When I retired, I thought it best to pare down my monthly magazine budget. I had always bought the magazines at the hobby shop because it provided an excuse to go there and browse. Besides MR and RMC, I also always bought Trains, Classic Trains, and quite often Mainline Modeler. While MR has always been an attractive magazine, it seems to me that it's becoming the print equivalent of ready-to-run, and like their Forum, overly pre-occupied with DCC. While there is nothing wrong with rtr or DCC, there are still lots of us out here who still enjoy doing things the old way and who perhaps can't afford all the latest gadgets. Trains magazine seems to focus on present day railroads more than anything, and while I'm not disinterested, I'm also not overly interested. Most of the regular authors that I enjoyed, like David Morgan, Ed King, or John Kneiling are gone, so not much old-time tradition left. I do continue to buy Classic Trains, though, as it is still of interest and is published only quarterly. I also buy Mainline Modeler if it contains something of particular interest, but in Canada, at more than $8.00 an issue, it has to be of use. I did finally subscribe to RMC, partly because the hobby shops where I went to buy it would often never receive any copies some months, and also because I do enjoy most of their authors. And if you can get by the apparent lack of proofreading, you'll find a lot of articles about Canadian subjects and by Canadian authors. In my opinion, their best feature by far is Ted Culotta's "Essential Freight Cars", which is very useful for anyone modelling the period between the late '20s and the late '50s.
I also agree that MR's forums are starting to play like a broken record (if you don't know what that means, ask your parents (or grandparents). Way too much fluff obscuring a good solid core of competent and knowledgeable modellers. And for someone like me, who, if I am able to provide info or insight and take the time to answer a post, usually at some length, very unsatisfying when your input isn't acknowledged. I have to thank Andrew for pointing me to the Gauge, where people seem to be much more appreciative and accepting of others.
While it is certainly satisfying to have something published in a magazine and the financial rewards are enjoyable, the people who share their knowledge here on the Gauge are, I'm sure, appreciated by the rest of us. That said, I hope that Harold, and any other deserving authors out there, do get the opportunity to make a few bucks from their talents. At least you're already famous here on the Gauge.
Wayne
I have received no less than three letters since then saying that they still haven't gotten it back, nor the money to pay for it. 
Gee, do you think they really didn't mean what they said when they told me I didn't have to return nor pay for it since it has be in the postal code for some 30 years now?wall1