Kalmbach Publishing (Classic Trains, Model Railroader, etc) sold

[John M Upton]

Just seen this:

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/firecrown-media-grows-again-with-addition-of-trains-astronomy

 

Kalmbach has sold off its railroad and astronomy publications to new owners.  Having seen the utter mess sectors of the UK print and online media are in after countless takeovers, mergers and sales, I have got a bad feeling about this.

[Keith Addenbrooke]

Wow! A jaw drop moment!  Could be a good commercial move (I wouldn’t know one way or the other), but from a hobby where heritage and nostalgia play a big part, just the thought of the Kalmbach name splitting from Model Railroader is big one.  Thanks to @John M Upton for highlighting this.

 

Edit: Having now also read the version of the announcement on the Trains.com website, all may not be well - there is reference to it being difficult, despite the typically upbeat wording of the acquiring company’s press release.

 

Wonder what will happen to the Milwaukee, Racine and Troy employee layout…?  New livery and repaints, another fallen flag?  Not the employees’ biggest concern right now.  Thoughts with them of course.

 

Keith.

 

Edited May 2 by Keith Addenbrooke
(additional information)

[John M Upton]

I read the new owners statement regarding the acquisition and it was typical PR indecipherable gibberish, fluff and with a generous sprinkling of entries on a male bovine excrement bingo card.

[RichardT]

1 hour ago, John M Upton said:

typical PR indecipherable gibberish, fluff

Entirely agree. The trick with these kind of snow jobs is to look at what they don’t say. I get a strong feeling from all the macho rubbish about how much railroad enthusiasts have in common with “avgeeks” (vomit) that the real target for this takeover was Trains magazine, which the new owners see as having an “industry insider” fit with their existing aviation business title.

 

I note that the model railroad titles (MRR, SMT and Garden Railways) get next to no mention: I suspect that Kalmbach insisted that they be taken as part of the deal for selling Trains. (Because Kalmbach was making a loss in them? Or not as much of a profit as they wanted? Advertising revenue in MRR must have really dried up over the past few years).

 

I’d lay a small bet that in six months or so we’ll get another breathlessly excited press release from the new owners announcing an “exciting new development for railroad hobbyists” - the merger of MRR, Classic Toy Trains and Garden Railroads into one magazine “for all model railroaders”. And then they’ll wonder why sales drop off a cliff (or perhaps not, because it will just be a device to engineer closure of the titles they don’t want).  Just hoping if that happens they maintain the online magazine archives as a paid-for service.

 

I also agree with @Keith Addenbrooke that our thoughts should be with the staff. I get the impression from the rather more terse statements on the Trains.com site that this announcement was dumped on them out of a clear blue sky yesterday. I also note the rather sinister phrasing in the press release that “the intention” is that all staff will transfer to the new owner “subject to screening”! (I.e. are you too old and will cost us too much in health benefits?) No TUPE or employment protections in the USA!

 

 The new owners talk of finding a new building in Wisconsin for the ex-Kalmbach titles, so yes, I suspect that means farewell to the staff layout and all the other nice to haves.

 

I pick up hints that some knew this was coming - on Trains.com there’s actually a Classic Toy Trains listicle from last weekend flatly denying rumours they’d heard at a train show that the magazine was for sale!  Also a few issues back in MRR Tony Koester wrote a highly positive profile of the new MRR editor, about how he was a great bloke and a genuine lifelong railway modeller and was worthy of readers’ support. I thought it slightly odd at the time but now…

 

Finally, always good to be reminded that, no matter what cuddly and “down-home” image they like to project, when it comes to the bottom line: history, heritage and sentiment mean nothing to capitalism.

 

RichardT

 

 

Edited May 2 by RichardT
Spelling

[John M Upton]

I am a subscriber to Classic Trains, absolutely fascinating read from cover to cover four times a year (a shame over the counter availability in the UK is so poor, hence my sub) and have managed to collect paper versions of most back issues with electronic ones filling the gaps right back to the first issue so I hope they don't mess about with it.

 

Model Railroader is (usually) available from WHSmiths in the UK when my local hopeless branch bother to stick it on the shelf that is and I have to say, it's not great.  I have a copy of the July 1974 MR on my desk at the moment, thick with pages, well written how to articles (I mainly bought it for a brilliant article on paint schemes on SP switchers) and larger pages, the current issue of MR (April 2024) is little more than a flimsy pamphlet.

 

Trains used to be worth a read but has descended down the same rabbit hole that Rail Enthusiasrt/Rail did in the UK, becoming little more than a thin bottom kissing trade magazine and if it went I would not rate it as a loss, thing is I suspect as has already been mentioned that Trains was the one mag the new owners actually wanted.

 

I do subscribe to Diesel Era and MRC though, different publisher and the difference in quality over MR is noticeable.

[4630]

33 minutes ago, John M Upton said:

Model Railroader is (usually) available from WHSmiths in the UK when my local hopeless branch bother to stick it on the shelf that is and I have to say, it's not great.  I have a copy of the July 1974 MR on my desk at the moment, thick with pages, well written how to articles (I mainly bought it for a brilliant article on paint schemes on SP switchers) and larger pages, the current issue of MR (April 2024) is little more than a flimsy pamphlet.

 

Trains used to be worth a read but has descended down the same rabbit hole that Rail Enthusiasrt/Rail did in the UK, becoming little more than a thin bottom kissing trade magazine and if it went I would not rate it as a loss, thing is I suspect as has already been mentioned that Trains was the one mag the new owners actually wanted.

 

 

Yes, I tend to agree with you about the progressive deterioration of the content in MR over the years.

 

When I was a regular MR buyer (courtesy of MG Sharps in Sheffield) during the 1990s and early 2000s my impression was of far richer and varied content.  It's difficult to pin down exactly when but, I guess the editorial changes over subsequent years would have been the catalyst.

 

Similarly with Trains, I found it interesting and was a regular buyer at that time too, but when I've thumbed through copies at WHS recently there really is nothing of substance now and by my reckoning it wouldn't even remotely qualify as a trade magazine.  So if that's what the new owners of the title are envisaging I suspect they maybe disappointed in the long term.

 

I hope the Milwaukee, Racine and Troy doesn't suffer the same fate as John Allen's Gorre & Daphetid layout.

 

As mentioned by previous posters above, best wishes to the current Kalmbach staff affected by the sale for their futures.

[Geep7]

Whilst I haven't subscribed to MR for a few years, I usually have a look at the latest copy if there is one when I pop into WHSmiths. The last issue I bought (September 2023) was extremely thin, much thinner than when I stopped subscribing (just one of the reasons I did).

 

Again, all the best to the current Kalmbach staff, hopefully there is brighter news on the horizon.

 

 

[Traintresta]

The only magazine I enjoy these days is classic trains. I hope that continues to be published. 

[MrTea]

I’d echo what other posters have said regarding the decline of MR over the years. I went through a period of buying it in the 2000s and then moved away from US modelling for a while. When I flicked through a copy recently it did seem rather thin but also that it didn’t seem to have evolved much in the last 20 years. 
 

On the flip side I have recently purchased a number of books published by Kalmbach (both model and prototype related). I hope those continue under the new owners. 
 

I’d recommend this one for anyone looking for prototype inspiration with a US railroad theme:

 

 

Whereas a lot of the online photo sites focus on just locomotives or individual freight cars this book is good because it has a variety of complete scenes featuring rolling stock, permanent way and structures. 

[Dava]

I’ve read Classic Trains for the past 10 years during my time in Canada & afterwards. Helped me start modelling my US shortline project. The only mag I buy regularly now.

I hope Kalmbach’s standards & quality of output is sustained, but suspect the best days may be over.

 

Dava

[F-UnitMad]

I got this one from Kalmbach recently, well worth the money, even with p&p to UK...

[Keith Addenbrooke]

1 hour ago, F-UnitMad said:

I got this one from Kalmbach recently, well worth the money, even with p&p to UK...

 

I suspect I got my copy from Amazon - though some Kalmbach books are reprints not originals when bought that way.  Definitely a good book to have in the library, Keith.