Wow! Check it out. Vol. 13 No.8, June 1953. Cover price .50 {cents}, annual sub $5, 2 years @ $9, 3 years @ $12 & for life $60. Can you just imagine if your dad had subscribed for life @ that price and you had his identical name {1st & last} & had saved ALL the issues just imagine the $ value of your collection 77 years later {1st published Oct. 1940}.
And just thank of the many, many changes that have occured over those 77 years. Of course if the publisher were to give you any flack about the subscription, as long as you have dad’s original receipt along w/there printed statement inside front of magazine then your set for life.
Man watt incredible photos they had evan way back then. I have Oct '53 thru Feb '58 & really look forward to reading them ALL cover to cover.
Timken has a full spread 2 page ad showing Atlantic Coast Lines huge 98 trak yard jammed w/many, many hundreds of rolling stock {approx. 2000 +/-} ALL w/Timken bearings. Then on page 4 is an artist aerial drawing of SP’s million $ yard in Houston, just about the time Frwys started to clutter the landscape. And many, many photos of steam from all over the country.
77 Years??? Have I lost count? I was born just 4 months after Al Kalmbach put out Vol. 1, No. 1 and last I checked I am only 67.
I know of at least one of the forum members has a life-time subscription to trains. But don’t get too excited. $60 invested in 1953 at 8% interest compounded annually would now be worth almost $4 grand.
Note that the name TRAINS preceded TRAINS AND TRAVEL. The second name lasted for a while, and then the magazine reverted to the first name, more descriptive of content since freight railroading is certainly discussed as much as passenger railroading.
I know one guy who has a lifetime subscription. He bought it when the cover price went up from 50 cents to 60, as a hedge against inflation. Best investment he ever made–it now costs around $75 for a two-year subscription (that’s what he paid for his lifetime subscription, back in high school).
Dave’s right: it was almost always Trains, but was known as Trains & Travel for a few years–in the early 1950s, IIRC. This was slightly before my time as a subscriber or purchaser, but back then, I think that given a choice between the two, I would have been more inclined to buy one called “Trains”.
Yes sir you are right! That nasty gene that reards ones intellectual development along w/the eye/brain anomaly influenced the typo fingers to select the #7 where 6 was the desired #.
BTW, I just quicky skimmed back thru the 68 pages of the Jun '53 issue & counted a grand total of 17 ads for 68 pages. Back then there were many, many more photos/articles.