I used to refer to the Model Railroad Magazine Index frequently and found it to be valuable beyond estimation. I miss it too much for words. Here is my proposal:
The modellers themselves should recreate the database. I personally have a collection including the following: Model Railroader 1934 to 2010 complete Railroad Model Craftsman 1940 to 2010 incl. some earlier previous magazines Canadian Railway Modeller 1990 to 2010 Model Railroading 1979 to 2004 with a few missing Mainline Modeler 1980 to 1991 with a few later issues NMRA Bulletin 1987 to 1995 Ontario Society of HO Model Engineers (OSHOME) all 42 issues Rail Model (Canadian) only 6 issues printed - 1970/71 as well as a few of the lesser known magazines
There must be some among us who can set up a searchable database and I'm willing to contribute as much time and information processing as I can to help re-establish this data source. The resulting collection of information could be donated to the NMRA, and updated by the modellers themselves.