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What do you read?

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  • Member since
    April 2003
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, November 10, 2003 3:07 PM
I read

Model Railroader, Trains, Railroad Model Craftsman, Garden Railways, and Classic Trains. I am however starting to become unsatisfied to the content of model railraoder and have many times contemplated dropping my subscription. However, I still renew for busness concerns I need to track current trends in the hobby and MR seems to the place where most of them are brought to light.
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, November 10, 2003 2:26 PM
Books.... [:D]


Just teasin who has time for reading?? j/k

I pretty much stick with MR and otherwise I'm into cars so I've been reading Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords, Mustang Monthly and I believe the other one is Mustangs and Fords. (Think I like Mustangs?)

I'd suggest going to your Local Hobbyshop and purchasing some MR books (thick ones [8D] ) I have several of those that I look to for inspiration on occasion.

-Dale
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, November 10, 2003 1:04 PM
Model Railroader is the only US-based mag I read - it's the only one you can get over here with any regularity! Other magazines I read include:

Model Rail (British prototypes, with a leaning towards "how to" articles)
British Railway Modelling (Interesting, a bit too "rivet-counter" for my tastes as they seem obsessed with pointless details and they seem to regard brass kits as being the only way to create a really decent model)
Railway Modeller (This is at least as old as Model Railroader, and the editorial style shows this... Still, they have interesting articles and decent adverts)
Continental Modeller (Same publishers as RM, but covering overseas prototypes. Plenty of US stuff along with European, South American, and others. Best source for adverts for US HO scale in Britain).

Apart from those, various Land Rover magazines (Land Rover Owner is the best in my opinion), and also fiction (I'm a big fan of Terry Pratchett, Tom Holt, et al.).
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, November 10, 2003 12:36 PM
Model Railroader - but of course....
Trains - ditto
Railpace - great quality photos, extensive coverage of my old stomping grounds in the northeast
British Railway Modelling - always been fascinated with trains in the UK and their modelling is wonderful. Their approach is often a little different but the results are well worth our attention.
Railroad Model Craftsman - slightly different focus than MR that makes for a good balance.
Keyboard - completely off-topic, which is the point. I'm also a musician and there is life after trains.

Cheers.
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Posted by joseph2 on Monday, November 10, 2003 12:15 PM
I subscribe to MR.Also buy RMC because their stories are in more depth and I like east coast (Erie) railroads.Once in a while I buy NG& SL Gazette and OLD issues of Railroad Magazine.Another one I subscribe to is Analog Science Fiction.
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Posted by Jetrock on Monday, November 10, 2003 11:23 AM
I assume you mean other railroad-related publications. Quite frankly, MR is the only general model railroading magazine I rad--I've never cared much for Railroad Model Craftsman etcetera. I did pick up a few narrow-gauge magazines (Light Iron Digest, Narrow Gauge & Short Line Gazette) when I was still fixated on narrow gauge. I tend to dig around a lot for old issues of TRACTION & MODELS, highly recommended if you're into traction but no longer being produced.

I'm a pretty voracious reader so whenever possible I try to get old model railroad books used--from swap meets, used bookstores (sometimes they get some surprisingly good stuff for cheap) and discount bins. I'm fortunate to have a world-class railroad museum in town with a vast library, and take advantage of that when I can. Even if one is a "free-lance" modeler, prototype research can be helpful in illustrating how real railroads did things
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Posted by GerFust on Monday, November 10, 2003 11:22 AM
Garden Railroader (subscription) and Trains.com, regularly. When I'm going out of town on business, my wife will pick up any one of the other magazines for me to read on the train or plane. They tend to be about model railroading, although I like Kalmbach's Trains mag as well as MR and GR.
[ ]===^=====xx o o O O O O o o The Northern-er (info on the layout, http://www.msu.edu/~fust/)
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Posted by AltonFan on Monday, November 10, 2003 11:11 AM
I subscribe to Model Railroader and Classic Trains. I buy N Scale, N Scale Railroading, and the GM&O Historical Society Newsletter at the hobby shop, every issue.

The model magazines I mentioned above are the ones that I feel I cannot do without, having the best and latest and most comprehensive coverage of the hobby. I read Classic Trains because I model the transition era, and I read the GM&O Historical Society Newsletter because I am fascinated with the GM&O and its predecessor, the Alton.

I will pick up Railroad Model Craftsman, Mainline Modeler, Trains, Finescale Modeler, Model Railroading, Railmodel Journal, Railfan and Railroad (rarely) and the publications of the C&NW, Soo Line, and Milwaukee Road historical societies, if they have interesting articles. (I find it interesting that ship-aviation-military modelers seem to use different modeling techniques from model railroaders, and there seems to be little exchange between them.)

I used to read the now defunct Vintage Rails and Prototype Modeler.

I used to get the NMRA Bulletin, but outside of NMRA organizational information, it did nothing for me.

When I was first consciously entering the hobby back in the 1970s, I used to subscribe to Railroad Model Craftsman. When I returned to the hobby in the early 1980s, I religiously picked up RMC with the other magazines, but at a certain point, RMC's quality began to slip, and I no longer felt the need to own every issue. (I believe RMC's best years were when Tony Koester was editor.)

Dan

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Posted by nfmisso on Monday, November 10, 2003 10:32 AM
Hi Dave;

I subscribe to Mainline Modeler (MM), Model Railroading (MRG), Model Railroad News MRN), Model Railroader and Trains. I occassionally pick up copies of Railroad Model Journal (RJM) and Railroad Model Craftsman (RMC), and I belong to some of Jim Six's e-groups on Yahoo!®.

MM for techniques and obscure prototype information - like signs, etc.
MRG for the comic, and various multi-issue projects like the current saw mill completx.
MRN because of the trial offer, probably will not renew. On both the good and the bad side, the authors are not experts (and they are comfortable with that), so from time to time poor information is passed along, especially related to DCC.
MR for the ads, Tony's column and the layouts.

I specifically look for articles by: Tom Dressler, Jim Six, Larry Puckett, Mike Rose, and others that I cannot remember off the top of my head.
Nigel N&W in HO scale, 1950 - 1955 (..and some a bit newer too) Now in San Jose, California
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Posted by vsmith on Monday, November 10, 2003 10:30 AM
For Model RRing I also read;

Garden Railroading, devoted to large scale
Narrow Gauge and Short Line Gazette, If I have to exlain why, you wont understand.
Finescale Railroader, exceptional modeling
Timber Times , info for us narrow gauge nuts.
Light Iron Digest, critters, critters, critters.

Outside the hobby;

Bike magazine, everyones got to have a hobby
This Old House, buy an 85 year old house, then you'll understand.
American Bungalow, see above.

   Have fun with your trains

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What do you read?
Posted by Anonymous on Monday, November 10, 2003 6:39 AM
I didn't start this to flame our forum host - MR Mag. i.e. trains.com.

Getting back into model rr after 20 years is quite an eye opener, there is soooo much that has changed.

I have a subscription to MR Mag., as I did many years ago, but would like to know what other publications that model railroaders read and why they read it?

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