Model Railroaders Refrence Books

[Anonymous]

How much do MRR's books help you with you layout and locomotives.
For me they do. But I would like to Know if they help you and your model railroad.

[Anonymous]

Every one of them I have bought has helped me TONS with planning. I just need to finally break down and buy the benchwork book. I'm in the military, so for now my little 1x3 N scale switching thing is going to have to suffice until retirement, but watch out after that...... All in all, I found the best three books you can have (without reading the benchwork one, mind you) are Trackwork for Realistic Operation, and Trackwork and Lineside Details, and definately Realistic Model RR Operations.

Matt

[Anonymous]

Iam just starting in the hobby and know that Im not making or attemting to start on my layout till I read and buy some of the books that are available. I just ordered " Intro. to N scale Modeling" and cant wait for it to get here.

[Anonymous]

I've read quite a few of their books, and felt that they were all very helpful!

[Anonymous]

I've got quite a few of their books. I enjoy every one - some more than others.

The Dave Frary scenery one is excellent, as is the newer scenery book by (I think) Lou Sassi.

The operations one was a little deeper than I wanted - I'm plowing through it, and re-reading, and re-re-reading what I don't get the first time.

I enjoy Ian Rice's "Small smart & Practica" book - lots of nice smaller layouts. I think what I MAY do is use several of those ideas together to make a larger layout... still working on it.

I can't wait to get my hands on the new Steam Loco one - I know it's pulled from MR articles - but it's pretty nice to have all that stuff in one place right in front of me.

Rob

[Anonymous]

I find them helpful, as I do other sources. What I REALLY WANT is one with prototype dimensional drawings of freight and passenger cars in the 1900-1915 time period.

[willy6]

i built my layout based on one of their track plans of which i modified to fit my needs.i think they are great books,just a little pricey.

[Jetrock]

I find Kalmbach model railroading books to be an invaluable resource--even though most of mine are on long-term loan from my dad, who got most of them between 1960-1980! I buy a few but tend to try to find them used to cut down on the cost (so I can spend more on rolling stock!)

rda1964: Take a look at public libraries for prototype railroad catalogs--they are out there, and a good big-city or university library will probably have at least a couple. I don't have the titles handy but I've perused car-maker reference books which feature prototype dimensions, including interior framing and close-up drawings of everything from seats and baggage racks to potbellied stoves and toilet facilities. Since the 1900-1915 period is still Victorian-era, there are "nostalgia" publications of exactly the type of thing you're looking for.

[JPowell]

I have not gotten any of them YET. I do admit, they are at the top of my list, eventhough I've already started building my benchwork. I have a general idea as to what I want for my layout, but since I am in the military, on deployment, I had to stop for a few months. I'm looking foreward to getting back home and doing some more work and book buying before the end of December.

[eastcoast]

I have an EXTENSIVE library built up on books about trains and
model railroads. Most are from MRR authors. They are a irreplacable
resource. I read them everyday and follow the examples and learn
from the experiences in them.
If you are a serious modeller, BUY THEM.

[AggroJones]

I own about a dozen of those books. Most of them are about locomotives (detailing, painting, prototype info) and doing scenery. Pretty helpful, but the prices need to be lowered. Some of those books are expensive.

[Hawks05]

i have 5 books. 2 from the 70s that i got for free from a friend and 3 i've bought. one has the basics for getting started like how to repair things, one is for track plans which gave me my plan, and the 3rd is just Sassi's layout i think. its of the Boston & Maine railroad. kind of useless unless you go with the B&M.

i read a book on wiring and that helped. i need to get another book or 2 on benchwork and keeping stuff running and how to fix stuff.

[IRONROOSTER]

QUOTE: Originally posted by rda1964


I find them helpful, as I do other sources. What I REALLY WANT is one with prototype dimensional drawings of freight and passenger cars in the 1900-1915 time period.

Check out the Newton Gregg reprints of the car builder dictionarys. You can frequently find them at train shows.

I also have found MR's books to be very helpful.

Enjoy
Paul

[Anonymous]

I've 5 books as of now. Some have prototype info, and some are model books. the "Guide to building your first HO layout, 3rd edition", has been the most helpful.

[Anonymous]

IMHO, I think the books that are "from the pages of MR" should be cheaper than all-new-material books. The books are good, and usually worth the money, but I know that in many cases, I have all the articles (strewn through my years of MR mags) that are in the books, and sometimes I feel like I'm not getting my money's worth.

Just my opinion, tho... I could be wrong.

Rob

[Anonymous]

my library is bordering on archive status and includes nearly every book from kalmbach over the past nearly 40 years. they have been and continue to be extremely helpful. some of the old modelmaker books still provide insite and inspiration. i do find, however, my collection of model railroaders is just as helpful as the books. i just wish kalmbach would bite the bullet (they have done it in the past with reprints of the 1941 car cyc and the 1940 loco cyc) and produce the monumental epic of freight cars complete with pictures, who built them, when they were built, color pictures of the changes that were made to the cars (slogans, lettering) and the years the changes were made. this should included not only cars built by outside manufacturers, but also shop built cars. clear pictures showing variations in hardware and the years the changes were made. the number of side panels should be shown, the type(s) of ends used on the cars , the style and size of doors, the type of roof, everything. i have several simmons-boardman car cycs, but they ultimately fall short and have black and white pictures. i have several volumes of perportedly " complete guides" to freight cars. even have the neb&w scrolls about freight cars. i have written to multiple historical societies, but get tired of paying and paying for often less than high quality info. and what would this tome cost? you just know it won't be cheap. i would not hesitate to pay $200 for volume one with 3 or 4 other volumes to follow. and, yes, quality pictures of every freight car truck that has been in service since 1900. the december mr article was wholey inadequate. tell us about spring plankless trucks, and other mechanical variations, tell us about the group of trucks like the simplex high speed that were used on express reefers. boy, would i ever appreciate clear, accurate, concise and definitive info. and someone needs to step up and take over the role that champion decals played for so many years. there begins to be a paucity of accurate steam era decals, at least from my sources. it was good to blow off steam. yes, we only need one last series of prototype based databooks to fill in a major void.

[CBQ_Guy]

QUOTE: Originally posted by bibfortuna

IMHO, I think the books that are "from the pages of MR" should be cheaper than all-new-material books. The books are good, and usually worth the money, but I know that in many cases, I have all the articles (strewn through my years of MR mags) that are in the books, and sometimes I feel like I'm not getting my money's worth.

Just my opinion, tho... I could be wrong.

I agree. You have to be careful, at least if you get the magazine every month, to not buy the "From the pages of..." books because you already have them in your collection. In years past, I recall that when you bought a book like this, you got MORE than appeared in the original articles. Not anymore apparently. A couple years back I really liked John Pryke's(?) articles on urban modeling on his layout and the various techniques he uses. So when I saw the book out on the subject, I ASSumed there would be even more included and bought it...WRONG! Boy did I waste my $$ on that purchase. Buyer beware and all that.

[AggroJones]

Yeah, like I was plotting to get John Pykes new steam projects book when it came out. But when I examined it at the LHS I saw I already had those articles and couldn't warrant paying $20 for that book. It was just recycled material from recent issues of MR.

[Anonymous]

And I STILL want to get that steam project book, because it compiles all that useful information into one place. I probably will (funds permitting), but it will be farther back on my "wish list" because the info IS available elsewhere. If the price was a bit lower, though....

Rob

[DavidH]

Like TPaulsen, my place looks like the Kalmbach corporate archives. I've bought the vast majority of the books they have put out over the last 40 years or so. If I didn't think they were a great resource, I wouldn't have them as, in Canadian dollars, they are a little pricy.

David

[Anonymous]

An answer to rda1964,

look for books by John H. White, jr. "The American railroad freight car" and "The American railroad passenger car". Wonderfull sources of history and best for a 1900 modeller as I'm.

Bernhard

[Anonymous]

I find them very helpful,Model Railroad Wiring made easy was an invaluable source
when I was getting everything hooked up and running.It was by Andy Sperandeo.Great reference book.....