Been Published Yet?

@Lou N posted:

I forgot one...

CTT had its 15th anniversary issue [20 years ago] which featured an article: Fifteen Industry Experts Predict the next Fifteen Years of the Hobby.  I was one of the fifteen experts who made predictions.

Still not a superstar,

Lou N

Hey Lou,  I found the article, the November 2002 issue of CTT.  I hope this does not get deleted, but your ideas about hand held remotes which for many of us, are our cell phones, and the size of the boards, cabooose cam, etc  are pretty darn good.. 

I have nothing published in a train magazines.  Closest for me is my topic on How I Built and Evolved my 44 year old Postwar 027 train layout, with homemade turntable, wye and 31 switches is on OGR forum.  The topic, with a table of contents at the end of page1, is in the link below.

https://ogrforum.com/...ra-027-layout?page=1

I have two train magazines containing articles I like below.

First, is O Scale Railroading magazine  (now O gauge), run 107, Oct 1989 and the article by Fred Dole, on the PAL, Edgerton Park's four great Lionel Layouts.

I loved the article in the Lionel/Bantam paperback book Model Railroading, published in the 1950s, on PAL in the Lionel/Bantam paper back book, Model Railroading, and I liked the idea of four layouts, one each season.

The below is link to a OGR forum topic reviewing the PAL layouts.  The link has photos and links to other sources of information on the PAL layouts.

https://ogrforum.com/...63#85480113091090963

The second article is from October 2004, Classic Toy Trains and is titled, "Testing 9 Types of Track", by Phillip Hays.   

He gives test data he generated with various tests of the tracks, of the the 2004 time, including Lionel O & 027 tubular old and new, Atlas Steel and nickel-silver, Gargraves regular and SS, MTH RealTacx.  He runs 5 tests and 16 locomotives.  Tests are Loco push, Loco drag, Loco lift, Magnetic merit and Electrical resistance.  He evaluated traction tires, Magne-Traction and plain metal wheels.  I found the information very interesting and give test results to back up his writing.  The link OGR below gives a review of the article.

https://ogrforum.com/...pes-of-track-article

Charlie

@Jim Policastro posted:

...it forced me to keep a neater workspace during the projects to allow for better photographs.

Allan is great to work with and will help you through the whole process.

Jim

Two statements that are very, very true!

Peter

Published?  As far as trains go, yep.  Back in the mid-'90s.  "OGR".  A blip about building an o-gauge test track unit.  Since I'm a writer, I guess I should get back in in the groove and write a few train things.

Had some tips 'n tricks printed in CTT once upon a time...

I've had a few:

I have been published in O Scale Trains:

• March/April 2016 - "Lighting Weaver Utility Poles"
• May/June 2017 - "Building Large Buildings and 3D Backdrops"
• January/February 2019 - "Starting a New Layout"
• January/February 2020 - "Thoughts on Workshop Organization"
• March/April 2019 - "Accurately Representing Automobiles in 1950s America"
• September/October 2021 - "Pour Me A River - Part 1"
• November/December 2021 - "Pour Me A River - Part 2"
• January/February 2022 - "Pour Me A River - Part 3"
• March/April 2022 - "Pour Me A River - Part 4"
• May/June 2022 - "Pour Me A River - Part 5"
• July/August 2022 - "Pour Me A River - Part 6"

George

Well since alot of the publishing mentioned were in other fields i was once published in PRO Magazine  Thats Portable restroom operators     Article was about which ones to avoid

@bluelinec4 posted:

Well since alot of the publishing mentioned were in other fields i was once published in PRO Magazine  Thats Portable restroom operators     Article was about which ones to avoid

Congratulations, a truly important contribution!

By the way, if you have submitted an article  for publication to a model train magazine, and your article was not published, don't let that get you down. You may have submitted something that's a little different, more original, better written and more intrinsically interesting, than what is typically submitted.

I find that some published articles follow a formula that I, at times, find boring. I usually just look at the photos of such articles.

Without going into any details, I know the above is true because it happened to me.

No hard feelings. I had the joy and exhilaration of writing the article, have the rights to it, and can share it with whoever I want, and have done so, privately, and gotten rave reviews!

So, if you experienced a similar rejection or, what is worse, IMO, never even got a yes or no and was ignored after going to the trouble of pouring your heart and soul into your own creation, then you still got, and still have, the same benefits.

A 1,500 plus page novel, Jean Christophe by Romain Rolland, that won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1915, brilliantly addressed this issue of the artist (generically) that gets rejected.

Arnold

@Arnold D. Cribari posted:

.......never even got a yes or no and was ignored......

Actually, if that happens, you should contact the Editor to confirm that they actually received it.

However, if that is the case, then you should move on to another publication - an Editor that cannot be bothered to respond represents a publication that you should avoid.

I've had many articles published in CTT, over 18 CTT Cover photos, one article in OGR, and have written a book, Realistic Modeling For Toy Trains-A Hi-Rail Guide.

@DennisB posted:

I've had many articles published in CTT, over 18 CTT Cover photos, one article in OGR, and have written a book, Realistic Modeling For Toy Trains-A Hi-Rail Guide.

Hi Dennis, I think your book is a must read for anyone wanting to build an O gauge layout.  I used it as a guide to re-imagine my layout to give it a more hi-rail look.  I see the book is still available on Amazon at a good price. 

Realistic Modeling for Toy Trains: A Hi-rail Guide (Classic Toy Trains Books): Dennis Brennan: 9780890247457: Amazon.com: Books

The other book that would be great for building a layout is Jim Barrett's book, "Building a Layout", which is available on OGR's website.

@Former Member posted:

Hi Dennis, I think your book is a must read for anyone wanting to build an O gauge layout.  I used it as a guide to re-imagine my layout to give it a more hi-rail look.  I see the book is still available on Amazon at a good price.

Realistic Modeling for Toy Trains: A Hi-rail Guide (Classic Toy Trains Books): Dennis Brennan: 9780890247457: Amazon.com: Books

   

The other book that would be great for building a layout is Jim Barrett's book, "Building a Layout", which is available on OGR's website.

Thanks for sharing this book. I love the cover of it, especially since it shows one of my favorite things: the Lionel NY Central Tugboat

Arnold a/k/a Tugboat A

@Former Member posted:

...The other book that would be great for building a layout is Jim Barrett's book, "Building a Layout", which is available on OGR's website.

Get Jim's book HERE.

My writing/editing/photography credits include the three editions of the TM American Flyer S Gauge Price and Rarity Guide (the 2000 Illustrated Edition ISBN 0-937522-70-8 with Dave Garrigues, the 2004 edition ISBN 1-932291-20, and the 2012 edition ISBN 978-1-936890-05-7). The cover of the third edition is shown below. I also wrote and provided the photographs for product reviews of new Lionel American Flyer equipment in S Gaugian. These include: the 6-49612 TMCC B&O passenger set headed up by the then all-new Lionel AF Mikado, the AF 6-48070 Legacy Big Boy, the 6-49808 reissue of the Gilbert No. 594 Animated Track Gang, and the 6-48047 reissue of the Gilbert UP Northern 4-8-4 steam engine.

Bob

Great thread Arnold ,

I was published in OGR run 276 February/March 2015 edition.

In reorganizing my attic space (to accommodate more trains, what else? 🤪) I came across a brief profile of me that Jim Kellow included in O Scale Resource for May / June 2021.

@Bruce Brown posted:

Lou,

How did the predictions turn out?

Many talked about the need to get children more interested in the hobby or it would be doomed.  However Charlie Ro and Ron Morris (TCA Librarian) were right on about collectibles and features in new equipment.

Lou N

No I haven't. I did ask a question and got a nudge about the possibility of writing an article. I know that the topic would require more than myself as there is a bunch of stuff I cannot relay without knowing the entire process of said topic. Maybe I could collaborate with one of my good buddies on that. Just a few things that would be needed, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

Never published in any major mags (OGR, CTT) or books, but my Warrenville articles have been published in LOTS' Switcher mag (12/2010, 6/2018, 6/2022) and LCCA's The Lion Roars mag (8/1995, 4/2021).

Seeing one's stuff in print is fun and humbling. Yes, I will be available at YORK to sign your copies if desired (LOL).

It’s been awhile, but I was published in these two issues. The layout from the first is no more.

Max

Firstly, I am impressed with the number of OGR forum members that have been published by train magazines.  Well done and I know it takes a lot of great writing, editing and photographing to get chosen and thanks for your efforts of spreading model railroads information and wonders.

Secondly, to those who have not been published or even tried to be published there is Hope.

The next best thing to getting published in a magazine is to post on this new fangly thing, the internet, and on the OGR forum in particular.  It turns out any old Joe can do a Search on a Model Train topic and several results will be from the OGR forum including some of yours if you have done any posting.  So another thanks goes to the OGR staff, for creating, owning, monitoring, and supporting this OGR Forum, that has a world wide reach.

Charlie

I have had a few articles and photos published in OGR, but nothing in recent years.

December 2009  OGR   Christmas Photo p. 22

December 2010 OGR  Adding a coupler to the front of a steam engine. p.67-69

January 2012 OGR  Christmas Marx Layout p.53-58

October/November 2012  Add Remote Control to Lionel 1022 Switches

December 2013 OGR  Portable Windup Layout

December 2014 OGR  Christmas Photo p. 16

@Former Member posted:

Hi Dennis, I think your book is a must read for anyone wanting to build an O gauge layout.  I used it as a guide to re-imagine my layout to give it a more hi-rail look.  I see the book is still available on Amazon at a good price.

Realistic Modeling for Toy Trains: A Hi-rail Guide (Classic Toy Trains Books): Dennis Brennan: 9780890247457: Amazon.com: Books

   

The other book that would be great for building a layout is Jim Barrett's book, "Building a Layout", which is available on OGR's website.

I agree......I own two of them.....I refer to it so often, I can't take the chance of it being unavailable if I need to look something up......

Peter

It sure is a lot of fun to see your article or even just a photo published. Although I have had a few articles in CTT, last month's issue in OGR was a first for me, August/September 2022 page # 71 "A stable for Streetcars".

A lot of Model Railroaders I know should submit articles of their work, but never seem to get around to it.

Try it... you'll like it.

My article, on how I Built and Evolved my Action Packed, Fifties era Lionel 027 Operating and Switching Layout is found on the great OGR forum, at the link below.

https://ogrforum.com/...ra-027-layout?page=1

I doubt any of the train magazines would have published an article that long, over 7 forum pages .

Charlie

Our mountain RR was featured in Oct 2013 in the 'other rag' on the cover

O Gauge Railroading, Run 193, April 2003, page 77, Creating the Warner Theater was the major story I had published. In Run 183, December 2001, page 137, in the POP OFF Readers Write to Us section, I wrote about being mentors to children and introducing them to the toy train hobby. A follow up photo appeared in Run 191, January 2003, page 70.

I submitted a story to CTT on building a model of Charles Ro Supply Co. but they only published my photograph of the finished building in March 2008, page 21. Charles Ro subsequently contacted me and he got the model for display in his store along with the story with all the other photos. I think the model is now in their offices in Malden, MA..

It was really nice to see my work in the leading magazines for the model train hobby.

There have been other writings and photos I've had published in unrelated areas, but that is another story for another time.

Paul Goodness

Two in the TTOS Bulletin and three in the LOTS Switcher magazine.

A couple of pictures from  my  former 1/20.3 layout years ago in the Narrow Gauge Gazette.

Our family was fortunate enough to have our Christmas tree train tradition featured in an article of a special holiday edition by CTT a few years back.

@Hot Water posted:

Although not written by me, our layout has been covered in OGR Magazine (Run #244, August/September 2010, pages 42 through 48 plus the cover, written & photographed by Jerry Zeman), and on Great Layout Adventures Volume 8 (by Rich Melvin). Also, TM Books and Video covered us, in 21st Century 2 Great Train Layouts (2018).

I have to get my nose into this on the digital subscription. I have glanced at a few things a couple of weeks ago, but haven't had time in the last two weeks. I want to be sure to check this out as well as a few others that have said that they have articles. Thank you Hot Water as well as everyone else that has posted.

OGR Magazine featured my layout in a 9 page article titled " Free State Junction Fun " in Run 290 Feb/March 2017.   A second feature, part of a Christmas trilogy,  will be in the upcoming December/January issue of OGR Magazine. Stay tuned!!  I've also had a few photos published in the Reader's Rails section of OGR Magazine over the years.  

Two short color essays and a feature article on eBay in CTT many years ago (long enough ago that eBay was news )--I can't get to them at the moment to list the issues/dates.  I have also had a kit review of a ship model published in an online collection.

I,, at first, thought this subject was restricted to being published in OGR, or commercial subscription  publications but l did have a number of, generally bashing, articles published in a national  three rail club magazine, until that editor apparently moved, and the club locally became less active.   Now, l am unsure my niches of interest would appeal to the wider group.

Arnold, I'm like you - I submitted an article to OGR but haven't cracked the code on what they are looking for or how to get feedback on the article.  I'm not sure if it is the photos or the content that weren't up to snuff.  It's been a goal of mine to have an article published to share with a broader audience but I'll keep on posting here on the Forum where people seem to enjoy the work and I certainly appreciate reading their posts.

Just found out today!

@corsair29 posted:

Just found out today!

Congrats Steve!

I'm looking forward to receiving my copy and reading it.

Yes, several times in the photo sections of OGR and CTT some years ago. Made the cover of CTT in Oct 2013 which certainly qualifies me as a "Legend in my own mind". Lol!

Am thinking that the unusual D&RG 'Aspen Leaf' PA's may have been the catalyst that put me there. At that time, no O gauge manufacturer had issued PA's in this beautiful paint scheme. It appeared a simple job for a repaint so I gave it a try using Williams Santa Fe AA's . I modified the Williams chassis and fuel tanks as the trucks were greatly undersized with a lot of 'air' around them. A friend made some custom decals and the result was pretty decent creating a unique set of Alco PA's.

The Yellowbonnett F3's are Railking Scale which were also somewhat scarce being the first of their kind in 3 rail O gauge.

Track is MTH Scaletrax. Sadly, we moved and the layout was gone by the time this issue hit the stands...