October Model Railroader

I didn't get the booklet either this month, I just noticed from this newsgroup that I was supposed to get one. Solution is very easy: go to

click on Model Railroader and find the contactpage. Sent an e-mail to them and got a reply saying the booklet is on it's way. Very good customer service. And thanks of course all you folks for paying attention to it ;)

Kind regards,

Wilbert Vossen Gouda, The Netherlands

MR's screw the new comers policy at work that is why.

Apologies - I have to correct myself - I did receive the decal inserts back whenever, *but* I did not receive the workbench guide. (well, they say it is the short term memory cells that go first!)

Guess I'll have to see if they'll mail me one.

- Joe

----- Original Message ----- From: "Joe Caruso" Newsgroups: rec.models.railroad Sent: Monday, September 15, 2003 6:53 PM Subject: Re: October Model Railroader

If you have a subscription to Model Railroader, I don't think you were supposed to get one.

I requested one from MR customer service and they are sending me one.

Ray Schwarz (MR Subscriber)

Actually, in our experience having no toll free line is a good thing when dealing with the model railroad community. It saves long drawn out calls and the caller gets to the point because they are flipping the bill. We had a toll free line once and suddenly everyone in the hobby, it seems, wanted to call and chat. Needless to say the toll free line went away shortly there after.

E-mail, when answered promptly, is a great way to communicate.

Everytime I have dealt with the Carstens people they have been wonderful. Some people say a company like Kalmbach has become too corporate but Carstens still has that model railroad publisher of the past feel.

Sal

Apparently customer service didn't think so... their reply (I just checked: within 45 minutes) said they mailed me a copy. And I did state that i was a subscriber... Why do you think they wouldn't send one?

Kind regards, Wilbert

This makes any sense how?

No, no, no. I didn't say they wouldn't send you one -- especially if you asked.

But let me ask you this, since you seem to be quick to jump to conclusions: Who on this newsgroup said that you were supposed to get one?

The booklet wasn't intended for subscribers; it was intended for single issue sales as a means of luring people to purchase the magazine (with the ultimate goal of getting you to subscribe, I guess).

I wrote: "If you have a subscription to Model Railroader, I don't think you were supposed to get one [a "Workbench Guide"].

Did anyone here on rec.models.railroad who subscribes to Model Railroader get a Workbench Guide with their magazine?

I'm not sure that anyone said they were "supposed" to get the insert. I was the OP and I just wanted to find out if anything had fallen out of my magazine.

I think this horse is dead.

Jim

Ernie,

Can I suggest you try a trawl through the following?

There are thousands of images here, of just the sort of everyday architecture you describe. And for many locations, there are scale drawings as well.

Have a look, I don't think you will be dissappointed.

All the best,

Mark.

Wilbert Vossen wrote: "I didn't get the booklet either this month, I just noticed from this newsgroup that I was supposed to get one."

=>Ernie Fisch wrote: =>

=>> What I would like to see is plans (or at least a nice set of photos) =>> for real buildings, especially from the 40s and 50s. I don't mean =>> the oddball ones either but the bread and butter industrial buildings =>> of the era. RMC does ok in this regard but they never seem to get =>> west of Pennsylvania. I know that these are not the least bit =>> photogenic but there were a lot of them. =>

=>Ernie, =>

=>Can I suggest you try a trawl through the following? =>

=>

Also, the NMRA Data Sheets include a section on mill and factory buildings from the late 1800s to 1950s or thereabouts.

Besides, you probably have camera, right? Wander round some of the smaller towns in your neigbbourhood. You'll be pleasantly surprised how many of those old buildings survive, sometime slightly disguised with modern store fronts at street level. A few photographs will provide lots of modelling information. Even a cheapo point and shoot will work well, just don't take the pictures on overcast days, and if you photograph the shaded side, stand in the building's shadow (else it will show as a featureless dark blob against the bright sky.) Warning: you might get hooked on this facet of the hobby! BTW, if there is someone around, I always ask permission, and ask if they would like a copy of the photo(s). Most people get quite friendly when they know you like their property well enough to want a picture.

If you want to sketch a scale plan from photos, prepare a scaling stick: take a wood yard stick, and paint the one-foot segments on one side the six-inch segments on the other side alternately white and red. Lean or lay this next to the building, or on a window or door sill, making sure you see it clearly in the view finder. The scaling stick will enable you to estimate measurements from the photo very accurately. If you don't have a yardstick, make one out of lath or 1x3.

HTH&havefun

Speaking of leaping to conclusions.

I asked why MR, who has decided as a subcriber you are not to get one (and hence would not send one) would make this decision. I did not say they would refuse to send one if you asked for one.

Hold on a minute here... maybe my english isn't as good as I thought it was, it ain't my native tongue... I got the impression (impression; I didn't say so and so said he got this so I am entitled to this booklet...) from the discussion that some people got the booklet and that some didn't... I thought it was an interesting thingie so I wrote to customer service and asked for one... got a very quick reply and even got the booklet in the mail today (within 3 days which ain't bad for something to go from Wisconsin to the Netherlands). So no jumping to conclusions, just an interest and a polite request instead of demanding or complaining to no one in particlar...

Kind regards, Wilbert Vossen

conclusions:

Wilbert, you English is fine. Mark loves to twist words and meaning to make a point he want to. He also is great at calling you something without using the words, so he can deny he evey said it. This is the new American 'spin'. Say nothing, deny all.