[Mr N. Ladd]

Due to lack of space my magazines have found their way into a damp caravan for a few years. Rescuing them recently, I've needed to scale down their volume so I can find them a new home in the garage. Made the decision to keep the Railway Modellers via removing the centre pages and the cover from the adverts, using the adverts to make winter logs and will hole the pages and place them into files. The others I will sell as I can't keep everything safe and dry. Not an easy decision but will work. At least I can keep some of them! Shame adverts in other magazines can't be removed in such a way.

 

[John Webb]

I tried the filing in Arch lever files for a while, but found that the holes tended to tear. My preferred option these days is to use box files; the paper doesn't have to be punched and by splitting the magazine further one can have a box file for particular subjects ie one for layouts, one for prototype information, one for buildings, one for techniques etc. The box files give the stored pages better all-round protection as well from dust etc.

Regards,
John Webb

 

[Greyvoices]

I had a similar problem but chose a more rigorous solution.

I asked myself how often I referred back to my older magazines ................... for the majority the answer was never. So I undertook the task of looking at every one of them and ended up with around 30 must keep but the rest (hundreds of them) I just did not need. I enquired at local heritage railways if they wanted them but none of them were interested as each one said that they had stacks of them already that were never sold. I ended up choosing the recycling route, putting a few dozen in my recycling wheelie bin at a time so as not to break the backs of the bin men.

I have to admit that I finally chose to retain more than the original 30 but the vast number that I did throw out have meant a meaningful increase in storage space and some much needed brownie points from my better half.

Best regards ............... Greyvoices (alias John)

 

[Robert Ellis]

Because I have worked overseas for some years I have collected a reasonably large number of magazines and because they are heavy I have had to be ruthless in disposing of them. They are too expensive to ship anywhere. I generally keep them until I have to move, then I check each magazine and remove the articles which I think may be of value to me. This I keep in a box file. The remainder of the magazines I give to the local rubbish collector who sells them for recycling. I would prefer to retain the information in soft copy but that has some problems as well. My preference would be if the magazine was available in soft copy as well as hard copy for the same subscription. I like to read magazines in hard copy but soft copy, especially by internet connection, is a better method and allows good access. Or it would if it was available.

 

[stuartp]

I fillet the articles I'm interested in, usually reference rather than layout or 'how to' articles and file them in plastic wallets in ring binders. The rest gets recycled.

The exception is MRJ but even the full set doesn't take up much room. I humped ten years' worth of railway Modeller, Backtrack, Modeller's Backtrack, Steam Railway and Steam Days around three house moves - never again.

 

[Bill Veloz]

Having collected thirty years worth of Railway Modeller dating back to 1959 I disposed of the complete collection many years ago purely a) because of the space they took,

because I never referred to them. Even the tips and tricks seemed very out of date even by the early 90's, and are of historical value only today

Couldn't even give them away they went to the tip. Nowadays I cherry pick the mags which have something of interest and then do as staurtp does, cut out the articles of interest and put them in plastic wallets.

 

[Bigglesof266]

What Greyvoices said.

Over 60, it's time to start thinning out the excess baggage or it's just an encumbrance rather than an enhancement to living in my Weltanschauung.

I admit I prefer reading my Hornby mag in hard copy, but undeniably storage of more than each years annual subscription is a PITA. Online mags aren't quite there yet even though with my back issues of BRM I can still access them, although I wouldn't trust that as a 'forever and a day' thing and feel vulnerably at their pleasure. Online needs to evolve before it's a truly tempting replacement for hard copy.

In the meantime, reluctantly but necessarily I have implemented a similar triage with my back issues to Greyvoices. I think it's more difficult for our generation born in austerity or the if slightly more affluent later era of built to last, still expensive and to be looked after to bring ourselves to throw 'stuff' away than generations brought up in the era of a rampaging consumption obtain with ease society.

 

[Ruffnut Thorston]

Yes, it is a problem, throwing out such expensive items....and I too am looking into the contents BEFORE buying these days....

I think it will work out even cheaper than a cheap subscription, in that with that route, you get all the issues, even the ones with little personal interest.

The big problem with "electronic" subscriptions, apart from having to use electricity to read anything, is that the "back issues" are only accessible while you have an active subscription!

So, if you stop paying, you "loose" the lot!

Our PLAN is to go through the piles, scan anything of interest, possibly print out hard copies and file in Box Files, and sell on the mags afterwards!

 

[Bill Veloz]

I like to look before I buy as well, the problem is when somebody else buys the mag I was looking at and I had folded the edge over so I didn't lose my place.

 

[Brossard]

Agree with Sarah. My solution to the build up of magazines is to scan articles of interest and recycle the dross. It amazes me how quickly they accumulate. I found that trying to scan articles from an intact magazine was tedious. Removing the pages to be scanned was, for me, a better way. Old articles of interest can now be found easily without wading through years of back issues.

John

 

[Kiwi3685]

QUOTE (sarah @ 11 Jun 2016, 01:04) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>The big problem with "electronic" subscriptions, apart from having to use electricity to read anything, is that the "back issues" are only accessible while you have an active subscription!

So, if you stop paying, you "loose" the lot!

That is sadly true of Railway Modeller, but not of Hornby, BRM, or Model Rail. Electronic copies of those continue to be accessible without an ongoing subscription.

 

[butler-henderson]

QUOTE (Brossard @ 10 Jun 2016, 15:04) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Agree with Sarah. My solution to the build up of magazines is to scan articles of interest and recycle the dross. It amazes me how quickly they accumulate. I found that trying to scan articles from an intact magazine was tedious. Removing the pages to be scanned was, for me, a better way. Old articles of interest can now be found easily without wading through years of back issues.

John
Scanning does potentially rise copyright issues so I can honestly say that there is no way I have just fed a magazine through a document scanner, ignoring double sided advert pages and replacing single sided ones with blank pages before saving it as a OCR pdf

 

[ALAN PETERS]

After posting a similar question a while back, I decided to utilize

 

[ALAN PETERS]

After posting a similar question a while back, I decided to utilize a filing system that I use in work using "Rexel see & store" books. They have 40 transparent pages giving 80 views when pages are back-to-back. I just remove pages that I want from magazines and file them under different topics. I also find them useful for storing downloaded brickpapers etc. and they don't take up too much space.

 

[Ruffnut Thorston]

A similar system to that mentioned above, with ready-bound clear pockets, is to use A4 size loose leaf clear pockets, and store them in Ring Binders.

This would allow custom numbers of pockets, and they can be seperated using divider cards, which are readily available as well....

Also useful for storing the instructions, and service sheets for models!

 

[Mr N. Ladd]

One of the most difficult things regarding model railway magazine storage when one sorts through what to keep or not, is that often ones preferences change over time. For example, some who may be N gauge modellers and have cut out the N gauge articles may in later life move up a scale or two as ones eyesight is not as crisp as it used to be etc. Likewise some may find when older or even younger have moved into smaller accommodation and the articles collected may not be suitable for later needs.
What I have done recently is to keep to just two makes of magazine so my collection is halved, and take out the adverts so the volume of what I have is greatly reduced. The brilliant thing is that in the area where I live there is a book charity that allowed you to take three free books per person. The whole idea is to stop good books being thrown in the tip. It is a brilliant idea and is needed all over Britain and other countries. Now they also take magazines and one can pick up magazines from there. I asked it they wanted some and the man was thrilled as he said there was a disabled gentleman who loved trains but every time they had a train or railway related book or magazine, when he got there they had gone.
After taking about half my collection there, an amazing thing happened. Others also started doing the same, and I was able to pick up some of the ones I collect that I have not got! I love the concept of this as it benefits everyone.

 

[Maz066]

I have sitting in not ideal storage conditions about 50 in a series of Ian Allen's "Modern Railways from 1963 - 1966-right a the end of steam. Makes some humourous reading with all the sixties modernisation plans. Must store them properly!

 

[Anthony Richards]

I read them and then bin them. The lot of them. They are too big to keep and experience has shown that they will hardly ever be looked at again anyway. We all have access to the internet and research on there is invariably quicker and more detailed - certainly for photographs.

The number of times I have been asked by club members if the club library would 'like' their three-century old collection of magazines is now out of memory. Accepting them would only take away from them the responsibility of disposing of them. We did it just once. The mess that followed was awful. Never again.

So, read them. Read 'em again. And then recycle them. Keep the odd page by all means, but don't make a rod for your backs. You don't need the clutter and who wants to be emotionally involved with a pile of damp magazines that are half way to papier maché because the roof leaked ?!!!!

Tony