is the home page for this Railroad Industry Magazine…
http://www.metro-magazine.com/
is the Home page for this transit industry magazine…
Subscriptions are free if you work or know someone in the industry…
I suggest that folks here do there homework on those sites before coming here…
The railroads are more open in those magazines becasue they figure that the general public like us never bothers to pick them up or does not have acces to them.
Actually, Railway Age isn’t free to all railroad employees–they’re fairly selective. (I’m an employee, and have to pay their rather steep subscription rate). But I believe Progressive Railroading is even more expensive.
Umm, that’s nice I read press releases. Seriously though who cares what whom reads? We’re all here to learn more, so lets just roll with it eh? Last I knew it wasn’t a contest to have all the information first, mainly because morst of us don’t need all the information all the time. Like me, I really could take or leave the Kansas City Southern, sorry KCS fans, it’s just not my road. However, if I want to know what’s up with the Canadian Pacific or the CSX, I’ll find out what I want to know one way or another. This website is a great way for me to actually do my homework on the roads I like as well. Cheers! ~METRO
So, Carl (or anybody else), this is the first I’ve heard of “Railway Age”. Could someone give me an example of what kind of story might be found within, and contrast that with, say the content in “Trains”? I’m quite interested in rail industry tidbits, so I’d like to get up to speed…
Also, on this general topic (I hesitated to jump in b/c this is, after all, TRAINS’ board, provided free of charge, and I’m truly grateful for that), is anyone aware of regionally based RR magazines, either industry- or railfan-based? Some time ago, there was a great regional mag called “Pacific Rail News” (right, Chad?!) which unfortunately folded several years back. Is there any equivalent publication for the South, the Midwest, the NE, or New England?
Riprap
Rip, I’d suggest checking out their website, which CSXBroker posted at the beginning of this thread. I’ve met the editor, Bill Vantuono; he’s a bit of a railfan. I also met their onetime publisher, Robert G. Lewis (now in his 90s), a true character in the best sense of the word.
Both Pacific Rail News and CTC Board started out as magazines covering the western United States; both were expanded by their publishers to cover the entire country. CTC Board is still around, but has lost its direction since the current editor(s?) took over.
The only big magazine left that does this is Railpace Newsmagazine, which covers the Northeast pretty well, about as far south as Virginia and as far west as eastern Indiana. A certain Forum friend of mine would mention The Railroad Press, which also started in the northeast but has expanded its coverage somewhat. I thought it was amateurish–must be a generational thing.
I miss some of the magazines that used to be around–trade publication Modern Railroads (their associate editor, Frank Shaffer, was a surrogate grandfather to my older daughter!), and regional publications Rails Northeast and the infamous Bull Sheet.
I get Railway Age. Aside from the traffic statistics, and who’s buying what sections, it’s pretty much useless to anyone outside the industry. How many over you really want to know about the lastest in rail defect detecting, wireless switch and derail control, or the replacement inverval for truck springs.
And even then, I think the articles are skewed to reflect the industry in the best possible light.
Nick
Frank Shaffer! I haven’t heard that name in quite a while. Turns out a couple of my relatives knew him & introduced us one summer on my family’s annual vacation down in The Land Beyond O’Hare. He was fascinating to sit and talk (well, mostly listen) to. Unfortunatley, I was too young to really have anything to contribute to maintaining a correspondence between visits. If only he was around today with e-mail to keep in contact with… One of the people I have known that I truly regret not getting to know better.
I check out the Railway Age and Progressive Railroading sites almost every day for news. I am not a subscriber to either but my aunt works for a transit agency and gets both of them. Every time I see her she turns me on to a stack of both. I only see her every 2-3 years so it’s usualy a big stack. I find there are good articles that interest me in both but they are definately geared for the railroaders so the percentage of stuff that interests me is no where neer as much as Trains.
Here are the links:
I dont read either of those mags. I want the truth i read the National Enquirer! Will CSX wed the UP what about Jen and Ben and Tom and Katie? Too much for a railfan to contemplate!
What ever happened to the Passenger Train Journal? Is that one still around? Personally I like The Railroad Press, it’s VERY much railfan-centric and seems to focus a lot on the intrests of retired Conrail (including it’s various forerunners, and other NE railroad) guys, in my oppinion, but that’s fine as one of my big areas of interest is first generation diesels in the Northeast. I’m also much more likely to read Classic Trains than Trains itself, again just what I’m more interested in. All depends on what your flavor of choice is I guess Cheers! ~METRO
I DO!!! What self respecting RAILROAD NERD NUTCASE GEEK would Not want to show off his freinds what he knows!! Have you not ever played the game “I know more then you!” at your local railroad club! Like did you know that the FRA has appoved ATS braking for trains… Bet you did not know that or even what it means…GEEK OUT! MAN!!
When I want news about the railroad industry I read a number of magazines and other sources.
www.progressiverailroading.com
Together with about twenty others plus several different yahoo groups and other information sources including the Wall Street Journal, IBD, and four or five other newspapers in localities of interest. Pretty much every day.
LC
I totally agree. If your not in management Railway Age isn’t worth much. It doesn’t take very long to get through the magazine.