blissfully ad free. Clearly works - because on this page, ie, clicking on this thread, it blocked 5 ads so far.
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Ads? What ads? Why the ones right here on this very web site on which I am reading this very forum. Pop right up on me every time I start. Even with Ad Block.
NVSRR That what they did with Garden Railways. Went bimonthly for two years. Then quarterly. NOw gone. Haven't seen anything pop up in MR from GR. Like I was hopeing it would.
I believe that GR was bimonthly for many years. At least 20 if I remember correctly, and perhaps all the way back to the beginning. Then when it switched to quarterly, I stopped my subscription.
Modeling the D&H in 1984: http://dandhcoloniemain.blogspot.com/
Print magazines are dead, most of the mags that you grew up with are gone or digital only. I am talking about most of the mags our mothers or sisters read too, even Family Circle is gone. Now the funny part is there are more titles than ever out there but many are nitch ones with limited readership much smaller than MR. Good news is MR is moving to digital.
They need to find a working balance of advanced modeler, technical, and beginner. But written so that the beginner con follow the advanced but the advanced can still learn something new from the beginner. Like the way it used to be written. I realize it is a contributor based, but they need to do better at accepting more articles. Like maybe just rewriting an article to fit the space instead of rejecting it out right because it won't fit. They have to publish them faster too cause some articles now have a shelf life. Where at one time, none of them did.
shane
A pessimist sees a dark tunnel
An optimist sees the light at the end of the tunnel
A realist sees a frieght train
An engineer sees three idiots standing on the tracks stairing blankly in space
Ads? What ads? Digital subscriptions don;t have popup ads, they have the same ads as the print version - and in the case of some publications, the ads also link to the advertiser's web page. There's simply sending out a digital form of the print magazine, and then there's actually using the different medium - take a look at the other options out there and see if you still feel the same way about digital reading, although a magazine is best on a tablet size device, phones are far too small, and a full computer screen ties you to a desk. With my tablet I can relax in the same comfy chair I read print material in.
Back when RMC was published in New Jersey, they were much more concentrated on Eastern roads, which made it more appealing to me compared to MR and yet another midwest layout. It only made sense - it's easiest to go doa layout feature on something close to the offices, and people generally tend to model something near them, with some notable exceptions.
There is of course no pleasing some people., The average technical level of MR went up under Andy Sperandeo's editorial tenure, but people complained about not enough beginner material. When there's beginner material, people complain that there's not enough advanced material. Nothing new - way back in the 60's there is an anecdote about how RMC published a John Allen article, when one hadn't appeared in MR in some time, and MR got a letter that said "stop printing so much John Allen stuff"
I been reading MR for 60+ years now, since my first HO layout. I read RMC too but preferred MR. Something about MR had a better look to it. I have a stack on the corner of the vanity in my restroom, I like to read it at the diner or kitchen table. Or when travelling. Don't care to read on computer devices. (Also read Nat Geo and Scientific American) I do read cover to cover, the ads are interesting as well as the articles. Online I hate when I get my mouse lined up and as I am about to click,BOOM, up pops the full page buy/subscribe ad for something they sell. Reminds me of when I am reading the paper and my wife drops a stack of mail on it in front of me.
ATLANTIC CENTRALI have also never gotten "attached" to writers or editors, they come, they go.....
I miss the Russ Larson years. That was when the magazine was always exciting to find in the mailbox. Maybe a lot more of it had to do with my age than Russ Larson's editing style.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Well, I'm not much for reading books or mags on a computer screen, but I am getting a little more use to it.
I've been a subscriber to MR since about 1971.......and I still have them all........
And most of the three decades before that........
I do currently subsribe to RMC as a well, and have been an off and on RMC subscriber since the 80's.
My total RMC collection is almost as complete as my MR collection........
And then there are the books.......
Having been at this pretty steady since about 1968, my view is that these publications evolve, they always have.
Sometimes I really enjoy them, somtimes not so much. But for the price of the subscription, I would just has soon have them as not. They are a reference tool and a historical record.
Back in the day, RMC was a little more as the title implies, a little more "serious".
MR, while very mature or serious at several points in its history, has always remained a little more "broad" in its appeal and scope.
I am amused at the idea that every issue of a magazine should be filled with "what I want to model". It's a big tent even if you just focus on HO and N scale.
I have also never gotten "attached" to writers or editors, they come, they go.....
I still find much of the 30, 40 and 50 year old information very useful, that is why I have 2000 plus magazines, and hundreds of books, that will store neatly under the layout.......and on the large bookcase I am building in my office.
Videos generally bore me silly........
If anyone wants hints of how to store magazines, let me know. There is one simple trick that saves a ton of space.
Did I mention the NMRA publications, and others that have come and gone, Model Railroading, The Scale Coupler, etc.......
Sheldon
SeeYou190 RMC, back then and today, seems like it is directed towards people that are NOT having fun with model railroading. For my hobby ambitions, electric trains are about fun, and RMC never made a connection with me.
RMC, back then and today, seems like it is directed towards people that are NOT having fun with model railroading.
For my hobby ambitions, electric trains are about fun, and RMC never made a connection with me.
Okay I'll take the bait on this one, I guess since I have already said my subscription money has gone to RMC.Personally my biggest gripe with Model Railroader currently is a lot of the content is limited to that created by the editors's and their "project layouts." We all know the names, the Milwaukee Racine and Troy, "The Beer Line", Koester's Nickel Plate Road, Soeborg's Daneburg and Daneville layouts, etc. The problem this creates for me though is it gets, boring fast seeing the same five layouts issue to issue. I have a running joke in my friend group, its a Model Railroader issue if its all about any of the following 1) an Appalachian TT&TO coal layout, 2) a Rio Grande Narrow Gauge layout, 3) a granger Mid-West layout, 4) a Mojave Desert layout 5) an eastern city with a steel mill. Its a very strong reflection of the interests of the MRR staff, and it just gets very very samey very fast. It doesn't help that many of the featured layouts from guest writers also tend to hit similar themes (there are exceptions, that OO layout and the recent Civil War layout were highlights). Here is the thing if I wanted to read up on Pelle or Tony's work, what is cheaper? Subscribing to a magazine to get a drip feed over several years, or buying one of the regular Kalmbach books that compiles their articles into one paperback for about $20? I tend to find it much more digestable to read the paperbacks for a MRR "staff project" layout than I do seeing it fill up magazine space every few months.That is what struck me differently about RMC when I picked it up a few years ago. Yes, the staff has their pet interests, I know Otto is very much into the commuter scene and modeling that. However, RMC tends to put a bigger focus on their reader's contributions. There is no "staff White River Productions" layout, the star of each issue really is the guest layouts. I remember in 2019 reading the stuff themed around the NMRA Convention in Utah by interviewing various local layout owners who live in the area. You'd think that picking up a bunch of Utah based layouts would be a nonstop theme of Rio Grande or something like that, but instead we saw everything from the docks of New York City to the plains of Wyoming in those layouts. Not to mention it was still layered between other RMC issues that year which visited many other themes and layout settings. So for me, that's more fun. Its a lot more variety, there is a sense of pride in the layout owners being featured, etc. Not to mention the greater focus on prototype information in RMC is a boon for model railroaders trying to build up their reference library. I feel Model Railroader would improve it took a step back from focusing on their own staff projects and tried to tailor the issues to more reader contributions, more of that unique stuff like the Civil War layout or OO scale layout I already mentioned and less of revisiting the same five layouts over and over again. I got tired after three years of subscriptions to MRR (and various magazines bought at stores before then) that the magazines all blurred together into a very samey collection over time without enough variety issue to issue to help each one stand out.
That what they did with Garden Railways. Went bimonthly for two years. Then quarterly. NOw gone. Haven't seen anything pop up in MR from GR. Like I was hopeing it would.
when I first got MR back in 87. It only took a few months of reading to see beginner, various middle range, and then expert. Then F&SM appeared. I realized I could go from beginner to expert. By just reading the articles and doing the steps. It wasn't all that more difficult. Just more steps involved. But not any harder. They need to go back to that format style so as to keep new readers going and giving them a path to follow. Not just stay on the beginner level. I am where I am now because of how MR was done then.
Shane
DoughlessI wouldn't be surprised to see MR go to a Bi-Monthly or even a Quarterly issuance.
That would surprise me a lot. Monthly magazines are still very much normal.
I wouldn't be surprised to see MR go to a Bi-Monthly or even a Quarterly issuance.
- Douglas
You had to quote me? Back to magazines....
While I'll glance through a copy of MR at my LHS now and then, I haven't subscribed to it for years because I just don't find much in it that's beneficial to me. Consequently, I find the Kalmbach "topical" books much better suited to my interests.
I like the ads. I actually look at them to see what new products are available, particularly now with shows and shops either unavailable or restricted. When I get a pop-up ad on a video screen, I close the page. Even here on the forums, MR has lost some content control and I get car ads and other unrelated junk. Will a totally digital MR subject us to unwanted, even inappropriate, advertising?
And I also leave magazines in doctors' and dentists' offices. I did the same with Walthers flyers. Patients deserve something better than Parenting or Golf magazine.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
MisterBeasleyMR is the only magazine I get.
I am still a subscriber to many printed magazines. Model Railroader and Fine Scale Modeler or course.
I also subscribe to two wargaming magazines. These are the example I wish MR would follow. The subscriptions are over $100.00 per year, but there are ZERO advertisements, and content is cover to cover. Lots of columns and long well thought out reviews of new rules sets and products.
I get Tamiya's model building magazine, and this is another great example of a hobby periodical. It is not just a big advertisement for Tamiya's products. It is geared towards a hobbiest that really wants to improve their skills and includes very objective reviews of products from all manufacturers.
Then there is Smithsonian, National Geographic, Time, and of course, the AARP magazine since I am old and retired now.
rrebellTrouble is they want alot for their video content.
I think Model Railroader Video Plus is a bargain. I find it well worth the cost.
NittanyLionWhen I was a kid, I always had an RMC subscription
I was given a subscription the Railroad Model Craftsman as a Christmas gift when I was in middle school. I am glad I also had Model Railroader coming every month. RMC, back then and today, seems like it is directed towards people that are NOT having fun with model railroading.
BigDaddyI'm in Mr B's camp. I can take a magazine into the bathtub, up a deer stand or outside in bright sun.
And... you can leave the print copy in the Dentist's office lobby when you are finished with it.
PC101If you have bills to pay, why do you deep discount you product? The November 2020 magazine sells over the counter at $7.99 with zero benafits, but sells to a Subscriber for approximately $3.74 and you get many extra benefits that cost the Company more money. Now is this magazine really worth the $7.99 or is it only worth $3.74? Is the Publising Company hurting themselves with discounts or are the Subscribers hurting the Company?
The more subscribers a magazine has, the more they can charge their advertisers, and the more subscribers they have, the more companies want to advertise in that magazine.
Subscribers also provide a guaranteed sales amount for each issue. It's kinda like a bowling center. Sure they make money on occassional bowlers, birthday parties, etc., but it's the number of leagues that determine whether they succeed or not.
Remember the price the consumer in the hobby shop pays for the magazine isn't what the hobby shop paid for it, they paid less so they can make a profit on the sale. Subscriptions can cost less because they cut out the 'middle man' and sell direct to the customer.
cold stealHow's this for a change. It's friday the 13th and I still didn't receive my issue.
The joys of Digital. I got and read mine 4 weeks ago it seems.
Isn;t there still a code in the front of the retail copy for access to that month's subscriber extras? There used to be, meaning that buying it over the counter you still got access tot he bonus content online.
Just think of all the train stuff you could have purchased had you subscribed and saved that money instead of paying full price for every issue.
The price you pay is a mere fraction of the revenue generated by the issue. It's the ads that generate the real income. Don't forget there are others out there, oneof which is entiorely ad supported, no cost to subscribe. And the quality is good.
I've been an MR subscriber fairly continuously for 30 years now, and occasionally before that. I was an early adopter of digital, although for a while I got both print and digital editions. Witht he advent of the 75 year collection, I got rid of all my paper copies, ioncluding the years of older issues used to scour train shows for. With the recent update of that which adds 10 more years on to that (I hope they keep doing this every 10 years), I now have every MR from the beginning to the end of 2019 available, even if Zinio goes away (the service they use for digital subscriptions - I can access any issue I've ever gotten through my digital subscription there, but if Zinio goes belly up, I've lost it all, but not now since I have DVDs of it all to load on my computer). So I really have no need for the online archive - I already have all those issues, right on my computer.
I just do not know what to think. I have been buying MR at cover price since some where around 1977. I never had a subscription that I can remember. I was reading and learning from at least three other 'model railroad' rags on and off in that time frame also. You know Magazines can take up a lot of space.
Here's the funny part. I paid cover price all those years and received nothing extra. Back then there was nothing extra that I can think of anyway, so no big deal.
MR magazine 'deep discounts cover price' if you "Subscribe''. Half if not more of the cover price is knocked off and with "Benefits". Now you get more for less.
If you have bills to pay, why do you deep discount your product?
The November 2020 magazine sells over the counter at $7.99 with zero benafits, but sells to a Subscriber for approximately $3.74 and you get many extra benefits that cost the Company more money.
Now is this magazine really worth the $7.99 or is it only worth $3.74?
Is the Publising Company hurting themselves with discounts or are the Subscribers hurting the Company?
With Subscriptions, a Co. then can set a budget, with over the counter sales it's hit or miss.
Being in the magazine publishing business has to be very difficult and this year 2020 had to be a nightmare.
When I get MR it goes everywhere with me for a few days, work, lunch, sitting in the work truck reading and looking at model trains when I should be working, home, by the pool and yes the tub which the mag. will end up with wrinkled pages.
When I get MR the first page I turn to is the ''Next Issue'' part. I like this MR Forum, Thank you MR. I consider this my ''Benefit'' with my MR over the counter purchase. Plus it gets me to the Hobbie shop to see whats new and buy train stuff.
In a way it is their problem. If you take a look at the free magazine, built from the ground up to be electronically delivered, you will see that the pictures in articles there can be massively zoomed without going grainy.
MR digital has gotten a lot better in recent months in that regard, but still isn't quite there. Digital editions of the newest books have gotten much btter compared to books published just a couple of years ago.
Well, looking at all the personnel changes at MR lately it seems there's something big happening there behind the scenes. Then there's the columns disappearing too.
The magazine goes through periods of boring and exciting to me. I personally miss more indepth type articles than the photo caption direction they have turned to.
I know they always say they can't print what isn't submitted but I've talked to many modelers who have sent in articles and been rejected including myself. The normal return comment is it's not interesting as it's a non-popular scale or the format isn't right or it's not written well. What is the large staff of editers for? I thought they were there to help us with that sort of thing. I guess if you're one of their "favorites" they willingly accept your articles but everyone else be damned?
I also feel like an outsider with MR as many articles and things point to the MR VideoPlus and other extra cost things. I don't much like paying for a subscription and then be treated like a second class sitizen so I won't be renewing my subscription.
I always read both MR and RMC until RMC went to it's new publisher. It's mostly modern stuff and not very interesting to me so I don't pick it up now. I've been reading all the mags since about 1955. I always felt like MR was like sitting in a class with a professor and RMC was a bunch of guys sitting around talking about how they do things.
Anyway, I wish them luck.
My 2¢.
oldline1
I guess I may be crossing forums but just posted same thoughts with MRs repeat referencing of Polly Scale colors with limited suggestions to current paint options. It has to do with relevance. The freshest article as of late was the freight car series. Just dug into Towan videos and have to say those types of learning videos are hard to beat. I wish MR many years to come but it is going to be challenging.
I guess it is not MR's fault, it is hard to come up with new content all the time but part of that is their fault, if you ever tried to get something published, you would know what I mean. They put articles that past muster in the files but no comitment to a time frame for publication. It is not like other publications that you can shop article around (proubly used to be, but not now). Lets face it, print is expencive, postage has doubled in the past 6 years to mail mags so shipping is a major expence along with printing. Just print cost is $1 or more, postage .54 cents.
xboxtravis7992You'd take a magazine into a tub? Maybe its just not me but I'd never bring a magazine into a tub since I know my luck would cause me to drop it into the water get it soggy and ruin the pages.
The pages do fine, except they all stick together
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
You'd take a magazine into a tub? Maybe its just not me but I'd never bring a magazine into a tub since I know my luck would cause me to drop it into the water get it soggy and ruin the pages. Meanwhile waterproof cellphones and tablets are starting to become the norm, there are many phones that would survive being dunked in the tub that are starting to enter the market.I have my own laundry list of why I don't subscribe to MR anymore (and recently just put the subscription money into RMC instead) but I feel that is not worth dragging out on a forum hosted by MR itself.