Model Railroading > Model Railroader Magazine

I stumbled on a few issues from 1992. November 1992 as an example had 210 pages.
October 2016 78 pages. I've been curious for awhile why the issues are getting smaller each month.
​Is it lack of content available, reduction in model railroaders in general or Kalmbach doing it deliberately to encourage us to buy the more expensive quarterly and yearly ones line Great Model Railroads, Railroad Planning etc. etc.
​Railroad Model Craftsman doing not produce these yearly and quarterlies, is that because it takes available material from the magazine?
RMC is lately better print quality, number of pages and slightly less cost.
Not that one person will have any affect on a big company, but MR needs a new editor and publisher to use a lot of the quarterly magazine material
in their main product -MODEL RAILROADER! IMHO!!!
 

Mike Bannon
St Catharines, ON

The internet killed the advertising base.  I remember when you could have 6 page spreads from pushers.  Less ads, less paper.

IMHO...the content is getting sub par.  I'm kind of tired of reading the Pelle Soeberg monthly.  RMC is the better modeler rag now.

Eric

I agree 100% Eric!

Mike Bannon
St Catharines, ON

Right ON!  And while we are at it, let us talk about Kalmbach trying to RUN their own hobby shop. How are new model railroaders going to learn the business? The model railroaders NEED a local hobby shop with magazine sales that are reasonably priced. wag216 (Art Gibson)

The above poster is correct about advertising. That's where the mags really make their money, and the internet has pulled that rug out from under them. It's the same reason that newspapers are cutting back and consolidating.

RMC quite often (usually, IMO) had better, more advanced content than MR, but back in the Carstens days lower production values (smaller trim size and cheaper paper than MR, for example) made it less attractive to the newsstand buyer. I remember my first RMC back in the early 60's was printed on pulp paper and poorly edited and laid out, compared to MR. Fortunately, RMC's new owner has decided to make the mag look like it's worth the price by cleaning up the layouts, using a larger trim size, and improving the paper.

Back in the 60's, 70's, and even 80's MR had the occasional excellent kitbashing or scratchbuilding article (the B&O Cincinnatian is one that comes to mind, and another on scratchbuilding wooden passenger cars from styrene in O scale), but in recent decades they seem to go for less challenging (and interesting) fare. I suppose their reader surveys confirm that they're printing what their readers want to see, but reader surveys don't tell you why people DON'T read your publication.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/16 13:13 by CPR_4000.

Both MR and RMC are now available on line which is the way I subscribe.  Model Railroader's internet version is easier to access through Zinio..Saves paper, is very readable, and is easier to save.

Model Railroad Hobbyist is only available on line, is free, and has lots of ads  that by and large are accessed by clicking on a logo.

I talked with Stephen Priest  earlier this year.  He told me that less than 10% of his readership subscribed on line.

In defense of Model Railroader, they can't publish articles that are not written.  Email them or RMC with suggested articles.  They are receptive and if they accept an article will both pay and edit.  

Just my 2 cents worth!

Steve Barkley, MMR



 

MR is going downhill. They emphasize non-railroad subjects too much, like scenery, electronics, table construction, etc. Some of that is okay, but in moderation. They need more articles on locomotives, rolling stock, signals, depots, and how to replicate the prototype into the models. Like the posters above, I like RMC better, and I like White River Productions' "Model Railroad News" magazine the most! "Model Railroad News" contains detailed model product reviews and compares those products to the prototype subject.

Posted from iPhone

This.

- Jeff Carlson

sd39u Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The internet killed the advertising base.  I
> remember when you could have 6 page spreads from
> pushers.  Less ads, less paper.

>  RMC is the better modeler rag now.
>
> Eric

sd39u Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>   I'm kind
> of tired of reading the Pelle Soeberg monthly.
>  >
> Eric

Amen to that!

Tom Y

Model Railroader seems to be catering to the beginner crowd.
RMC seems to going after the modeller who has been around for awhile.

I think there is some confusion over magazine titles.  We're discussing Model Railroading which is a current magazine as opposed to Model Railroader which was a pretty good mag in its day but died many years ago.

In the economics of the paper industry, no wonder mills seem to be closing on a monthly basis.  I mean we all know this is happening but this is a pretty good illustration.  From ~200 pages to ~80 is roughly a 60% decline then add in all the switches to online reading, really highlights the decline.  Good thing for some mills TP cant go digital. 

Model Railroader seems to be going after the new model railroader which I get. Lots of articles teaching the basics.

What the folks at MR have forgotten is the advanced articles not only provide reading material for the experienced modeller, they also provide inspiration for the beginner. When I got into model railroading in the mid-1990s I remember a couple articles by Ben King on building structures. They were way above my skill level and I didn't understand a few things in the article but I sure wanted to learn how to build models like that!

The other problem MR faces is over-editing of their articles. It's hard to publish in-depth articles when you reduce everything down to four or six pages of photos with captions. Also do not tell me for more info I can subscribe to MR Video Plus, if you are putting an article in the magazine I expect the whole thing, not just a teaser. I am not a TV guy so I will never subscribe to Video Plus, I enjoy reading magazines.

The team at White River have done an excellent job with RMC, I subscribe to both MR and RMC but I find RMC is the one I am checking the mailbox for these days.

Just my opinion, feel free to disagree.

Andrew C



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/16 16:24 by andrewcastle.

cabman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I think there is some confusion over magazine
> titles.  We're discussing Model
> Railroading which is a current magazine as
> opposed to Model Railroader which was a pretty
> good mag in its day but died many years ago.

You have that backwards. Denver-based Model Railroading closed up several years ago and Model Railroader,  based in Milwaukee WI since 1934, is still in operation. 
There is also Railroad Model Craftsman, formerly in New Jersey and now vastly improved in Kansas, which a lot of people seem to call Model Railroad Craftsman. 
Rail Model Journal was also based in Denver and disappeared in 2008;
Mainline Modeler was in the Seattle area and also shut down.
Prototype Modeler has been gone for several years.
Model Railroad Hobbyist is an online-only publication found at MRHmag.com and first appeared in 2008-2009 and is still in business, based in Woodburn, OR.

Speaking as an advertiser the issue for us is purely one of cost.

Model Railroader ads are about six times the price of an equivalent ad in RMC. If we advertised in MR to the same extent that we do in RMC, we'd be spending about $170K a year on ads. For that money, we can tool several new models.

While advertising does sell models, I think most people would agree it is more important to have models to sell.

-Jason


pal77 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In the economics of the paper industry, no wonder
> mills seem to be closing on a monthly basis.  I
> mean we all know this is happening but this is a
> pretty good illustration.  From ~200 pages to
> ~80 is roughly a 60% decline then add in all the
> switches to online reading, really highlights the
> decline.  Good thing for some mills TP cant go
> digital. 

In a not too long ago forum Steve Ott said that most of the articles are produced by their staff and dedicated writers and they only use material from everyone else when they have space available, which is not often.

BaylorMax Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In defense of Model Railroader, they can't publish
> articles that are not written.  Email them or RMC
> with suggested articles.  They are receptive and
> if they accept an article will both pay and edit.
>

Bought the Kalmbach DVD's when they came out.. the Sales staff CONFIRMED that updates would be made, either separate disks, or a return of the old one for new.. like most Historical societys due.
BUT then the Classic trains disk came.. Called to get my update and was told NONE nada Zilch, buy a new one... Then after some complaining they offered a return if I had my reciept from kalmbach,, I bought it from a hobby store to support the industry like MR says to... NO, sorry.
so buy to the big K.... I am sure Westcott and Morgan are spinning like drivers on wet rail now.
 

Advertising cost is a major reason why there are so few Canadian shops advertising in MR.
​All the shop owners I have talked with say the just can't afford MR's prices.
​I have a subscription to MR which I'm letting run out but another pet peeve is the fact that my suscription renews in March and I just go a notice to sign back up- 6 months ahead of time-seriously MR !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mike Bannon
St Catharines, ON



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/16 18:39 by algoma11.

wag216 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Right ON!  And while we are at it, let us talk
> about Kalmbach trying to RUN their own hobby shop.
> How are new model railroaders going to learn the
> business? The model railroaders NEED a local hobby
> shop with magazine sales that are reasonably
> priced. wag216 (Art Gibson)

Good luck with that one.  Don't look now, but local hobby shops--let alone dedicated TRAIN shops, are rapidly going the way of blacksmiths.  "New model railroaders?"  Yeah, right.

rapidotrains Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Model Railroader ads are about six times the price
> of an equivalent ad in RMC.

Is the price proportional to their respective circulations?