Model Railroading > Model Railroad Magazines vs. Types of Readers

My budget doesn’t allow me to subscribe to all of the model railroad magazine publications, I wouldn’t have time to read them all anyway. Which magazines have better contents for readers that are RTR modelers on one end of the spectrum to serious kit bashers and scratch builders? My intent is not to bash any publication, so no negative comments please, just post your comments about the niche market for each publication. The model railroad periodicals I can think of are:

Model Railroader
Railroad Model Craftsman
Mainline Modeler
Model Railroading
Rail Model Journal
Scale Rails (NMRA publication)

Did I miss any?

-CNW

Go to a hobby shop and look for self buy a few that look like what you are looking for and subscribe to what you like. Joe

When i first got into Model Railroading i subscribed to all of the mags you listed. As the years have passed, i have let various subcriptions lapse as i found i lost interest in the content of that particular magazine. If the content didn't match my type/area/or subject of modeling, i found i rarely looked, much less read the publication.
Currently i subscribe to MRR, Trains, and Scale Rails. When my Dues expire with NMRA in '07, i will lose Scale Rails, as i do not intend to renew my membership.
With all the available content on the web, i do not find i need all these publications. Most manufactuer's send out new release info via email, so i don't worry about missing any announcements.
With the various Forums available, i find i get just as many ideas for the layout as i would with print media.
Lastly, it has never been an issue with the price of the subscription. I just can't see getting it if i don't read it.

One issue with internet content is that there's no guarantee it'll be there tomorrow. With a paper publication, you'll be able to refer to an article 30 years from now (if you can remember where you put the magazine!).

Walt

I don't know ho to read, I just look at the picshurs but you missed Canadian Railway Modeler.



TCS - higher outside canada

I get all of them except Scale Rails (though I am a NMRA Member).

I'd say Mainline Modeller is the one that's most geared towards scratchbuilders and those who like to create. MR is the basic magazine, for the beginner. The others fall in between somewhere, but MR-ding falls a bit more towards MM.

Kennedy

Ever since I got into the hobby in the late 1970s, my preference has been model railorader. However, I have purchased some of the other publications, notably Rail Model Craftsman if there was an article about a railroad line of particular interest (i.e. Western Pacific's Reno Branch).

If you model, you may also want to join one of the railroad historical societies as their publications very frequently feature modeling articles.

Dave

To add to the already good advice. You may need something Scale Specific. For example, I have N scale and am currently building a layout in that scale. I need a rail wig wag that fits my interest. I subscribe to N Scale Railroading out of Seattle, WA.
I have subscribed to Model Railroader but became disenchanted when few issues refrenced N Scale.

Railroad Modeler and Model Railroader are excellent sources for the HO model railroader. Both have stuck with tradition to present you with RTR as well as scratch building resources.

As Espee5318 already indicated. Go to a hobby shop and thumb through the wig wags until you find the publication that best suits your purposes.

As a AT&SF loyalist, I also subscribe to "the Warbonnet". They provide me with ideas specific to Santa Fe. Highly recommend you find wig wags specific to your modeling interest.

RickH

In terms of modelling itself, IMHO the British "Railway Modeller" is probably the best English-language model rail magazine.

Has a lot of articles on new and innovative modelling techniques that eventually make it over across the Atlantic.....

We were carrying the British Modeler at the hobby shop I work at, for about two months, didn't sell.

Model Railroading is a very basic, broad range magazine. All scales, though mostly HO. Very influanced by advertising. They will never give a bad review to any product whose manufactuer advertises with them, no matter how bad the product.

Model Railroading is similar to MR, with it's content, but a little more honest in it's reviews. It usually has less content and advertising than MR.

Rail Model Craftsman is a good source for information, but usually only two to three issues a year appeal to any one modeler. Good for scratchbuilders and kit bashers.

Mainline Modeler has pretty much lost it. Most issues do not appeal to hardly anybody. They usually put a prototype picture on the cover that has nothing to do with anything in the issue. Alot of the pictures are black and white, and layout pictures are dark.

And of course the best kit bashers magazine, Prototype Modeler, now out of print.

If you are looking for one to subscibe to, I would say none. Go to your local hobby shop, each month, and buy the one to two that appeal to you that month. It usually won't always be the same magazine. MR is still the most popular, we sell about 60-75 a month.

If you model something other than HO Scale the are several magazines for just about every scale.

...
Foamer

foamer Wrote:
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> We were carrying the British Modeler at the hobby
> shop I work at, for about two months, didn't
> sell.
>

I think the British Modeler (well, isn't it title something like "British Railway Modeller"?) is something like the British equivalent of MR in format and style.

Railway Modeler is a different mag, and, IMHO, tends to be more interesting for the model builder. It has a sister publication, "Continental Modeler" (both are available here) which covers the international (to the UK) scene.

Ive gotten a few MR craftsman over the years for various articles, and had a sub to Model Railroader since High School.

They all will vary with info, but MR seems to average out to pretty good.

One suggestion that works great for me, is to have a subscription as one of your Christmas gifts. My parents started that when I was young and kept it up over the years.

They want to help with my hobby, and the magazine is better than them trying to buy some loco or car. I still have a high cube Sante Fe boxcar they got me, but it just doesnt ever look right to me with my Clinchfield based layout!

Randy McKenzie
Hillsville VA

One of the nice things about RMC is they run multi-part articles on an industry, how the railroad worked with that industry, and how to model it. Recent ones included the meat packing industry and the CNJ Ashley Planes in Pennsylvania. MR multi-part articles are "how to build this years 5x10 layout". Valuable but after a while it's just turning the crank.

Went through the MR, RMC, RMJ, MM subscriptions for a while and found they have a few interesting articles which caught my eye but the rest of the year was not very interesting. Started subscribing/ joining the Historical Societies that interested me and find the offerings consistently more interesting. To get the latest info (advertisements) I still have to search the magazine racks, which I had to do to compare the recent mags anyways, and also pay attention on the www and discussion groups.
Just one of many ways to go about it.