From the Dome Car: Train 8 Track 6. (March-April)




 









Once again, I am showing my age when I talk about how we used to take photos of our layouts. Digital cameras existed in 1999, when this Dome Care was written (link below), but they didn’t take off as an inexpensive consumer item until the early 2000s. Until then, if you wanted to take a photo of your layout you used an SLR film camera, bracketing your shots by modifying the lighting (you needed portable lights, too!) and aperture settings in the hope that one would turn out. After taking the photos, it was off to a developer and then wait a few days or more to see the results. Nothing like today, with our phone cameras which do a great job of model photography! Anyway, that’s all just an introduction to this month’s Dome Car, where Morgan explains the CRM photo contest. 

Readers will notice an article in this issue about taking modelling photos. I asked Bob Winterton to do it for us, in support of the Modeller' s Photo contest we have running right now. 

Since several of Bob's model photographs have appeared in articles and on the Modeller' s Photo page, we thought: "Who better then Bob to write an article on this subject?" His photos are always quite good and, as you'll see from his writing, he doesn't work with a lot of fancy equipment. Following the few simple ideas in Bob's article will help you take better pictures of your layouts and models. 

For those who don't already know about our Modellers' Photo contest, here's how it works. Lawrence Adams of Toronto, has put up $100.00 to which we have added a further $100.00. Send us your 4 x 6- inch colour prints, along with the negative, by June 15, 1999. There are two categories for photos: one for photographers that have been previously published in our magazine and one for those who's photos have never appeared in Modellers' Photos before. We will present the first-place photo in each category with $50.00 and the second and third place winners with $25.00 each (plus our photo publishing payment). We will choose one photo from all submitted and use it on the cover of our 50th issue (Train 9 Track 2 in July). 

Be sure to identify each photo you submit with your name and address (written on a self-adhesive label attached to the back of the photo), and don't forget to send us a proper caption for each photo, written on a separate sheet. The caption should indicate the scale, tell about the models in the photo and provide a sentence or two about what's happening in the photo. There is a limit of four (4) photos allowed per person, per category. Mark your envelope to: Modellers' Photo Contest. All photos will become the property of CRM and could be used in future issues of the magazine. And yes, we'll return them once we've used them. 

While I'm on the subject of photos, I want to thank those who have been sending us prototype photos of some of the new short line railways now operating in Canada. With the deregulation of the railway industry, these new lines are popping-up all over the place. We enjoy sharing your pictures with our readers. There's certainly no shortage of new railways and now modellers have an excuse for adding a new short line railway to their layout or module. In fact, according to our latest information, there now are short lines buying short lines! You can check out the latest news in our Prototype Report. 

One more thing to report on: You may have noticed that our Internet links page, printed in the magazine, is growing. This page was designed for people who want to promote their train or model train-related web sites. Yes, we have a links page on our website, but the page in the magazine is a little different. We'll put your web site address in print form so that readers can go directly to it by typing in the URL instead of getting to your site from somebody else's link. It has been very effective for those that are already listed and we invite you to become part of this page. The cost for a two-year listing is only $10.00. Well, that's the way I see it from here. 

Keep those model photos coming our way - who knows, your photo could be on the cover of our 50th issue!



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

From the Dome Car: Train 3 Track 1 (August-September 1992)

Image
  It’s sounding like a broken record by now: Morgan defending the tardiness of the magazine. Sure sounds like model railroaders had high expectations for getting CRM on time! Through it all, he manages to keep his cool, although I know the criticism weighed on him—he was doing his best at something he had never done before and with many things beyond his control. Like he said in the Dome Car below, it’s significant there’s any Canadian model railway magazine at all.   I've had some interesting mail lately outlining concerns regarding the type of letters we publish from our readers and about CRM publishing late.   To those few questioning our tardiness, I suggest they read some of our past editorials and letters on this matter of being 'behind'. In reality, we aren't behind. Prior to Train 1, Track 1, our Premier Issue, there wasn't a four-colour, glossy, Canadian content, model train magazine published exclusively for those that model Canadian roads! And, it...
Read more

From the Dome Car: Train 7 Track 4 (August-September 1997)

Image
Remember when collecting  President’s Choice trainsets was all the craze? Maybe some of you still have them in your basements or attics! When we cleaned out Morgan’s basement after his death, I think he had two of each set there. (Sold to support his widow, along with the rest of his model railroad collection.) Morgan was a big booster of Boris Polakow and his trainsets for Loblaws, seeing them as a way to introduce kids to the hobby.   When we think of manufacturers of model railway products, names like Walthers, Model Die Casting and Athearn quickly come to mind. Chances are you wouldn't include Loblaws in that group, but since 1992 the grocery chain-giant has been one of the largest retailers of model trains in Canada, selling 60,000 specially-produced train sets.   It all started with an idea by Boris Polakow, Vice President of Canadian Sales Development for Lob law's Private Label. As a kid, Boris was fascinated by trains, building three HO scale layouts with his...
Read more

From the Dome Car: Train 8 Track 1 (May-June 1998)

Image
  Some Dome Cars are like unit trains, the whole column devoted to one subject or theme. But this one is more like the traditional mixed freight, with a mixture of topics and ideas such as what makes a model railroad “great;” what a great time it was for Canadian modellers with so many products; and news about the bid to host the 2003 NMRA convention in Toronto. The bid was successful, but the SARS pandemic intervened. (Who remembers that?)   What makes a model railroad 'great'? When it comes to greatness in model railroading, we usually think of things such as life-like scenery, fidelity to prototype, operational qualities, detailed locomotives and rolling stock, fine-scale structures and weathering. Often, though not always, size counts too - the bigger the layout, the greater it usually seems to be.   Thoughts about greatness in model railroading came to my mind recently when a friend told me that, after years of dreaming and planning, he had decided not to build ...
Read more