Is Trains magazine a disappointment?

TRAINS was a fantastic magazine under the direction David P. Morgan and his loss has been greatly felt over the years. In fact there has been a lot of floundering like a ship going in different directions. Jim Wrinn had done one of the best jobs in steering TRAINS in a direction which I think is both relative to today's railroading while holding on to some of the past. Overall journalism today is rather shallow, lacking depth and detail and even "feeling" if you will, and TRAINS does suffer with this along will others. No, I don't expect David P. to return, nor anyone like him for that matter. He was first class with a deep love and respect for trains, railroaders of all rankings, and for his readers unlike any other editor of any publication ever. I always liked that TRAINS was as much a part of the fan scene as the railroad scene with readable business stories along with operations and history. (Freeman Hubbard made RAILROAD Magazine much the same in a more "blue collar" way; he was able to mix the on the ground railroaders with fans in a close up way and presented a fun magazine, too.) Kalmbach has CLASSIC TRAINS which delves more into the history angles and leans heavily on TRAINS past, thank goodness. If anything I would like to see more detailed reports of cab rides, logistics, and operations, but again that is not today's journalism standards. I get both of these magazines because they seem to present the broadest sense of rail fanning than any of the others (which seem to be wrapped up in mostly pictures with little editorial content). What I do miss is the fiction tha was presented in RAILROAD magazine but understand why no one publishes any today.

Too much of today's railfan writing is a second, third, fourth or more times regurgitation of previously known railroad history from older articles. After you have been looking at railfan magazines for thirty years you get so you can recognize exactly where the latest crop of copycats went to "borrow" all the information. The number of articles that cover new ground or where somebody who helped make history gets interviewed first hand are very rare.

henry6 wrote:TRAINS was a fantastic magazine under the direction David P. Morgan and his loss has been greatly felt over the years. In fact there has been a lot of floundering like a ship going in different directions. Jim Wrinn had done one of the best jobs in steering TRAINS in a direction which I think is both relative to today's railroading while holding on to some of the past. Overall journalism today is rather shallow, lacking depth and detail and even "feeling" if you will, and TRAINS does suffer with this along will others. No, I don't expect David P. to return, nor anyone like him for that matter. He was first class with a deep love and respect for trains, railroaders of all rankings, and for his readers unlike any other editor of any publication ever. I always liked that TRAINS was as much a part of the fan scene as the railroad scene with readable business stories along with operations and history. (Freeman Hubbard made RAILROAD Magazine much the same in a more "blue collar" way; he was able to mix the on the ground railroaders with fans in a close up way and presented a fun magazine, too.) Kalmbach has CLASSIC TRAINS which delves more into the history angles and leans heavily on TRAINS past, thank goodness. If anything I would like to see more detailed reports of cab rides, logistics, and operations, but again that is not today's journalism standards. I get both of these magazines because they seem to present the broadest sense of rail fanning than any of the others (which seem to be wrapped up in mostly pictures with little editorial content). What I do miss is the fiction tha was presented in RAILROAD magazine but understand why no one publishes any today.

henry6, my feelings exactly. Especially about more features as cab rides, logistics, operations, etc. Every time I pick up and read an issue of TRAINS from the fifties or sixties, I'm deeply impressed with the selection and quality of writing- no doubt because of the guiding hand of D.P.M. Photography is top-notch too- and back then it was just black and white (but then again, you had masters like Jim Shaughnessy or Philip R. Hastings working in their prime), and even the numerical presentations were exciting- regular updated lists of the fastest freight and passenger trains, for example. And, for someone like me where trains don't just mean "mile long freights over Cajon" and the like, the reports on foreign railways are unreal (Trains had a reporting correspondent in Japan then, for heaven's sake!). I wonder why, in countries like Japan or the UK, which have smaller populations than the U.S., there is a greater selection of railroad magazines. Japan has four general train magazines that are widely available, that tend to cover the same news items and trends, but each in its own unique way with an emphasis on a certain area. For example, one magazine tends to be rolling stock heavy, one pictorial, one emphasizing operations and economics, and another historical. Thus you can find a monthly that suits your tastes. I wish such a situation existed in the U.S.

My reading of Trains dates to 1984, when I was sick with pneumonia. I think that it was much better then also. I think that the addition of Classic Trains has deleted any articles about history from Trains. There have however been some real good issues lately. I really liked the '70s issue, with its article about the failure of the EL.
I agree that they now talk about the modern trends in railroading. I wish that they would still publish articles about some smaller, obscure shortline operations too. By the time Klambake puts any news articles in print, it has already been all over the internet for at least 2 months.
I do feel that some Classic Trains articles do have the "warmth" of the old "Trains". One good example was the article by Bob Janz about his experiences on the CNW. I have always enjoyed his past similar articles, in other publications. He ought to write a book similar to "Vanishing Markers", by Ralph Fisher, which was about the B&M. Bob's articles are written in the same style.
Trains needs to show some compassion in what it writes.

I won't be renewing this year. Part of it is due to me going to college in the fall. But I really think that my money could be better spent elsewhere. I would rather go to my local hobby shop and buy a copy when I see a good article. I enjoy reading what people are thinking but IMO it just isn't worth it.

I only have been reading it since 2004 but I find it to be good for my purposes. I like it. Articles are interesting, inciteful, and useful for trips. Gives news and tips for us out there. For a railroader it may not be beneficial. But for railfans it is beneficial. Railway Age is more of the railroaders magazine and I do get this on occasion. But I look forward to the next edition every month, and I like reading it.

I gave up with trains and the MR Mags 10 years ago when they started going into nothing but Western Railroad's. Theres never rilly anything about the Northeast in either of the two.