Feb 08 Model Railroader

[tom mann]

I thought the construction of the shelf layout is far too complex for a newbie.  I don't understand why it is so overbuilt.

[Wlal13again]

I may buy 4 or 5 copies of MR a year, I pick it up if it has something that interests me, Same thing with Trains..

[3rdrail]

Ah yes, Malcolm Furlow...


We still have to work on you, Chuck...
Lee

WHERE in tarnation did you get that?? Or, if you created it, what the devil were you ingesting for New Year's Eve?? Hope you didn't cut your ear off while creating it!  ;D ;D ;D ;D

[John]

We had some really good drugs back in the 70's

[Chris333]

http://www.polyweb.com/dans_rr/blog/index.php/archives/category/model-railroading/model-railroader

[central.vermont]

http://www.polyweb.com/dans_rr/blog/index.php/archives/category/model-railroading/model-railroader

Now I feel real old after looking through those older issues. I still have them
and remember reading them. That was back in BC (Before Computers) ;D ;D
Jon

[MEC_FAN]

According to an ad in the February issue Model Railroader (page 40) there are now four buildings of stuff at the Sprinffield show instead of three. Guess we need to take more money with us. See its good for something!!

[inkaneer]

MR, without a doubt, hit its zenith among N gaugers with the series on building the Clinchfield.  Man, I don't now how many times I read and re-read those articles.  That one series of articles along with Ntrak are probably two of the biggest reasons N Gauge is where it is today.  That being said, MR is still a predominately HO mag.  However, I wish one of the N gauge mags would adopt their style of educationg modelers about different aspects of rr's and modeling such as their series on passenger car trucks or how how something is done like thei project RR's rather than posting photos of finished product [which they do].  Hundman tried this but really overdid it as evidenced by the tree articles that seemed to be in every issue.  Maybe that was because there wasn't a plethora of articles available to publish, maybe not.  Anyway I let my subscription to MR lapse this year but kept my ones for both N scale mags.

[sirenwerks]

Like an article on lineside details that extols what exactly is available in N, and how what's not can be made, including drawings? Great idea! Or articles on rolling stock NOT available in N? Not a how to kitbash of scratchbuild, but just an article on the cars with drawings so those who wish to could take it from there (my vote goes to the P-S 2600 covered hopper as the first)? Brilliant!

This is all written somewhat tongue in cheek, as I know the N scale mags live off of what reader-writers provide them, they don't have staff writers like MR does (or did). So (not written tongue in cheek) how about an article on how to write such an article? Like how to contact car manufacturers and railroads so drawings and info can be gathered for writing, etc. Personally, I'm itching to do an article on CSX's Baltimore Transflo facility (including basic drawings of the transload carts used) but can't seem to gain access to the site no matter who I appeal to to photograph and measure the darn things. In effect, it's an easy to model contemporary industry that accepts a wide variety of rolling stock.

[wcfn100]

MR, without a doubt, hit its zenith among N gaugers with the series on building the Clinchfield.

Don't forget the Carolina Central.  I know that layout itself wasn't landmark or anything (might have been MR's first door layout though), but I saw more influence from that layout for beginners than any other.  Unfortunately most were exact copies, but I can only hope after ten years now that those modelers have expanded their imaginations.



Jason

[chuck geiger]

Lee point well taken...The Timothy Leary of Model Railroading. If you notice on the shelf layout, it was an existing layout and had scenery and trackwork on it previous to the Troy thing. This is going to be confusing to newcomers. They have also replaced the track nails with liquid nails. Better. But they keep using all that wood, when foam would have worked. Proof that there was existing benchwork and sub roadbed there.

[chuck geiger]

Ah yes, Malcolm Furlow...


We still have to work on you, Chuck...
Lee

It's OK Lee though John Allen was over creative and he hates mirrors.

[up1950s]

I thought the bucket O trees was good . No , it's not fine scale modeling , but the idea of making a hill with just tree tops on it and trunked trees around the lower edge has been done for years . It , I feel , was a toot for the new modeler to move a bit closer to modeling a forested hillside .

[sirenwerks]

I think they should have left the bucket o' trees article for their April issue.

[CVSNE]

MR, without a doubt, hit its zenith among N gaugers with the series on building the Clinchfield.

Don't forget the Carolina Central.  I know that layout itself wasn't landmark or anything (might have been MR's first door layout though), but I saw more influence from that layout for beginners than any other.  Unfortunately most were exact copies, but I can only hope after ten years now that those modelers have expanded their imaginations.

I wouldn't put the Carolina Central in the same camp as the Clinchfield, as the CC was intended for the true beginner and the Clinchfield really was intended to showcase the potential of N scale and was therefore not a "beginners" layout.  

I am continually (and pleasantly) surprised by the number of people who have built the CC or some variant of it.  My current N scale project is another layout - this one for a book -- that examines what can be done in N scale in a size close to the proverbial 4 x 8 (it's actually about 3'-7" x 7'-9" -- necessary to get it up the basement stairs!).

This book will feature some more advanced techniques than those shown on the CC -- but I won't scare anyone off by calling them "advanced."

Marty