I hope this is in the correct Tboard catagory: I am not at home so can't remember if MRR or RMC but, I have a nearly pristine, circa 1958-ish one with B&W photo of John Allen spiking in some handlaid track on the Gorre & Daphetid on the cover..Is this valuable ? Or is it a common issue that many MRRs own ? Mark
Probably not a rarity. But for me, John Allen is certainly a fascinating and very influential character. When it first came to print, I rushed out and bought the book about him, which Kalmbach printed.
It would really be more than helpful if you narrowed it down a bit. Like, Model Railroader, November 1958 issue. Which it is not: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Model-Railroader-Magazine-November-1958-Toy-Trains-/130630018014 or December: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Model-Railr...360424151793?pt=Magazines&hash=item53eaf41af1 or October: http://www.amazon.com/Model-Railroader-October-1958-Larson/dp/B002BY8LTA or September: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Model-Railroader-Magazine-September-1958-/250968226346 or August: http://www.ebay.com/itm/MODEL-RAILR...SH-HOIST-THREE-LAYOUTS-ONE-IDEA-/190777628437 or July: http://www.ebay.com/itm/MODEL-RAILR...170974876512?pt=Magazines&hash=item27cee59360 or April: http://www.ebay.com/itm/MODEL-RAILROADER-April-1958-/250852436640 How far do we go? Two bucks to ten, and nobody pays ten unless they absolutely have to have that one issue to complete a set. I have shelves full in the basement. When I get the energy, they're all going in recycle.
Here's all of 1957, five bucks, no bids: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Model-Railr...306639?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item48548f0dcf All of 1958, five bucks, no bids: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Model-Railr...600414?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item19db8c7f9e
You know, if I bothered to look through the 4,000-ish magazines I have, I probably have this issue you speak of. As for the value, it isn't all that rare, probably 50 cents to five bucks max, depending on condition. (To be honest, I would never pay five dollars myself, but if you really needed then maybe.) If I'm correct, I believe you have the September 1952 issue of Model Railroader.
I was quoting evilbait prices. I've got some from the 40's I paid either a quarter for or they were just given to me. Dave
Magazines are a really hard sale. As stated, unless you need it. They need to be difficult to find. Low print run numbers.
Mark On the cover of the September 1952 issue of Model Railroader has John Allen working on track next to his now famous scratchbuilt enginehouse. I found this on the MRR 75th Anniversary CD.
Even then, it is a bit difficult. For example, I bought the first volume of Trains for $30 (November 1940-October 1941). So even then with rarer issues, they still can be inexpensive.
My club hosts a show in February each year. The last couple years we have had a couple tables were any member or vendor of the show can "dump" or "get rid of" old RR magazines. Others, like myself will go searching through the magazines to find an interesting article so to speak. But mainly it is a great way for people that are interested in the hobby to pick up some "reading material" to spark their interest. The kids also love them as well. And these mags are all given away. Now, I have never seen a magazine as old as the one you have, not to say they haven't been in there. Typically though, regardless of how old a magazine is, they are typically a "hard sell", even at say $0.25 ea.
Just mentioning John Allen, cover shot, feature article, or Varney ad done on the G&D does not make it valuable. Somehow John got mentioned or one of his photographs showed up at least 10 out of 12 issues per year. Granted, cover shots were a bit rarer (had to give the appearance of impartiality). 1973 with the memorial cover shot..... Still waiting to find out exactly which magazine, what month and year, or if it's the Scenery book.
There are magazines which do hold at least some of their value, however these seem to be less of the more widely known, (MR, RMC, Trains, R&R), printings. One example would be the Narrow Gauge & Short Line Gazette.
If you are going to dispose of your train magazines, do what I do with expired Walthers catalogs: Leave them on the waiting-room table at your doctor's and dentist's office. Wouldn't you pick up pretty much anything more interesting than Parenting, Nutrition Monthly or a Time Magazine from the Carter administration? I still remember sitting in a gas station, waiting for a repair to be done, and actually reading the only thing I could find - "Potato Chipper - the magazine of the snack food industry." Go ahead. Brighten the day of some little boy with a toothache.
I take my old mags to the local retirement home.....Mike Old Model railroader, RMC, and Trains really arent worth much to resale. Think the local hobbyshop gives a quarter for them. If they don,t already have a boatload....LOL
I can vouch for the hard-to-sell idea. At my local shows, the people who are selling them, sell them for 25 to 50 cents. Yet, when I buy them, they practially give them to me because no one buys them. For example, at the last show, one vender was selling them for 50 cents a piece and I ended up paying two dollars for twenty. I think it's also partially because I continually buy them from them...
Thanks..Was never wanting to sell it..Just wanted to know its value...And,yes, it's a 1952 mag. with he on cover spiking rail next to an engine house at about shoulder height...What's that very large cylindrical object on a gondola (I think) ...Perhaps a weight over glued ties ? Funny, we've gone full circle with men's hair styles that if photo were in color he'd look like a modern dude of the male gender...!! Anyone know who and where his MRR eguipment went to after he died ? I bought another Mag with expose' of the first club I'd ever seen in the 1950s, the Nassau MRRC on long Island..One shot shows cab room and front chair I'd sat in having been invited to run a train that day..I was about 10 then....Sadly I knew not what I was doing as I turned rheostadt throttle to full speed as my train rounded George's Gorge tressle not seeable from cabs. Didn't have concept of train needing time to appear again. Dumped member's train on floor...Can't recall anything after that ! Guess my father apologized for me and walked me out to car....Feels really good to finally vent this sad day to other MRRs for very first time. Always wished I could have found that guy and said how sorry I was. But not until I was much, much older did it begin to haunt me, too many years and miles away..............
And September to be precise: http://www.ebay.com/itm/MODEL-RAILR...260433?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item19db1c7fd1 You could own one somebody is really proud of for six fifty! Looks like an old coil with the laminations removed on a rod between two flats. Good scenery....and I might guess that it served a dual function of having track power applied to it while running over a newly spiked area, and picking up all the stray spikes and/or screws before they got sucked up into the open port of a Varney V-type motor. Dave
