Feb 08 Model Railroader

[tom mann]

Ok, where's the over-moderation at?  Why hasn't this been moved out of the N Scale forum yet???   

I think you have this board confused with another train board...

No, the coffee posts got pulled out of the plywood thread...

Oh boo hoo ;D

[sirenwerks]

Those MR guys are going to start reading this trash and call their Polish attorneys, which
BTW, aren't very good.

Don't worry, Woodland Scenics will just lend them their's.

[landnnut]

I guys I think this is my first post.  Too funny of a thread.  I have been collecting old foam rubber to make my own ground foam in an old blender.  The picture of the baby playing with a toy train expresses a lot of my feelings about model railroader.  Thanks for expressing my feelings so succinctly.  I miss bob hudmans scratch building articles in Nscale mag.  My problem with the latest gmr is the same as the author.  I bought the magazine to find out how he solved the Nscale steam prototype problem in making his model steam locomotives like the prototype and was bitterly disappointed when he just gave it up as too hard or something.  I would not have bought the article if I knew that was all it was.  Typical model railroader magazine stuff.  There was an ok sidebar on painting steam locomotives but I would not have bought the issue for just that.  Typical model railroader bait and letdown.  Oh well.  I voted with my feet and money and subscribe to Nscale.
Ramblingly yours;
L&N nut
Jon

[wm3798]

Welcome to the fold, Jon.  Looking forward to seeing some L and N stuff.
Lee

[tom mann]

One other thought on the Feb 08 MR.  It appears to me that a majority of the articles in the recent issues are now authored by David Popp and Cody Grivno.

[wm3798]

Next month, Cody paints a dairy cow!
 :

[Norm P]

I've tipped a few, are there any similarities?

Norm

[chuck geiger]

Next month, Cody paints a dairy cow!
 :

The Moo-waukee Road

[landnnut]

Well all I have right now are some prototype photos taken ten or more years ago.
Jon

[Dave V]

I posted this over on Trains.com for my boy CNJ who's taken grumpy old man and Chicken Little to the extreme.

[CVSNE]

My problem with the latest gmr is the same as the author.  I bought the magazine to find out how he solved the Nscale steam prototype problem in making his model steam locomotives like the prototype and was bitterly disappointed when he just gave it up as too hard or something.  I would not have bought the article if I knew that was all it was.  Typical model railroader magazine stuff. 

I agree with all on the apparent lack of how-to articles (in any scale) in MR of late -- if I could afford to take a huge pay cut I may even try and return to the staff just to fix the problem from within  : : :
The simple fact is the magazine cannot be all things to all people every month - and so you have the N scalers crying there's "nothing for more" . . . and the HO prototype freight car modelers have the same complaint, as do the "Early Rail" guys, ad infinitum.  It isn't an easy problem to solve to everyone's liking.

What surprises me is the somewhat amateur level of the how-to's written by the staff members - when I was on the staff we did (and frankly dreaded) the "beginner" column - it's been called by all kinds of titles over the years -- but we also tried to do some more advanced articles and reviews when wanted to find a balance in the magazine.  Considering Terry's admiration (and that's putting it mildly) for the German approach to model railroading I should not have been shocked to find how-to articles that look like they came right out of a MIBA (ie., "I am just back from the hobbyshop and now we will open the package and follow the directions").

Jon,

In all fairness Great Model Railroads has always been a "pretty picture book."  I was frankly shocked to see any kind of how-to on weathering steam engines in that publication. I personally enjoyed GMR this time far more than in previous years - especially since it featured small railroads which were extremely well done (Lance's HO layout -- we keep trying to convince him to break all the saws-all in the basement and expand the HO Miami layout into that space) and the Indiana granger shortline. And Dick Elwell's is one of my personal "Top 5" railroads so it's always a pleasure to see it. And Steve Amitrano's painting and weathering is nothing short of spectacular.  

I thought David's piece was one of the most enjoyable articles I've read in a Kalmbach publication in a number of years.  He covered the research, how backdating a few years would significantly change what he has finished, and showed how he would alter his track plan to suit the new era.  I was a little surprised by the rather abrupt "Then I decided not to do this" ending, but don't think it detracted from the piece.  That said, it certainly read more like an MRP article.  My guess is they needed some sort of N scale article for GMR -- I know finding an N scale layout or two for GMR was always a challenge when I was there and I don't think the situation has improved much -- and David was tasked with writing the piece.

Now, back to the MR bashing . . .

[CVSNE]

I posted this over on Trains.com for my boy CNJ who's taken grumpy old man and Chicken Little to the extreme.

That's too funny -- I'd add:

"It's not a good model until you bleed on it"

"Start with block of wood, carve away everything that isn't a "Big Boy"

DCC or car battery? :-\

Marty

[Mark5]

Sweet! Man I love this thread. it's pretty much the same conversation my buddies and I had about MR back in the mid 1970s ...

The Classic Model Railroading is ace! "Why young people can never ... " heheh

Well, maybe a little different.

I read MR at the library ...

[amato1969]

Heh, "smelt your own brass"...   Classic!

[Dave V]

Holy Ready-to-Run Batman!  Check these out!!!

http://www.rapidotrains.com/telepoles.html

If that's not outcome-based, I don't know what is.  Geez.