Model Railroader 5 x 2: April 2008

Summary

This issue looks great from the cover, and has some good pieces. Pelle, good how-to articles and some switching theory.

Top Five

1. 17 Tips to create authentic scenes: Pay close attention to what this man does. Buy everything he publishes on the subject. More power to you Pelle.
2. Scenery Step by Step - Make a concrete lot with embedded rails: Useful, easy to follow article showing plenty of detail. I liked the simple collection chute and the notion of spotting the car with a particular hopper door over the chute.
3. Construct a simple and reliable helix: Good to see an article on this interesting and often misunderstood subject that intimidates many modelers. I like the screw-down method for track attachment. A table of common heights, radii and grades would have been useful. A grade calculator could easily be a permanent addition to MRR’s site in an on-line modeler’s tools section. 
4. Building the Wisconsin & Southern on a shelf Part 4: I’m very impressed with this series, particularly the photography, plans and descriptions. I’d love to see more like this one. Great effort. There’s also some reasonable additional materials on MRR’s website too.
5. The Operators - Faster switching at slow speed: A good piece that challenges some initial notions about classification. Note that the scheme doesn’t always work as well if cars in the original cut are not already somewhat ordered.

Bottom Two

1. Editorial - Hallelujah! Square Cuts: Fluff unfortunately. Two columns that say “gee sawing straight is hard! Consider buying a mitre saw”. Is this the best the editor of MRR can think to say to us loyal readers? I have to imagine that after seventy-five years the editor of Model Railroader Magazine has connections to every railroading manufacturer and organization, both here in the US and overseas. Surely, surely the editor has more to say than sawing straight is hard, buy a mitre saw!
2. Landmark Layouts - Tony Koester’s Allegheny Midland: To short an article to do justice to these great layouts. The space in this series would actually be better devoted to a railroad photography how-to column for example.

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!