Trains.com


kgstakes

kgstakes

Active Member
I have a question for all of you. I've been a subscriber to MR for many years and but decided to unsubscribe since I wasn't really getting much from it in the way I use to years back. Internet has alot to do with that. But I was a member of MRVP and loved it. Then they decided to go with trains.com and when it first came out, sorry but it sucked. For me I couldn't find my way around it to see the things I was following before with MRVP.

Question is, has it gotten better and is it worth the money to subscribe to trains.com again? I liked watching David Popp build the Olympia logging series and that's how I got the idea of a model railroad in a shadow box. But just wanted to know is the site easier to get around and find things and is it worth the money?

Thank you for your help really appreciate it.
 
Are you asking about Trains magazine, which deals with real trains?
Or are you asking about modelrailroader.com, which deals with model trains?
 
bnsf971 said:
Are you asking about Trains magazine, which deals with real trains?
Or are you asking about modelrailroader.com, which deals with model trains?
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It’s a kind of complicated mess, but I think Trains.com gets you access to all of the magazines. They’re trying to get rid of the print version it would seem.
 
CGW121 said:
The people at MR and the web site really dont care about the web site as is evidenced by the all to common outages.
Mike
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the sad part is that where the future of the subscriber base lies now and the future is the site and forums they are costing themselves a future there
 
Trains. Com that deals with model railroading and actually if I remember right you can get to trains magazine through trains.com website too
 
Model railroad video plus. It’s what was before trains.com.

It was good project layouts were fun to watch but when they started the other website and merged everything to one site it turned crappy real quick.

I’ve been a subscriber to MR since 1979 but quit taking it because there wasn’t anything it really anymore. Use to be at least one drawing out plans for building a structure or an article about a layout or two. Use to be ads for manufactures it used to be a really thick nice magazine, sorry not any more.
 
Narrow Gauge and Shortline Gazette is now almost $10 an issue. It's still full of plans, great layouts, history, and modeling, but I still don't know why they don't just make it an online magazine unless it's due to cost. I just can't rationalize paying for magazines anymore either.

The "elephant in the room" is that the majority of us are Boomers that grew up with the nostalgia of the transition/modern era of railroading. Our generation had magazines for gathering information. It all changed with the internet and cell phones. Magazines, like writing a check, are pretty foreign to anyone under 30.

The younger generations have too many other interests to spend their money on. A majority, not all, just don't have the space or interest for model railroading. I had no idea about Warhammer 40k until my son (30yo) asked for some modeling tips. It's a social gaming event just like model railroad clubs used to be.
 
Marlin39 said:
The "elephant in the room" is that the majority of us are Boomers that grew up with the nostalgia of the transition/modern era of railroading. Our generation had magazines for gathering information. It all changed with the internet and cell phones. Magazines, like writing a check, are pretty foreign to anyone under 30.
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LOL they probably don't know cursive either. And most "legal documents" will have you "sign" online. You pick the way you want your signature to look??, will that even hold up in court today? You can sign something in person and yet it's binding with a signature online? And neither look remotely the same. hhhmmm something wrong here.

I don't "auto pay" anything if I can get out of it. Guess I'm just ole' school.
 
I don't subscribe to any hobby magazines anymore. One the cost and the other is you can get more information online now than you can in magazines. I do like the "hard copy" a magazine gives you but the cost and content just isn't what it use to be. That's a shame to. How many of us couldn't wait to get the next issue in the mail and pour hours and hours over it?.
 
kgstakes said:
Model railroad video plus. It’s what was before trains.com.

It was good project layouts were fun to watch but when they started the other website and merged everything to one site it turned crappy real quick.

I’ve been a subscriber to MR since 1979 but quit taking it because there wasn’t anything it really anymore. Use to be at least one drawing out plans for building a structure or an article about a layout or two. Use to be ads for manufactures it used to be a really thick nice magazine, sorry not any more.
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Ohhhh… Never would have got that. Thanks
 
Marlin39 said:
The "elephant in the room" is that the majority of us are Boomers that grew up with the nostalgia of the transition/modern era of railroading. Our generation had magazines for gathering information. It all changed with the internet and cell phones. Magazines, like writing a check, are pretty foreign to anyone under 30.

The younger generations have too many other interests to spend their money on. A majority, not all, just don't have the space or interest for model railroading. I had no idea about Warhammer 40k until my son (30yo) asked for some modeling tips. It's a social gaming event just like model railroad clubs used to be.
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While many of us would never give up model railroads, a sea change is coming. This is the future of model railroads, whether we like it or not. Far less expensive (they already have a gaming computer) and takes no space.

 
I am glad it is not just me who finds the trains.com website a rather disjointed mess! I am subscriber to the paper copies of Railroad Model Craftsman and Classic Trains (mainly because here in the UK, newsagent availability over the counter of these and indeed a lot of specialized hobby magazines now is at best sketchy and at worst non existent) so I do get my copies a bit later than everyone else but trying to update details for my subscriptions on their website is an absolute nightmare.

Mind you, if you think trains.com is a mess, try to manage the subscription for Diesel Era, now there is unnecessary complication!!!
 
I have been a MR subscriber since 1964. I missed a couple of years here and there but they have been filled in. I think that I have all the issues back to the first year. I used to use cs.trains.com for the forums, but what a piece of work that site is. The original forum they put up was almost like a 'normal' forum ( except 10 to 15 years older ) and you could actually navigate it. When they switched to the supposed new/better one I did nothing but grumble. I don't even bother with that anymore.

I still like holding paper in my hands even though the content of MR has drastically gone down. I suspect that I will continue with the subscription for the time being as I do get a hair up and take a mag or 2 out with me when chasing trains. No Cell where I go so I catch up on the ones I have not read. I do miss the drawings of the building/car/engine construction projects. We went to MR a couple of years ago and got to match faces with the people that were there. Very enjoyable and cordial even with our 2 hour visit. I think we met the whole office! Yes, I did buy 3 of the MR cars. Oh, and we just showed up, no appointment set up or preliminary phone call either. Maybe we were lucky.

The whole thing is now just advertisement for their current vendors. Sure, ya gots to make money but to me the current way is over the line. Names and products are shown whenever they do something. There still are good pix of other folk's layouts and sometimes the 'interview' and story line is fun.

It is even worse, NMRA subscription is getting really up there for 4 issues a year with maybe 10 pages each. How in the world do they hope to gather new MRR's with those prices and content? A convention - gawd, have to pull teeth to afford those even if they are close. When all of the old guys go away, they are gonna be holding nothing in their hands.

Later
 
bob said:
While many of us would never give up model railroads, a sea change is coming. This is the future of model railroads, whether we like it or not. Far less expensive (they already have a gaming computer) and takes no space.

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The new generation may well go for that but its a sad substitute for a real model railroad. There's no creativity involved. Half the fun of modeling is imagining the trains and scenery and then bringing it to life. Times are changing though...
 
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