# Kalmbach Dumps Model Train Magazine Index!



## Gary Woolard (Jan 2, 2008)

How it started --


The on-line plan for this latest issue of Garden Railways ( Oct. 2010) is of Wiscasset Station, as used by the 2-foot gauge Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway. The introductory material in this PDF mentions that this is a 'much reduced' version of a plan that appeared in a recent issue of Narrow Gauge and Shortline Gazzette.


Hmmm.. I got to wondering just how much reduced, and how different, this plan might be from that presented in NGSLG. I've been subscribing to the Gazzette for a while, so the question became "how recent are we talking about?" Rather than immediately tear through my boxes of back issues, I figured I'd go up to the Model Train Index currently hosted by Kalmbach and see just which issue I should be looking for. Congratulating myself on my smarts, I opened my browser..


And here's what I found --



The Model Train Magazine Index
To our readers: 


The advancement in Internet browser technology has created an insurmountable problem for the Model Train Index, which has been a fixture on Trains.com for many years. 


The information in the Model Train Index and its integrated software originally were written in MS-DOS language 20 years ago by a train hobbyist on his PC as a personal project. It was not designed for the Internet and the software is unique to the index. 


Kalmbach Publishing Co. purchased the index and its software many years ago. We created a website interface for the index and made the index a featured part of the Trains.com website. 


Today, the progression of technologies on the Internet and the antiquated software of the Model Train Index have intersected to the point that we can no longer offer the index to our website visitors because we can no longer keep the index free of viruses or other even more significant Internet security risks. 


The index software cannot be rewritten to update its security level, nor is there any method of transferring the index text information to a more modern software platform since the design of the index software and the index text information are integral to each other. 


Because of these issues, we have reluctantly removed the index from Trains.com.



Whoa! I understand some of the problems of maintaining and upgrading a database -- just look at the problems Shad has had with the archives here! But heck, Kalmbach certainly knew the database was DOS and creaky when they took it over from Vance Bass. In the years this database has been in existence, it's become the primary 'go-to' source for anybody looking for plans or articles about dang near anything related to model railroading in dang near every related magazine that's been written in.. what? The last FORTY years, maybe?


Think I'm exaggerating? From the Kalmbach site I went directly to NGSL's website, figuring maybe I'd find an index of back issues or sumthin.. Finally, in tiny letters at the bottom of the page, I saw


"View the contents of back issues of NG&SL Gazette"




And you'll never guess where the link led me. Back to the no-longer-existant Model Train Magazine Index!


I scratched my head in frustration. It must have helped, because I remembered Rick Blanchard's Slimrails site. He's got a database there of Gazette plans and drawings. ( http://urbaneagle.com/slim/NGSLGplanlist.html )


Rick's list does have some limitations, and it's current up through 2006. But, he says,


You can get a fresh listing of the drawings for the Gazette at any time by using this [/b]*search link to the TM database** at Kalmbach. Use other search words for construction articles and rosters. You can also get a Table of Contents for any specific issue, so poke around a bit*.


Yeah, well, you can guess where that link goes! (No fault of Blanchard's, of course!). But at least his list confirmed my guess that 'recent' meant 'after 2006 -- the drawing wasn't listed!


Given publishing lag times, I guessed that the article I was looking for had to have appeared between 2007 - 2009. So yep, I went through my stacks looking for those volumes. Found the drawing in an issue from early 2008 -- don't even remember which one right now. And sure enough, there were substantial differences -- not just in dimensions, but in some of the design elements.


So luckily, MY search concluded successfully. But what about YOUR next search? Say, for a John Allen depot or an arcane variant of a TimeSaver? It seems to me that if somebody takes on a database which covers not only their own magazines, but a bunch of others which have been serving the hobby for a generation, they wind up with some level of responsibility towards a sort of cultural library. I know that it's not trivial to fix a munged-up database designed for an obsolete and unsecure O.S. It would take some programming hours and a lot of entry-clerk hours to check and fix slipped fields. That means that it would take some money, but it IS doable!


Maybe if Kalmbach's pockets aren't deep enough, they should hand the database over to the NMRA? That's something worthwhile they could aim their membership revenues at!


Whadd'ya all think? Am I just whistling in the wind here?


grumpily,


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## Mike Reilley (Jan 2, 2008)

Dang....I used that data base too. This sucks.


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

Makes one wonder a bit...more and more stuff going on line...and yet 'online' is looking to be less and less accessable, or even 'safe' much of the time...


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

One would think if they're sitting on the database--even if they don't want to put the resources towards keeping it updated--they could make it accessible somehow, or give it to someone who would. What a loss of a resource! Sad day. 

Later, 

K


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## Ironton (Jan 2, 2008)

For the Gazette you might try: 

http://www.wisemanmodelservices.com/gazette/ 

Has all the indexes up to a recent issue. Hope this helps.


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Thanks, Rich! Now duly bookmarked. You've got to use your browser's "search" feature to find stuff, but it's at least an adequate replacement.

UPDATE: According to MR's editor, they're looking at ways to extract the data from the old database and rebuild it into something more compatible with today's technology. No timeline on that, though. 


Later,

K


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

They could at least dumped the info to a text file, and you could have searched it with a simple text editor. 

This is what happens when non-technical people make decisions, like accepting the fact that there is no other way to do something. 

Greg


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

Why not just keep the index on a machine that isn't online at their office, update it once a month, convert it to PDF, and post it? PDF's aren't susceptible to viruses (so far as I know) and are searchable within Acrobat. Kalmbach's statement sounds like a lame-ass excuse to me.


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

It went away in mid-July.. 
The NMRA has expressed interest in taking it over and hosting it: 

17 pages of discussion: 

http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/discountinued_mag_index 

I havent read through all of it, so im not really clear where things stand.. 
but it looks hopeful.. 

Scot


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

Not overly trying to defend Kalmbach's decision, but do keep in mind that many magazine publishers use Apple products. I think I read that Kalmbach is in that group, so they may not have anyone who is PC savvy. 

I'm still trying to figure out how to access my external drive in Windows 7, so perhaps I have some sympathy for how they may feel. 

Just a thought, 
David Meashey


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

As an aside, PDF's are susceptible to viruses, and for many months, PDF's were the #1 source of viruses, since last November. Be sure to turn off the automatic stuff in the "TRUST" part of Adobe Reader, or Acrobat. Google this, it is a big deal, and Adobe and Microsoft were alternately blaming each other. If more questions, can start a new thread. 

Mac or PC, data is data, and output to a flat file at least to preserve the information. 

Regards, Greg


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

I know Acrobat did have a vulnerability for a few months, but that one was patched. At any rate, there HAS to be some way to post the index online without exposing the database (which was my main point).


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

Greg; 

Yeah, flat files would probably be best. Thought the architectures between MAC and PC might be enough to confuse folks who use mainly one "flavor." Don't know MACs very well. Haven't touched one since 1984. Just considering the "fun" I'm having trying to find certain reformatted files via Windows 7 made me think about how it could perhaps be really daunting for a MAC user. Not trying to argue. 

I still remember how Job Control Language (JCL) threw me for a loop the first time I saw it. Ah, but that was on a mainframe with the unbelievable high value of 4 MEG of main memory. Now cell phones have more memory than that. 

Yours, 
David Meashey


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## Ironton (Jan 2, 2008)

Kevin, 

You are welcome. Was posted in the Turn Of the Century Railroading group, which is the period I am interested in.


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

The index is coming back! 

Model Train Magazine Index 

Scot


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## Dr Rivet (Jan 5, 2008)

Dwight 

Adobe's product line looks like Swiss cheese when it comes to security holes. The problem is that when trying to develop "full featured" applications that will accept stuff from other software, unless the developers use extremely rigid and well defined coding methodologies, and robust, fully tested libraries, this stuff just "happens". The biggest failures I have seen usually are traced to not forcing a string length check or character validation on inputs. Market forces usually drive companies to "deliver first, test later" so they can be first to market or appear to be staying ahead of the competition. In the ancient days of the IBM 360, Itty Biity Machines would have never gotten away with the "shrink wrap license" and would have been sued for delivering a product that did not perform as described. Think this is funny.... just imagine if your automobile warranty read like a Microsoft license for Excel. We don't promise it will actually compute the correct values, that it will display the values that are in memory correctly, or that it will even perform the functions as described in the documentation. If the disc media is defective we will replace it. 

A computer security wonk stuck in a world of antiquated policies and bad security implementations. More paper describing your security procedure and policy does not equate to more security, regardless of the views of the PhDs at NIST and our technologically illiterate members of Congress. Almost like the TSA of computers. 

End of RANT. 

Regards


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

The index is back!

Train Magazine Index


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## Jerrys RR (Jun 28, 2010)

Procrastination wins again.

I did not know that there was such a thing as a magazine index available. The first time I noticed this topic was when Scot said the Index is back.

Thanks for starting the topic and for the updates. The index may motivate me to start looking back through my old Garden Railways magazines.

Jerry


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