I have been an MR subscriber for well over 40 years. I always renewed my subscription without a moment's hesitation.
My subscription expires wth the March issue, and I'm rather surprised to find myself hesitating on renewing.
There are a few reasons why I'm considering not renewing:
First, I was really cheezed off by how Kalmbach switched over to Trains.com and just left all the MRVP subscribers twisting in the wind, with almost no new content (and no explanation) for many months. They were diverting content over to the (at the time) "coming soon" Trains.com, and didn't even have the basic business ethics to let subscribers know what was happening. I'm pretty sure this was not the decision of the editorial staff, but of the company owners. At this point I'm thinking "why continue to support people who apparently don't give a rat's patutti about their own subscriber base?"
Another thing is, the MR and Trains.com staff seem to be isolating themselves more and more from their readers. Maybe that's an inaccurate reading of the situation, but it sure seems that way to me.
Then there's so much free information out there these days (in terms of YouTube videos) that it doesn't make much sense to pay basically too much money for a very thin publication. Now a lot of those YouTube videos leave something to be desired, to say the least, but threre are some pretty good ones out there too.
Finally, I'm just more and more loathe to waste money for what seems to be products of constantly diminishing value. Maybe that's just a sign of age creeping up on me, but I dropped the NMRA this past year because they offer absolutely nothing of value in the area where I live.
Model Railroader magazine seems more and more just a print version of Kalmbach's Trains.com videos - not much really fresh stuff anymore.
I'm not trying to bash Kalmbach or any of their organizations, though it probably seems that way. I'd just like to hear others' prespectives on the points I raised, pro and con.
Mark P.
Website: http://www.thecbandqinwyoming.comVideos: https://www.youtube.com/user/mabrunton
I have been a subscriber for only four years, so I don't have the long-term perspective you have.
I love the print magazine. I look forward to each issue, and I will probably always renew it.
I read it cover-to-cover, even if I'm not particularly interested in the topic.
It is one of only two print magazines I buy.
I live in an isolated area with no other model railroaders that I know of nearby. The magazine and this forum make me feel connected to others who share my interests.
York1 John
I subscribe to Model Railroader, Fine Scale Modeler, and Classic Trains.
Of those three, I look forward to MR the most, but I do enjoy FSM the most lately.
I will probably always subscribe. MR just seems to give the hobby a "center" for me. I have been a subscriber at least 90% of the time since I was 10 years old.
Yes, you should renew.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Hi Mark
I always looked forward to my Model Railroad magazine every month when I was a kid busy with the hobby. I'd have to say I'm just as happy to see it in the mail for the last six years picking the hobby back up again. The only difference is I liked how the magazine was two times thicker when I was young.
I see your point when they changed their mail headings to Trains instead of Model Railroader and didn't make their subscribers aware.
I had just renewed my subscription over the phone for my brother and I but never knew I got a bill. I kept throwing away the envelopes that said Trains because I used to have a subscription to Trains and always got solicitation offering it at a lower cost after I canceled.
Long story short my Model Railroader magazine was canceled which could have been easily avoided if they would have let their subscribers know of the change.
I'm still delighted when I see my magazine in the mail but I'm also the kind of guy that still likes to read the paper instead of staring into a computer screen. For those reasons I don't even have a computer and like magazines on subjects of Interest.
TF
I was about to drop my subscription to the MR magazine some years ago, but they changed editors and Niel Bosougloff changed the whole magazine in a few months. I stayed for years after that.
I really think that the MR magazine has suffered since Niel left. My subscription is up in May and I don't plant to renew. I get the feeling that Kalmbach is letting the magazine go in favor of online, and "monetizing" the online material. I've predicted this for years.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Mark,
If it were me I wouldn't...but that's a personal decision and one which only you are the best qualified to make...for yourself.
I haven't subscribed to MR or purchased an issue for years because I just don't find it beneficial to my modeling needs. The forum, OTOH, I would gladly pay a yearly fee to use. I can ask specific questions that relate to what I'm interested in, or answer questions that I know something about or have experience with. And there is always something to learn. A magazine just doesn't offer that for me.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Well, the magazine subsidizes the forum, so if enough people drop the magazine then I assume that the forum goes away.
tstage I haven't subscribed to MR or purchased an issue for years because I just don't find it beneficial to my modeling needs. The forum, OTOH, I would gladly pay a yearly fee to use. I can ask specific questions that relate to what I'm interested in, or answer questions that I know something about or have experience with. And there is always something to learn.
I haven't subscribed to MR or purchased an issue for years because I just don't find it beneficial to my modeling needs. The forum, OTOH, I would gladly pay a yearly fee to use. I can ask specific questions that relate to what I'm interested in, or answer questions that I know something about or have experience with. And there is always something to learn.
Rich
Alton Junction
maxman Well, the magazine subsidizes the forum, so if enough people drop the magazine then I assume that the forum goes away.
richhotrainDoes any model railroad forum charge a fee to be a member? Rich
I imagine there might be, Rich...but I personally don't know of one.
Most likely...
Well, it will not get any better if everyone stops buying it.
Same goes for the NMRA, it is a volunteer organization. I don't have the time or personal situation to allow me to volunteer, so I pay the money to provide tools for those who can. By all accounts only one in twenty (or less) active modelers belongs to the NMRA - imagine what they could be doing if everyone belonged. They did important stuff back in the day - if I can afford this hobby I can afford to support their efforts. I'm not really the convention type, but I still belong, 52 years now.
And 54 years as a MR subscriber - still have them all, in very good condition, and a lot more even older issues. And RMC too.....
Youtube - not for me, most of those guys drive me nuts in 4 minutes.
MR is not perfect, the hobby, the market, and the media business in general have changed and continue to change - give them a chance, they are not Apple or Microsoft, or even Ford, GM or Toyota.
They are just a handful of people publishing a few magazines for some old fashioned hobbies.
I would pay for a good ad free forum, I already do for my other hobby. If anybody wants to see a forum that actually works in all respects, check out www.mytractorforum.com - user owned and operated. I'm in the GRAVELY section under a user name you will recognize.
I spent years trying to offer help on this forum, I have pretty much given up on that idea. I will share my upcoming layout build, and see how that goes.
I thought the last 4 or 5 issues of MR were pretty good, even if only a little applied to my modeling. I posted on here about an article in MR a few months back - my post got one response.
I get it, my whole life is about me, and we are all that way - what's in it for me?
Well I'm real busy these days trying to get the layout room ready, and making extra money during this building boom, so I can build the layout, build a nicer garage for my tractor, keep all my savings in tact, and buy more trains.
Which tends to limit my time on here - but I can afford MR, RMC, and the NMRA - and my membership in the GRAVELY Tractor Club of America.
Sheldon
ATLANTIC CENTRALWell, it will not get any better if everyone stops buying it.
ATLANTIC CENTRALYoutube - not for me, most of those guys drive me nuts in 4 minutes.
ATLANTIC CENTRALI would pay for a good ad free forum
ATLANTIC CENTRAL spent years trying to offer help on this forum, I have pretty much given up on that idea.
ATLANTIC CENTRALI will share my upcoming layout build, and see how that goes.
ATLANTIC CENTRALI thought the last 4 or 5 issues of MR were pretty good.
Great post Sheldon.
I agree with Kevin.
A great post, Sheldon.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
A little background on my relationship with MR........... My first issue was December 1955, which I bought at the local soda shop for fifty cents. Since then, I have been a constant reader and a subscriber beginning in the 1970s, and am now in the midst of a two year subscription.
It has been my favorite mag (next to Playboy) for most of this time. Today, as I've been "layout free" for a year, I still look forward to its arrival, but not with the anticipation I once had. That said, I love to check out the reader Q&A, new products and tests, layout pics and "how to" articles.
Especially "these days", reading MR beats the heck out of news, celebrity mags, etc. And I will likely continue to subscribe until I'm no longer above ground.
Make no mistake, if we quit buying MR, Kalmbach will eventually realize they have no reason to keep this FREE forum afloat.
And if you want to punish Kalmbach because you are unhappy with their online or dvd services, go through the proper channels to get your views considered.
Folks, the magazine industry is having a seriously hard time as it is, and many have already gone "bye bye". So if you are able, I urge you to keep buying MR.
For the record, I wonder how many of the posters on this thread do not buy MR. As they say here in Texas, "they just don't have any dogs in this fight".
Hey, whatever you do, please be safe out there!
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
I am always amused at how people link the magazine to the forum. I doubt that Kalmbach will ever decide to maintain the forum for a fee. Who else does that? If Kalmbach wants to link the magazine to the forum, it should require a magazine subscription to be a member of the forum. That will sort out the wheat from the chaff, so to speak.
Excellent post Sheldon.
ATLANTIC CENTRALI thought the last 4 or 5 issues of MR were pretty good, even if only a little applied to my modeling. I posted on here about an article in MR a few months back - my post got one response.
Mike
I let my subscription lapse with the January issue. I had been on a 3 year subscription and I was put off by the price of just a 1 year basic subscription. I don't remember it being nearly that high when I reupped 3 years ago. I debated with myself whether or not to renew and the next thing I knew January was over. I had to take my dogs into the vet in Columbus, OH yesterday and it was my first chance to get to my LHS without making a special trip since December. I was hoping I could still get the February issue but they had just gotten the March issue in so I got that instead.
I'll probably still renew but only for a year at a time. I've gotten to the age where I don't even buy green bananas.
I also stopped at the supermarket and I happened to go past their magazine stand. I was amazed to see it was about 1/3 the size of what I remember. The number of offerings were very limited. I wonder how long MR or any other printed magazines are going to be around.
If MR stays relevant, I'll continue to subscribe. Relevant would mean articles and discussions about modern railroad modeling.
Growing up in the 1970s, I read articles about railroading 20 years earlier. In 2022, I expect to be reading a lot of artictes about railroading 60 years earlier. I guess over the past 40 plus years of reading the same content, it can get a little repetitive.
There weren't many YouTubers before 2000, so that's where a lot of the modern focus has gone, albeit some pretty bad presentations.
I'm not into complicated techniques for getting things done. In my world, layout construction is about pine boards, plywood sheets, drywall screws, a bus wire and feeders. Switch machines?...I thought that was a finger. What do you use a terminal block for? I've seen them for 40 years and still can't figure out how I would use one. Lichen, polyfiber? How many articles can you write about that.
Not much reason to keep old mags that pre date about 2005 for layout content, and any "how to" article is probably not relevant to me.
A huge part of any magazine, whether paper or digital, is talking about new things. But, new things don't come around that often.
If MR ever gets into financial problems, it could consider liscensing its brand to quality youtubers and independednt video companies. Contributors like Lance Mindheim, Thomas Klimoski, and other past article writers could have their websites and video production sponsored by MR.
Sort of farm out the articles to independent producers, since the independent producers are going to do it anyway. MR could take the form of "high quality" YouTube articles farmed out to acceptable YouTubers.
As far as a fee for a forum or an add free venue. Fat chance. It would last about a month before the bean counters figured out that they could charge BOTH a monthly subcription to consumers AND a fee to advertisers who then bombard the consumer with ads.
No subscription fees but have to put up with ads? Subscription dues take the place of ads? That hasn't worked since cable TV pushed out antennaes 50 years ago.
- Douglas
Water Level Route Excellent post Sheldon. ATLANTIC CENTRAL I thought the last 4 or 5 issues of MR were pretty good, even if only a little applied to my modeling. I posted on here about an article in MR a few months back - my post got one response. This is actually one of the things I like about the magazine. It shows me other aspects about the hobby that I may not know about or spend my time looking up. If it's there in the magazine, I'll look at it. Probably learn something. May even be turned on to something I never would have thought/known about otherwise. If I rely on youtube, I'm only looking up something specific, fighting through a bunch of bad videos until I find a decent one (if I make it that far) that provides what I was looking for. MR provides me a nice broad hobby base to draw from in case I ever need it. My subscription is and will be maintained.
ATLANTIC CENTRAL I thought the last 4 or 5 issues of MR were pretty good, even if only a little applied to my modeling. I posted on here about an article in MR a few months back - my post got one response.
This is actually one of the things I like about the magazine. It shows me other aspects about the hobby that I may not know about or spend my time looking up. If it's there in the magazine, I'll look at it. Probably learn something. May even be turned on to something I never would have thought/known about otherwise. If I rely on youtube, I'm only looking up something specific, fighting through a bunch of bad videos until I find a decent one (if I make it that far) that provides what I was looking for. MR provides me a nice broad hobby base to draw from in case I ever need it. My subscription is and will be maintained.
I know what you mean. As a modeler who has been interested in post year 2000 railroading, which has only now begun to be not-uncommon, I have spent years reading stuff that is outside of my direct interests.
Welcome to the party.
Doughless LOL, Media companies have been double dipping in that venue ever since cable TV pushed out antennaes 50 years ago.
LOL, Media companies have been double dipping in that venue ever since cable TV pushed out antennaes 50 years ago.
Douglas,
You opening statement is EXACTLY why old issues of MR and RMC are of value to me. They have always covered reasonably current railroading to a reasonable degree. So if you are modeling 1954, the issues from the 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's are loaded with important stuff.
And for those of us who build stuff, there are the drawings, once a mainstay of all the magazines.
It is a resource of incredible value to those of us who model stuff you can't drive down the road and see.
Did you read my post, the paid tractor forum works well. You can look and participate for free, if you don't mind the ads, or you can spend $20 a year and never see an ad. It is run by hobbiests, not bean counters.
Personally I hate the video thing, even the good ones bore me.
I was in the hobby in my teens but never knew about the mag, then in my 30's I was flush for a short while and got back in the hobby which with kids and stuff, flush didn't last long, but I dabled a bit in the hobby still, still didn't know about the mag. Then a buddy scored a car load of free train mags and I was off to the races reading and dreaming. Became flush again and had subscriptions off and on when they offered deals, but they started geting away from the model stuff and into basicaly computers and advanced stuff to boot. MRH has done the same. And as to forum costs, it dose not cost much to host because they don't host pics, which in my opinion is a mistake because if pic a host goes under of starts getting gready, you lose all that free content. The company is consolidating and fast as the print world disapears and the current germ situation just acelerated that even more. Kalmbach is a private company so we can't find out what is really going on but there are people jumping ship.
Good morning
Well, I dunno. Honestly I don't think reading the magazine and looking at the pictures is usually relevant to what I'm doing or working on at the time. But just like WPF I find it quite interesting to see what others are doing and can appreciate that even more when they share their techniques and steps on how they did it.
Difference is good and breaks the monotony of my day to day modeling techniques and methods I put to use. Later down the road I'm not surprised how I come across something and a shared prospective or view from the past becomes useful.
Even if you see something thinking you could do a better job doing it a different way you still learned something coming up with that idea from seeing it.
Keeping ones ears and eyes wide open with an open mind all the time definitely has its rewards. Eventually what you see and hear usually becomes useful even if not at the time you're paying attention.
I've learned quite a bit from Model Railroader magazine and you guys on the Forum through the years. I'll continue being a subscriber and I hope they both continue to stick around.
In my case, it was an issue of either MR or RMC that rekindled my interest in model railroading when I was in my early 20s (I was born in 1951). We had a 4x8 HO layout about ten years earlier and before that I got an American Flyer set for Christmas. I remember the article that got me interested was about a large club I think in the Chicago area. I was fascinated by how big an operation could be conducted on a layout. It was several years later that I got my first apartment and built a small layout in a spare bedroom. A few years after that I moved into my first house and built a layout in one half of my basement, the space being 11x28. I subscribed off and on to MR during that time and have kept the back issues going back to the late 1970s.
PruittI have been an MR subscriber for well over 40 years. I always renewed my subscription without a moment's hesitation. My subscription expires wth the March issue, and I'm rather surprised to find myself hesitating on renewing.
You could take a break from MR for a year and subscribe to Railroad Model Craftsman for a year and see if you like that better. I've done that over the years with Trains and Railfan & Railroad. I'll subscribe to one for a while then maybe get a good offer in the mail or online for the other and switch. (Right now I'm getting R&R, Trains is a good magazine but it's kinda more about the corporate side of railroading; R&R is more about the trains and the railroad operations.)
Model Railroad News is probably by far the best magazine strictly for thorough, unbiased reviews of new products, maybe get that too?
BTW I subscribe to MR (and RMC and MRN), but I also have been disappointed at MR switching all the former 'free to subscriber' stuff like video reviews, Cody's Office, etc. to a pay platform.
ATLANTIC CENTRAL Douglas, You opening statement is EXACTLY why old issues of MR and RMC are of value to me. They have always covered reasonably current railroading to a reasonable degree. So if you are modeling 1954, the issues from the 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's are loaded with important stuff. And for those of us who build stuff, there are the drawings, once a mainstay of all the magazines. It is a resource of incredible value to those of us who model stuff you can't drive down the road and see. Did you read my post, the paid tractor forum works well. You can look and participate for free, if you don't mind the ads, or you can spend $20 a year and never see an ad. It is run by hobbiests, not bean counters. Personally I hate the video thing, even the good ones bore me. Sheldon
Yes, Sheldon. We understand each other. There have been about 5 decades of articles that apply to 1954. And about 5 years that apply to 2010.
My need for the older mags are gone. I loved them. I read MR every month.
I still like to look at layouts in the older MR mags I kept, but other things do get outdated.
I can't really opine on the business side of media. My main point was that media company's charge both a subscription and bombard viewers/readers with ads, and that both the subscription prices and number of ads keep increasing.
richhotrain maxman Well, the magazine subsidizes the forum, so if enough people drop the magazine then I assume that the forum goes away. Do you know for a fact that the magazine subsidizes the forum? Rich
Do you know for a fact that the magazine subsidizes the forum?
100% certain? Not much is 100%, except possibly death and taxes.
On the other hand, someone paid for the forum upgrade. And it wasn’t me and it wasn’t you.
Whether or not that was money well spent is a whole different topic.
...MR is not perfect, the hobby, the market, and the media business in general have changed and continue to change - give them a chance, they are not Apple or Microsoft, or even Ford, GM or Toyota.
MR used to "police" the hobby, to some extent. They would call out, in print, an organization or a company that was doing the hobby a disservice. On several occasions they actually called out the NMRA in the past. When is the last time they did that (and the NMRA certainly has things to be called out on. They've been mentioned many times on threads in this very forum.)? When's the last time you recall MR saying anything negative about an advertiser, or anyone else for that matter? Now they're not much about service to the hobby anymore - they're all about service to their bottom line.
The economic realities of publishing in the modern era may be such that a print magazine is no longer viable. But constant rductions in product value is certainly not the way to keep it going.
For example, here in Wyoming the northern division is completely inactive. Doesn't have to be, but the superintendent apparently is only interested in holding the title, and not in actually running the division. I volunteered to help out and, other than a couple emails, was ignored. Complaining to the Region or National about the situation accomplishes nothing (ask me how I know).
So yeah, it would be great to be a subscriber at MR's 100th anniversary. But the way they're going, there's not going to be much left by then. Time to cut my losses?
As far as the amount of content in MR, I know that a while back Stephen Otte said they needed modelers to contribute. It's not a simple process, so some of us probably back off when thinking of content we can submit.
Some people have the mistaken belief that Kalmbach is a massive operation, taking up floors of some building somewhere, with rich publishing families owning the company.
They, like most magazines today, are running on a very slim profit margin, and they have editors who are working three or four different jobs to keep things going.
The alternative is no magazine, which I would find unacceptable.
My two cents: I hope everyone renews their subscription, and I hope that when you're through with the magazine, if you don't want to keep it, give it to an interested person. They may become interested, subscribe themselves, and that helps everyone.
Well Mark, I guess my expectations, or my needs, are different from yours. Regarding both the NMRA and MR.
I know this will sound arrogant, but after 54 years at this I don't need MR, the NMRA, or some guy on YouTube to help me build model trains. I know what works for me and have mastered those skills for the most part. So what I am expecting is a little different I guess. Maybe after the layout is well underway, and I slow down the work pace, I will see if MR is interested in what I might want to write about for their magazine?
I like the NMRA website and the renewed efforts in the data sheet program. I get all the emails from out local region and division, wish I could make time for some of those events, but honestly, I not up for long drives and overnight stays for that sort of stuff.
I guess I'm a glass half full kind of person, and not so cynical about businesses and their motives (maybe that comes from being self employed most of my life).
So do what you feel is right for you. Just another example of how I feel less and less connected to this form or the broader social side of this hobby.
Time for me to build the layout, gather up 8 or 10 guys to help me play with it, and stop wasting my time here, or Facebook, etc.