Model Railroading in the 50s and 60s.


I am a subscriber to MRH, also and I like it, also!

People will like/dislike any publication produced, this is not something new. Many people want only digitally produced media that they can read on their confuser while I do alot of my reading in bed, on the toilet; or, sitting in front of the T.V., so digital means is only one way I view and use the written media. Can we move on?

I would like to ask all of you to get back to the original topic and that is Model Railroading from the 1950s onwards!
 
They didn't have pallets until about 1939 when the US started ramping up exports to the UK for the war effort. It came about the same time as the fork lift. When I see layouts depicting the 1920's and early to mid 1930's with pallets, someone didn't do their research.
 
Y3a said:
They didn't have pallets until about 1939 when the US started ramping up exports to the UK for the war effort. It came about the same time as the fork lift. When I see layouts depicting the 1920's and early to mid 1930's with pallets, someone didn't do their research.
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And, so what? Who cares? Maybe I would care enough about this being correct on my own layout; but, I certainly can allow others to do what they want. Lighten up, smell the daisies, live and let live!

I just bought three refrigerator cars, all came with Arch bar Trucks, which would have been outlawed for revenue service by 1953, the year I model. However, I'm not going to go out an buy Bettendorfs, just so I comply with the laws implemented at that time! Since only a few people ever see my layout and none who see it, have any idea about what was and was not, used by the railroads at that time, only I know that there is a illegal action being committed and I don't give a rip! Take your realism to what ever level you desire; but, leave your judgmental opinions for your own modeling!

So, once again I will ask can we get back to discussing model railroading from 1950 on up?
 
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So you don't belong to any Historical Societies? I used to model Norfolk & Western in the 1930's and with very little stuff out there I joined just to get the newsletters. Several of my friends were also members so my friends KNEW what they were looking at, so I strived to a higher bar. I was able to win a locomotive competition with a re-built and detailed Bowser USRA 4-8-2.

So why did you ask about the pallets in the first place?
 
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Yes, I belong to the Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association. I'm a member so I can further MY modeling abilities, not so I can cut others work down, because I know a few things!
 
Me and my N&W buddies have a fun competition (trying to out-do each other) so I have a different environment that you have. One of my friends even wired all the telephone poles around his layout.

Speaking of the N&W AND that other model railroading magazine MAINLINE MODELER, before my eyesight started going I had drawing of an early N&W 4 bay hopper from MM, and was working on masters to make a fleet of HU's based on the great drawings. I don't know if any better source for line drawings and detailed looks at locomotives, rolling stock or structures, and when they stopped publishing I started losing interest in model railroading. Model railroading looks pretty good these days, but with the changes in the hobby toward prebuilt and weathered they just don't have so many small scratch projects or clever suggestions anymore.
 
There were a lot of drawings of locomotives, freight and passenger cars in Model Railroader, before the RTR craze went nuts. I suppose I could do a list of what is available from the Digital Archives. However, this wouldn't do much good, if you don't subscribe!
 
I am thinking about doing this. If I do, I will end this discussion at the end of 1979. That will be almost 30 years of reviews of Model Railroader Magazine, from April of 1950 to December of 1979. However, my biggest Bug-A-Boo about reviewing Line Drawings in Model Railroader Magazine for Locomotives, Freight and Passenger equipment is the fact that unless YOU have access to Model Railroader Magazine's "All Time Digital Access", the list will not be available to you! You would have the month and year where the information would be contained; so, you could either join for a year; or, start a search for that particular issue to buy on Ebay; or, some such other method.

This would be a very slow process. Since people would likely want to information to be arranged by railroad, the entire list would need to be gone through to be able to do that. This would be 78 years of Model Railroaders Likely more that 1,000 issues, by the time the list would be concluded. The driving force for me would be finding all the Information on Northern Pacific equipment and as long as I'd have to go through every issue to compile this list, why not do it for all the Line Drawings? Then there is the fact that very few Line Drawings have been done recently which somewhat minimizes the load, some.
 
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This has me trying to remember all the model railroad magazines. I used to work at a really good general hobby shop in the late 1980's through 1994. We carried Model Railroader, Model Railroading, Mainline Modeler, Model Railroad Craftsman, N Gauge, Classic Toy Trains, Narrow Gauge and short line Gazette, and...and...I'm drawing a blank.
 
Y3a said:
This has me trying to remember all the model railroad magazines. I used to work at a really good general hobby shop in the late 1980's through 1994. We carried Model Railroader, Model Railroading, Mainline Modeler, Model Railroad Craftsman, N Gauge, Classic Toy Trains, Narrow Gauge and short line Gazette, and...and...I'm drawing a blank.
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The original Model Railroader & Trains Magazine forums used to have a searchable index of all the model railroad, rail fan type magazines. Many I had never heard of. When they updated the forum software the first time it was still there but much harder to find and access. When they updated again that resource completely vanished.
 
On page #4 Post # 37, I came across a statistics survey done by the magazine and posted in the "At the Throttle" Editorial by Linn Westcott. Someone said I would run across a few of these types of statistical tables, that did not happen, as it took until the October 1979 issue before I cam across another. This one was performed by Russ Larson, then Editor of the magazine. This actually shows statistics for 1973 and 1978. the breakdown is as follows:

Scale 1973---190,000 Model RRs----1978---220,000 Model RRs
HO 78.1% 148,390-------------------77.0% 169,400
N 13.6% 25,840----------------------12.8% 28,160
O 7% 13,300--------------------------8.3% 18,260
S .6% 1,140---------------------------1% 2,200
Other .7% 1,330----------------------.9% 1,980

Time Period Preference
1830-1865 .4%--------1901-1935 15.8%
1866-1900 4.4%-------1936-1960 48.5%
1961 1979 30.9%

Home Layout Sizes
N Scale 60 Sq. Feet
HO Scale 117 Sq. Feet
O Scale 186 Sq. feet

It would be interesting to see a newer one, now that G has become very popular. I'd also like to know what would be the total amount of people who are Model Railroaders today!
 
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I'm going to continue on through 1980 and possibly to April, 1983, which would make my survey a complete 30 years.

As far as listing out all the prototype drawings for locomotives and rolling stock that have been published in Model Railroader since 1934, I am still wondering about how many would really benefit from such a list. It would be good to have some input from the people here; but, remember that you must be a subscriber to Model Railroaders "All Time Digital Archive" to view that information. Although the people capable of viewing such a list may be fairly low, there are still benefits to such a list!
 
I'm looking through the May of 1980 issue now. Not only are layouts becoming more sincere (not spaghetti bowls) and more realistic, but in this issue there are two layouts that feature multiple levels. I remember going into a hobby shop in Richfield, MN that had a club layout in it that had the first helix that I had been exposed to. This would have been around 1980 to 1982; or, so. They had the helix in a box which I don't think I would have done. However, being as this was on the show room floor of the hobby shop, covering this portion of the layout was somewhat understandable. Art Curren's building Kit bashing projects are becoming prevalent. I have bashed one of his buildings and that was a Flat Iron building. i built it not knowing where I was going to plant it on the railroad and found the perfect place for it next to my Roundhouse where it looks like it was meant to be. I have Art's book on "kit Bashing" and although it was written in the 1980s, it is still relevant and would be very popular if it was re-offered by Kalmbach.
 
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This is really fun! I've been getting all sorts of flashbacks to my yute. 1980 was the year I first visited a club layout for the first time. I had NEVER SEEN actual hand layed track, building turnouts in line, or scenery done on such a large scale. My buddy who was a member got to run my Mantua 2-6-6-2 which I had re-detailed. I couldn't run anything cause I wasn't yet a member. I did join and worked making trees for the scenery members. My buddy was doing electrical stuff and learning to make turnouts. Unfortunately, the hobby shop which hosted the club went out of business and the layout was dismantled. Luckily, they salvaged a few thousand trees.

Back in about 1965 or later MRR ran an article about making a back hoe crane. I remember carefully cutting all the cardboard parts and using elmers glue to make the cab and treads. It was just a static piece but it had character. I think I made it one summer day when it was raining outside.
 
Although my guess is that advertisements for this product may have appeared in issues dating back to the early to mid 1970s, I only came across one in the August of 1980 issue. That is Satellite City's advertisement for their CA glue "HOT STUFF". Other than the TV ads for "Super Glue, where they show a guy gluing his hard hat to an I beam and being lifted aloft by the glue joint, "HOT STUFF" was the first CA (Cyanoacrylate) glue that I ever used. I was involved in the Radio Control model aviation hobby at that time and CAs totally dominated R/C for a while in the late 70s and early 80s. I think that CAs displaced Ambroid's glue from the top shelf and Ambroid never returned to the top, a rather sad fact as I loved Ambroid because it was the perfect adhesive for so many jobs!
 
In the November 1980 issue, Russ Larson announced the passing of Lynn Westcott on September 8th. He was 67 and passed away in his sleep and had not been ill.
 
I'm looking over 1981 and I'm finding that every issue at the end of the 70s and continuing on into the early 1980s is at least 150 pages long. Most of that length, it is my guess, is contained in the section previous to "At the Throttle", the Editors column. This is where much of the ads, Railway Post Office and new product discussions are contained. Command Control is being discussed, Hornby's Zero One is advertised in full page ads. Power Systems Inc. (PSI) has a a small ad. showing their Dynatrol System. Malcom Furlow's Book, "HO Narrow Gauge Railroad You Can Build" used the PSI Dynatrol system to power it and I almost bought into that system! Thank goodness I didn't as PSI seems to have faded away.
 
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