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Someone left an old copy of Model Railroader magazine in my doctor's waiting room. I knew it wasn't put there by the doctor since it was only a May, 1982 edition, and most doctors don't have magazines that are that new. That, plus all they seem to have are things like, Car and Driver, People, US World Report, Good Housekeeping and a bunch of health-related magazines that you wouldn't pick up until you've been waiting over a half-hour there and have gone through everything else that is there to read. Well, since no one showed back up to claim it, I’m looking it over at my leisure, and the next time I go, I just might leave behind an issue from this century in it's place.
Remember, I was too busy supporting my family and starting a new business in 1982 and had no interest in model railroading back then. Out of curiosity, I compiled this table to get an idea of how times have changed over the past 32 years. I also added the same data for a July, 2002 issue that I have. The magazine formats are basically similar with many of the same features. What has changed is the number of advertisers, (many that have gone by the wayside over the years), the cost and the size. There was no DCC in 1982, although one company was selling a sound control that made a sound when you pushed one of the 20 or so buttons. DCC did appear in the 2002 issue.
Anyway, look it over and I’d be interested in hearing what anyone can add.
Don (ezdays) Day
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founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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How about February 1946. That's the oldest one I have...
Cover price $0.25
Yearly subscription $2.50
Pages 150 (7"x10" format)
Advertisers 89 (most for individual shops)
Articles 17 (5 are listed as "feature articles")
Staff 5 listed on masthead, including Linn Westcott
NS Track n/a; 8 - 3' sections of O gauge track $7, or if you are hand laying, 99 feet of rail for $6.75
Locos S gauge "Nord Mikado" kit $38.97; HO Varney Docksider "built up" $25
Ground throw n/a; tips and tricks (called "kinks") includes a tip on building a sprung mechanism to hold points against stock rails
Power pack DC 12v, 2 amp $13
Classified ads $0.05 per word
Directory ads no price listed
Directory ads pages 3 1/3
Event schedule fee n/a
Also...
Rolling stock kits from $1.50 to $6; listed with and without trucks
Structures - e.g. Ice house $1.50, cottage $0.75; complete farm $1.15
Photo submission, when used, pays $2
Number of photos with people 4 - 1 man, 2 men wearing ties, 1 woman
Addresses of those who write to the editor are published with their letter
Scales - O, OO, S, HO, with about a 40-10-10-40 split
"Flat-dull" lacquer $0.25/2 oz.
Andrew
PS the movie Mr Peabody & Sherman was awesome! I saw it with my 9 year-old.
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Interesting that while the number of pages, articles and departments all dropped the size of the staff has almost tripled.
Mike
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I have a bound volume (repro) of 1934 (vol. 1)
January
12 pages
Price Ten Cents. Subscriptions $1/yr; $2.50/3 yr.
Ads: 5 Classified ads: (trade directory) all for Walthers. $1 per year
No prices or real listings
Articles: 7 including plans for PRR O1 and P5 + intro page
Staff: 4
Departments: 2
December
20 pages
Price Ten Cents. Subscriptions $1/yr but going up to $1.50
Ads: 19 Trade Directory: $1 per year Trade announcements: 3 cents a word. Classified ads: 1 cent a word
Prices Power tools $2.50 each.
Track: rail 100 ft for 3.50, ties .50 per 100 (short) .75 per 100 (long), switch frogs .40, switch stand 1.75 (without light). This is O gauge, they also had 7/16" scale.
Loco: Alco 4-4-0 $37.50 complete kit $2.75 extra for finished drivers, drawings $2.50. No scale indicated.
Articles: 8
Staff: 4
Departments: 4
It took them until June to get up to 20 pages.
David
Moderato ma non troppo
Perth & Exeter Railway Company
Esquesing & Chinguacousy Radial Railway
In model railroading, there are between six and two hundred ways of performing a given task.
Most modellers can get two of them to work.
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Back in late '5os early '60s use to buy MR & HO Model Trains for 25 cents.
Andy Jackson
Santa Fe Springs CA
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With regard to the increase in MR staff numbers;
I think that one reason for the rise in staff numbers is the move by Model Railroader to utilize the internet with things like MR Video Plus and Digital Editions as well as MR .com Newsletter and things like Cody's Office.
All of these sorts of things require people to power them both in visible on screen roles and lots more behind the scenes.
Basically if MR is to survive and thrive in the cyber age then it needs to be involved in the cyber age.
The development of tablet devices and our increasingly complex mobile phones are a major change in the way people can view information, provided you dont drop, loose or have the damn thing stolen.
They would have done plenty of market research and noted the falling numbers for the print edition both at the news-stand and subscribers.
What do you do? MR has decided to move into the digital and cyber world, but the problem with that world is the constant craving for new material as evidenced by the media circus following the loss of Malaysian Airlines MH 370. People are no longer prepared to wait for their monthly magazine, they "need" and want constant involvement and interaction. You can even order your favourite MR How To books as digital books now.
At this point in time the price for the print edition or the digital edition of the magazine [or a book] is the same, with a discount if you order both versions of the magazine. I estimate that within 5 years the print edition will begin to rise as more people move to the digital edition.
I myself favour the print edition, but I am considering getting the back catalogue on DVD so I can de-clutter a bit.
There is another one or more staff members required to help produce those sorts of specials.
Mark
Fake It till you Make It, then Fake It some More
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Price goes up, quality and content go down (how many times do we have to see the same layout revisited?), the manufacturers are no longer American for the most part, but the color pictures sure are pretty.
Sounds like the story of Western Civilization in microcosm, does it?
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Just for the sake of wondering what affect that inflation has on the cost of things, here's what I found:
- If I paid $1.75 for an issue in 1982, it is equivalent to $4.26 today, not $5.99
twenty-five cents in 1946 would be $3.26 today
and ten cent issues in 1934 would be $1.75 today
.40 per word in 1982 figures to .97 today, not $2.05
.05 per word in 1946 is .60 today
and one cent per word in 1934 would only be .18 today
All showing that the cost of MRR magazine is way ahead of inflation, plus they give you less in the way of content. I guess that also goes hand-in-hand with the fact that they only have a fraction of the advertisers they use to have, probably based on cost as well as the dwindling number of manufacturers and dealers.
If we treat staff like dollars, they haven't kept up with inflation.
- A staff of 4 in 1934 would equate to one of 70 today,
however, a staff of 5 in 1946 only becomes one of 60 today
and a staff of 14 in 1982 would be on of 34 today.
In fact though, the staffing numbers shouldn't have anything to do with inflation, only their payroll. And yes, they increase the staff because of a bigger workload, more books to publish, the internet, videos and now CD's.
Speaking of the internet, the 1982 issue had no advertising references listing their web sites, which is understandable since Internet access was limited to just a small group of people. Today, every advertiser has one.
Don (ezdays) Day
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founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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Mike
Sent from my pocket calculator using two tin cans and a string
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Don (ezdays) Day
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founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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May 1982:
"Walthers: The first 50 years"
"Milwaukee Electric's 1030 - series articulated cars"
"Laying flextrack on the Washita & Santa Fe" by Andy Sperandeo
"Grow a forest overnight" (building wire armature trees...I still use that method for some of my trees. )
I do have a copy ( recently acquired ) of the November 1943 MR., which I have hidden so safely away that I cannot find it at this moment. The first issue of my "collection" is the November 1953 issue. To the best of my memory, that issue was the beginning of my involvement in the Model Railroad hobby.
We always learn far more from our own mistakes, than we will ever learn from another's advice.
The greatest place to live life, is on the sharp leading edge of a learning curve.
Lead me not into temptation.....I can find it myself!
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MasonJar Wrote:...PS the movie Mr Peabody & Sherman was awesome! I saw it with my 9 year-old.
Yup, we watched every episode of Rocky and Bullwinkle along with all those others that included Dudley Do-right, Sherman and Mr Peabody. We even have a couple of old VCR tape we bought a long time ago with episodes of their show. We will see the movie, but if we wait a bit, I'm hoping it will be out on DVD soon. Just like Frozen, it's still a hit in the movies, but we bought a DVD already at Walmart last week. I remember a few years ago when we went to see a popular animated movie and I guess everyone else had already seen it since we were the only ones there. :o That was neat, nobody's cell phones ringing, no babies crying, no one walking in front of you to go get popcorn and drinks, plus we had our choice of any seat in the house...
Don (ezdays) Day
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I loved Sherman and Mr Peabody as a kid and those awful puns at the end of each episode ("Sherman, you never heard of Chicken Catch a Tory?!!...Oh Mr. Peabody!!!"). Great stuff. As a boy my Dad would have to explain some of the jokes. That was one of the great things about the Rocky and Bullwinkle show...it had entertainment value for parents and kids.
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Ralph Wrote:I loved Sherman and Mr Peabody as a kid and those awful puns at the end of each episode ("Sherman, you never heard of Chicken Catch a Tory?!!...Oh Mr. Peabody!!!"). Great stuff. As a boy my Dad would have to explain some of the jokes. That was one of the great things about the Rocky and Bullwinkle show...it had entertainment value for parents and kids.
Don't forget how history became clearer thanks the the Wayback Machine. Then those other lessons that you learned from the Fractured Fairy Tales and Aesop & Son, setting things right. I also remember something about, "Conjunction Junction" trying to actually teach kids something in between shows. Nothing like it on the air today.
Don (ezdays) Day
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founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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Ralph Wrote:Great stuff. As a boy my Dad would have to explain some of the jokes. That was one of the great things about the Rocky and Bullwinkle show...it had entertainment value for parents and kids. " it had entertainment value for parents and kids "
My daughters grew up on "Rockey and Bullwinkle", and I was able to enjoy it with them. I had to explain some of the jokes, and some they got straight up......they were used to hearing "puns" oh yes I did
" nobody's cell phones ringing ", Ahhh, those were the days, and people were just a bit more polite, and didn't have to be reminded about not talking during the movie.
" nobody's cell phones ringing "
Automobiles should all be equipped with a devise that shuts the engine down, whenever a cell phone is activated inside the passenger compartment, of a moving vehicle. It's not "holding the phone", it is the distraction of the phone conversation, that is the fatally dangerous thing. Illinois has a "no hands" law....it's not being all that well enforced.
Ahhh, for the more innocent days of "Rocky and Bullwinkle "
We always learn far more from our own mistakes, than we will ever learn from another's advice.
The greatest place to live life, is on the sharp leading edge of a learning curve.
Lead me not into temptation.....I can find it myself!
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