''Model Railroader'' (''MR'') is an American

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

about the hobby of

model railroading Railway modelling (UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland) or model railroading (US and Canada) is a hobby in which rail transport systems are modelled at a reduced scale. The scale models include locomotives, rolling stock, streetcars, t ...

. Founded in 1934 by Al C. Kalmbach, it is published monthly by Kalmbach Media of

Waukesha, Wisconsin Waukesha ( ) is the county seat of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. It is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. Its population was 71,158 at the 2020 census. The city is adjacent to the Village of Waukesha. History The area tha ...

. Commonly found on newsstands and in libraries, it promotes itself as the oldest magazine of its type in the United States, although it is the long-standing competitor to '' Railroad Model Craftsman,'' which - originally named ''The Model Craftsman'' - predates MR by one year. ''MR'' is considered to be a general-interest hobby magazine, appealing to a wide range of hobbyists, rather than specializing in a particular scale, or facet of the hobby (such as prototype operations or

scratch building Scratch building is the process of building a scale model "from scratch", i.e. from raw materials, rather than building it from a commercial kit, kitbashing or buying it pre-assembled. Scratch building is easiest if original plans of the subj ...

and

kitbashing Kitbashing or model bashing is a practice whereby a new scale model is created by taking pieces out of kits. These pieces may be added to a custom project or to another kit. For professional modelmakers, kitbashing is popular to create concept ...

). ''Model Railroader'' covers a variety of scales and modeling techniques for engines, rolling stock, right-of-way, structures, and scenery. It reviews products including ready-to-run models as well as kits, tools and supplies. The magazine presents blueprints and photographs of prototype equipment, as well as photographs of models and layouts. A longstanding philosophy of modeling is manifest in its editorial features of layout design and operation, in which the model is viewed as a three-dimensional and temporal compression of the real world, so that, for example, the motive power, freight, trackage and scenery of a real-world railroad are formed into a layout which captures the spirit of not only the equipment and region of the railroad but also its purpose and how it operates. The magazine is published under . Individual issues use the UPC 074820085486.

History

''The Model Railroader'' began publication in the summer of 1933, with a cover date of January 1934. A press release announcing the magazine appeared in August 1933, but did not receive much interest. The bank refused to loan Kalmbach any money, many felt sorry for him, and a few told him he was crazy. His first wife, Bernice, herself a journalist, encouraged and helped Al put ''The Model Railroader'' together. Though they originally saw it as a sideline business to their commercial printing operations, soon they were devoting seven days a week to the venture. The magazine was well received by model railroaders, and the young publisher carried the entire first press run (272 copies) by

streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport a ...

to be mailed. By July 1934, paid circulation exceeded 1,000 copies. Growth continued, but the magazine was not an immediate success. The magazine became profitable after three years. It took Kalmbach seven years to pay off the loans used to launch the magazine.

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

introduced paper rationing, which dampened the growth of the Kalmbach Publishing Company. At the end of the war, MR's circulation was about 20,000. By 1950, MR's circulation had grown to more than 100,000, thanks in part to a boom in interest in model railroading. As of 2007, the magazine had a monthly paid circulation of more than 160,000. The magazine, and Kalmbach Publishing (now Kalmbach Media), celebrated its 85th anniversary in 2019. The magazine had to relocate 3 times, the original location was on 545 S. 84th Street (now a car wash) and later relocated to 1027 N. 7th Street (now part of Milwaukee Public Television and

Milwaukee Area Technical College Milwaukee Area Technical College (or MATC) is a public two-year vocational-technical college based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. MATC offers day, evening, and weekend classes at campuses in downtown Milwaukee, Oak Creek, West Allis, and Mequon. ...

) and, in 1989, formally moved to 21027 Crossroads Circle in nearby Waukesha. Another thing ''Model Railroader '' has is their own railroad, the Milwaukee, Racine and Troy, is located on the second floor of the current offices and just celebrated its 45th anniversary since being built (the original was located on the 3rd floor of the old offices at 1027 N. 7th Street which was in operation from 1975 to 1989)

Features

Typical feature articles in each month's issue include: * Layout tours - A layout story with a detailed track plan and behind-the-scenes modeling and construction tips. * How-to projects - Tips and techniques for modeling scenery, structures, rolling stock, and electronics. * Prototype information - Detailed drawings historical and technical information on how real railroads and lineside industries function. * Track plans - Sample designs for model railroads the average hobbyist could build. Regular monthly columns and departments include: * News and Products - Quick looks at new products available in the hobby. * Railway Post Office - Letters from readers. * Step-by-Step - Tackles a different project each month to help you build a better layout. * Ask MR - Q&A about prototype railroading and model railroading. Also includes tips by readers. This department was created by merging workshop and Information Desk. * DCC Corner - Get to know model train operation using

Digital Command Control Digital Command Control (DCC) is a standard for a system to operate model railways digitally. When equipped with Digital Command Control, locomotives on the same electrical section of track can be independently controlled. The DCC protocol is de ...

. * Product reviews - A look at new models on the market and how well they perform. * Trackside Photos - Inspirational photos featuring the work of fellow hobbyists. * Trains of Thought - Every month model railroad expert Tony Koester looks at the philosophical side of model railroading. * On Operation - How to reproduce prototype operations on a model railroad. * N Scale Insight - From March 2011, former editor Jim Kelly will begin a column looking at N scale modelling.

Special issues and other media

''Model Railroader'' publishes two annual special issues: * ''Great Model Railroads'' showcases 10-12 spectacular model railroads, including large, inspirational photographs, detailed track plans, and how-to information. * ''Model Railroad Planning'' deals with aspects of designing and constructing a model railroad. Typical articles focus on reproducing prototype track arrangements, overcoming modeling obstacles, and researching prototype railroads. Other special issues on various aspects of the hobby are released on an irregular basis. Titles have included ''102 Track Plans for Model Railroaders,'' ''How to Build Realistic Layouts,'' and ''How to Build More Layout in Less Space.'' A bi-monthly web video show, ''Modeler's Spotlight Video - Inside Cody's Office,'' is available to magazine subscribers via MR's website. The show introduces new products, offers modeling tips, and a viewer mail segment (along with the occasional blooper at the end). Many of the blueprints, layout plans, articles on operation and signaling, and methods of construction of bridges, structures and scenery are also collected in books published by Kalmbach Books. These are useful to modelers in general, railroad historians, and are valuable references on the steam and diesel eras. Past MR articles are also collected in

PDF Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...

form and distributed via the magazine's website and available through their digital archive. ''Model Railroader'' staff members participated in the production of the ''Dream-Plan-Build'' video series, which was offered by subscription. The DVDs focused on prototype railroading information, layout visits, and modeling techniques. ''Model Railroader'' also produces ''Model Railroader Video Plus (MRVP)'' which does layout tours, tips and tricks, and shows like: ''Cody's Workshop'' with Cody Grivno, ''Drew's Trackside Adventures'' with Drew Halverson, ''Off The Rails'' with Gerry Leone, ''Ask MRVP'' with David Popp, ''Let's Make a Scene'' with Kathy Millatt, ''It's My Railroad'' with Steve Brown, ''Rehab My Railroad'', ''History According to Hediger'' with Jim Hediger, ''The Hills Line'' with James McNabb, ''Tuck's Toy Trains'' with John Truckenbrod and many more. ''MRVP'' made its debut back in 2013 and is available to magazine subscribers.

Cultural impact

The model train hobbyists the magazine has profiled over the years include a number of celebrities, including Michael Gross and

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

. Model Railroader also has several other "sister" magazines, also published by Kalmbach, including such titles as ''

Trains magazine ''Trains'' is a monthly magazine about trains and railroads aimed at railroad enthusiasts and railroad industry employees. The magazine primarily covers railroad happenings in the United States and Canada, but has some articles on railroading els ...

'', ''Classic Trains,'' ''Garden Railways,'' and ''Classic Toy Trains''. They are often advertised in ''Model Railroader'', and on occasion, an article will refer to these other magazines.

Notes

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