Trains the Magazine: Any Good?

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

First I must say hello to all of you. Im new here and if you already dont know Im from Wisconsin hence the WI abbreviation in my screen name. The reason I say that is alot of people get confussed when they see WI after my name. I origionally became a member almost a year ago, but that was to read up on a topic I was intersted in. I never really got into railroading until now.

I am only starting to get into the hobby of railroading. I have been reading this forum for a few days now, and every thing is still very confussing.

Anyways I thought about subscribing to Trains the Magazine to get a better feel of whats out there in the railroading industry.

But there is a slight road block. Now I’m not the richest person in here, but a one year subscription is almost $42.95. Money is tight and I was just wondering if this is a good train magazine to subscribe to? Is it worth the price? On average how many pages are in the magazine each month? Are the pictures in color or mostly black and white? Is it written good? Is it one of those magazine that has nothing but ads in them or is there alot of very good long articles written? Is there anything else good or bad about this magazine that I should know about it? And finally would you recommend this magazine to a person like myself who dosent know the first thing about railroading, other than that they ride on tracks? lol but in away serious.

Now I know that this is the website for the magazine, so Im sure I will get a biased answer. But thats ok I guess.

And one more question. I notice on the subscription sign up page that it looks like you can only pay using a credit card. But I dont have a credit card. Is it still possible to pay for a subscription using a check or a money order instead?

Thanks for the replies.

Have a good day!

Steve

2

I’d highly reccomend it. As far as train magazines go Trains is probably the most popular. It’s about 100 pages in length. Trains has mainly color photos except of course vintage black and white photographs from years gone by, which are still great. There are of course a lot of ads, but there is a great deal of content in each issue. There’s always plenty of news about what’s going on in the railroad industry. There’s alawys very excellent articles about railroading from both the past and present. If you want to learn about trains, this would be an excellent place to start. I guarentee that after a few issues that you’ll know much more about trains than before.

3

If your looking for industry news, or a trade magazine, well…
But if your looking for a magazine aimed at the railfan, with a lot of info, details and maps, this is it.
A lot of effort is between the covers, they edit well, each copy I have contains some piece of info I didnt know before.
This is one of the few magazines I keep, boxed and cataloged for reference.
It shares bookshelf space with a 25 year subscription to National Geographic.
Worth the subscription price, maybe even the shelf price!
Stay Frosty,
Ed

4

…I too don’t throw ANY TRAINS mag. away…Have had a subscription for many, many years…I’ll let the folks at TRAINS discribe it in more detail as we have some of those folks on here. I look forward to the 1st part of the month when I know a new issue is due to arrive…

5

Hi Steve,
I’m in the Badger State too. One option, find a local RR club. Most have old copies laying around… and /or your local hobby shop may have old copies. I’ve picked up lots of copies for 10 -25 cents each. Trains is a pretty good mag for the hobbyist / railfan.
Dan

6

4.95 is a good price for a magazine of this quality. A good bookstore or LHS should have a copy. Ask at your local library. See how you like it.

7

This magazine is probably the best from an observer and hobbyist standpoint.It simply can’t be beat to enjoy the pure pleasure of railroading.Other magazines,such as Railway Age and Progressive Railroads are helpful,but look into them too deeply and you will find that their goal is to remove much of what we find pleasurable in railroading through technological advances;in fact I find reading them depressing at times,but they are strictly aimed at the manager’s point of view,that is,to improve the profitability of their business.Traffic World is primarily geared toward trucking and overseas shipping,and their overall views of railroads is actually quite negative;not to mention that the subscription price is criminal(last I knew that it was $125/year!-10 years ago)and it is very ‘stuffy’ reading-OK if your’e into tariffs and lots of legalese.The only item I find of use in Traffic World is that they have up to the minute info on line abandonments,ownership changes,etc. on rail lines-but it costs way too much for a quarter-page of news useful to us.I only read it because my former employer subscribed to it(a short line).Trains now has this information now in their issues under their news items,and it’s been new for a few months now.Other railfan magazines,such as “Railroad and Railfan” and “Railpace”,just does’nt seem to have the flavor and esscence that Trains puts into their work-they seem kind of hokey and
simplistic,or “un-professional”?They cater to the real ‘die-hards’ of the hobby-ones who take loco numbers too seriously(although I do not think less of them for it).Of those,“Railpace” is the better of the two-it has great up to date news on the short-line industry,and I wi***rains would do more of the same.All in all,Trains has the staff,the maps,artwork and background research to make it "the"one-I too keep every issue on my bookshelf and refer to them often.I know that I will need binders for them,but I will go broke if I bought them now!

8

[^] Ditto, what they all said. I like it, been subscribed since 1997 when I first discovered it at a Great American Train Show. LOL, I’m reminded of my college english literature proffesor who asked us on the first day of class if anyone is subscribed to any “interesting” magazines. He had comment for everyone else’s magazine, except mine! Obviously he don’t know what he’s missing. Besides the modern railroad coverage, I like the stories people contribute, they’re quite entertaining and humorous, like the one this month about the honeymoon depot.

When I was living in the dorm at college i still had my magazine sent to my home address and it was like pulling teeth trying to get it forwarded to me because my dad would latch onto it and read it before sending it over, usually with creases in half the pages and all the advertising cards ripped out.

The one thing I miss from 5 years ago is they don’t do the photo section the same way they used to, but it’s not worth not renewing. I was subscribed to Model Railroader, too, but had to make a choice on which of the two to keep. I still occasionally pick up an issue of MR at the bookstore when it mostly fits my interests. Oh, and they quit shipping it in plastic bags. Those made great protectors.

TRAINS is worth the price. I have learned more about railroading than from all those coffee table books I get at Christmas. They talk about the mechanics of a locomotive, operations, how things work, historical articles, railroad profiles, biographies, tourist info and updates. This is a magazine you don’t throw away. I dug around in my old boxes of back issues this summer looking for something specific and found myself rereading whole issues. It’s hard to believe how some things have dramatically changed in five years and how some things haven’t changed. Go for it.

9

Yay! Another person from Wisconsin. [:)]

Welcome aboard!!

Here’s what I would recommend. Find a place nearby that sells Trains Magazine and pick up a couple of issues off the newsstand. Take them home, read them and then decide for yourself. I think it would be better to check out a few issues, see if you like it before you pick up a subscription. I don’t think anyone would want you to pick up a subscription and then be unhappy with it and then have to cancel it.

Besides your local hobby shop, you might find them in the magazine section at grocery stores, bookstores and other places. Don’t forget to check out your local library. Another excellent place too look is a place like Half-Price Books which has locations in AZ, CA, IN, IA, KS, MN, OH, PA, TX, WA, and WI (2 in Madison and 3 in Milwaukee). The Half-Price Books stores in Milwaukee have a lot of magazines. I’ve even seen bound volumes of MR and TRAINS magazines there. Definitely worth checking out if you have one nearby.

If at some point you decide to purchase a subscription, you can order online, order by phone or you can always grab a recent issue of the magazine, hold it by the bound side and shake it. You’re bound to find a couple of blow-in cards (i.e., subscription postcards) [;)].

If you have any questions about ordering a subscription, you can contact our Customer Sales & Service department and they’ll be more than happy to answer any questions you have.

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Any chance of offering an affordable “Lifetime” subscription again? ; )

11

Yes I would recommend Trains magazine.Matt likes it too.It has trackside guides and maps.
stay safe
Joe

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Steve [:)]

Welcome to the forum. [;)]

I might suggest this. No, I will suggest this. lol Go to a bookstore such as Books-A-Million and check out the mag. Browse through it. If you like that issue then go ahead and buy it. If it doesn’t appeal to you then don’t buy it. This way you can pick and choose the issues that have something that does appeal to you and skip those that don’t. In the long run buying a subscription will be cheap but if money if tight this should help for the short haul.

Also CHRISTMAS is coming. When a friend or relative asks what you want for Christmas tell them – Trains magazine. Should more than one person give you a gift subscription contack Kalmback and have them extend the subscription instead of sending you 2 copies of the same issue.

I hope this helps.

Also I DO RECOMMEND THE MAG [:p] [:)] [;)]

13

Trains Magazine is the most popular and widely circulated railfan magazine. It is also the best for fans just getting started.

For those who have been with the hobby a while and understand the jargon a bit better, try CTC Board or Railpace.

14

Trains Magazine is the most popular and widely circulated railfan magazine. It is also the best for fans just getting started.

For those who have been with the hobby a while and understand the jargon a bit better, try CTC Board or Railpace.

15

Ditzy Mookie who knows not a lot about anything railroad-wise - loves Trains Magazine!
It is readable, has great pictures and also has a wonderful sister magazine - Classic Trains! I subscribe to both and read them cover to cover (just don’t always remember things!)

16

Hey Steve, they say for every 2 good critics, theres a bad one, And i’m afraid I am the black sheep of the lot. However i will try to make my opinion as low key as possible, because i don’t want to end up like Rev. Wendell Mcfall.

I do not personally like the Quantity for the amount of money I put out. A 90 page magazine these days should sell for mere dimes and Quarters, not 4.95 worth of Quarters. I am a penny pincher too, And I hate spending money uselessly, I DIDN’T say trains magazine was useless, I said it was overpriced by far. I took the time to e-mail the staff, of which i got a beat-around-the-panny-wagon responce, jsut like an answer with Well and umms, so If they can’t justify a price TO ME, I don’t really want to do the price Justification in my Head. Somehting makes thta magazine expensive, and No one on the Trains.com staff has ofered any reason as to why. Perhaps when they change printing press, or when they use cheaper paper, it may cost less, but 4.95 for a ~90 page magazine, thats a joke

half the People I woprk with Use that as a refrence sometimes, but now msot of them (about 50% of the people i work wioth speak English, and every single english worker bought Trains magazine, but it got to coastly, and If you thought the price was bad down there it costs Us 64 CANADIAN DOLLARS A YEAR to subscribe to that magazine, So everyone gave it up. its almsot as expensive as smoking! So i don’t know it anyone in the head office is wondering why Canadian sales went down, but all they have to do is look farther then their feet and they might see why.

Then I could go on about lack of Canadian Content, But I’ll keep this relevent to what you want to know. Actually i’m holding Octobers right now, and I’m just glancing Quickly through i… (90 pages for 6.95) And all there is is a brief mention of Canaidan national Railway. Thats it. thats all.

Ao all in all is it worht it? I’m not going to lie, and say I don’t learn anyhting from it, because i do lear

17

Its worth it. I also subcribe to ModelRailroader and I am thinking about dropping it and only getting Trains. It offers a little of everything - Main Line RR, Short line RR, City RR, Historical RR.

The prices for all the mags is getting higher, time to make pick just one.

18

…If you are a rail fan…I believe TRAINS is a great mag. to have each month.

19

Welcome SteveWi[:D]

[#ditto] to everything the guys have said(with the exception of one,
who shall remain nameless) TRAINS is and has been the best trains
publication on the market long before must of us were born. Granted,it
is a little expensive,but compared to what[?] You are not going to get the
information,knowledge,or anything else in another magazine.

And as far as being on the forums,If you don’t know an answer just ask
and you will get one. And I do not mean just a funny answer.We all work hard
and we all play hard. Most of these people pretty much live by the magazine
and forums,along with having fun and keeping us # SANE

Enough of my[soapbox] [#welcome]

20

Trains is a great magazine, I got the most recent issue yesterday and I loved it.