Model Railroader to have a N Scale Column

[MichaelWinicki]

Great modelling and good techniques are not scale dependent.  Over the years MR has supplied both. If the article is in a different scale,era,road or region you can still learn and improve your modelling..

Well said.

[DKS]

Maybe I'm the pessimist, but it sounds like funneling N scale content into an every-other monthly column would have the opposite effect we'd be after. It would "contain" N scale versus let it grow naturally to fill the magazine. It also seems to indicate that N scale is somehow different than "regular" (presumed to be HO) model railroading.

I could be wrong, but I don't get the sense that this is a move by MR to "contain" or otherwise marginalize N scale. It's just a column, and the fact that it's regular may mean a presence for N scale during what might otherwise be lean months. Presumably regular features will still be published per normal--assuming they receive any.

Woohoo...N Scale is 60 years old, ad MR just found out they existed.

This makes zero sense. Look at the cover of the December 1966 issue before making remarks like this.

Great modelling and good techniques are not scale dependent.  Over the years MR has supplied both. If the article is in a different scale,era,road or region you can still learn and improve your modelling..

Could not agree more. The conspiracy fanatics need to be remind of this. Often.

[93cram]

Could not agree more.

So do I 
As some others, I wish MR will still be there in 75 years, though I might not be able to read it then...nor have completed a layout BTW  ;D

Naturally, you wouldn't be surprised to learn that that scale bias mythology is going strong in other modeling/hobby circles as well, like
military modeling, wargaming, etc...with some individuals who are deeply convinced that 'their' scale is better, though N vs. HO doesn't
evoke anything to them  :

[AlkemScaleModels]

MR is getting too much N Scale coverage. They must be a conspiracy against O scale. When was the last time they had an O scale layout featured?    :



 

[tom mann]

The real conspiracy is against Sn22. . Once we figure out why David Popp was passing out leaflets in Cuba, we'll be closer to the answer.

[John]

MR is getting too much N Scale coverage. They must be a conspiracy against O scale. When was the last time they had an O scale layout featured?    :



  

Have you written the article yet ?

[Bob Bufkin]

Speaking of articles, the next issue of Trains has one on Civil War railroads which is right up your alley.

[Puddington]

There's too much coverage of Espee.....there's not enough coverage about DCC....there's a dirth of articles on the Indiana Harbour Belt........why sooooo much UP stuff....We need more T scale coverage.............how about a monthly column on window shades in all scales.... maybe some more tree making articles........oops, went too far with that one.... ;D  Everyone's got an opinion......

The point is MR covers "whatever" if does for two reasons; 1/ Someone sumbitted a quality article that they feel has reader appeal...2/ It promotes an advertising client's product (read Walthers)

Nothing wrong with these reasons; it just means not everyone will be happy....except Walthers.........

[m301]

This makes zero sense. Look at the cover of the December 1966 issue before making remarks like this.

  I was 10 yrs old in 66. I assume your saying I should have been more aware then.

[rochsub]

  I was 10 yrs old in 66. I assume your saying I should have been more aware then.

If you were not aware as a 10 year old back in 66, maybe you should not have made your remark in the first place. 

Daryl

[Dave V]

I will say this, in spite of my less sunshine-filled post before...

I think MR has gotten much better over the last few years than it was under Terry Thompson.  I picked up my January 2011 and saw some decent how-to (like Lance Mindheim's roof techniques or adding DCC to a brass locomotive) as well as some decent N scale coverage in the product reviews.  Overall, I think MR's been on an upswing in terms of trying to go beyond just RTR and custom-built layouts.  I hope the trend continues.

[AlkemScaleModels]

Have you written the article yet ?

My article writing days are on hold. The ethics rules of my current job as a senior congressional staffer prevent me from accepting payment for articles and many other things. If I do an article it is gratis. Yes, I'm sure about this. Congress has much stricter rules than the executive branch. So I'm working on books and other things that are ok.  However, my first official paper written for this job should be out soon. It is in final production and is about unmanned aircraft, in 1:1 scale not N.

[93cram]

I think MR has gotten much better over the last few years than it was under Terry Thompson

+1

I have had an interesting (and friendly) email discussion with Terry Thompson a few years ago, following some remarks he had made
about the European model railroad hobby market in one of his MR editorials.
While opinions might diverge on any issue, and this is good news AFAIC, I thought Terry's opinion was clearly misguided.

Following a visit to Märklin in Europe sometimes before (so he told me), he was convinced that the main problem with
the European market was that the latter was divided between 2 and 3 rails users.

Clearly, Terry had let the guys in Märklin make him believe that they represented a great market share than they really did  :,
Though I had some reasons to believe I was better situated to discuss about the European hobby market that he was himself,
Terry couldn't hear anything else that what he had been previously told.

The end of the story is well known, Märklin went bankrupt sometimes later, while Bachman and Hornby are doing fine selling (good)
2 rails products, and there is a host of smaller brands doing fine too in rolling stock/scenics/etc...

FWIW, I'm afraid Terry Thompson, while probably a nice guy, was terribly lacking of vision.
I find the current MR crew to be quite progressive and imaginative, and I'm confident for the future, considering individuals like D.Popp
or Cody Grivno.

[Dave V]

My big beef with Terry came from his editorial admonishing the MR industry for not being as RTR as other hobbies like RC cars and planes.  I have no problem with RTR, but then he drove the magazine into such an extremely stripped-down world of buying guides and project railroads made of Unitrack and grass mats that I almost walked away.  I agree, it's not that Terry was a bad guy...  Quite the opposite.  He just wasn't cut out for setting the tone for the MR I grew up with and still want to love.

[pnolan48]

This has been a very informative thread from folks that really know what they are talking about. I've been in contact with every editor since Linn Westcott. Their lament, as mentioned many times above, was the lack of good N-scale submissions.

My early submissions were rejected because my modeling stunk or was stupidly inaccurate because I hadn't researched what I was portraying. Terry Thompson remarked that I could meet their technical and artistic standards, but why was there a 1980s hi-cube car on my 1950s PRR?

That was a turning point. I learned I had better know as much about my railroad as all there other published contributors know about theirs. MR is a serious magazine on the editorial side, and I was not measuring up. I was, and still am, sadly deficient there. Perhaps in retirement I can finally catch up.

Thanks!