Model Railroading > Old Model Railroader features that you miss

I'm starting a new thread so that I don't hijack the one below.  I was thinking, with Model Railroader reaching it's 1000th issue what were some of the things that you miss about the old ones.  In fairness to the current staff, I don't mean to complain about the current issues.  They are still good and reflect the way the hobby has evolved.  But for some of us that have been reading it for a good chunk of our lives there were things that got you to pick up old issues again and peruse through them.  My brother started getting MR in the 1960's and by the early 1970's I was getting it.  We also inherited from my uncle most of the issues from the 1950's.  So I have had access to a lot of years of MR.  Once again it is a reflection of the times.  Back then there were lots of articles on scratch building.  With so many models out now the focus has become more of buy a kit and this is how to make it more realistic. 
But looking WAY back some of the regular articles I used to enjoy reading (and modeling) were the following:

• Dollar model projects - this was a series of articles on simple structures you could build.  They taught simple scratch building tips and tricks and could be built on a tight budget. 
• Detailed scale drawings of rail cars or locomotives.  Probably a lot of them were not of your prototype but they were always interesting (looking at those drawings may have caused me to become a draftsman later in life).
• Painting diagrams of locomotives.  This was back in the late 50's / early 60's.  They were very detailed.  Did MR get them from EMD?
• Simple layouts like John Allens "Timesaver" switching problem.  Reading the original article on the timesaver in an old MR is what got me back into doing model railroading after taking a bunch of years off.  I agree that the scenery on big layouts is much more enjoyable.  But not everyone has a huge basement to turn into a train room.  So it's good to see how you can enjoy the hobby using a smaller space.

I liked the ads just like everyone else.  The PFM ads on the back cover were great.  Back then who didn't want a Shay, or a Ma & Pa loco even if they didn't fit what you were modeling.  It's also fun to see the prices for the models.  All the old issues are like a time capsule.  I wonder if MR goes away will there be any record of what model railroading was like now? 

I miss Boomer Pete.

-LD

Have to agree with all of the above.
My additions would be the "Model of the Month" and the Trackside Photos in the center of the magazine.
I know that they still have them at the end, but it just seemed cooler in the center -- kinda like an intermission in a play!
And the model of the month would always be way beyond my comprehension for me to emulate, but they were always great to drool over.
Really, if the magazine goes even further to the beginner market, I may lose interest. It's great to get new people involved but the inspiration comes from seeing how the masters did, or hopefully, are doing it.
I think it'd be nice to bring back some of those award winning models -- if for no other reason than to drool over them!

Bull session

Those painting diagrams were pretty cool.

Tom Y

I miss the fold-out color centerspreads like the illustration of SP 4454, a GS4 Daylight locomotive.

I miss "Paint Shop".  I always enjoyed that part, and that's actually how I learned to detail, decal, and paint engines and then freight cars.

Jim

I miss the issues that followed one theme. An example was the iron ore issue with all kinds of things related to mining. DMIR in Paint Shop, mine plans, layouts keying on ore handling..

Mike Bannon
St Catharines, ON

Definitely Paint Shop"  Those were the days when you had to strip a Blue Box and paint anew or kitbash something.  Always helped to find the suggested paint color or a formula for getting it.  These days, there's nothing left to do...the models are almost perfect from China.  I can almost understand why this feature died. 

> p.s.--  Did you know that "Boomer Pete" was
> actually  AL KALMBACH   himself ??
>  

I remember him writing one time that he'd been down more basement stairways than a meter reader.

-LD

paint shop and pike size passenger trains

Jim Findley's stories about model railroading in Korea were pretty sweet.

cabman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Definitely Paint Shop"  Those were the days when
> you had to strip a Blue Box and paint anew or
> kitbash something.  Always helped to find the
> suggested paint color or a formula for getting it.
>  These days, there's nothing left to do...the
> models are almost perfect from China.  I can
> almost understand why this feature died. 

Athearn, Atlas, Kadee, Intermountain, and others all offer their stuff "undecorated".

So, you have to wonder what came first? The chicken or the egg? 


 

Miss Andy Sperandeo's straight-forward and understandable explanations of signalling and other aspects of prototype railroading.

"Looking Back" series by John Page, long after he left the MR staff.

The articles about building brass engines from scratch.  The Art of Superdetailing by Darwin. Prototype articles (people used to bitch about them, but that's what you are modeling),  The PFM ads. The Max Gray ads.  Tons of stuff to miss.

I miss Paint Shop and Model of the Month.  My all time favorite even though it was not an regular feature, was the Casey at the Throttle spoofs.

Rick Bacon
Windsor, CO

I miss the in-depth articles about prototypes with scale drawings. One of the best was in the May 1980 issue with a fold-out of the Rock Island Rocket passenger train from the late 1930's.

Posted from iPhone

I liked the Varney ads showing John Allen's Gorre & Daphetid Railroad.

JBOmaha



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/12/17 15:33 by Copy19.

Many good thoughts expressed here.

I hope someone in Milwaukee is reading this.

-John Stein - Subscriber since 1957