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| To respond to this month's Editorial, send comments to: Editorial@modelrailroadnews.com |
| From Z to G |
| MODEL RAILROAD NEWS is the only all-scale publication left in the world of model railroading. There are some very good reasons why the rest have either chosen a specific scale or else contracted from an all-scale magazine down to just one or two scales. First, by sticking to a particular scale, the magazine has greater depth in the chosen size. It can also pull deeper advertising from the scale. Not to be forgotten is that the inventory is limited to just the one scale. Testing and photography can be set up for just one scale, streamlining the workflow. MRN’s all-scale production means that we have, in various locations, testing and photography for Z, N, HO, S, O, and the large scales. We retain samples and rolling stock for testing on each layout. We have made a major commitment to DCC in N, HO, and Large Scales. We occasionally lose a subscriber who feels that his scale is not adequately represented, but that is actually rather rare. We constantly get mail from readers who tell us they enjoy seeing what is available in all the scales. MRN is also the only consumer magazine in model railroading. That means we have no choice but to cover product offerings from Z to G. All of the other magazines are model magazines — That’s good — I like model magazines; we get several and enjoy them thoroughly. However, in the midst of all the how-to articles, layout coverage, kit-bashing projects, and prototype drawings for scratch building, it can be hard to get a review in edgewise. MRN’s focus for us, is on reviews — they are what we do. This is the only publication where you will get nearly 4,000 words on a Pennsy K4s with several large, beautiful photos. We also represent the melting pot where G-scale guys can read about HO and N — and vice versa. It is just amazing how many model railroaders are working in more than one scale. MRN is the only model railroad magazine in the large 11 x 14 inch tabloid format. We frequently have photos of locomotives stretching across the entire 22-inch wide layout spreads. Everyone else would have to do a very expensive fold-out to get there. We go to great lengths to take excellent photos and present them in a larger size. Often, our pictures tell as much as the text about that model you’ve been eyeing, and we try to present them large enough that you can actually tell something from them. MRN has faced a lot of pressure to shrink down to standard 8.5 x 11 page size, but our friends and common sense prevail. Each of our pages has nearly twice the content of the small size, all with less page flipping. Our larger size allows us to organize our content with fewer page jumps. Once you start one of our reviews, you rarely have to jump to the back of the magazine. MRN bundles all of this together with news, features, and provocative columns. We’ve been growing in all areas, circulation, subscriptions, advertising, and page count. We use our region’s top printing company and personally watch our production in an attempt to keep the quality high. MRN has a shorter lead time than the other magazines. From the time I start to assemble around the first of a given month, it is only a short 30 days before it starts showing up in mailboxes across the country. Much of our content consists of what the contemporary market sends to us; we don’t get to plan stories several months in advance. Of course, this keeps our content fresher. Thanks to the economies of our production, we can offer our magazine for considerably less than most of the others. As a result, we represent an excellent subscription value. Of course, we would love to have more subscribers. A subscription to MRN would make a surprisingly inexpensive gift while still saying you care. Contact our subscription department and get MODEL RAILROAD NEWS delivered to a really good friend. |
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— John Sipple
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To respond to this month's Editorial, send comments to: Editorial@modelrailroadnews.com
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