This month, our sister publication, Railfan & Railroad, celebrates its 50th anniversary. While some may believe the only thing R&R and Railroad Model Craftsman have in common is shared ownership, a look at both magazines’ histories finds that they have been connected at the hip for decades.
While R&R debuted in 1974, the idea for a prototype-focused magazine had been brewing at the Carstens Publications office for years. In 1968, future RMC editor Tony Koester stopped in to meet with publisher Hal Carstens about an idea he had: a prototype railroad magazine for railroad enthusiasts, otherwise known as “railfans.” At the time, the big railroading magazines on the newsstand included Railway Age (founded in 1856 and aimed at industry types), Railroad Magazine (established in 1906 as a pulp publication aimed at railroaders themselves) and, finally, Trains (a 1940 creation of Al Kalmbach, and the biggest in the field that at times straddled the line between being an industry-focused magazine and an enthusiast-focused one). While the trio of publications covered a wide swath of the railroad landscape, there was nothing that was published exclusively for the “active” railfan; the type of person who was spending their weekends chasing trains along main lines and short lines from coast to coast.
Hal thoughtfully listened to Tony’s pitch, and then took an old folder out of his desk with the word “Railfan” on it. Hal had the same idea, but he said it just wasn’t the right time to launch. Undeterred, Tony told Hal if he ever needed more help with RMC — which he had already been writing for — to give him a call. It turns out Hal did need help; and not long after, Tony joined the masthead in 1969.
Soon after, Carstens was looking for another editor for its newest acquisition, Flying Models, which it had purchased from its previous publisher. Tony instantly thought of a friend of his back in the Midwest: Jim Boyd. Jim was a die-hard railfan born and raised in Dixon, Ill. He was a talented writer, photographer, and researcher and had previously written stories for RMC. While railroading was Jim’s passion, he wasn’t completely unfamiliar with the aviation world: his mother was an aviator and flight instructor.
Jim came on board in 1971 to work on FM and help out with RMC. He was no stranger to the publication, with his first published work a cover photo in the December 1962 edition. Some of his most famous work with RMC was a series of photos of Allen McClelland’s legendary Virginian & Ohio taken from the “railfan” perspective in the 1970s. He also helped put a fair number of prototype stories in the magazine. In fact, prior to the launch of Railfan in 1974, it was very common for prototype trains to appear on the cover. Some of Boyd’s early published work included a cover story in January 1968 about the Alco-powered Green Bay & Western.
Jim was no stranger to modeling in the early years either, having scratchbuilt a Burlington 4-6-4 Hudson, and a coal dock for a friend’s layout. When he first moved to New Jersey, he built in his apartment a small HO switching layout that served a brewery. Later on, he took part in the regular operating sessions on Tony’s Allegheny Midland as well as Allen’s V&O.
In 1974, Jim and Tony discovered proofs for an ad rate card for a new quarterly magazine. They quickly realized Hal was finally about to launch Railfan. The two editors got to work on putting together the first issue. A few weeks later, Hal called Jim into his office and said that he wanted him to edit his new railroad enthusiast magazine. Jim tried to act surprised, but Hal caught on quickly, and Jim and Tony proudly showed off layouts of some of the first stories.
The rest, as they say, is history. Frequency increased to bi-monthly in August 1977, and monthly in October 1987. Carstens acquired Railroad magazine in 1979, and Jim would go on to edit the combined Railfan & Railroad until 1998 (and be listed as an associate editor of RMC into the mid-1980s).
Acquired by White River Productions in 2014, both RMC and R&R have continued to grow. And just like the early days, the tradition of shared staff continues today. In 2019, Otto Vondrak, who is managing editor of R&R, was named editor of RMC. And the following year, I came on as associate editor for both magazines. While some might view model railroading and railfanning as two separate pursuits, the two hobbies are more alike than they are different. After all, if it weren’t for railfanning, many of us wouldn’t have the inspiration we need to build our basement empires. We celebrate Railfan & Railroad bringing that inspiration to our mailboxes for the last 50 years, and many more into the future. —Justin Franz