Train Mags

[C855B]

The whole point of my post was to highlight an article -- the point of which was -- while other magazines are struggling, there are a subset such as train mags that seem to have a rabid following and are doing OK ..

A-yup. Commenting on that... the main difference between general-market consumer magazines and hobby magazines is that hobby-specific periodicals are "trade publications" of a sort. With trade pubs, the ads frequently provide as much useful information as the edited features. The ads are of great interest to the audience.

By contrast, in consumer magazines the ad content is often >90% of the pages, is bald-faced arm-twisting and/or finely-tuned manipulation, providing no "information" other than "buy our product NOW!!!"... and then you have to fish through all the huckster crap to find the editorial content. Adding insult, so much editorial in general-market rags these days is contrived tripe written by wet-behind-the-ear interns itching to find a use for their phony-baloney "communications" degree. Popular magazines dug their own grave.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I'm probably going to let my subscription to The Economist lapse. Even though I love it dearly, I just don't keep up with them. They don't make good "reading room" reading. Classic Trains, Railpace, N Scale, and NSR, on the other hand are a nice break.

[Scottl]

Funny, I just let my sub to The Economist go for the same reasons.  Great reading for long flights, but week to week I could not keep up. 

[C855B]

... The Economist ...

Interesting... while not truly "trade pubs" nor popular, one does have to wonder how intellectual/academic periodicals like this are faring in the stampede away from print. The article John linked to didn't address this. I personally find that long, dense material is uncomfortable to read on electronic media - my eyes hurt after 30 minutes or so. I simply cannot read a New Yorker article online all the way through. Just can't do it.

[John]

I read lots of computer mags / books .. I like the paper version much better than on the screen .

[Rossford Yard]

Go back to about 1992. I recall an article in Time or Newsweek about what they perceived would be a slowdown in publishing, back in the dawn of the internet age.  The lambasted some new magazines, with young editors who called writers "content providers" and were basically about selling ads.  Then they pointed out two of my favorite magazines - Golf Digest and Model Railroader - as perpetually successful because they were run by avid enthusiasts who knew what readers wanted. 

(Golf Digest eventually got bought out by Conde Nast, and lost its circulation lead to Golf Magazine.  It also introduced Golf World for more of a news weekly (at the height) and kept Golf Digest for instruction.  It seemed to lose its way a little.

MR sort of followed, with its Classic Toy Trains for O, and various special editions.  Ditto Trains, with Classic Trains, Locomotives, etc.  Not to mention the special issues on how to build a model railroad, track plan, or the annual "Great Model Railroads."  My point is for MR, do they hold back stuff for the special issues.  Seems to me there were several building a railroad was an every month, not to mention a track plan and a layout visit or two.

Not sure if they just figure that their static reader base will buy more if the put our more special issues. I suspect not, just like adding a shopping day probably doesn't entice anyone to buy more Xmas gifts.

Or, maybe they just suffer because there are only so many ways to spread ballast, but you need to do those kind of articles for beginners, while their core audience has gotten way more sophisticated.

Or, maybe the internet age has arrived, and those predictions in Time Magazine were proven correct.

[Chris333]

Here at the newspaper they have special sections all the time. They decide to sell ads first then pick what the content will be. And everyday the page count is dictated by the percent of ads in it.

[ntrakia]

at one time I got about 20 hobby-oriented publications.  now I am down to rmc,mr,model railroad news and the 2 n-scale magazines:  they should either publish on alternating months or merge in my  opinion, the 2 n-scale magazines that is.  I find rmc to be the interesting to me.

[Nato]

           It is just like "Oldies" radio stations. Now this catagory is made ou of sub sub groups. Ie: 1949-51, 1951 to 59, etc, plus preformer groups, the all "Greatful Dead" station, the all Frank Sinatra one . I I'am old enough to remember when Klambake, Kalmbach, published "Rail Road Modeler" which was aimed more at beginners, and carried an annual Train Set Review at the end of the year.                Nate Goodman (Nato).