Home Railway Journal

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mattmason
Posts: 587
Joined: Tue Jan 17, 2006 7:37 pm
Location: Sacramento, CA

Home Railway Journal

Post by mattmason »

I wanted to update you on the status of The Home Railway Journal. I do not know what is going on with the Website, but will look into that. I did not take it down.

The magazine has been dormant for far too long, without a current issue produced in over a year. There are a few reasons for that, most of them personal and generally for the positive, but none of them satisfactory for the amount of delay.

I have been on your side of the equation and have had three magazines I subscribed to that just went belly up with a balance left on my subscription. That won't happen here. I have an obligation to you and am ingrained into the hobby of live steam and have to show my face at meets, something I don't want to do in complete embarrassment.

Because of this, I have been exploring options to move the magazine to a new publisher or join with a company that can help handle the day-to-day operations.

There are two requirements I have for anyone who will take the magazine over or join me:
• The material is kept in print and not moved to a digital format.
• That the number of all remaining issues due to every subscriber be honored in full.

I know I have not been able to bring the timely delivery you deserve. I am trying to fix that to ensure delivery of HRJ material.

I hope to have a final announcement very shortly.
Matt Mason
Pontiacguy1
Posts: 1566
Joined: Thu Apr 26, 2012 10:15 am
Location: Tennessee, USA

Re: Home Railway Journal

Post by Pontiacguy1 »

Good luck with the magazine. I always looked forward to it coming in the mail, and enjoyed the articles.

I also despise the digital magazines.... I can't read them in bed or on the toilet, or lay them out on my workbench while I'm building something!
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LivingLegend
Posts: 2149
Joined: Sun Jun 11, 2006 3:55 pm
Location: The Boonies of Alabama

Re: Home Railway Journal

Post by LivingLegend »

Digital magazines have their pluses when it comes to archiving ones library.... Takes up far less space than print mags. But, I'd still rather have a hard copy in my hand to read.... It's a hassle taking a computer to the can!

On the other hand, it would be nice if a digital copy, in annual volumes, was made available for those who have either lost, missed, or damaged an issue (of any publication). Or, for those who have only begun buying a magazine and would like to have a complete or previous issues.

It would be nice if old issue sets of Live Steam, Modeltec, etc. would be scanned and made available digitally. Lots of useful information in them.... But not accessible to the those new to the hobby because of unavailability or being out of print. Or else make only the articles and columns available and leave out the scans in a digital copy. Old ads are interesting from the historical point of view.... But it's not the information most would be interested in.

Back issues of Model Railroader were made available on DVD... All issues from it's first in 1934 to 2010. Trains magazine has done the same. The computer magazine Maximum PC makes a digital copy available for free three months after the issues newsstand date.

LL
Do it right.... Or don't do it at all
I have no life. Therefore, I have a hobby
It's not that I'm apathetic, I just flat don't care
An Intellectual is nothing more than an Over-Educated IDIOT
Blogs: Where people with nothing to say..... Say it
mattmason
Posts: 587
Joined: Tue Jan 17, 2006 7:37 pm
Location: Sacramento, CA

Re: Home Railway Journal

Post by mattmason »

LL,

I have made digital copies available for those who didn't get on board early and the back issues were sold out. I plan that will continue either under me or a new person.
Matt Mason
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Dwight Ennis
Posts: 191
Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2009 4:49 pm
Location: Milpitas, CA

Re: Home Railway Journal

Post by Dwight Ennis »

Pontiacguy1 wrote:I also despise the digital magazines.... I can't read them in bed or on the toilet, or lay them out on my workbench while I'm building something!
Digital copies are becoming more practical with the widespread availability of tablet computers. While still in their toddler stages, they are becoming more versatile and powerful every day. :)
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Goose
Posts: 133
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 11:45 am
Location: Werl, Germany

Re: Home Railway Journal

Post by Goose »

I don't like the digital version either and would like to get a paper version.

I subscribed a long time for the 7+ Narrow Gauger, later 7+ Railroader, but let my subscription slip, because they swithched to digital. I prefer to sit in my living room in the evening in front of the TV and read the magazines.
With a digital version, that would not work :cry:
Greetings from Germany
Hubert The Goose
http://www.7-plus-ngm.org/pcr
http://www.7-plus-ngm.org
hwboivin3

Re: Home Railway Journal

Post by hwboivin3 »

That's why there should be both paper and digital. I have thousands of magazines. After a while they are not easy to manage.

I've been scanning them myself in my spare time. I'm up to 5 yrs of Live Steam scanned, next is Modeltec.

H
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cbrew
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Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 12:17 pm
Location: Vancouver Wa

Re: Home Railway Journal

Post by cbrew »

the cool thing about digital copies,
they arrive almost instantly, you can read then on a computer, tablet or smart phone.
and with a click of a button you can have your know color copy to have on the can or shop and you dont have to worry if it gets dirty from grease, etc. just print off another.

just the opinion of a software developer :)
Matt, its good to hear from you on this matter.
If it is not live steam. its not worth it.
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H&NERY
Posts: 242
Joined: Fri Sep 23, 2011 6:46 am
Location: Hillsboro, Wisconsin

Re: Home Railway Journal

Post by H&NERY »

Great magazine, I like the fact that it tends to focus on the smaller scales, 7 1/2 and below, I am a 3 1/2 gauger myself. I feel it is a better magazine than Live Steam & Outdoor Railroading, although that is a good publication. I also like the fact that is is all train related. Hope things get ironed out.
Mudhop
Posts: 37
Joined: Sun Feb 06, 2011 8:13 pm
Location: Canton, GA
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Re: Home Railway Journal

Post by Mudhop »

Glad to hear from you on this Matt. I always enjoyed the magazine as I am only railroad interested. You have had some great articles (like the safety valves). I hope you can work it out and would like to continue getting it. As to digital, I like them better as cbrew said, you can just print the article or pages you need and if they get dirty, no problem.
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Benjamin Maggi
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Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2007 10:38 pm
Location: Albany, NY

Re: Home Railway Journal

Post by Benjamin Maggi »

cbrew wrote:the cool thing about digital copies, they arrive almost instantly, you can read then on a computer, tablet or smart phone. and with a click of a button you can have your know color copy to have on the can or shop and you dont have to worry if it gets dirty from grease, etc. just print off another. .
I respectfully disagree. There is nothing more comforting to me to walking over to my shelf of magazines, picking out one based on an interesting article described on the cover, and sitting on my comfy couch with my basset next to me to read it. I stare at a computer screen all day long- I want to hold the paper in my hands, enjoy the images in full size, and not have to print it out to enjoy it.

I would probably drop my subscription if it went digital.

Just my 2 cents.
"One cannot learn to swim without getting his feet wet." - Benjamin Maggi
- Building: 7.25" gauge "Sweet Pea" named "Catherine"
WJH
Posts: 1417
Joined: Sat Jan 16, 2010 9:29 pm
Location: Florida

Re: Home Railway Journal

Post by WJH »

I used to love going to Babbages and looking at all the pc games on the shelves. But you know what? Things change for good reasons. Bye bye film, and bye bye print media. The cost of print makes small magazines a poor business.
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