On my way home from work yesterday I stopped by Discount Model Trains to pick up the latest copies of Model Railroader and Trains. Now, I was happy with MR (lotsa neat articles), but the articles in Trains looked like they were writen by eighth-graders!! Aside from the article by Linda Niemann about being an SP switchman (switchwoman?), a great deal of the articles were lame in their attempts at humor and subject material. The major source of disappointment was the piece of how 2003 is going to shape up in railroading- every piece had a picture and a lame caption that had little to do with the subject matter. Overall, the whole thing was lame. I shuddered when Mark Hemphill became editor of Trains, because I remembered the silly-a**ed things he would put in his maps while he was at CTC Board. He bragged about other magazines such as Trains being no more than fishwraps- his prophecy still isn't true (not even dead fish deserve to be wrapped up in this drivel). Where is David P. Morgan's writing spirit now that we need it? This may very well be my last issue of Trains, as it has become simply awful. And since Pentrex has killed off Rail News, the rail enthusiast media picture has become cloudy.
My subscription is up and I was thinking this is my last time. I am going to contac Trains and tell them I miss industry news and all the pics of current trains and the old lay out. I agree with you it has really gone down hill. Coalburner
Hello coalburner, First off, welcome to TrainBoard! I hope you enjoy it here and that you will tell us a little more about yourself. As far as Trains magazine, I used to be a subscriber,,,, then I found out that (like a lot of car magazines) I could see what I needed to see within a minute, and the rest was not necessary,,,, I guess I am spoiled by the abundance of information available on the Web. Haroldh
I care very little for "modern" railroading. Paying for a years worth of magazines, and *maybe* finding a couple of articles of some interest, is not a good return on my money. News they print is often far out of date and already known. So I dropped that magazine, and all similar publications. Now I just get the two N scale offerings. Which allows me to use the former railfan money for other RR hobby stuff. Harold is right. These days, we can quickly find all we need to know via the 'Net. Boxcab E50
Well, I'll plug my two cents in this machine, give it a kick, and see whether I get cherries or lemons. Has TRAINS gone downhill? Yes. Is it fatal yet? No, I don't think so. The last issue I think wasn't half bad, I liked the photography in the Hospital Yard and Signal stories. I will admit I have not read either -- I am just too busy lately to get down to it. I did read the bit on 2003, and I agree, I think the captions were silly, tho they weren't a breaker for me. What was? That it was supposed to be a "sneak peek at 2003" but really had nothing new to say. Having worked in press before, I recognize what this was -- it's called "filler". Someone cr*pped out on Mark, or he just couldn't come up with a better idea. One of the other aspects of TRAINS that has bugged me of late is their tendency to become political -- they report less and pontificate more, as if they were an advocacy mag. They certainly are *not* the rail magazine of Record, as DPM would put it, any longer. There isn't one anymore. (In an attempt to help rectify their lack of good covereage of the PNW by rail publications, I started a web-zine called "The Northwest's Own Railfan". It can be found at http://abcraghead.250free.com/ .) As for rail news, it is easier to find up-to-date stuff on the web. There are a number of good rr news sites, including mine, on PNW Rail topics. So with Breaking Rail News not their gravy anymore, TRAINS needs in-depth stuff, and kick-*ss photography. They *do* deliver this, from time to time. But that's the problem -- no consistancy. [ 09. December 2002, 06:21: Message edited by: abcraghead ]
I have to agree with what everyone has stated: the latest issue of Trains is lacking. I was sorely disappointed in the "Our Predictions" story - it just didn't say a lot worth reading. The "Hospital Yard," on the other hand, was excellent. Steinseimer's photos really accentuated the emotions the author conveighed. Still, Trains was always a second choice after Pacific Rail News. I'm really sad that Pentrex decided to cancel the magazine, leaving Trains with no competition in the marketplace. And in this time of instant Internet info, it's going to be really hard for another print mag to get started. Pat
I used to subscribe to Trains mag but stopped it last year, as I had already gotten most stuff off the net already! (Including Trainboard) I now just get the two N scale mags, one European railway mag, and one British one, so I keep in touch of what is happening around the globe
