Western Railfan Publications

This page was last updated on July 9, 2011.

Each of these publications were labors of love by each of their publishers. They were all essentially intended to get the news out as soon as possible, based initially on door-to-door surface mail, then on telephone communication and early dial-up email communication. By the late 1990s, several web sites were established that allowed "bulletin board" communications among railfans, including email discussion groups like OneList, which became eGroups, then YahooGroups. In addition, there were separate web sites that specialized in railfan news, with one of the first being Trainorders.com.

As the readership of the on-line bulletin boards increased, the subscriber base for the railfan newsletters decreased. The biggest complaint was usually given as a lack of current news in the printed-to-paper publications. Some took longer than others to pass away, but all have fallen by the way side, apparent casualties of the internet age.

But, as easy as it may seem, blame cannot be fully laid at the doorstep of the internet. As in any business community, there are good decisions and bad decisions, and businesses fail for a wide variety of reasons. Even in the very small community of railfan publications, rumors persist of failure due to cheating and partnerships gone bad, as well as profits being wasted.

Also, many in the hobby and in the small railfan community have noticed that railfanning and the overall railroad hobby is growing smaller every year. Todd Clark, owner of Trainorders.com wrote on July 20, 2005, "I don't think the problem can be completely blamed on the Internet, but more of a problem of the aging railfan population. If the magazines don't do more to pickup younger subscribers then we might see some magazine thinning in the coming decade. I believe Trainorders.com represents a younger audience than the magazines. Of concern to me is less than 20% of our membership subscribe to either of the two largest rail magazines. In the past before the internet, new fans were introduced to the hobby through train magazines found at local hobby shops. The magazines were sort of an ambassador for the hobby. Now there are significantly less model train shops than 10 or 15 years ago, thus fewer outlets for distribution. The internet is the new ambassador for the hobby. I am not speaking necessarily of this site, but the hundreds of personal web sites on the net built by railfans showing off their photos and railfan adventures."

Volunteer Publications

Presented in no particular order:

Everywhere West

started in Southern California (date?)
moved to San Francisco area, edited by Tom Schmid
moved to Southern California, circa 1982

The Lark

published by Vic Neves

Flimsies

started as Flimsies in about 1985-1986
founder and first editor was Steve Sloan
later editors included Charlie Baden and Bill Farmer
telephone hotline manned by Bill Farmer
sold to Shasta Rail Group (date?)

The following was sent by Mark Reyes via an email dated March 20, 2011:

Flimsies was founded and first edited by a gentleman by the name of Steve Sloan sometime in the early 1980s. Steve Sloan also founded and edited an online magazine called Track Warrants in the mid 1990s. Charlie Baden was the second editor but was really more of a "hands on" promoter who, with a dedicated staff of experienced railfans, took Flimsies to the level it achieved in the late 1980s and early 1990s. I was a minor part of the staff and a personal friend in those days. I left before Bill Farmer took over editing.

Charlie Baden is now (last I've known) involved with the Sci-Fi Con scene, as he was before Flimsies. Charlie Baden put in a great deal of effort in Flimsies. It should be noted that Charlie Baden was in fact the publisher during his tenure as editor.

I don't know if Steve Sloan also self published, I presume so. He was and still is a hardcore railfan and currently hosts a web site called Steve Sloan Train Photos and is part of the Winterail staff. Bill Farmer, a lifelong railfan, passed away in 2006. He edited a newsletter called the Farmer Report which he sent only to personnel acquaintances.

Flimsies West

Flimsies was sold to Shasta Rail Group (date?)
Changed to Flimsies West (date?)
last issue circa April 2001 (Issue 287/288, March 2001)
last update to web site was August 2001
Flimsies West and Flimsies Northwest were combined as North/West Railfan, circa April 2002
"Flimsies was last published by Bill Shippen. It was a publication based around timely news and rumors. Think of it about as close to a trainorders.com you could get in print version. It lost its usefulness when the internet matured as the same info could be found online at various web sites. It was typically 3 to 5 pages of 8.5x11 paper folded to make a center stapled booklet. It was a real labor of love as Bill went broke over it. Imagine printing, assembling, and mailing about 1000 of these little booklets twice a month for the el cheapo price of about $30 a year. It was a real bargain and a lot of fun to read." (Todd Clark, Trainsorders.com, January 16, 2006)

Flimsies Northwest

started in September 1987 as Northwest Railfan, purchased by Shasta Rail Group (date? about 1995?)
last issue (date?)
Flimsies West and Flimsies Northwest were combined as North/West Railfan, circa April 2002
Last issue of North/West Railfan, Issue No. 172 dated September 11, 2002

Shasta Rail Group

out of business circa October 2001
formal quit notice circa February 2003

SP Review

Shasta Rail Group
started as an SP column in Flimsies, changed to stand-alone magazine (date?)
edited by Tony Johnson beginning in 1994 (75 issues)
last issue X74, September 2002

The Overland (UP)

Shasta Rail Group
First issue, Issue No. 1 dated May 1999
Last issue, Issue No. 16 dated January 2001

Green and Silver Review (BNSF)

Shasta Rail Group
First issue, X-1 dated November 2000
Last issue, X-6 dated October 2002

The Mixed Train

Published by CameRail Club, Omaha, Nebraska

Locomotive Notes

Railroad locomotive newsletter “Locomotive Notes”, published by Roy Linscott Jr. from 1963 to 1982, when Mr. Linscott died.
In December 2009, Roy Linscott's son Roy H. Linscott, III, and stepson John M. Moore, announced a web site called "Linscott's Trains," which was to include digital images of Linscott's Locomotive Notes. As of July 2011, the web site was still under construction.

Locomotive Notes II (LNII)

Published by Ken Ardinger, beginning in early 1988 with Issue 107.
Date of issue advanced two months. Issue 114 dated September 1988, published in late June 1988. Issue 153 still advanced, dated December 1991, published in late September 1991.
Locomotive Notes II was published as a special news section as part of Diesel Era magazine for two years, from Volume 7, Number 1, January/February 1996, to Volume 8, Number 6, November/December 1997. (Don Strack produced a UP locomotives new update.)
The Locomotive Notes II news section of Diesel Era was discontinued after Volume 8, Number 6, November/December 1997.
A special Locomotive Notes II section began in TRP (The Railroad Photographer; changed to The Railroad Press) in (date?).

Western Railroader

Published by the Pacific Chapter of the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society
edited by Francis Guido from May 1938 to (date?)
Issue No. 1 was handed out free on May 17, 1938 by Francis Guido on the first northern California fan trip to Grass Valley.
edited by Joe Strapac from (date?) to (date?)

Kyle Wyatt wrote on January 31, 2000, to the WP List discussion group:

The Pacific Coast Chapter of the R&LHS took over the Western Railroader after Francis Guido passed away. It continued it the original format for several years. Publishing costs led to suspension of the journal in its old format (Guido had done it as a labor of love - it didn't work to pay someone to edit it). Subsequently the PCC-R&LHS adopted the Western Railroader name for its monthly newsletter. Once a year they still publish an historical issue (in the new larger format), carrying on the tradition. Also, the current publication continues the issue numbers from the old Western Railroader.

Francis Guido did not start the Western Railroader by himself. Jack Gibson was the original editor, with Guido as publisher, when it started in 1937. After several years Guido assumed all duties. Jack Gibson now lives in retirement in Carson City, Nevada, where he is active with the Nevada State Railroad Museum.

Colorado Time Table

first issue in (date?)
still published as of July 2008
(http://www.coloradotimetable.com/)

Western Rail Gazette

"The Rail Magazine of the Great American West"
Publisher and Editor: Jerry Schwengel, Los Alamos, NM
10 issues published in 1999 and 2000
Vol. 1, No. 1 dated January, 1999 through Vol. 1, No. 10, dated February 2000
Railroad coverage of "the states and provinces on and to the West of the 100th Meridian"
28 to 32 printed pages on Sepia colored paper

Rumormill

Published by Centennial Rail, Aurora, Colorado
Editor: Joe Minnich
12 issues published every other month from June 1999 until April 2001
National coverage with emphasis on Western Railroads
8 to 14 printed black/white pages

Mainstream Magazines

CTC-Board (CTC)

First issue was in April 1970. April 1980 was 10th anniversary issue.
Dean Lewis was editor until Issue No. 154.
First slick paper issue, with Dick Stephenson as editor: No. 1 (old No. 155), July 1975. Became monthly instead of biweekly. Dick Stephenson was editor until Issue No. 36, June 1978.
Dale Sanders was editor from Issue No. 37, July 1978.
Issue No. 147 was September 1987; Issue No. 148 was January 1988.
Magazine moved to Denver in March 1989.
Issue 156 was September 1988, Issue No. 157 was March 1989. Cover date advanced because of move to Denver. Transfer of postal permit required that cover date match month of publication of current issue.
Issue No. 159 was May 1989
Issue No. 160 was November 1989
Issue No. 168 was July 1990, Issue No. 169 was November 1990. Issue cover dates advanced three months to match industry standard. Previously, cover date was the date of the news inside. The news of November would now be in the January issue.
Mark Hemphill shown as Managing/Features Editor through Issue No. 185, November 1992.
Union Pacific columns
- Last WP “Feather” column: March 1983.
- First WP “UP Shield” column: April 1983.
- No WP columns in May, July, August, October, or November 1983.
- Union Pacific column was edited by Kevin Cavanaugh until September 1983.
- Union Pacific column was edited by Wayne Monger from October 1983 to December 1983, then he was editor of the combined UP/WP column from December 1983 until July 1987.
- Separate WP column within the UP column dropped with January 1985 issue.
- Separate MP column, edited by John Egan, begun in November 1985. Last MP column was in October 1986; MP column dropped with January 1987 issue.
- Randy Keller was editor of UP column from August 1987 to May 1988.
- Elrond Lawrence was editor of UP column from June 1988 to May 1989.
- Paul Schneider was editor of UP column in November 1989 issue.
- Steve Hart was editor of UP column from December 1989 to February 1991.
- Jim Gilley was editor of UP column from March 1991 to (date?).

Pacific News/Pacific Rail News (PN/PRN)

Issue No. 1 was September 1961.
Coated paper first used in Issue No. 32.
Changed to larger size with Issue No. 111. (information from Issue No. 200, June 1978)
Published by Chatham Publishing until Issue No. 245.
First issue published by Interurbans Publications: Issue No. 246, October 1983. Published bimonthly, changed to monthly with December 1984 issue.
Name changed to Pacific RailNews with Issue No. 252, October 1984.
"Western Shortlines" column by Ken Ardinger started in Issue No. 165, June 1975. Last column was April 1987. (Ken started his own Locomotive Notes II newsletter in early 1988.)
Changed from Pacific Rail News (PRN) to Rail News (RN) in January 1997. Last PRN was December 1996.
RailNews ended publication with its August 1999 issue.
Union Pacific columns
- Union Pacific column edited by George Cockle from June 1976 until June 1984 (Issue No. 250). No actual contributions after June 1983.
- No UP column in August 1984 (Issue No. 251).
- UP column edited by Dick Stephensen from October 1984 (Issue No. 252) to May 1985.
- Last WP column, edited by Ken Meeker, in June 1985, with last WP column before that in April 1985.
- Union Pacific System column edited by Ken Meeker from June 1985 to January 1989. Ken Meeker was editor of WP column, then UP System column for 13 years.
- Union Pacific System column edited by Wayne Monger from February 1989 to (date?)

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