Railfan Technology > 70 Years of Trains Mag DVD - worth the $$$ ?

Considering tossing 25 years of the magazine plus a few years of the 1950s inherited from my dad. Replacing them with the DVD.  Is it worth the bucks?  I'd likely be searching areas I want to visit, printing out maps, consolidating into current info.

Or would I be better off with a good topo map program, and print that out?

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> Considering tossing 25 years of the magazine plus
> a few years of the 1950s inherited from my dad.
> Replacing them with the DVD.  Is it worth the
> bucks?  I'd likely be searching areas I want to
> visit, printing out maps, consolidating into
> current info.
>
> Or would I be better off with a good topo map
> program, and print that out?

If your main reason for doing this is the maps I would go with TOPO USA from DeLorme. I've been using it for years. Allows you to add your own notes, measure distances etc. Info inquirery tool allows you to click on th RR track and it will tell which RR it is.

Old Bob out in Lost Wages

I agree with Bob. Many "maps" in TRAINS and R&R are black lines from East Stumpbucket to West Nowhere and no depiction of roads.  Not quite usless but close.   Get Delorme Street atlas.

I've used it to provide background on locations that were new to me and used the photos to suggest places to check out.  But I agree with the others that something like Street Atlas is more useful for navigating around unfamiliar places.

I wouldn't touch a Kalmbach DVD with a ten foot pole.  I bought this DVD but can't use it any longer because Kalmbach didn't keep up with OS updates.  I asked them about this at the time and was told TOUGH. http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?9,3568362,3568362#msg-3568362

Bob Wilcox
Charlottesville, VA
My Flickr Shots



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/27/15 03:35 by bobwilcox.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I'm faced with decades of Trains mag, and an abundance of DeLorme gazetteers (see separate thread), and realize I have opened most of this stuff in years / decades.  Probably time to toss them, and move on...


(I'm leaning toward offering the Trains, etc to the local model railroad club, or one of the kids' hospitals in the area)

It's OK with a crude search function. I bought it when it debuted but have not gone into it in ages. A bit cumbersome to manuveur around. One of those retirement projects!

Tom Y

I keep Trains magazines with articles on my specific areas of interest -- Union Pacific lines past and present in Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. They fit into a bankers box with room left for a six-pack.  Friends have the DVDs but you pretty much need outside information to search them.

As a current Trains Magazine subscriber, I've been thinking of buying the 70 years of Trains Magazine on DVD... BUT... With this issues I'm thinking twice... WHY not sell the 70 years issues via Zinio?

Geep Wrote:
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> As a current Trains Magazine subscriber, I've been
> thinking of buying the 70 years of Trains Magazine
> on DVD... BUT... With this issues I'm thinking
> twice... WHY not sell the 70 years issues via
> Zinio?

Zinio (or Google's Newstand) would be a great way to sell access. People pay 99 cents etc for the article they want, and make use of a modern access and catalog feature.

6-26-2015
Consider selling them at a local train show.  I purchased many years of old MRR that way, long before DVD's were offered by MRR.