How long do you keep a magazine issue?

[M636C]

I didn't buy every issue until about four years ago, but I bought all the "All Diesel" issues from No 3, and bought back issues to complete that set and some others back to 1962.

A lot of the 1960s issues lose their cover, because it splits down the fold, a feature of the heavy paper used. I've found ways to repair all of these (NEVER use tape!)

Trains is one of my smaller collections - I had every copy of "Modern Railways" from 1967 to 1998, and four Australian magazines for longer periods.

Peter

[Noah Hofrichter]

Tree:

QUOTE: Throw..................them................away?????????????????????????????????

I agree, I never heard of such a thing as throwing them away. By the way Doug, I've bought a good few magazines from the Illinois Railroad museum, so I bet a few might have formerly been yours. Don't knwo that for sure though.

Noah

[tree68]

Throw..................them................away?????????????????????????????????

Not yet, at least not on purpose. Same goes for fire service magazines. If push comes to shove - they'll go to an appropriate club or other organization. My RR stuff goes back to about 73 or 74, when I really discovered the hobbies, and my FD stuff goes to around 77, when I discovered Firehouse Magazine. And I have some older stuff I've managed to collect.

[MP173]

I have never thrown away a Trains Mag. They are not take care of really well, but should be here. I started in May, 1972, the cover painting of a Hollywood female star detraining the Super Chief. That hooked me at the age of 16.

ed

[Anonymous]

I keep them for as long as they hold up. But when the magazines lose their covers and the pages start to fall out, I try to order back issues.

[jeaton]

Carl

I heard that the land under Lombard started to subside in 1962 and is now in danger of becoming an inner harbor of Lake Michigan.[:D][:D][:D].

I think I have 6 years back. The online "Index of Magazines" (See Above) allows for good back reference.

A little off the topic, but Northwestern University's Transportation Library has every issue from 1,1. There is probably a complete set located at a secret site in Waukesha, WI, but I'd guess permission to play in Mr. Kalmbach's sand box is rarely granted.

Among private collectors, I seem to recall Don Phillips reporting that Dave Gunn has a complete set. (Or maybe it was only a complete set of issues that have columns by Mr Phillips).

It would be interesting to see who among the forum members have the most years.

Jay

[cnw1995]

I applaud your efforts to properly store your copies. I was fortunate to rapidly build a large collection as our local library thinned their back copies of magazines in addition to my own subscriptions. But I just stacked everything up in rough chronological order, and occasionally took an old copy to read on the train. Finally, I decided to simplify life by getting rid of practically everything - to the recycle bin, the Illinois Railway Museum, give-aways to youngsters, and now I'm leaving one copy behind at the end of my commute - my fellow train-riders pick up everything readable - maybe it'll spark something - heck, I fell into this hobby by coming across an MR. Eventually I'll just keep about a year's worth of CTT.

[CShaveRR]

I've got everything I ever bought in the library down here; when you red my obituary I will have died under a collapsed set of shelves. I think my Trains collection goes back to about 1956, with some issues before that (I've bought a few back issues; started buying my own in 1962).

Move? Gee, I hope not!

[dldance]

I generally keep them until I have to move again - so right now the average is about 7 to 8 years.

dd

[Anonymous]

Just curious how long you all keep an issue of Trains, Model Railroader, or whatever? Are you the read it a few times and out with the garbage it goes or are you the pack rat where you can't throw anything away.

I tend to fall in the pack rat category. I keep a magazine until something disastrous happens like ripped pages, something spilled on it, or the pages start to stink and fade. lol

Right now I have my soon to be 1 year collection of Trains Magazines in one of those fancy binders they sell in the back. Hopefully that will help to keep my references in check.