# Vintage train magazines in pdf online?



## Ed Gerken (Jan 23, 2012)

I have thousands of old magazines, a few dozen or which are model train-related. Most of mine are electronics in their coverage, but I collect many types. For many years, buying old copies was the only way to enjoy these old vintage mags. I subscribed to many when they were current and have since picked them up whenever I come across them. I hate when they're all clipped up or so musty smelling or water damaged, they're no longer very enjoyable to read.

These days there's other options for many old magazines and I "collect" these too. American Radio History's website and many others are storehouses of many of the electronics/radio titles. But when I search for model trains, about all I've found is a handful of early 1960's Railway Modeller, a UK publication. These few were found on archive.org.

You'd think there would be more of this archiving and sharing of out-of-print issues, but I'm not having much luck. Is it because many of these are still currently published and they haven't relinquished or abandoned their copyright? 

Or am i just not looking in the right place?
-Ed


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## Lee Willis (Jan 1, 2014)

Well, I suppose it depends on what you mean by "old." I a fairly certain there were toy-train related magazines when I was a kid - I just don't remember them and have no real desire to check up on them. Now that would be old . . . 

But if "old" means 25 years or so, you can buy the digital archives of the past two and a half decades of Classic Toy Trains for $100 from Kalmbach - there is an ad on page 76 of the current (Dec) issue. I think the other Kalmbach publications for HO (Model Railroad, etc.) in other scales also offer much the same. There are some other toy-train and model magazines that let you subscribe to "digital archive" services. The real advantage of these is when, like the 25-years-of-CTT DVD you can buy, they have a master index that allows you to search through all 25 years worth of articles for "Animated Figures" or "subway station model," etc. 

As for the value of older magazines, other than historical interest, in this and my other hobby (model ships) I've noticed they don't really provide much that I can't find in newer magas. If you think about it, other than new-product reviews, there isn't much new ever invented - building layouts, modeling stuff, laying track, wiring control blocks, etc, hasn't changed that much over time. Most toy-train, model-shipbuilding, and similar mags seem to recycle the same basic ideas on making scenery, buildings, planning and laying out track, etc. by new authors, etc., every couple of decades - so as I see it, if you have a couple of decades worth of access, it's about all you need.


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## Cycleops (Dec 6, 2014)

As LW says there's really not much to be gained from old model railroad magazines except to wallow in nostalgia a little. IMHO you cant do much better than subscribing to the digital edition of Model Railroader. There's also much valuable content in Model Railway Hobbyist on line which is free.


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## Ed Gerken (Jan 23, 2012)

Thanks! I guess with the old electronics issues they're long out of print and other than old originals or pdfs which someone has done themselves, there's no other source. 

Popular Science made their archives available on Google Books. Not the best medium as you have to be online to read, but those old issues are a hoot.

I picked up a few dozen "pre-owned" train mags on ebay, that's another way to find them.

-Ed


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

I though Kalmbach put out a 75 year archive of Model Railroader on DVD?

http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/199771.aspx


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## Prewar Pappy (Jul 26, 2015)

*There's Quite A Few Resourses*

Ed,
You mentioned Popular Science. Popular Mechanics carried many more projects that even now would be doable and usable. Also, have you tried your local Library for archived electronic publications?


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

I don't know why folks would say there's no value in the older magazines. Sure the suppliers and electronics have changed, but there's also tons of info available on scenery (why pay an arm for something that people used to make for themselves?). For me, the most important aspect would be the model building. Houses, businesses, railroad structures, mines, forests, and so on. Sure you can find info on 'similar' structures today, but they're not the same structures. You might be looking for something that has just the right feel to it, or you might be looking for something that used to be frequently covered but is now hard to find (for instance, the old vertical glass gas pumps).

I'm not saying there isn't good information available in newer magazines, I'm just saying why discount the wealth of information that has been covered before?


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## Ed Gerken (Jan 23, 2012)

My hoard of vintage mags numbers in the thousands, probably a hundred or more titles. National Geographics my mom saved, pretty complete going back to 1911, for example. A few other fairly complete sets of my favorites. More often, I have a few copies or a year or so or just random issues of whatever I'd pick up at a yard sale or second hand. It adds up after 40-50 years.

There's always a few laying around the house in whatever topic has picqued my interest this month. 

I'd enjoy being able to grab a couple dozen old RR mags just to browse in pdf. I'm not that much into it to afford $100 for a complete set on dvd. That does explain why they're not found in the wild, since the publisher is still selling them.

Now that Popular Mechanics was mentioned, I looked and found that Google Books has scanned that archive as well! Both PS and PM were very hands-on DIY back in the 50's, 60's and before. I liked Mechanics Illustrated better and Science & Mechanics was also a good read.

Many Hugo Gernsback titles have been scanned to pdf and found free online.

http://americanradiohistory.com/ is definitely worth a look.

Even if these old magazines aren't specifically about trains or modelling, they'll still have countless prototypical images, architecture, vehicles, plans and ordinary objects to use for scratchbuilding projects. And plenty of fanciful flights of imagination. All would be period-correct for the age of publication.

Myself, I much prefer most any old magazine than contemporary publications. More of a make-it-yourself mentality than go out and buy this or that. Though there was plenty of marketing going on, but even the old ads can bring a smile when viewed through our modern eyes.

-Ed


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