Nice article on train magazines

Very interesting article, Lee.  Thanks for posting.

While the article was about the rise of hobby magazines in general it did have a focus on train magazines.  What I especially liked was the LARGE picture on page 1 of the business section.  That can only be good for our favorite magazines!

Nice article, and an interesting look at where the magazine publishing industry is headed.

I read another article recently that stated that the big "general interest" magazines are really hurting and that many have been offering at-cost or even well-below-cost subscriptions (through Publishers Clearinghouse, Magazines.com, and other outlets) in order to keep their circulation numbers up so that they can use those inflated numbers to attract or keep advertisers.

The great thing about special interest magazines like the train-related ones we all love so much is that they are published by people who have a genuine passion for the subject matter, and that passion always translates into a higher-quality product which is quite apparent to the target audience -- us.   With the "general interest" magazines, the people publishing them are often just guessing at what is of interest to their audience and are much slower to react to the shifting tastes of their audience because their audience isn't so focused.

Andy

Interesting, thanks for posting.

Brent

I hope OGR is on the upward wave too......

I know our People subscription  ran out six months ago...but we still get it!! So I guess they need us more than I need them!

Lee thanks for posting the link. I did like reading the story.

I read the article once, rather hastily, and will read it again later this evening or tomorrow morning.  I'll offer a few comments/observations of my own at that point.

Good to see that the photo included OGR, even if no mention was included in the article itself.  I wouldn't read anything into that since a lot can be trimmed in the editing process.

Good to hear the hobby train magazines doing well. I can get "This Old House" for 2 years for $10 That was not the case 7-10 years ago.  In my opinion eventually most magazines will be going the Digital route, and you will be hard pressed to find a paper copy.

Maybe…maybe not.  

But at least that will happen after I'm long gone, and I already have plenty of printed reading material to catch up on and to go back through.  

I can tell you that OGR magazine and the forum are certainly alive and well..!!  The article was excellent and reflects what is happening to OGR.  We have seen over the past year quite an increase in overall readership participation as our subscribers and forum membership enjoy both the print as well as our digital offerings. 

One thing for sure....OGR is made up of folks that are train and hobby enthusiasts which is an advantage for our readers, hobbyists, and advertisers.  With your interest, participation, and support, OGR will continue to grow and offer the best there is in our hobby!!

Alan

True Alan. I must confess I am a "hoarder" of everything that are related to the Train magazine genre including old copies of OGR.

I thought it was a very good article and got to the point quickly. Publicity like this is good for our hobby.

An interesting article, and a good thing for our hobby.

I would imagine that for OGR especially, this wonderful forum greatly contributes to their success. I can't imagine where the hobby would be today if OGR had not put this together years ago to catch the internet-savvy train hobbiest. 

I subscribed to O-Scale RR and CTT back in the late 1980s but didn't 'know' any of the 'luminaries of the hobby' at that time. Was familiar with Marty Fitzhenry from a couple of articles (loved his colorful backdrop) and had met Don Shaw (Train Station in Mtn Lakes) but that was all. For those of us who never attended York or Cal Stewart our contact with other modelers was severely limited and narrow.

Being in New Orleans and not traveling further than Houston and Pensacola FL to shows, we only knew a couple of dozen guys at best. Compare that to today and the ease with which we can communicate with each other - Amazing!

Before the internetz, I subscribed to about 6 magazines a month, 2 newspapers daily, and the occasional special interest publication.  Now I get 3 mags regularly, OGR, CTT, and MAD.  I enjoyed the article a lot.

Hi Folks,

I subscribe to OGR plus a couple of other train magazines.   I also pick up copies on the newsstand from time to time.  I have far too many back issues of everything. 

I have observed, however, that younger model railroaders don't appear to be interested in reading magazines.   We have several people in my HO club who are in the 30 to 40 year old age bracket.  They seem to get all of their hobby information from the internet.

I can't give away copies of model railroad magazines to them including current issues.   

I am not sure what this says about the hobby.  I will continue to enjoy my subscriptions for as long as I am in the hobby.   I think that my many back issues are going to eventually end up in the recycle bin.   

Joe