how do people store thier copies?

[Dan Griffin]

hi, can I ask how do people store their copies of model rail. I have the first ten years in thoer own binders, but after years on the bookshelf, these are starting to loose strength and warp. I may try looking into storing years worth in 'really useful boxes'. has anyone got any ideas? id like to keep them all nice. thanks

[edcayton]

I put my old mags in magazine files. I find the "Banker's Box" brand the best, and you can get good deals on them if you find a local commercial stationers.

 

Depending on how thick the mags are you can squeeze more than a year's worth in, but probably more convenient to file by year if you have complete year sets.

 

Ed

[PatB]

I use the "most convenient flat surface" filing method .

 

Seriously, though, I wonder if it might be possible to find a bespoke bookbinder who could put the useful bits into a proper binding rather than the typical spring-cord type magazine binder which, as you've discovered, tend not to be terribly durable.

[brossard]

I have gone through my back issues of Model Rail, BRM, Hornby etc. (more than 10 years worth in some cases) and scanned the articles of interest, storing them in my computer.  I then either gave them away or ditched them.  My rationale is that the majority of the bulk in the magazines is adverts which are obviously not worth keeping.  Model reviews aren't much use to me as time goes on either.  That leaves a fairly small core of useful layout, modelling and prototype info.  This can now be conveniently filed for easy access and printed out if necessary.

 

While some magazines do issue indices, I used to find it difficult to find relevant articles without going through years worth of magazines.

 

Model Railway Journal is a keeper and there is a quite good online index for that.

 

Just my 2 cents.

 

John

[mezzoman253]

In storage boxes with each copy the opposite way to the other so as to even out the "bump" of the bindings. I get about 2-3 years in each box

 

I've those and Railway Modeller, Hornby, & a few BRM to get rid of soon, as they are just taking up too much room.

 

One for the Ad's area.

 

Rob

[47137]

I have a box file with the clip removed to hold the Hornby magazine with Operation Build It. Nearly all other magazines have been given away. I do have rather a lot of books and I recommend the Ikea Billy range. I bought five book cases in white, £10 each and the tops are a good height for a future layout.

 

- Richard.

[kandc_au]

Well FWIW I file mine in filing cabinets,

I use the rack and folder system that they use in the filing cabinet and hang mags over each side. ie: 2 mags/filing folder.

That way they hang, if you are after a particular issue you just scroll through until you find it.

 

Khris

[brushman47544]

I stopped storing complete magazines when I realised how much storage space was taken by advertising that would not be read again. First I chopped off the back part of the magazines, but then I found I'd lost Chris Leigh's Backscenes, so I now cut out the pages I want to keep and store them in plastic sleeves in a binder.

[BlackRat]

I'm hoping to get rid of mine, 30 years worth!

 

There's only so many you can store or read, so most of them are going to go in the skip I think!

 

RMs, MR.s BRMs, HMs etc etc etc!!!!

[Andy Hayter]

I keep mine in cardboard box files available in French Supermarkets at quite low prices.  Much less stable than the UK equivalent with the internal spring clip, they are nevertheless good enough for the job.  Similar to the files inside the larger boxes here but without the lever arch;

http://www.staples.co.uk/flip-top-storage-box-assorted-pack-20/cbs/422523.html?promoCode=300300666&Effort_Code=WW&Find_Number=422523&cm_sp=

 

 

 

As for finding things (or rather not finding them) - been there, done that.  After spending nearly 4 hours searching for a " recent" (1-2 years) article in Magazine X, and eventually finding it was in Magazine Y and about 10 years before, I have started cataloguing all articles of interest to me in an XL spreadsheet.  I use a series of description categories, and some selection criteria, I can then use the filter facility in XL  to find back articles.

 

Column headings are:

 

Company/Country - so for example BR, or Russia (for more general articles) etc

Subject type - Locomotive, coach, wagon, company information, station (for specific stations), infrastructure (general non rolling stock), line etc.

Subject title - for example 0-6-0 tank locomotives.

 

There are then a series of columns which are either marked with a Y to show the article contains this, or left blank:

Article

picture

drawing

Model review

model super-detailing

 

Then comments - free text which for example will show which manufacturer's model is being reviewed.

 

Then follows the magazine or book details

 

Magazine/book

Year

Month

page

 

 

So a typical entry might read:

Company - LBSCR

Subject type - Line

Subject title - Lewes Branch

Article - Y

Picture - Y

Drawing - blank

Model review - blank

super-detailing - blank

Comments - from 1900 to grouping

Magazine - Southern Railway Pre-grouping Journal

Year - 1999

Month - December

Page - 123

[teaky]

IKEA Kassett magazine files do the job for me.

[kevinlms]

I keep mine in cardboard box files available in French Supermarkets at quite low prices.  Much less stable than the UK equivalent with the internal spring clip, they are nevertheless good enough for the job.  Similar to the files inside the larger boxes here but without the lever arch;

http://www.staples.co.uk/flip-top-storage-box-assorted-pack-20/cbs/422523.html?promoCode=300300666&Effort_Code=WW&Find_Number=422523&cm_sp=

 

 

 

As for finding things (or rather not finding them) - been there, done that.  After spending nearly 4 hours searching for a " recent" (1-2 years) article in Magazine X, and eventually finding it was in Magazine Y and about 10 years before, I have started cataloguing all articles of interest to me in an XL spreadsheet.  I use a series of description categories, and some selection criteria, I can then use the filter facility in XL  to find back articles.

 

Column headings are:

 

Company/Country - so for example BR, or Russia (for more general articles) etc

Subject type - Locomotive, coach, wagon, company information, station (for specific stations), infrastructure (general non rolling stock), line etc.

Subject title - for example 0-6-0 tank locomotives.

 

There are then a series of columns which are either marked with a Y to show the article contains this, or left blank:

Article

picture

drawing

Model review

model super-detailing

 

Then comments - free text which for example will show which manufacturer's model is being reviewed.

 

Then follows the magazine or book details

 

Magazine/book

Year

Month

page

 

 

So a typical entry might read:

Company - LBSCR

Subject type - Line

Subject title - Lewes Branch

Article - Y

Picture - Y

Drawing - blank

Model review - blank

super-detailing - blank

Comments - from 1900 to grouping

Magazine - Southern Railway Pre-grouping Journal

Year - 1999

Month - December

Page - 123

So MUCH better than merely listing Title, Subject, Author and Source details, the usual entries in indexes. Trouble is that it takes forever to create.

 

[Andy Hayter]

Actually it does not take long to set up or keep up to date.  What does take an age is to then go back through all of the old magazines and books and enter the details.

[Buhar]

I'm a scanner too.  I've done binding, using cereal boxes cut to shape as a magazine box, ripping out articles and putting them in wallets but this is the most efficient and I can find things quickly.  A decent scanner with automatic document feed (approx £120) and a back-up hard disk (£50) is enough to get going.

 

For articles I scan as a photo (jpg image) at 300dpi (probably too high, but storage is cheap) and for photos where I may want do look at the detail I scan the page at 600dpi.  In terms of indexing, the folder names have evolved when the quantity of material in them necessitated a subdivision.  An article that fits in more than one topic is copied to both places.  I also crop odd bits such as a useful tip or where there are two interesting articles on a page.

 

I've been doing this for a while and have got about 27,000 pages in 55Gb, plus a lot more room in the house.  But the really satisfying thing is being able to find and reference things quickly using a photo viewer program.

 

Unfortunately my scanner now doesn't like Model Rail's paper and chews it regularly.

[Clive Mortimore]

I stopped storing complete magazines when I realised how much storage space was taken by advertising that would not be read again. First I chopped off the back part of the magazines, but then I found I'd lost Chris Leigh's Backscenes, so I now cut out the pages I want to keep and store them in plastic sleeves in a binder.

I do a similar thing, I remove the pages of interest from the magazines and then file the remainder in the bag for recycling. The articles I keep are in lever arch folders by subject matter.

[PGC]

IKEA Kassett magazine files do the job for me.

 

...or if you're not near an Ikea, try these from Staples.

 

For me, MRJ's are kept but for all other magazines, I cut out the article I want and keep them in these in a lever arch file. I'm now thinking of throwing these away - I haven't looked through the interesting articles for years!

 

Phil

[Andy Hayter]

The only problem with "cut and dump" or "scan and dump" is that, if your interest changes over time, you now do not have any historic records.

I do however accept that if you are pushed for space, storing all of your magazines may not be an option.

I am lucky and do not (yet) have a storage problem.

[Brian D]

If scanning, as I do, don't forget to back up the files. External hard drives have dropped considerably in price over the last few years.

Regards,

[Welly]

Another scanner here - a tip, do make sure your OCR is set at the time of scanning, the pdfs made searchable, this will make searching the resulting pdfs for a specific article easier.

[Stevelewis]

I  used  to  store  Model  railway  magazines over  the  years  i  amassed  many  hundresd  of  copies!!  Stored  them  in  boxes  in  garage  and  loft,  then  i  realised  that,  storage  was   pretty  pointless,  i  rarely  ever  referred  back  to  them, I  found  htere  was  no  market  for  them,  the   cost  of  shipping  outweighed  their  sales  potential,

 

The  only ones I ever  sold   were  the  first  copuple  of  years  worth  of  Garden Rail!

 

I now  retain any  mags I purchase  for  a  month  or  two,   then  take  them  to  my  local  Barber,  who is  an  enthusuast, as  are  many  of  his  customers,  he  distributes  them  as  he  see fit!!  And  keeps  some  in  the  waiting  area. 

 

And  the  many  hundreds of  mags  I  initially  stored?

 

Recycled  down  the  local  tip!  many  journeys  it  took  though!!

['CHARD]

a tip, do make sure your OCR is set at the time of scanning

Dunno about OCR. I am alive to the fact that if I routinely keep any dead tree media for a length of time it will be albatross feed for my OCD.

 

How do I file mine - if and when I buy em - File 13. The only stuff ever retained is very specialist indeed: it has to support the Table 219, Summer '68 W/T/T data resource. Otherwise, shredder.

[Clive Mortimore]

The only problem with "cut and dump" or "scan and dump" is that, if your interest changes over time, you now do not have any historic records.

I do however accept that if you are pushed for space, storing all of your magazines may not be an option.

I am lucky and do not (yet) have a storage problem.

Hi Andy

 

Thankfully my interest have not greatly changed since I took up railway modelling as an adult hobby in 1980, so no great need for me to worry about articles that have long left the building. I do feel sorry for those who keep switching from one like to another should they have dumped what might be useful information later on.

 

Even with cutting and dumping I still have two four draw filing cabinets of useful information.

[faulcon1]

I was a MR subscriber from the 3rd issue to 2012. My magazines are stored in office stationer binders but as I rarely look at them now I've been thinking of putting them in the recyling bin. I've moved more into the garden railway side an MR is more indoor than outdoor and many articles don't have any application to the outdoor modeller in OO gauge.