Railroad Heritage Magazine

Railroad history in the United States is nearly as old as the country itself, dating back to the mid-1820s. As we know this great nation of ours would not have grown and prospered as it did without the railroads, which brought together the young United States and allowed for unprecedented growth and prosperity. The "Golden Age" of railroading lasted from roughly the 1880s to the 1920s before other modes of transportation (such as automobiles and airplanes) began to displace the industry as the leading means of moving people and goods. Railroading faced its toughest adversity during the 1960s and 1970s when it lost so much market share that many companies were either purchased by stronger ones or simply went bankrupt. After the industry was deregulated in 1980 it began to make a comeback and today is seeing a renaissance.

Railroad Heritage Magazine is nothing like the other industry magazines out there such as Trains, Railfan & Railroad, or Railpace, which deal not only with the history but also the present day. For instance Trains is published by Kalmbach Publishing Company, has been covering the US rail industry since the 1940s when Al C. Kalmbach originally started the magazine in 1940. Over the last sixty years Trains has always been based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and has seen the industry go through quite a bit (especially in the tumultuous 1960s and 1970s, during the industry’s darkest days) of change and over that time it has become the largest railroad magazine in the country.

For instance, if you are one of those folks who enjoy reading about our country’s railroading history, try and find older volumes on the magazine which predate, say the 1980s (they can usually be found at antique stores, or the easiest method, eBay). The stuff included in them is quite interesting!

While Railfan & Railroad does not carry quite the number of subscribers as Trains, it nonetheless has a very loyal following with those who do. Railfan and Railroad tends to gear its magazine more to the railfan then taking a “50-50” approach like Trains. For instance many folks who subscribe to it enjoy the several classic photos found in the magazine. Similar in nature to Trains, Railfan & Railroad also tends to cover a wide range of different topics, such as current news and feature articles.

Railpace Magazine another publication, like Railfan & Railroad, that is geared more towards railfans, although like all magazines includes plenty of news and information in general about the railroad industry. For instance, in a typical Railpace publication you can find photos of tourist railroads and excursion trains, late fallen flag paint schemes that are still roaming around the country, plenty of “classic” images of railroading (i.e., 1970s and before), and lots of shortlines at work (this kind of layout is quite different from say, Trains, which covers the rail industry in general and has a more “business-like” feel to its stories with far fewer photos of fallen flags, shortlines, and tourist railroads in a typical edition).

All in all, if you enjoy railroading in the Northeast and a more “down home” periodical covering the industry you shouldn’t be disappointed with Railpace Magazine.