[Randy Stone]

Hi

I recieved my first issue of my new subscription to Garden Railways today.

I read the editor's column about people complaining that Garden Railways magazine leaned to heavily towards narrow gauge garden railways. The editor proceeded to explain that the hobby started out back in the sixties with pretty much nothing but narrow gauge equipment and thus most people in the hobby have narrow gauge layouts.

When he was all said and done, the editior pretty much gave me the feeling that the magazine will stay pro narrow gauge with no consideration on his part to appease the standard gauge crowd.

As for me, I'm not planning to cancel my subscription, as there are still plenty of useful info within the magazine, but it is sad especially in todays economy that an editor of a magazine is so (narrow) minded.

Randy

 

[Spule 4]

Same debate, along with "too much Euro stuff" that was waging in the letters to the editor and a survey back at the inception of the magazine in the 1980s my friend.....plus ca change plus c'est la meme chose

 

[Spule 4]

Actually, the last few issues I have had were heavy on 1:29 stuff, probably why I do not have a subscripption, and have not had one since about 1990.

 

[Ray Dunakin]

Funny how two people can read the same thing and come away with a different idea of what was said... I did not get the impression that the editor was turning a cold shoulder to standard guage mainline stuff, at all. I saw it simply as an explanation of why they receive and/or print more articles from/about people who model narrow gauge.

 

[Del Tapparo]

I seriously doubt that there is any real bias against standard gauge. Other than the regular columns, all of the articles come from the readers. They print what they get, and of course they will accept the better written ones, but I doubt there is a standard gauge filter in use. Plenty of standard gauge on this forum ... submit your work!

 

[Spule 4]

.....all the same comments from the 1980s.

They print what they get.

 

[Jerry Barnes]

I offered a article on the Challenger bash, but he was not interested. May be for the best!

 

[vsmith]

Hey Jerry, dont feel too bad I suggested an article about my Mack conversions but also got the same "thanks but we have articles till 2012" vibe back also.

I've seen lots of SG of late in GR, so I dont think theres any bias other than their obsession with great big layouts, I really miss the occassional small scale compact but well done garden railroads.

 

[Ray Dunakin]

If anything, I think there might be a little bias against complex modeling articles, in favor of simpler "beginner" and "intermediate" level stuff. It seems like when they do run loco bashes, it's mainly some pics of the finished product, maybe a before and after shot, and a little text. There's not much detail about getting from "before" to "after".

Of course, that's just my impression.

 

[toddalin]

Posted By Ray Dunakin on 02/26/2009 7:22 PM
If anything, I think there might be a little bias against complex modeling articles, in favor of simpler "beginner" and "intermediate" level stuff. It seems like when they do run loco bashes, it's mainly some pics of the finished product, maybe a before and after shot, and a little text. There's not much detail about getting from "before" to "after".

Of course, that's just my impression.


Agreed. My article, simple and informative, was accepted within a couple months of me sending it to Marc and I was paid within a couple months of that. Still hasn't been published yet, but only two or three issues have come out since I received payment and I would think this takes some time making everything fit.

 

[Ray Dunakin]

It can take a while to get it into publication once it's been accepted. My article in this latest issue was submitted last summer. These delays are at least partly due to the lead time typical in publishing. Other things can affect the timing, such as finding the right space, how the article balances against other articles, etc.

 

[Spule 4]

Posted By Ray Dunakin on 02/26/2009 7:22 PM
If anything, I think there might be a little bias against complex modeling articles, in favor of simpler "beginner" and "intermediate" level stuff. It seems like when they do run loco bashes, it's mainly some pics of the finished product, maybe a before and after shot, and a little text. There's not much detail about getting from "before" to "after".

Of course, that's just my impression.


Interesting OBSERVATION.......

 

[East Broad Top]

Part of the problem with detailed construction articles lies in the "detailed" part of the equation. Details take space, which means particularly long ariticles. When I do construction projects for my column, then invariably take at least two installments, some take up 4. Magazines just don't have the luxury of dedicating that kind of space to anything other than the feature article, if that even rates that kind of space. Wish that was the case, but that's part of the reason I document many of my projects here. There's no space limit, and it's interactive. Not near as many eyeballs, though.

Later,

K

 

[Spule 4]

....and it is unfortunate that many of the better modelling project and prototype magazines have died in the last few years.

What is really becoming unfortunate that when you pick up a 20+ year old railroad magazing, it is oftentimes more interesting than its modern counterpart.

 

[Semper Vaporo]

All too often there is no "Before" photo and I do not know the original product and thus have no idea what was really done.

The other problem is the how-to article that contains a sentence like: "I just happened to have in my scrap box"... often what that thing is that the author "just happened to have" is something nobody else in the whole wide world will have... scrap or new!

 

[East Broad Top]

I have found that most modelers' scrap boxes tend to border on "community property" when inquired upon. Often, the payment is just enough to cover postage, or perhaps a swap. I've been on both ends of that network more than a handful of times. The challenge with that comes in working on a project and having the intuition to think that such a part might be something that may exist in someone's scrapbox. Detail parts off of derelict locos and cars are one thing, but it's the obscure stuff like kitchen appliances that are a little harder to imagine unless they're staring you in the face.

Later,

K

 

[Ray Dunakin]

Posted By East Broad Top on 02/26/2009 10:35 PM
Part of the problem with detailed construction articles lies in the "detailed" part of the equation. Details take space, which means particularly long ariticles. When I do construction projects for my column, then invariably take at least two installments, some take up 4. Magazines just don't have the luxury of dedicating that kind of space to anything other than the feature article, if that even rates that kind of space. Wish that was the case, but that's part of the reason I document many of my projects here. There's no space limit, and it's interactive. Not near as many eyeballs, though.










Good point, Kevin. 

 

[altterrain]

Maybe, its a challenge to the standard gauge guys to step up their game and write some articles. Guys here like Marty and Burl have published several articles in GR but even here on MLS standard gauge is in the minority.

-Brian

 

[c nelson]

I do enjoy the videos they are posting online now...

 

[noelw]

Posted By Jerry Barnes on 02/26/2009 6:23 PM
I offered a article on the Challenger bash, but he was not interested. May be for the best!


We have done the same thing Jerry. We summited on how to build a Swing bridge, Animate an Engineer waving, how to auto round house door from the console. How to build track Signals and run them off of track power with cheap relays... Plus many more project we have done on our layout..... but there not interested at the time i had them so i posted them on the old MLS. Least i got some nice comments and more new ideas from here. We love moving things to catch peoples eyes ...