Carstens Publishing and RMC


These rumors keep re-appearing. There was a recent thread about RMC, in the MR forum, and what was interesting about that, was the participation of some of MR's editorial staff, refuting some of the rumors. Carstens was at the National Train show in Cleveland, and acknowledged problems with their publishing and distribution partner, according to some of the posters. There was a notification about a month ago, also in MR, to the effect that a "Major" magazine distributor, had gone "belly up", and that delivery of MR to news stands and stores had been affected. The "June" RMC just showed up last week at my local Barnes & Noble, but they are always behind at that particular store.

I was burned by the demise of "Mainline Modeler", having renewed, just before they stopped publishing. RMJ and MRG both started getting behind with their issues before they shut down, but RMC has been consistently late for years now, back when I was still a subscriber. After my experience with MLM, I allowed all my subscriptions to lapse.

Businesses that are in trouble are generally closed mouthed about their situations, and generally continue to solicit new business until the sheriff comes by to shut them down. This has been going on for years, not just recently. Carstens like many Jersey companys had problems recovering from Sandy. RMC is a good magazine, I've always preferred it to MR. Carstens is a small operation, that does a heck of a job for a small company. They are however dependent on other vendors to do their printing and distribution, and any weak link in the chain will upset the cart.

Joe
 
On the magazine distributors issue -- the Walgreens store down the street had their magazine wall nearly empty for weeks for exactly that reason -- big shakeup in the magazine distribution biz. So that aspect of the explanation rings quite true with me.

I personally find MR more useful, but I know that there are a lot of folks who find great value in RMC (That and they've published a lot of work by a friend of mine over the years so for his sake, too, I hope they stick around!)
 
Is the lateness due to lack of funds for the actual printing cost and postage cost? Or is it short on staff? The former wouldn't slow the digital version but the latter reason sure would. If they reach a point where advertisers get tired of it the end will come soon. That would be a shame because I really like how they wrote their articles.
 
I have subscribed to both MR and RMC for a number of years, having lapsed it until about 10 years ago. I received the June issue of RMC about a week ago! Kinda surprised me, as I thought I had renewed in time not to have a lapse. Turns out, they are just behind. I very much hope they can recover and continue printing. I would also hate to see them go completely digital (which is what a monthly edition of a different hobby's magazine has recently done :( ) I don't go on-line with that one very much now; I spend enough time on the computer as it is, and I liked the tabloid-size printed edition.
The only "problem" I've had with RMC's content over the years is their emphasis on Eastern railroads and modelling thereof. Still, their articles have always IMHO been superior quality. I wish them the best of luck!
 
Here's the official announcement:

"Carstens Publications has announced that negotiations are taking place with several companies regarding the future publishing of Railfan & Railroad, Railroad Model Craftsman and Flying Models magazines. All involved ask for your patience at this time."
 
Tony ,
You need a forum to keep interest & like modelrailroader.com
It is a necessary evil to be relevant
 
So today is the end of the line for Carstens Publications as we know it, another victim of the "Endless recession" :(

I first started reading RMC back in 1961, about a year after I began reading Model Trains and Model railroader. What I liked about RMC was that it featured articles about Eastern railroads that I was familiar with, the Reading, the PRSL, the L&NE and the PRR. Kalmbach's magazines were more into mid-western and western lines. I stopped subscribing, for several reasons, but it was after I was burned by Mainline Modelers demise right after I renewed.

According to the story line, there are two bidders for R&R and RMC, hopefully who ever buys them will continue or improve the content. Time will tell.

Joe
 
jwb said:
The most complete explanation I've seen is at http://ngdiscussion.net/phorum/read.php?1,270967,272160#msg-272160
Click to expand...
That explanation from Chris Lane leaves me humbled at how limited my knowledge and shallow my view of things outside my normal realm of operation. I would have never thought that a hurricane and prolonged winter could have anything to do with a publishing company going belly up. I guess it all goes back to the butterfly flapping its wings theory causing rain in.... They must really have been running on a thin thread of hand to mouth operations.
 
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Personally I don't think RMC's problem was the recession. It's technological changes in the communications industry that continues to run at a Mach 2 pace. There will be thousands of printed publications going away in the near future. Great as technology is, it does not create jobs as fast as it destroys jobs, no matter what anybody tells you. The staff and facility at Carstens will cease to exist as it is today and if any of it's magazines rise from the dead they will be digital. A lot less people and facilities. Major blow for the town that Carstens was located in. Sorry to hear it but it is a sign of the times.
Wayne
 
I hope they are picked up by White River Productions. They picked up Model Railroad News a few years ago and it is an excellent magazine.
 
Hmm, yeh, RMC looks it was published/distributed thru some large printing source and their hit by the economic downturn and close. Among other problems, the issues arent totally their fault. About like the Hostess cupcake, RMC may get its comeback. Their website is up and no mention of closing. The mag itself might not go away, but I guess we will have a limbo state for a while.
 
I am sad to see this news. My first RR mag subscription was RMC when I was a teenager (It was a little less expensive than MR). These days, I've only read RMC occasionally, but I do hope someone picks it up and finds a way to keep it going.
 
There is another factor in the Carstens "Post-mortem", beyond the drive to digitize everything, the sorry economy, the "Storm" or poor business practices etc. If you look at the similar threads, in any of the forums, you find a lot of people who "used" to subscribe / buy the magazine, who no longer purchased the magazine. Why? It has nothing to do with what can be read on an electronic device, but more to do with appealing content. I regularly read MR in magazine format, and MRH on line. I stopped subscribing to RMC, because most of the articles did not appeal to me, even though they normally were oriented to Northeastern railroads. I found it easier to preview the magazine at Barnes & Nobel and buy it only when something really interested me, rather than just getting every issue. Apparently, many others feel the same way.

Many publications, have lost appeal, due to changing interests of readers, others, simply became "tired". I think RMC falls into the "tired" category. It's demise is not related to the time sensitive nature of the "News Magazine", such as "Newsweek", or "USN&WR", or even the daily newspaper. People in this hobby, tend to seek out information about the hobby, from multiple sources, so a monthly magazine retains its relevancy as long as it's appealing to the reader. What happened to Carstens, was they lost their relevancy to their core reader. As such, even though they did offer a digital edition, they were no longer appealing to the majority.

Someone like White River, may put the "spark" back into RMC and R&R, because that is what's needed.
 
It's always sad to see a magazine or paper fail. I believe all print media is suffering. When I was a paper boy for the Baltimore Sun it was the rare house that did not buy the paper. Now its the rare house that buys the paper. I don't think there are 5 houses on my block that get the paper daily. I can't imagine life with out my paper, maybe I am a dinosaur, but I much prefer to read something that I can hold rather then a digital subscription. I subscribe to Classic Toy Trains in print and OGR in digital form and I read the CTT much more and often forget to even see the new OGR. Its just not the same for me and printed material can be carried with me anywhere. I keep some of my back issues of CTT in my mini-van/school bus. I know I could take a tablet or other device with me but the magazine needs no batteries or hot spot to work.
 
Louis, the difference between the Sun Papers and a model magazine is that the news carried by the Sun is time sensitive, and can be obtained in almost real time from TV, or the Internet, instead of reading the paper. The Model Railroad Hobby is recreational, not time sensitive, so if OGR, for instance, has an article concerning a better way to wire Lionel switches, it can be read at leisure, without the urgency of a stock quote. It's also easier to read a "hard print" how to article from a magazine, than from an I-pad or my BlackBerry.

One paradigm change in our hobby, that has affected model magazines, is the demise of the "Craftsman", who actually builds models. There are some people out there who don't build layouts, can't assemble rail car or structure kits, and don't really want to be bothered trying. They just hire a vendor to build their layout, scenic it and fill it full of structures. Then they take their R-T-R engines and cars and run them around. These people do not need magazine "How to" articles.

Joe
 
Hopefully this can be a new beginning to a classic magazine and product line. If they find the RIGHT buyer, it can flourish.

I wonder if Model Railroader is interested? I could see them making those badly needed technological advances and pushing RMC more towards scratch building and craftsman products.
 
WJLI26 said:
There is another factor in the Carstens "Post-mortem", beyond the drive to digitize everything, the sorry economy, the "Storm" or poor business practices etc. If you look at the similar threads, in any of the forums, you find a lot of people who "used" to subscribe / buy the magazine, who no longer purchased the magazine. Why? It has nothing to do with what can be read on an electronic device, but more to do with appealing content. I regularly read MR in magazine format, and MRH on line. I stopped subscribing to RMC, because most of the articles did not appeal to me, even though they normally were oriented to Northeastern railroads. I found it easier to preview the magazine at Barnes & Nobel and buy it only when something really interested me, rather than just getting every issue. Apparently, many others feel the same way.

Many publications, have lost appeal, due to changing interests of readers, others, simply became "tired". I think RMC falls into the "tired" category. It's demise is not related to the time sensitive nature of the "News Magazine", such as "Newsweek", or "USN&WR", or even the daily newspaper. People in this hobby, tend to seek out information about the hobby, from multiple sources, so a monthly magazine retains its relevancy as long as it's appealing to the reader. What happened to Carstens, was they lost their relevancy to their core reader. As such, even though they did offer a digital edition, they were no longer appealing to the majority.

Someone like White River, may put the "spark" back into RMC and R&R, because that is what's needed.
Click to expand...

Interesting perspective, but I found the content of RMC appealed to me more, because it was more about building models, not track and layouts.


Sent from my Vic20 using Java Moose
 
Their problem was cash flow. Their printer had them on a pay as you go basis for a number of years. Your sales can be great but if the cash flow doesn't cooperate, you're sunk.
 
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