Model Railroader Magazine 5 x 4: February 2008

Summary

This issue was average. A couple of good articles.

Top four

1. Scenery Step by Step - Using forced Perspective: Compact yet useful article illustrating a neat trick to expand a apparent depth of a scene. Although it’s not especially germane to the article, I really like the cream and brown custom paint scheme on the gondola.
2. Building the Wisconsin & Southern on a shelf Part 2: Continuing to enjoy this series
3. Product Review - HO Scale German Railways class 218: Really interesting alternative brushless motor design using 12 armature mounted magnets and 9 windings. The design results in a very powerful, quiet motor with excellent low speed operation. Very intriguing for N Scale.
4. Realistic Trackplan - Seven Paired industries, one versatile scheme: An interesting plan for interchangeable pairs of industries. It could work and the article would be better with some photos of actual examples or some text focussing on the practicalities of removable sections.
5. Adding working DCC ditch lights: I found the pictured Soo line ‘60 to be an eye-catching model. The format of the article was nicely laid out and easy to follow. I was left thinking about how I’d set up some of my N Scale units. A good sign of a how-to article.

Bottom Four

1. Adding working DCC ditch lights: The exposed bulbs in the ditch light fixtures look unfinished. Some kind of bezel or even epoxy to seal the cavity would have left the front of the unit looking completed.
2. Building the Wisconsin & Southern on a shelf Part 2: Hokey facia, especially the MRC panels hanging below the bottom edge of the facia. I’m sure it is functional but it’s a pretty ordinary installation. 
3. Landmark Layouts - John Olsen’s Mescal Lines: I guess I’m just missing the point on this series of cameos. I was left thinking “okay, great layout, why not do a proper article on it”.
4. The Operators - More ways to way freight: This article is too short and could easily justify two or three pages.

Disclaimer

Remember, this is post is just my opinion and I am biased! For the record, I have subscribed to MR continuously for almost thirty years, and I have no plans to stop anytime soon!

Comments

[Will]

I too am enjoying the WSOR feature, though I can't help but think some of the more important choices were left out (why certain track arrangements/industries were chosen, for example), and that fascia is a real eyesore.

I liked the GN layout article, as it's nice to see a layout feature where some of the shots show half finished scenery. Helper ops are one of my priorities for my next layout, so that's always a pleasure too.

[Steve Cox]

I agree Tim. I find that the layout articles follow a formula so I also filter for particular concepts or features that have a bearing on my railroading plans.