In Jim Kelly’s E. L. Moore tribute article, E. L. Moore’s Legacy, published in the February 1980 issue of Model Railroader magazine, there’s an intriguing statement,
“... there are about half-dozen more still to be published."
hinting at six article manuscripts written by E. L. Moore lined up and waiting for Model Railroader to publish.
I reviewed my copy of the MR 75 year DVD collection to see if I’d overlooked them. I hadn’t. It appeared that those articles Mr. Kelly referred to were never published.
I contacted Model Railroader and asked about them. They very kindly looked into the question, but unfortunately reported that they had no unpublished E. L. Moore manuscripts in their manuscript files. It was a long shot, but the 34 years between that '80 issue of MR and today is a couple of generations, so the outcome was not totally unexpected.
Maybe there are copies out there somewhere in an attic, basement or garage. I’d like to think that they actually did exist at one time, and that they haven’t been landfilled. If you have a lead, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment.
Turns out I was the one who had them! Many years ago, I read that same passage about 6 unprinted articles, so I wrote Jim Kelly. He sent them all to me on the condition they would not be published elsewhere. Thankfully, in recent times, Model Railroader allowed me to send them to J. D. Lowe's blog for us all to enjoy.
ReplyDeleteWhat I received back then was 6 oversized folders full of typewritten articles, photos and scale drawings. Some had markings on them, showing editing despite they never made it to print. The Morton Salt Conveyer nearly got published but a commercial part used in construction was no longer available. The other articles languished too long unused, so it was decided that they weren't up to the current standards of the magazine.
I carefully stored the files and after finding this blog, provided J. D. Lowe with high quality scans which he's since shared here. Combining that with his other "historical findings", this is indeed the place to be for an E. L. Moore fan!
(I'm sure most of you know this story, but it seemed fitting to put an answer here on his "Lost Articles" page.)
Thanks Paul!
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