Over the past couple of years there has been a lot of development in regards to articles and even entire magazines available on the internet that are, for the most part, Free for the taking. I am not referring to some of the eZines that are available for a price and I have yet to evaluate on of them. Specifically I am speaking only of eZines that are free to anyone who comes by their site. All of these eZines are offered in .pfd form and they are resources that are invaluable in a number of ways. As Jerry Britton has worked to inform modelers of one of the free eZines, The Keystone Modeler, which is put out by the Pennsylvania RR Technical & Historical Society, there are other free eZines that, while not specifically directed at N-scale, has many great things to offer including prototype information as well as tips and ideas on how to model a specific scene, locomotive, car (including specific passenger cars) or building. http://www.prrths.com/Keystone Modeler/Keystone_Modeler.htm The Keystone Modeler is probably the best known of the bunch, but there are others... The B&O Modeler, the second oldest of the group, is put out by the Baltimore & Ohio Historical Society, is a great free eZine worthy of acquaintance. This publication has had a number of great articles that are useful even to those who do not specifically model the B&O, either as their primary interest or as a connection. This free eZine is very well done!!! http://borhs.org/ModelerMag/index.html The Seaboard - Coast Line Modeler, published by the ACL/SAL Historical Society, is the third eZine of this group and has had some very interesting articles since publishing there first issue, with articles about affiliated lines and acquired lines also being included (great write-up on Piedmont & Northern freight cars was recently featured). This free eZine is one I value a lot because it deals with subjects specific to the southeast, where I live. http://s-clmodeler.aclsal.org/ One of the newest free eZines on the block is the CNWHS Modeler, which just recently started publication. Like the others put out by historical societies, it looks like it is going to develop into a great resource for the Chicago & Northwestern. http://www.cnwhs.org/modeling.htm And there's one more worth looking into, though it is not put out by a historical society, and that is the Model Railroad Hobbyist. Free to any who want it, this magazine is the only one employees advertising to support its publication and likely will yet be an example of what others should go to. Its content is much the same as you would find in some of the main modeling magazines but for the price (FREE!!!) it is well worth looking into further (in my not so humble opinion this is what Kalmbach and Carsten publications should be). Some N-scale specific material has already been presented and I look for even more in future issues. One thing to be aware of is that the 1st issue has both a full dynamic version and a "Lite" version, because of a large usage of Adobe Flash advertising... although the full version of the 1st issue is interesting because of all the bells and whistles the "Lite" version is really a better one specifically for its size. (I recommend subscribing because special on-line features and a monthly blog dealing with new offerings and other information is also available, in addition to the eZine itself, with the subscription costing nothing.) I also hope that Atlas will look into this one as far as advertising goes... could be good for them. http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/ On the horizon, also, be looking for a Frisco eZine called The Meteor. Under development, this one also could prove to be very useful in many, many ways. One other thing I should mention is a special issue that was jointly put out by The Keyston Modeler, The B&O Modeler and Seaboard - Coast Line Modeler, and that issue is specifically dedicated to the documentation of Fruit Growers Express early reefer cars. Included in the coverage are cars operated under the National Car Co. (meat reefers) as well as the Burlington Refrigerator Express and Western Fruit Express. Currently this issue is only available on the Seaboard - Coast Line site, but it is a resource that is very, very valuable for any modeling pre-1960 eras. For earlier modelers it is a must have issue!!! The link below will take you directly to the issue, where it can be viewed and saved. http://s-clmodeler.aclsal.org/currentissue/fgexwoodencars.pdf I wish I could say that I keep every issue that has been offered, but I simply do not because of available storage space. I can say that a lot of the information presented in these eZines is worth the cost of subscribing to the printed magazines, yet their publishers choose to make them available to all of us for free. These resources could prove to be very valuable to many... if you get a chance, check them out. Oh, did I mention that all of these are FREE!!! And if you happen to be interested in the lines mentioned above, please consider joining those groups. There are a lot of truly great people in the historical societies mentioned and the fellowship is well worth it all!!!
I like them all and read them. Especially the historical societies' publications are done by volunteers, and I would like to thank them all who share their knowledge and experience with us for free.
I like them and read them, and have them saved on my PC, but unlike my paper magazines, I never go back and look at them more than once. I will re-read a Model Railroader over and over, often just going back to an earlier year and randomly pulling one out then I will pour over that for the next few days. The e-publications are just not handy to have other than on the PC. However, I do love the price. Jamie
The historical society e-zines are very nice, very scholarly and very much keepers. I have yet to get through all of them though...
Hello Jerry, many thanks for doing the write-up on the e-zines. I have not yet looked into them in detail, but specifically the reefer information looks like a "keeper". There must be a tremendous amount of effort and comittment going into these magazines, hats of to all involved!! Cheers Dirk
Gee whiz Jerry I don't know.. You see I haven't paid any attention to them..Maybe I should take a look see? I suppose the Historical e-mags would be of interest to those modeling a given road.
Wowza, thanks for posting those links! Just grabbed all of the PDFs available and will be reading through them now. Looked at one of the Pennsy ones, and there is a lot of info in there. Just looking at the walk through on building a boxcar gave me an itch to give it a try myself.
I subscribe to Model Railroad Hobbyist. I know its new but so far I havent seen much in the way of n scale related articles. Like most railroad E-Zines and magazines it too is highly HO intense. Yes...its FREE...good thing too because I dont think I would pay for it. At least regular railroding magazines found on a store shelf I can thumb through and decide if anything catches my eye before purchasing it. A 15 meg download to find there isnt anything that really interests me is just a tad bit annoying. Personally..I would rather see more n scale related stuff. Not that a lot of that HO stuff cant be transformed over to N Scale. BUT...Me...I come here to TB and find all the n scale related material I need. We have members here who post darn good stuff on their N Scale railroads...including pics and indepth instructions or 'how-tos'....all for FREE. Just to name a few off the top of my head: Mike (pastoolio) is right now showing us how easy it is to build handlaid turnouts...step by step. Jamie (CSXDixieLine) with his CSX DixieLine in pics and explainations. Bob (Powersteamguy1790) through the years with his "old" and "new" JJJ&E line Jerry (OC Engineer JD) We all drooled over his layout and scenic-ing skills as we daily watched his progress building it. Not to forget all the other great builders, kitbashers and detailers here who explain in detail how to do it all with locomotives, rolling stock, buildings, and even scenery in N SCALE. Members post links to some good stuff...even the ezines...for those that are interested...and thats great. I have a jumpdrive full of links I have seen posted here. Dont get me wrong...its all good. We all have our own agenda on what interests us. And I want to thank Jerry M. LaBoda for the links he posted here. I think TrainBoard is a great 'ezine' in itself. Then again...its all JMHO...ty. .
