Western Railroad Discussion > How About a Flimsies/PNW News Update

Haven't heard anything in quite a while on the status of Flimsies rail magazine, or from Mr. Shippen. I know it's been a few years since we last saw an issue, but is there anything happening in that regard or is the magazine gone forever? And what ever became of excellent the Pacific Northwest Newsletter that was around back in the mid-'90s?

Even with the advent of the internet, I personally felt there was still a place for a bi-monthly rail publication with up-to-date news, but maybe I'm in the minority on that one. On a similar note, it does make you wonder how much longer TRAINS and CTC BOARD will continue to put out product...

Printed publications were difficult at best. Hard to find reliable current data. Hard to fund. I could keep on.

The internet has killed most of these. It is so easy to put up a web site, load a few digital photos. Now everyone is a publisher and they don't have to pay postage and a printer to get their work out to the railfan community.

I was the Managing Editor at the time that Bill pulled the plug due to some unfortunate personal circumstances. I haven't heard from him in over 2-1/2 years, so if there is any chance of bringing it back, I haven't heard a thing. Too bad, it was a fun little rag to put together. I can only hope that it was equally fun to read. From the inquiries that I received for several months following the plug-pullage, I think that it was.
Bill had some big plans, but was financially unable to pull it off. His vision was to build up to the point where it could become a full-sized (magazine format) publication to pick up the niche left by the demise of PacRail News. As you can all see, both publications are now gone--with very little (or NO) interest in resuscitation. Whether the remaining "fan-zines" can make it in the long run will remain to be seen.
Thanks for your intrest and for asking about it.

rh
Spokane

How about "SP REVIEW" ?? Is it still out there?
If the great Shippen from Chico had a hand in it, then it probably disappeared too..

Tony Johnson in Oregon had a hand in that rag too.
Tony J.--Where are you ??

Give us some words of wisdom regarding "SP REVIEW" !!

KRK

KeyRouteKen Wrote:
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> How about "SP REVIEW" ?? Is it still out there?
> If the great Shippen from Chico had a hand in it,
> then it probably disappeared too..
>
> Tony Johnson in Oregon had a hand in that rag
> too.
> Tony J.--Where are you ??
>
> Give us some words of wisdom regarding "SP REVIEW"
> !!
>
> KRK


As a subscriber to both, I can tell you that it has been quite a few years since I have received either. Let's cut a little slack for Bill Shippen. It isn't as if he ran off with the money in the till. He had some serious personal problems and things just didn't work out for his plans. Shit happens. I hope that things have improved for him. And yes, Tony may have more info but I doubt it. It seems to me that if you want to search this site a bit, you might find a response from Bill Shippen a couple of years ago about all that happened etc.
C.

hepkema Wrote:
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> ...the demise of PacRail News...
> ...little (or NO) interest in resuscitation. Whether
> the remaining "fan-zines" can make it in the long
> run will remain to be seen.

And now that the news content is gone from CTC Board, the trend is only down, down, down.

boomer Wrote:
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> the minority on that one. On a similar note, it
> does make you wonder how much longer TRAINS and
> CTC BOARD will continue to put out product...
>
>


I think magazines will be around for a long time to come. I don't think the problem can be completely blamed on the Internet, but more of a problem of the aging railfan population. If the magazines don't do more to pickup younger subscribers then we might see some magazine thinning in the coming decade. I believe Trainorders.com represents a younger audience than the magazines. Of concern to me is less than 20% of our membership subscribe to either of the two largest rail magazines.

In the past before the internet, new fans were introduced to the hobby through train magazines found at local hobby shops. The magazines were sort of an ambassador for the hobby. Now there are signifcantly less model train shops than 10 or 15 years ago, thus fewer outlets for distribution. The internet is the new ambassador for the hobby. I am not speaking nessarily of this site, but the hundreds of personal web sites on the net built by railfans showing off their photos and railfan adventures.


Todd Clark
Trainorders.com

Where current magazines fell is there news articles which are always outdated compared to online news sources where most folks get the news. For magazines to survive they need to concentrate on more indebt articles with some meat on the bones that you can take trackside for reference. I still sub. to most of the major mags. Trains is still a great rag but has lost direction in trying to be more like Railway Age which is why most trackside have turned to R&R.

hepkema Wrote:
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> I was the Managing Editor at the time...
>
> rh
> Spokane

Roger,

I enjoyed PNW and miss it-like the article on Spokane industrial units, or the in-depth articles with a map about interesting spots- like Providence Hill, Trinidad Loop and Everett, IIRC. Thanks for your hard work!

mapboy

webmaster Wrote:
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>>
> I think magazines will be around for a long time
> to come. I don't think the problem can be
> completely blamed on the Internet, but more of a
> problem of the aging railfan population. If the
> magazines don't do more to pickup younger
> subscribers then we might see some magazine
> thinning in the coming decade. I believe
> Trainorders.com represents a younger audience than
> the magazines. Of concern to me is less than 20%
> of our membership subscribe to either of the two
> largest rail magazines.
>
>>
>
>


I DO think the internet is, (and in the future will be), be * largely * to blame for declining interest in the printed word.

It is true that back in th' day, hobbyists were often attracted or introduced via magazines. But what SOLD magazines on a * regular * basis was the avid enthusiast, who sought to educate themselves on different facets of the hobby, such as the different railroad companies, their equipment (particularly motive power), their passenger services, new trends in product development, etc. In other words, information on the current state of the industry. Magazines also paid homage to history, noting equipment/lines/practices that were about to be discontinued. Magazines, of course, used photos to illustrate their point. MUCH OR ALL OF THIS INFORMATION IS NOW AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET, AND OFTEN IN "REAL-TIME." Information ? In spades. Photos ?? As recent as 10 minutes ago, of excellent quality, and of incredible volume/variety.

I like magazines as much as the next guy, but in my opinion the only "niche" remaining to magazines that the internet can NOT match is -- the high-quality detailed story. (You can get detailed stories on the internet, but the qualities varies widely). Magazines have the resources to hire accomplished writers/scholars who then can do in-depth research on a subject, AND, then write stories that provide ** perspective **. And will someone pay (month after month) for the occasionall well-written historically accurate article ??


We shall see.

Nickatnight

Appreciate the updates, and I too think there could be niche in today's world for a publication such as Flimsies, as long as the news was fairly relevant and up-to-date - not 2 months old like the stuff you get in Trains or (used to get in ) CTC Board or PRN.

I still say the golden age for railroad magazines was back some 20 years ago, in the mid-'80s, when you had PRN and CTC Board doing their best work, and before they all went to national coverage. Of course it also helped that you had more railroads around back then as well, which I think is the other big factor in the declining interest of railroading as a hobby - I mean, admit it - it was a lot more fun to read the magazines and go trackside when there were 4 (or more) big railroads out west, and I don't mean to be "crying the blues" because that's the way the world is today, so deal with it - just telling it like it is - think I smell a TO thread here...:^/ Also helped that you had all of those old, "boring" SD40s, 45s and other '70s monsters running around in large numbers, but that's another story.

Guess we'd better enjoy the hobby while we still have 6 major railroads left in North America, as that could certainly change in a hurry. My oh my...where did the time go...?

KeyRouteKen Wrote:
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> Tony Johnson in Oregon had a hand in that rag
> too.
> Tony J.--Where are you ??

Tony's alive and well, and he and Margie and the cats are still in Central Point, Oregon, the next station on the ex-SP Siskiyou Line north of Medford.

He's a frequent poster here, and is also heavily involved with the Southern Oregon Chapter of the NRHS.

Rumor has it that when he gets really bored (or drunk) he goes to the local Albertson's supermarket and restacks all the fruit and vegetable pyramids in the produce section.

The best part of the Flimsies era was the telephone hotline that was manned by Bill Farmer. That's how I would get information on special moves, loco or rolling stock sightings, and other such stuff. The Internet has replaced this.

Sal Garcia
(reader and occasional contributor to Flimsies)
Pico Rivera, Ca.

mococomike Wrote:
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Trains is still a great rag but has lost direction in trying
> to be more like Railway Age which is why most
> trackside have turned to R&R.


Why the thought that Trains is trying to be like railway Age, I read Railway Age and I don't see any connection between the two. Trains is a far better publication about railroads than Railway Age, Railway Age is geared towards the railroad industry more than railfans, How many railfans can afford a subscription to Railway Age and, if not, how many can get their hands on a copy to read it..?

2OTH Cent,
If you reveiw Trains within the last 3 years the articles and ardvertising have gotten more industry oriented compared to fan based, Take the current issue 08/05, The whole back page is a add for Ansaldo Signal, The back of the front cover is a add for LaSalle Bank Transporation Leasing. Most public library (at least in big cities) carry Railway Age for public veiwing.

Bill Shippen still appears once in a while on Dave Epling's "SN" Discussion Board with a question about misc SN items around Marysville, Yuba City, Chico and Tarke...

He and "I" had a monetary problem regarding a project I sponsored along with fifty other railfans. I know he was VERY upset when his Father died-- but that is part of life. One's own life has to continue in a positive manner.. I'm not going to worry about Bill anymore--there are other priorities..

Namely, my wife Suzie who is now facing some more surgery, so I'm suddenly finding out this morning.

Carol Voss could start a Monterey//Pacific Grove railfan journal. She is very good at writing.
Might cover the old STEAM days in Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties and have a couple of chapters devoted to FRUIT shipments from the Orchards that are no more!

Maybe she could title the book: "Steamed Prunes"..
(grin)

Anyway, have a great week everyone.. Maybe the real "Tony Johnson" will appear with some of his wisdom.

Cheers.

"Key Route Ken"...

topper Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> KeyRouteKen Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > Tony Johnson in Oregon had a hand in that
> rag
> > too.
> > Tony J.--Where are you ??
>
> Tony's alive and well, and he and Margie and the
> cats are still in Central Point, Oregon, the next
> station on the ex-SP Siskiyou Line north of
> Medford.
>
> He's a frequent poster here, and is also heavily
> involved with the Southern Oregon Chapter of the
> NRHS.
>
> Rumor has it that when he gets really bored (or
> drunk) he goes to the local Albertson's
> supermarket and restacks all the fruit and
> vegetable pyramids in the produce section.

Tony was famous for checking the melons in Santa Cruz.

I can't recall what ever became of "Flim"...

Anybody out there know???


AM

Word is that Tony only checked double D's!!!


AM

bradleymckay Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I can't recall what ever became of "Flim"...
>
> Anybody out there know???
>
>
> AM


Damn you, Mr. Mckay...I was going to ask the same exact question tonight - have always wondered what ever became of Mr. Baden as well <G>.

KeyRouteKen, sorry to hear about your wife's need for more surgery - all the best to her and hope things work out for the better.