The Personal Touch

by Michael J. Pratt, Managing Editor

Model Railroad News has experienced amazing growth during the past year. Inclusion of featured columns such as our monthly Train Tech Forum, hosted by Danny Rittman, and our bimonthly column dedicated to S scale, S Curves, written by Roy Hoffman, have helped MRN become a more versatile, and informative publication.

It is our goal to add a more personal touch to Model Railroad News. With these columns, we believe that this is being accomplished in a dynamic way. We will continue to expand this personal touch as the months go by.

With this issue, we kick off the first of a monthly column dedicated to Large Scale model railroading. The new column is entitled Larger View. It will be written by the talented, and versatile, John Sipple. Many of you will recognize John from the many reviews that he has penned for MRN during the last year. He is a fourth-grade school teacher by trade, and with his upcoming “retirement” from that vocation, has committed himself to providing MRN readers with a look at the larger side of model railroading. Although primarily Large Scale in nature, if I know John, his column will venture into other areas as well. So keep your eyes open for Larger View — it may just have something for you.

With the July issue, MRN’s in house photography has entered into the digital age. We are very excited about the first results, and our camera guru, Mike Lindsay, is like a kid at Christmas. With the acquisition of a new digital camera, we are now 100% digital. The results will speak for themselves. We still have the capability of scanning prints, slides, and negatives submitted for new product announcements.

As always, MRN will be covering The National Train Show, being held this year in St. Louis, MO., and bringing you highlights of what is new in the model railroading hobby. Coverage of the show will be presented in our September, 2001 issue. Past issues covering this show have presented information on products from as many as sixty manufacturers, with many of them announcing several products, bringing the total number of new items often covered by Model Railroad News to more than 100. That’s pretty good for just one show. So be sure to watch for our show coverage.

For those attending this year’s National Train Show, being held in conjunction with the NMRA’s National Convention, be sure to look for us at booths 106 & 107. Mike Lindsay, with new camera in tow, Stuart R. Thayer, John Sipple (arriving by train), and I will be in attendance. Copies of MRN will be available, so if you are reading this at the show, come on by and say “Hi.”

Model Railroad News is expanding thanks to talented writers, company support, and of course, our loyal readers. We owe a great deal to all of those that have supported us, and are doing our best to provide the type of publication you want (and having a great time doing it!). So drop us a line and let us know how we are doing. And, see us at the show.

Michael J. Pratt
Managing Editor