RMweb Premium OnTheBranchline Posted June 25, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 25, 2013 I just wanted to ask people; how is your collection of books and how often do you look in the books compared to looking online for information? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium uax6 Posted June 25, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 25, 2013 I would say that I have a good 6 foot of shelf space for my railway books, with another 6 foot of my Dad's also available to look through. Having said that this is very amature compared with a friend, who has a 10 foot square room with shelves around four walls, from floor to ceiling! I don't use the web much, but do use it to see if there is info about other misc items that you need on the layout...... Andy G Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkC Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 How big is our reference library? That depends on your point of view - 'too big' say the domestic authorities ; 'not big enough' say we modellers Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71 Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 ....300-400 books, many of which are regularly thumbed through or else checked for specific articles. I'm usually fairly clued up as to the reference information/pictures which I have to hand and readily switch to the internet if I need other sources. Several thousand reference pictures Most relevant BR period publications for my layout Numerous folders containing hundreds of cuttings/extracts from most railway magazines from the early 60s onwards. Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fender Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 probably 25 or so, and thanks to this thread I feel I will be justified in buying many more! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
10800 Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 Over 400, of which around 100 are consulted regularly, and 20 or so very frequently. No intention of getting rid of the other 300 though, if I did within 5 minutes there would be a need to find out something in one of them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Kazmierczak Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 Half a garage full; round the walls and in the middle. The internet is OK for somethings, but books/timetables etc can say so much more. I'm sure Mrs WS will have a huge bonfire when I pass on..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted June 25, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 25, 2013 About 10 years ago I counted the number of books I had for insurance purposes, over 2,000! Since then there has been a considerable increase (at least 100%) I might add however that not all are railway subjects, many are on other transport subjects. You can never have too many books. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivercider Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 Just under 200 books. (Probably around 25 of which I seem to regularly use) About 50 various WTTs, Appendices, Pubilc TTs, and other railway publications. About 30 Ian Allan/Platform 5 Locoshed or Combines. I often use the books, when following railway TV programs, or for queries in RMWeb, cheers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkC Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 Half a garage full; round the walls and in the middle. The internet is OK for somethings, but books/timetables etc can say so much more. I'm sure Mrs WS will have a huge bonfire when I pass on..... Or have an unexpected windfall... Best not to let on just yet though... Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium kevinlms Posted June 25, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 25, 2013 As someone who moved a couple of months ago, it is a PITA actually moving them. I took the vast majority to a friends place who lives more or less halfway between my old address & new one. It took quite a few trips to do so & I'm still in the process of retrieving them & replacing back in the shelving. It still took the removalists a long time to move the furniture etc & cost an arm and leg, so I'm glad I did it that way. I have 2819 entries in my database, of which about 2000 are magazines, there are some DVD's & Videos and Catalogues, the balance being books. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodshaw Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 I thought I had about six but I've counted ten, including pretty picture books, plus one DVD out on loan. Most of these I rarely look at. I did have two more, but I've just given the two biggest away because I never looked at them at all. I nearly always find what I want online, including this forum. If I can't, I make it up, and nobody is any the wiser. After a while, when I've forgotten the prototype information I learned, I'm none the wiser myself. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Fitness Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 Mine's about 350 books and several folders with articles and pictures taken from magazines or printed off the web. Having a rubbish memory means that almost every delve into the collection means finding a little gem I'd forgotten I had. It also means I have dual copies of the odd book too... My fave section is the 3ft long section on the Isle Of Wight's railways. 45 or so and still growing... JF Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium kevinlms Posted June 25, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 25, 2013 Or have an unexpected windfall... Best not to let on just yet though... Mark Is a large collection of magazines REALLY worth much these days? It seems from various postings from time to time, that no one wants them, except on a 'pick 'em up for free' basis. Not that I've tried to sell any of mine. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkC Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 Is a large collection of magazines REALLY worth much these days? It seems from various postings from time to time, that no one wants them, except on a 'pick 'em up for free' basis. Not that I've tried to sell any of mine. Magazines? Probably not, as you say. Books, on the other hand, particularly if you have complete collections and/or have rare copies, are another matter. I really must do a full cataloguing of my collection now - for insurance purposes if nothing else... Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted June 25, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 25, 2013 50 feet of shelf space which is mainly published books but partly stuff like Rule Books and Appendixes and excluding timetables which are stored in the attic or in boxes to keep them out of the light (as the earliest is from the 1850s), also excluding diesel loco prep and fault guides, Working Manual, and more recent Rule Books together with sundry other things such as old coach working programmes which are also kept in boxes. And excluding magazines and a rather large number of postcards (e.g 8 different views of 'The Great Bear') and ephemera which are stored in albums or boxes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jbqfc Posted June 25, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 25, 2013 279 all indexed on the computer so I can find pictures or articles of interest without having to go through all the ones I think it may be in I do use the internet but only but only when I cannot find what i'm looking for in a book or mag SWMBO cannot complain about how many books I have as she has over 400 cook books Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold DaveF Posted June 25, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 25, 2013 Just over 50 feet of books, about 3 feet of timetables (public and working), appendixes, etc, nearly 4 feet of railway photo catalogues and indexes for mine and Dad's photos - the actual photos are on hard drives, with several back ups. Not many magazines, Railway Magazine from about 1948 to the mid 70s, I keep the relevant bits from all other magazines in box files. I do keep reference copies of magazines which have used my photos. I did thin the collection some years ago, but have since re purchased some of the books as I found I "needed" information. I sometimes wonder why I need 14 railways atlases (all different) as well as various Railway Clearing House maps and several drawers of OS maps. David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
10800 Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 Is a large collection of magazines REALLY worth much these days? It seems from various postings from time to time, that no one wants them, except on a 'pick 'em up for free' basis. Not that I've tried to sell any of mine. For complete runs in good condition possibly - look at Robert Humm's ads for instance. Granted he will only pay you a fraction of the sale price. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wamwig Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 Sometimes it feels as though the whole house is a library, although I have 7 wide/tall Billy bookcases for my books and magazines for my many and varied interests and another two (at the moment) as display cabinets. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 Pretty big, about the same as my Guitar and Guitar Amp books. My wife thought I was insane when I spent nearly $200.00 on a book about Vox Amplifiers. Limited run soon sold out, no reprint. Worth now a lot, lot, more but even more valuable as a reference... Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium TheQ Posted June 25, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 25, 2013 TOO many according to SWMBO, however she has a similar sized collection of art books. I have all known books about the MSWJR, quite a few others that Mention the MSWJR. The three books about the village I'm modelling on the MSWJR (one signed by the author who now lives in what was our families house next to the railway.) Lots of books about the GWR, many books about modelling (mostly by Wild Swan). A vast amount of books on general History. needless to say our spare bedroom has been long known as the Library. The Q Update Having just got a Tesco Hudl, which can scan in the ISBN with it's camera and update a book catalogue program (free downloaded app) although many of my older books don't have ISBNs, I now know there are 219 railway books now starting to catalogue the history books... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Kazmierczak Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 The trouble is, for my day job I work in a library......... I make sure we still get the "Railway Magazine" there though, despite budget cuts Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
298 Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 Would love to have the books in digital format to save space but some I would always hang onto in hardcopy. Need a bigger house! Ian I've recently had to decamp up into the loft, and soon realised after filling two 6' shelves with essential mags and books (having previously had a supposed clearout of lots of British mags) that the entire contents of models, books and boxes behind the 11' long and 8' tall sliding door wardrobes in the old railway room weren't going to fit. So I think I'll be doing alot more scanning or cutting of individual pages out of mags, purely to reduce the storage space needed. I'm also trying with the new project to try not to fit into the old habit of buying a $1 secondhand magazine (plus $9 postage) because it has a couple of photos in it. All said tho, I do like sitting down with a nice book. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Welly Posted June 25, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 25, 2013 18 feet of my shelving has railway books, 8 feet has electronics books and maybe 12 feet has fiction & miscelleneous. Too many railway books yet I don't have enough books!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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