You just THINK you're a WGH Ambassador

[Dave V]

All hail
Hypnotoad...

Indeed.  Well played, sir!

[Ryan87]

Here's a question. (or more of a thought)

Why does everybody care so much about Model Railroader?
MR doesn't really effect my modeling positively or negatively, They just don't matter.

However judging from the half dozen 4+ page topics we've had recently they must control all our lives.
Why is MR so important?

We have to have something better to talk about, Don't we?

[scootbird]

Here's a question. (or more of a thought)

Why does everybody care so much about Model Railroader?
MR doesn't really effect my modeling positively or negatively, They just don't matter.

However judging from the half dozen 4+ page topics we've had recently they must control all our lives.
Why is MR so important?

We have to have something better to talk about, Don't we?

F..... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!  Next Topic

[Dave V]

Here's a question. (or more of a thought)

Why does everybody care so much about Model Railroader?
MR doesn't really effect my modeling positively or negatively, They just don't matter.

However judging from the half dozen 4+ page topics we've had recently they must control all our lives.
Why is MR so important?

We have to have something better to talk about, Don't we?

Pretty simple.  Many of us grew up on Model Railroader and it influenced us heavily.  Yes, my father and I built a small layout and we went to the occasional club open house, but MR and RMC were the windows through which I viewed the rest of the hobby.  Between the two, I always prefered MR.

So when MR began its current downward slide (into mediocrity, as was put earlier), it meant a longtime institution of both my and my father's childhoods had begun to falter.  No one likes watching the downfall of something that's been a positive part of their lives for so many years.

That's my story anyway.

[SirTainly]

It was MR that got me into the US prototype. Got a copy about 5 years ago and was really impressed with an article on how to model the Capitol Limited. Sorry to say very few issues since have been as good asd the first one I bought, and after obtaining some back issues for bashing projects some fo the ones from the 70s,80s, and 90s had so much more meat in them. Proper scale line drawings accompanied by an article on how to make said item, really neat IMHO.

[tom mann]

When I got into model railroading at age 9, my mom took me to the library to get some Model Railroaders.  I can remember browsing through the last few issues of 1986.  MR made a big impression on me, even though the terms "benchwork" and "armchair modeling" were confusing to me. ;D  So every now and then we bring up our slight distaste for current issues- not out of spite, but out of some nostalgic longing for when the articles were more than captions and the magazine could keep our interest for more than 15 minutes.

[lock4244]

My first exposure to the world of model railroading was Model Railroader. A real eye opener for an eight year old who had never seen a real train layout before... the San Jose Society of N Scaler's layout was the feature in that issue, IIRC. Wore that magazine out, read it over and over and over and over and over again.

I has slid in quality and interest over the years, or so it seems to me and others. Maybe we outgrow it as we become more aware of our true interests; maybe we get very specific in our modeling and are drawn to N Scale specific magazines and/or publications of Special Interest Groups or Historical Societies? Maybe, maybe not...

Either way, we all know the the World's Greatest Hooby is extreme railfanning! So all of this WGH Ambasador mumbo-jumbo is moot 

[DKS]

Here's a question. (or more of a thought)

Why does everybody care so much about Model Railroader?

Pretty simple.  Many of us grew up on Model Railroader and it influenced us heavily.

Same here. In my case, it was MR that got me into the hobby. Then again, this was back in the 60s, when MR was still a great magazine. Sad to watch its long, slow slide down into mass commercialism. I can recall a time when the arrival of MR was the highlight of the month. Now I'll thumb through a copy if I happen to be at a magazine rack with a minute or two to kill. Haven't bought an issue in years, though. I don't think that it's necessarily the case that some have "outgrown" the magazine, as has been suggested; if MR was more like it was back a few decades or more, I'd still consider it a good value.

[asciibaron]

MR was my childhood.  seriously - each month meant a new project on my layout to emulate that month's features.  for me, MR is no longer relevant because i pretty much know how to build benchwork, lay track, wire the mess, do some half a$$ scenery, and operate in a prototypical manner - all things oft repeated in MR.  i have a collection of MR's that span 30 years and have seen many repeated ideas and articles - i have the basics down and now it's just a matter of honing my skills - something that is an active pursuit - i best be gettin activated!

the short of it is simply - MR lost it's appeal to me once i was to the point i could write the article on how to do the project they were featuring.  if only i could write or model.

-steve

[daniel_leavitt2000]

The 85-88 years in MR were probably the best. Lots of great kitbash articles, even in N. September 87 was my personal favorite. I think John Coots layout was shown during that time as well. That layout IS the reason why I am in N scale. I see a big slide backward in the modeling skills in the the current MR issues. Thats not all bad though. RMC has become much better and with two indipendant N scale magazines, we have a lot to like.

[TiVoPrince]

Why does everybody care so much about Model Railroader?
MR doesn't really effect my modeling positively or negatively, They just don't matter.

MR
was the introduction for so many in the hobby today.  Many of us 'old guys' entered this hobby inspired based on reading MR.  David Barrow, Bob Zenk and others of that 1978-1990 era would be counted among my personal hobby heroes.

Today, there is no excellence.  There is no inspiration.  There is no strive to better oneself.  Recycling old rticles/techniques is not forwarding the hobby...

[inkaneer]

Just to add some perspective on all of this.  Let's not forget that 1:160 scale N gauge owes whatever success it now enjoys to three things.  One is Ntrak which people like to bash.  The other is Jim Conway of Concor fame who took the chance to act as wholesaler for Ngauge and who produced with some heretofore unknown company named Kato some of the early N gauge locos.  Jim has received his share of bashing as well. The third is MR and their article on building the Clinchfield in N gauge.  With out these three items N gauge would never be what it is today.

[Chris333]

I still run out and buy MR every month, for some reason I keep forgetting to re-subscribe. 

I gotta say though I'd rather dig into a 20 year old issue first. Even though I have read it a bunch of times there still seems like more to see in it.

[Dave V]

...The third is MR and their article on building the Clinchfield in N gauge.  With out these three items N gauge would never be what it is today.

...and that's precisely the point.  What MR was and what it is now are two different things.  I long for the MR of the 70s and 80s (and even the 90s).  Certainly N scale is in a far better place now than just 10 years ago, but alas, we cannot say that about MR which did, as we all acknowledge, once promote the scale so well.

Granted, all three entities you mention have received actual "bashing," but with only a few exceptions I think we are expressing legitimate concerns regarding MR's current shortcomings.  Not every negative comment is "bashing."  If everything but accolades and back-patting constitutes bashing, then the terrorists have already won!

[Kisatchie]

I gave up on buying Model Railroader regularly after three things happened.

First, I sent a stamped, self-addressed envelope to them, asking some question -I forget what now. NO REPLY - strike one.

Second, I sent a stamped, self-addressed envelope to them, asking how to mix a certain popular railroad color. NO REPLY - strike two.

Third, they discontinued their monthly feature, Paint Shop, which I used to read religiously. Strike three.

It's been about 4 years since I've even bothered to look at their magazine in the LHS (when I can get down to New Orleans).

They'll never get another stamped, self-addressed envelope from me