Comments on: 40 Years of August in Model Railroader – Part 7 http://www.polyweb.com/dans_rr/blog/index.php/archives/42 Stories about building my model railroad and other things found along the tracks Tue, 19 Oct 2010 17:06:22 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 By: Daniel Swearingen http://www.polyweb.com/dans_rr/blog/index.php/archives/42/comment-page-1#comment-15534 Daniel Swearingen Wed, 04 Jun 2008 13:58:20 +0000 http://www.polyweb.com/dans_rr/blog/index.php/archives/42#comment-15534 Hi Craig, The photos MR chose to use in their Yancy RR article did not do the local scenery justice. As a kid growing up in northern California and only having that article to go by, I just could not get it why the Yancy RR might be attractive. I think we're actually making *my* point which is that the Yancy RR article is an example of MR starting to not deliver good content. Hi Craig,

The photos MR chose to use in their Yancy RR article did not do the local scenery justice. As a kid growing up in northern California and only having that article to go by, I just could not get it why the Yancy RR might be attractive.

I think we’re actually making *my* point which is that the Yancy RR article is an example of MR starting to not deliver good content.

]]> By: Craig V http://www.polyweb.com/dans_rr/blog/index.php/archives/42/comment-page-1#comment-15533 Craig V Tue, 03 Jun 2008 20:50:52 +0000 http://www.polyweb.com/dans_rr/blog/index.php/archives/42#comment-15533 I have to disagree about the Yancey RR article. As a kid for some reason that little railroad fascinated me...the ultimate underdog I guess. Where I think your wheels left the rails was in stating "no scenery". Have you ever been to that neck o' the woods? It's incredible. I have to disagree about the Yancey RR article. As a kid for some reason that little railroad fascinated me…the ultimate underdog I guess. Where I think your wheels left the rails was in stating “no scenery”. Have you ever been to that neck o’ the woods? It’s incredible.

]]> By: Daniel Swearingen http://www.polyweb.com/dans_rr/blog/index.php/archives/42/comment-page-1#comment-14947 Daniel Swearingen Thu, 10 Apr 2008 03:36:12 +0000 http://www.polyweb.com/dans_rr/blog/index.php/archives/42#comment-14947 Hi Dave, OMG! You are quite right -- someone (several someones!) actually modelled the Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville Railroad!? Argh. Ok, I stand corrected. Dan Hi Dave,

OMG! You are quite right — someone (several someones!) actually modelled the Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville Railroad!? Argh.

Ok, I stand corrected.

Dan

]]> By: Dave http://www.polyweb.com/dans_rr/blog/index.php/archives/42/comment-page-1#comment-14943 Dave Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:35:38 +0000 http://www.polyweb.com/dans_rr/blog/index.php/archives/42#comment-14943 I agree about the 4x8 plans... the thing that MR seems to miss (or they know it & don't care) is that, after someone puts all that time & money into building one of these projects, what they're left with is a crappy oval that's boring to run. It's all part of Russ Larson's legacy, which transformed MR from a magazine that focused on what you can build to a mag focused on what you can buy. And i think it's very bad for the health of the hobby: kids don't want to have to buy a DCC decoder just to run their train! I agree about the 4×8 plans… the thing that MR seems to miss (or they know it & don’t care) is that, after someone puts all that time & money into building one of these projects, what they’re left with is a crappy oval that’s boring to run.
It’s all part of Russ Larson’s legacy, which transformed MR from a magazine that focused on what you can build to a mag focused on what you can buy.
And i think it’s very bad for the health of the hobby: kids don’t want to have to buy a DCC decoder just to run their train!

]]> By: Dave http://www.polyweb.com/dans_rr/blog/index.php/archives/42/comment-page-1#comment-14942 Dave Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:31:19 +0000 http://www.polyweb.com/dans_rr/blog/index.php/archives/42#comment-14942 http://www.fjgrr.org/model/model.html http://www.fjgrr.org/model/model.html

]]> By: Rhett http://www.polyweb.com/dans_rr/blog/index.php/archives/42/comment-page-1#comment-14304 Rhett Mon, 10 Sep 2007 03:28:06 +0000 http://www.polyweb.com/dans_rr/blog/index.php/archives/42#comment-14304 While I agree that eight articles on one railroad is a bit too many, I actually found some pretty neat ideas in the August '79 issue. I hung onto the issue because of the photos in the FJ&G article and the Modeling Ideas article. Given MR's current trend of putting the prototype info in Trains and the modeling info in MR, I was pleased to see all of the info in the main FJ&G article. The enginehouse, depot and tool bin articles hardly warrant space in the table of contents, but at least they include dimensioned drawings of each structure. The FJ&G flanger article is also applicable for D&H modelers and does a good job of explaining how the flanger works. The boxcar article is cut out of my issue, so someone else must have found it useful... The model railroad trackplan is nearly worthless. However, I always learn something from looking at prototype track arrangements, so even this article isn't a total loss. I realize that you can't keep your opinions and preferences out of the rating system, but I think the most recent MR August issue is far worse than the '79 issue. While I agree that eight articles on one railroad is a bit too many, I actually found some pretty neat ideas in the August ’79 issue. I hung onto the issue because of the photos in the FJ&G article and the Modeling Ideas article.

Given MR’s current trend of putting the prototype info in Trains and the modeling info in MR, I was pleased to see all of the info in the main FJ&G article.

The enginehouse, depot and tool bin articles hardly warrant space in the table of contents, but at least they include dimensioned drawings of each structure.

The FJ&G flanger article is also applicable for D&H modelers and does a good job of explaining how the flanger works. The boxcar article is cut out of my issue, so someone else must have found it useful…

The model railroad trackplan is nearly worthless. However, I always learn something from looking at prototype track arrangements, so even this article isn’t a total loss.

I realize that you can’t keep your opinions and preferences out of the rating system, but I think the most recent MR August issue is far worse than the ’79 issue.

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