Train Mags

[Sokramiketes]

I think they both are hurting for good articles and resort to a lot of page filler. (eg NSR's article on the New Haven)

Al

Did you just call a feature article on a well known N scale layout "filler"?

[kelticsylk]

Never had a subscription for a paper model magazine, as far as I can remember. Always preferred to pick them up at the hobby shop. I also bought a lot of back issues so I have a library of MR and RMC going back to the 1950's with some from the 40's and 30's. Have a lot of Railroad Magazine issues going back just as far. Lots of info on the steam era, written when steam was still active.

I stopped buying the paper version of MR because there wasn't a lot I could use for the price I was paying. I still like reading it. The digital version only costs about $3 a month so I went with that.

I was buying N scale magazines once in a while, but once again there wasn't a lot of info I could use and the surviving hobby shops around here don't carry them. I do follow Keystone Modeler and MRH and a couple of other online magazines.

I agree that this forum and other online sites are great resources.

[sundowner]

I subscribe to Diesel Era and get NSR and classic trains at the train store, will subscribe to NSR if my trains store goes away. I get RMC, MR, Nscale or Trains if the issue has an interesting article.

[Denver Road Doug]

Did you just call a feature article on a well known N scale layout "filler"?

+1, WTF?    Great layout, IMHO.

[CBQ Fan]

Classic Trains is the only one I willingly pay money for and get any value out of.

[Dave V]

Did you just call a feature article on a well known N scale layout "filler"?

Yeah, I'm wondering about this too... I bought that issue for Popp's New Haven layout.  Excellent photos and a very neat angle for the story.  Not filler.

 

[CBQ Fan]

I took it as a general comment.  Overall content seems to be down from decades past.  Total number of articles not that what is published is filler, ads etc around it are the filler.

[bbussey]

Content of 35 pages is hardly "filler" and it's not a general comment when a specific article is sited.  The Naugatuck Valley article was extremely well done, similar to how the Cumberland Valley was featured previously.  One advantage that NSR has over MR is that it can feature N scale in such a in-depth "boots on the ground" fashion.  Just because the articles may not appeal to one person doesn't mean that they are filler material.  I also disagree that the number of NSR content pages and the number of feature articles have dropped over the years. 

[pjm20]

I have subscribed to MR, Garden Railways (other hobby) and Trains before, but I don't have any current subscriptions. I usually just pick out issue from the store that I want. I also enjoy reading Classic Trains, RMC, and N Scale Enthusiast.

[VirginaCSX]

Have read MR for years (since I was a kid).  Have always liked it and still find it to be the best magazine.  Had a subscription to NSR for a couple of years but found it to be getting boring.   Actually decided to keep by subscription to Trains over NSR.  N Scaler never caught my interest.  Enjoy reading the paper copies over the online versions, I stare at a monitor all day at work and need a break.

[alhoop]

I apologize for my poor wording that seemed to say that the article on David Popp's
Naugatuck Valley RR was filler. For the record, I think the Naugatuck Valley is one of
the better N Scale layouts, just not on a par with the CVS. What I meant was that the
article had 'filler' material included( photos 6,7 and 8 convey essentially the same
 info as does photos 19 and 20. ). In my opinion it is not the first time for NSR, see
the Jan-Feb 2011 issue that had 10 pages devoted to pulling a train through a flood
loader. N-Scale does the same at times (N-Scale Sep-Oct 2012) - an article similar to
the one in question here.
All just my opinion. Maybe I just don't like articles describing operations.
Al

[Scottl]

Don't feel the need to apologize, your opinion is as valid as any here.  I went to the few issues I have on hand to refresh myself and many of your points come through for me as well. 

In general, I don't get much out of the n scale magazines.  They are hard for me to obtain here and when I do get my hands on an issue, they underwhelm in terms of content, quality of photography, and especially the quality of the illustrations (like track plans).  I used to read MR and other magazines as a source of info so the ads were as interesting as the content to me, and I never thought of them as filler.  Now the web fills that need more effectively.  I do pick up MR on occasion and enjoy the 25 minute read/peruse, but then it goes to the recycle bin.  Rarely, an article seems worth keeping and gets filed away.

One of the few hobby magazines I have consistently bought and kept is the Narrow Gauge and Shortline Gazette.   I find the craftsmanship and modelling inspiring.  The covers are quite literally works of art.  When I read an issue, I walk away wanting to start narrow gauge modelling.  When I read the n scale magazines, my reaction is often the opposite. 

[chicken45]

I use to be that way towards my magazines but to be honest I haven't bought any mags in about 4 months (the last time I had to go to the VA Hospital in Salisbury, N.C.) and then it was NSR issues that I picked up.  To be honest between the eZines Model Railroad Hobbiest and those produced by various historical societies, as well as the posts to various forums I am on I have plenty enough to read.

What is more, more often than not eZines such as MRH, The Keystone Modeler and the Seaboard - Coast Line Modeler (and the forums I like to read on a regular basis) provide me with more useful information that than any of the magazines I previously would purchase, modeling wise or prototype (with the exception of NSR and N-scale).  On a rare occasion, though, there are issues of Classic Trains that feature passenger rail subjects that are a "must have" for reasons that some here know all too well.

Just as an example, the latest Seaboard - Coast Line Modeler issue has a great article on Fruit Growers Express 40' steel insulated boxcars that were leased by some of FGE's owners and that carried these roads' initials instead of one of the FGE reporting marks.  While I was well familiar with the varieties of 50' cars that wore reefer yellow the mention of 40' cars carrying railroad initials has never been seen in any model or railfan magazine that I have looked at.  I have been reading various "mainline" magazines (modeling and prototype) all the way back to the mid-60s yet not a one ever mentioned that some of FGE's 40-footers ever carried railroad marks.  And a number of issues of other digital eZines have been equally of value.  And I was able to get it at no cost at all to me, which is part of the reason I sometimes can't buy magazines, because of me being on disability (believe me when I say I would rather be able to work than not being able too... it definitely is no picnic, to say the least).

As much as I have valued printed mags in the past (and there are still specific copies that I am always on the look-out for) they do not hold nearly the value that they use too.  For me the convenience of having them in digital form (and books too) is perfect for my purposes and with my portable 350 Gig hard drive they are far easier to store than what the hard copy mags are, taking up less space than a dollar bill.

What Jerry said.

[fotoflojoe]

I've had a few hobby magazine subscriptions over the years - not just on the model railroading front.
They've all been allowed to lapse, I can't justify the expense these days.
The only mag that still arrives in my mailbox is the one that comes with my NMRA membership.
 
At any rate, I've found that it's more enjoyable to "go on the hunt" for magazines, whether at Barnes & Noble or my LHS.
I recently "discovered" the N Scale specific mags as well as "Narrow Gauge & Shortline Gazette", picked up a few back issues of each.

Unfortunately, if I subscribed to every magazine that I was interested in, I'd go broke!

[John]

The whole point of my post was to highlight an article -- the point of which was -- while other magazines are struggling, there are a subset such as train mags that seem to have a rabid following and are doing OK ..