Old magazines: what to do with them?

I have a collection of magazines including MR, RMC and a few others that date back to the 1970's.

I have kept these for reference and general entertainment reading but with the growth of the interent and, especially, forums like this one, keeping them as reference material isn't worth while any more.

So what do I do with them? I don't feel comfortable just throwing them out. I don't feel comfortable recycling them, either.

I've listed some on eBay but they don't sell well, partly because of the cost of postage (they're HEAVY in any quantity!). I've given some away from time to time and offered to give away more but I've had no takers. My LHS doesn't want them, either for re-sale or hand-outs on operating night.

For the time being, I'm keeping my collections of N Scale and N Scale Railroading magazines, although they may become cannon fodder in the future. For now, they don't require the shelf space that the MR and RMC requires.

So what do I do with the older issues that I no longer want to keep? I'm planning on keeping issues from 1990 on but may decide to keep them from 1980 on. Depends on whether anyone wants the 1980's issues!

Thoughts, suggestions, opinions?

Darrell, quiet...for

 

I sent you a PM about the magazines.

 

We keep a library of magazines at our club. While I am not proposing that we meet for a handoff across 2000 miles or so, there may be a club in your area that would love to have them.

 

So does this mean that Alpenrose has 2 sets of MR/RMC collections within feet of each other?:tb-biggrin:


My club as well has a library. You might look into local clubs to see if they are interested.

When my mom sold the family house, it was on me to figure out what to do with the collection of MR and RMC dating back to 1983.

They ended up in recycling, because the nearby clubs had those issues already and I had no space. I would have liked to have kept them to reread old articles and see old pictures, but as I said, I have access to the club's collection.

Now, if Kalmbach pulled a Popular Science and put all their back issues online...

 

If you're looking to get rid of the magazines, see if you have a USO armory in your area. They put donated magazines in CARE packages they send to the troops. Model train mags in particular don't tend to be too dated and may provide some reading enjoyment to troops down range.

 

I guess so, but our club's collection was started before we got to Alpenrose and I imagine that BMRC's was as well. Ours also includes N Scale and some issues of NSR.

My favorite are the RMC back-issues.

 

Find a club. My club got a bunch from somewhere recently, and brought them to a show. We gave them to kids that were gawking at the layouts. They like looking at them, we got rid of them, and maybe it will inspire them away from the video games into model trains?

 

Larry, I sent you a PM.

To everyone who replied: thanks for the comments and suggestions. I'd really like to find somewhere to donate them. I'll do some more research.

Push comes to shove, they can always be recycled, but my Scottish ancestry cringes whenever I think like that! LOL

Darrell, quiet...for now

 

My problem with RMC, and it became more distinct recently, is that they almost never had anything on modern prototype. And the look of things in the magazine often didn't appeal to me.

Of course, by the time I got to it, Koester was a guest editor for MR and RMC was a shadow of it's former self.

 

Lets just say I have stacks of them around, here and over there and back behinde. Ok So I'm a pack RAT. I have trouble parting with them!

 

Is there a rail museum near you? The one here takes old rail magazines, and they give them away free to young visitors, trying to hook them on railroading in general. Model RR clubs do the same thing.

 

TRAINS & RAILFAN magazines get sold at the local swap meets. Usually .25 each. N-SCALE magazine has come out with two CD/DVD's with the 10 years of the magazine. Have both CD's and the N-SCALE magazines were given out at trainshows and swap meets. I keep all the rest, MR, RMC, Scale Rails, NSR and current N-SCALE magazine(until they put out another CD) in magazine holder and binders. You can say what you about keeping old magazine, but it is sure nice to have them when you are looking up an image, "how-to" or information.

 

I've done this before, and they are so appreciative! I can only imagine the hours spent in a sandbox with nothing. Some might get inspired to model trains, or look forward to when they get home to just be able to buy 'em.

 

I've been reducing the amount of bulk of my copies of RAILWAY MODELLER. I scanned the articles that were of interest, and then offered the paperwork to local model railway clubs and heritage lines: no interest, sadly, so they've gone in the recycling.

Regards,

Pete

 

This is a slightly more offbeat suggestion. Bring a few copies of old MRs along next time you go to the doctor, and leave them in his/her office. I'm not sure where my health care costs are going, but I'm pretty sure it's not to buy recent, interesting magazines. The last time I was sitting in a waiting room, the most recent magazine was a Sports Illustrated from last October. News magazines were still talking about President Eisenhower. Everything else was donated by the American Yogurt Association, or it was a "family" magazine. You get the picture.

Someone who is otherwise having a miserable and costly day will appreciate something which isn't as boring and drab as the diet the doctor is about to put him on.

 

New home for old mags

Getting rid of old mags, when you've made that tough decision, is a real challenge, no matter how complete, organized and unique your collection is. I've got about 300 inches of modeling mags, including issues from the 1940s and others from the UK. When I asked for ideas a few months ago, those in this thread were offered, and I'm sure some would work (I just can't bring myself to start 'the purge.') Donating to a VA home is a great idea. There's one about 5 miles from my home and another 100 miles up the freeway. Gotta take a few issues out and see if the activities director is interested in my set. As Adam pointed out, his and several other clubs might be interested in adding to their libraries or as fodder to attract new modelers. One trouble is cost of transportation - shipping a banker's box of mags from here to Sacramento or Portland would cost about $30. An interesting aside is the changing appeal of magazines. A young man recently told me he'd take several older mags, because he enjoyed the photos and modeling. Said he can't afford to convert his layout to DCC, so he has less interest in technology features.

Yes, I'm going to contact the VA. I'll also consider driving half the distance (if not too far) to give the collection to an interested club. I'll talk to our county library system to see if it's interested. Our neighboring county is considering closing all its libraries but also invites any ideas that would help avert or postpone that disaster. Some creative librarian might find a way to attract new patrons with old magazines. Let's stay in touch with new ideas - there has to be a practical way to give old modeling mags a second life.

Scott