2005 was not a good year for MRR Mag!

[simon1966]

My son's school is having a fund raiser collecting paper for recycling.  Like many of you I am sure, I have a huge pile of several years of model RR mags.  I have every issue from March 1999 in a heap in publication order.  So with all the other mags thrown in there are over 100 mags that I realize I will never go back and look at again!  However, they contain vast amounts of material that could be useful.  So I am hacking them apart and cutting out the articles of interest to me and filing them in some logical order into my reference filing system.  Last night I waded through 2006 and 2005.  I was cutting out on average 2 or 3 things from 2006 issues.  Some of the 2005 issues yielded no articles that I felt the need to keep.  So based on a random sampling of 1 MRR subscriber, I can say with certainty that 2005 was not a good year.

 

Edit added after Bob's comment:

This was supposed to be a tongue-in-cheek personal observation.  Anyone that has ever done a survey knows you can't declare anything with certainty based on a sample of 1.  I have no doubt that others found 2005 to be a fine vintage. 

[Railphotog]

So based on a random sampling of 1 MRR subscriber, I can say with certainty that 2005 was not a good year.

 

Perhaps it wasn't a good year for YOU.  Maybe it was for others with different interests that you have?

 

[richg1998]

http://www.trains.com/trccs/forums/1063547/ShowPost.aspx

Look at the above posting. It says a lot.

You might consider scanning these pages into your computer. I am doing that with black&white, plus colored pages. That way I have a permanent copy. I also have a back up hard drive. A copy on a dual layer DVD is kept in a bank safe deposit box. I lost a hard drive six years ago and I will not lose data again.

Now I have to figure out how to read these articles in the library aka bathroom.

 rich

[GAPPLEG]

I have often thought of scanning mags into my computer, I keep hesitating because of the time. I have all issues going back to 1970, and I'm sure there are articles I want from just about ever issue. Unlike 2005 bad year above. I can always find something I want. Major undertaking scanning all those Mags. I will retire this year. Maybe I can get it all done before I " check out ".

[richg1998]

The main problem I see with storing on the computer is finding an article of interest when you only know you have it, but do not remember which magazine, year, month. Remember searching through a pile of magazines for an article you know you have seen? You seem to get side tracked and forgeting what you are looking for because of other articles that look interesting. I have MR, RMC , NGSLG, NMRA magazines and not every issue from the 1960s to 2002. I know there are desktop programs to do this but I have yet to try any.

I use a Linux operating system (no windows or gates) and I have not seen any Linux desktop search engines yet. My computer has a hard drive rack so it is easy enough to remove the Linux HD and install the 98SE HD in the computer and use windows.

 rich

[selector]

Simon, you are exhibiting what we phsychologists call "hindsight bias."  When you first encountered the magazine, the gee-whizzzzzzzz factor was huge, as was your interest in learning all you could.  Later, when you were long since familiar with things railroading, the magazine became more a comfort and an opportunity to learn whatever really was newly offered or done.  So, after so many years of experience, when you came to cull what you felt (your own words above) was germane, the later editions seemed less "informative".

Of course, there might have been some changes to the magazine near that time, too, and it may have contributed to the changes that you describe.

-Crandell

[Milwhiawatha]

I have only been getting MR since Nov 1999 (birthday gift from parents) anyhow I have seen issues that might have 1 or 2 articles that grab my attention, some with 5 to 10 articles but some issues havent had any articles that I found interesting but that my personal preference I'm not going around saying hey this issue is worth nothing cause it has nothing. But neither are you saying that you jusy voiced your opinion and as usual people take it wrong.

As for the magazines I scanned in Nov 1999-Dec 2006 in one night . I used Corel Draw X3 and created my own pdf files. somehow based on the titles i can find the article I'm looking for. I also scan in Tips ans hints from the GMR's and ones from walthers catalogs. makes like less cluttered.

[simon1966]

Crandell, that is interesting.  The thing that struck me more than anything was that 2006 issues and now 2004 (I had a go at them this morning over breakfast) provided plenty of articles of interest to me, but 2005 for some reason did not.  This observation was in no way meant as a criticism of the magazine as I have been a very happy subscriber since 1999.  MRR being a more general less specialized publication has to appeal to a wide range of interests, so this would suggest that they moved towards other subject matter for a time.  Was there a significant change in editorial staff that year?

[selector]

Simon, I have only been reading the mag for about two and a half years now, and I don't recall if the editors changed.  Your renewed appreciation for much of the 06 press could be due to that type of change, for sure.  It may also be that new products that promised to renew a spark or that solved a long-standing problem for you were introduced, or that they showed the work of a fresh face with a new approach.  Of course, this would have happened routinely over the years, not just in 2006.

Maybe if you were to go back and make a brief analysis of all the stuff you rejected from 05, it might serve to show the contrast between that and the sorts of things you found yourself judging to be keepers for some reason.  Also, what criteria had you settled on to help you to select the best material from your point of view?

-Crandell

[bb4884]

Was there a significant change in editorial staff that year?

 

Simon, look to the right of every "From the editor" There is a complete list of staff. I tried to find my '04 & '05 mags, but they have gone missing.

[grayfox1119]

I have purchased the Binders for my MRR mags. I wait until they offer the binders with free shipping, then I purchase them for best price, usually three years at a time. Also, The Feb issue I believe has the index for the previous years articles, so I copy that index and file it for future ref for any articles that I may need. No fuss at all, no extra work..... The mags are stored neatly in the Binders, they don't get all beat up and dog-eared, and the Binders store very well on shelves. You could also buy magazine holders, the cardboard type, at any office supply store in place of the Binders from MRR.

[Texas Zepher]

However, they contain vast amounts of material that could be useful.  So I am hacking them apart and cutting out the articles of interest to me and filing them in some logical order into my reference filing system.

  The problem with doing this is you might be interested in different things now than in the future.  I use the March 1973 issue as an example.  At that time the issues came in the mail in brown envelopes and I would write on the envelop a note of interesting things contained within.  At the time, I wrote "worthless".  Well, through the years I have ended up going back to something in that issue more than any other specific issue.  Had I cut it up using my interests at that time as a guide, I would have seriously hindered some later model work.  In fact, the article about increasing the power output of a transistor throttle is probably more responsible for my knowledge of electronics than any other single item I've read on that subject.   Interests change over time.

[simon1966]

TZ, that's a really good point, but my wife and I are determined to rid our house of so much of the clutter that surrounds us.  I have pretty much kept any "how-to" type articles.  Anything that MRR will likely, and in many cases have already recycled in PDF or mini-booklet form.  I've only got 2000 and 1999 to go so the task is well advanced and a bit late to have any regrets.