Even though Trains is published by Kalmbach and Railfan and Railroad is published by Cartsens, they generally arrive, 10 out of 12 months, on the same day. This month, the Nov issue of Trains arrived but not Railfan. Anyone know why> Is Carstens in trouble?
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That may be your experience, but it’s certainly not mine. I suspect that you have little to worry about in connection with these two publishers.
I suspect you’re the victim of the “efficiency” of our great postal system. And they wonder why they’re losing business.
Or it could have been that it was shipped out a few days later. Or the trains a few days earlier.
But there’s no cheap political shot in any of those answers. [#dots]
An expensive political shot then?[(-D]
In honor of the late Senator Arlen Specter, (D then R then D, or something like that - PA)
It was a magical political shot.
Sorry, but I wasn’t trying to take a cheap political shot. I was speaking from personal experience, won’t bore anyone with the details. If I’ve got something political to say it won’t be a cheap shot, it’ll be a “fire for effect” from the whole battery!
I know that Trains is printed by QuadGraphics at a plant in the Milwaukee area and the printer also runs the subscriber distribution. Trains and any other titles run in the same production time frame are sorted and packed by destination US Post Office. They then use UPS to ship the magazines to either the serving USPS distribution point or, if the quantity is large, direct to the destination Post Office.
I don’t know anything about the printing of Railfan & Railroad magazine, but if they happen to use the same printer, that title could be shipped right along with Trains. Otherwise, same day arrival is just by chance.
Maybe your mail person has developed an interest in trains.
I’ve heard of postmasters reading postcards, but carriers reading magazines?[:)]
Five and half years ago, my wife and I visited the town I was living in when we married. The Presbyterians had a supper for us, and others, such as the Baptist former postmaster, were present. The former postmaster told me that he had gotten tired of reading postcards and had retired.
Well, my Dec Trains arrived today (also Classic Trains) but still no NOV Railfan & Railroad. No explantion still.
Over on trainorders, there was a note from Steve Barry:
To all who care. My last R&R arrived 5 weeks ago and nothing else. I have sent e-mails befor the storm and I am waiting for a reply
Conri1
The last R&R I bought was so thin it was little more than a brochure. Maybe you accidentally trashed it thinking it was advertising materials or some of that political crap.
Back in the '50’s and '60’s the Post Office used to bulk deliver mail to large route boxes (looked a lot like the boxes you could drop letters and small packages in, but without the trap door on the top to do so, and painted brown instead of blue). The foot carrier then opened the box to get the mail to carry to each house on his route.
I remember many times seeing the mailman sitting inside the box (in the shade the box provided), resting from his rounds, reading magazines and newspapers he would be delivering after his rest break.
I’m putting my money on Sandy.
I hope the issue comes out soon - I’ve heard there’s an article about the Adirondack in it (and maybe even a picture of moi!).
I received a communication from Carstens yesterday concerning their business as a result of Sandy:
To Our Customers:
As you may be aware, our entire region was heavily affected by the storms of Hurricane Sandy earlier this week. Emergency crews are working hard throughout the region helping to restore vital services to those affected by the hurricane. Most of the restoration efforts are concentrated along the hardest hit areas of coastal and eastern New Jersey, so it may be a while before power is restored to our area up in the rural northwest.
We will remain closed through the end of the week, and possibly longer until power and communication is restored to our area. If you placed an order from the Carstens Book Store in the last two weeks, please understand that it will take a little while for us to recover and catch up on order processing and shipping. We appreciate your patience and thank you for your support!
Sincerely,
–Henry Carstens
President and Publisher
Carstens Publications, Inc.
I’m not sure that’s the entire problem. With Trains, our November issue arrived about a month ago (Today, November 2, I still haven’t gotten my December issue, and I consider that to be late nowadays). Railfan & Railroad used to be earlier than Trains, so the fact that the November issue isn’t here in November can’t be blamed entirely on the storm, in my opinion.
Just got a note from Steve Barry, ed of R&R. Said Nov has been printed and Dec will be delivered in 2-3 weeks and Jan 4 weeks after that. Meanwhile my Jan issue Trains arrived a couple days ago.
I spoke to Otto at the Central NY train show (first weekend in November). He said they were still out of power at that point. Like everyone else in that area, they got set on their ear.