Trains Magazine (1940-today)
At a chaotic time in history — World War II, atomic bombs, the birth of the Cold War — founder Al Kalmbach published the first issue of Trains Magazine. Many great things were happening in the 1940s alongside the many bad. For instance, the Slinky was also invented around this time.
In the transportation industry, passenger trains were the popular choice for long-distance travel — and steam locomotives ruled the rails.
As of 2024, this magazine has circulated for 84 years. This February marks our 1,000th issue, a special expanded edition. The video here celebrates this milestone that not every print publication is capable of obtaining.
Highlights include a section with a 1,000 theme, with articles on …
- A bridge in Germany that sees more than 1,000 trains a day.
- The race to build the first 1,000-horsepower diesel locomotives.
- Union Pacific’s historic order for 1,000 SD70M diesel locomotives in the late 1990s was a $2 billion investment. Did the railroad get its money worth?
- A thousand miles aboard Amtrak’s Lake Shore Limited — a train with a rich history.
- A Ben Bachman photo essay on the trains of Seattle’s Salish Sea.
- An article on the 150th anniversary of St. Louis Eads Bridge.
- And, a stunning Gallery section on railroad people.
“I’ll leave you with this thought. Very few magazines make it to 1,000 issues. Perhaps as few as 50 magazines have ever reached this number. Kalmbach Media now has two of them. Thank you for being part of our success story.” — Trains Editor Carl Swanson
I hope you have an editor in waiting. As nice a guy as Carl may be, he doesn’t look as though he has much longevity remaining.