This week I stumbled across a later edition of Locomotive and Railway Preservation magazine. While I really enjoy the format of RYPN and the richness of interaction on the Interchange, there is something special (and more permanent) to a beautiful magazine such as the late L&RP.

Do readers of this site have a subscription to something(s) that fills the shoes of L&RP? If not-
I wonder if there are any people out there who feel the same way, and especially if there are a few who can do something about it. One logical step would be to commit the articles and opinions of this site to printed format. You might say, why pay for something that is old and you can get for free? The answer to me is that I sometimes miss the articles and information on RYPN and Interchange that is lost to webspace limitations and server changes. Perhaps this should be a joint effort with ARM.
What say ye?

I've been saying the same thing all along. I will not pretend to know what happened behind the scenes in the mid to late L&RP issues, but I know that the basis for real railroad preservation news and information coverage was laid early on. Mark Smith had a lot to do with it, but it seems that he got burned somehow. Damn shame too, because he inspired a number of people (including myself)to see what really was under all that rust and peeling paint.
I wish L&RP would rise from the ashes. Nothing printed to date since L&RPs last issue has even come close to L&RPs standard for modern preservation and practical information. Not to mention a few giggles thrown in for a reality check.
Just where are you Mark Smith? Have you given up on all that was L&RP?

Brian Hebert



Conway Scenic Railroad
btamper@hotmail.com

A few thoughts from one-third of the RyPN editorial triumverate. First of all, to learn where Mark is these days and what he's up to be sure to read his letter to RyPN; the link is on our home page. From the letter it sounds as though Mark has moved on from that passage in his life--I don't think he'd be up for another run.

As for a print mag, yes I'd love one too--heck, if someone would pay me to do it I'd be tickled to be part of the editorial staff of such a journal. However, I suspect the economics of a full-scale glossy like L&RP just aren't quite there. There just aren't enough of you lot out there to amortize the production and mailing costs!

Until then, I make do with a combination of Railway Museum Quarterly, Preservation Points in Trains, and of course this website itself. When I can get it, I add the UK-focussed Hertigage Railways to the mix.

Could RyPN be more than a website? I think so. Again, a high-production values, glossy print mag is not in the cards, but something more simple like a print "best of RyPN" in a quarterly or annual digest form might be very doable. Hume is hard at work getting us incorporated as a nonprofit organization, and the next step, also under way, is to get 501(c)(3) nonprofit status from the IRS. Once that's done, we could legitimately solicit tax-deductable donations and contributions or what have you to produce and distrubute a print adjunct or compliment to the web site.

In the short term, be aware that Hume and I both have backup copies of everything RyPN has ever published--if there's an article you remember that you really need, just let us know and we'll get you the text.

Anyway, the jist of this message is that we're putting the legal infrastructure in place to do more with RyPN. How much we can do and in what form is largely up to this community of readers--what do you want, and what (eventually, not today, and certainly not ever for the website alone) would you be willing to pay for?

Let me wrap up with the usual call for volunteers: if any of you out there want to join us in the RyPN editorial collective, we could use the help. Let us know and we'll figure out a way for you to try us on for size, and us you. Its immensely rewarding and the pay is zilch, but you meet great folks and have some fantastic conversations. Finally, please, everyone out there who reads regularly or even infrequently, please send us news of your orgnaizaitons and their doings. We welcome everything, including something as simple as your calendar of events. If you can put us on your mailing list, even better. The more we hear from you, the more news, features, and interesting ideas we have to share with the community.

http://www.geocities.com/scrantontrains
eledbetter@mail.rypn.org

I've said this before, but I believe there will be no new L&RP in the forseeable future. The economics just aren't there. I personally have stopped buying the magazines, preferring to spend those scarce dollars on my internet provider, which allows me to explore the whole world for nothing.

On the internet, you read news the days it happens, usually. With a magazine, the information is at least two months old when you see it. In past times, that was the best one could expect. While I still think a lot of the 50-year collection of magazines I have in my basement (a whole room full!), I think the time of that medium is pretty well past.

bobyar2001@yahoo.com

> I've said this before, but I believe there
> will be no new L&RP in the forseeable
> future. The economics just aren't there. I
> personally have stopped buying the
> magazines, preferring to spend those scarce
> dollars on my internet provider, which
> allows me to explore the whole world for
> nothing.

>“That medium is a thing of the past”
Boy I hope you are wrong in that Bob, I have been editor of a weekly newspaper for nearly 15 years, and before that, the flunky, sweeping the floors while in grade school. (yes my grandfather started it).
There is a wonderful place in the 21st century for the web and the speed in which it conveys the news, however, until everybody has high speed connections and high dollar printers, the glossy mag will always be rewarding.
I became a subscriber to L&RP just about a year before its demise, and finally after the second morph to Classic Trains, let that subscription run out.
I would welcome a quarterly newsletter on the whole railroad preservation movement.
Go for it guys.
Ron Brinton

ronbrin@eoni.com

Not much I can add to what Erik said except we are planning to make archived material available on CDs eventually.

Also like to say that although I very much appreciate the efforts of Bob, Erik and our contributors, we have a long way to go to equal the standards set by L&RP. Three people working part time just can't equal the efforts of L&RP's paid staff of professionals. I hope we get there someday.

And, I can't rule out a printed publication in some form, maybe a quarterly, but that's ways in the future, at least the way things are going at the moment.

Railway Preservation News
hkading@rypn.org

> Not much I can add to what Erik said except
> we are planning to make archived material
> available on CDs eventually.

> Also like to say that although I very much
> appreciate the efforts of Bob, Erik and our
> contributors, we have a long way to go to
> equal the standards set by L&RP. Three
> people working part time just can't equal
> the efforts of L&RP's paid staff of
> professionals. I hope we get there someday.

> And, I can't rule out a printed publication
> in some form, maybe a quarterly, but that's
> ways in the future, at least the way things
> are going at the moment.

When L&RP folded, Association of Railway Museums decided to partially fill the gap with its Railway Museum Quarterly, and editor Aaron Isaacs does well within his limited budget. You can visit the ARM site at: http://www.railwaymuseums.org/

Electric City Trolley Museum Associ

> When L&RP folded, Association of Railway
> Museums decided to partially fill the gap
> with its Railway Museum Quarterly, and
> editor Aaron Isaacs does well within his
> limited budget. You can visit the ARM site
> at: http://www.railwaymuseums.org/

I heartily concur. We see RyPN and RMQ as being complimentary.

RyPN's advantage is timeliness: we can get news items out in something closer to real time. Also, we cast a somewhat wider net, extending beyond railway museums to NRHS chapters, adaptive reuse projects, and anything else that catches our fancy.

Looking at things from the ARM side, Aaron's extensive network of museum correspondants is a priceless asset, and lets RMQ do a much better job than we do of keeping up to date on the full panoply of museum-based projects.

If RyPN is to devleop a print quarterly or annual in the next year or two, we'd surely want to coordinate with Aaron and ARM to make sure that we cover different needs and niches than the well-established RMQ.

eledbetter@mail.rypn.org

Ron,
As long as humans have sofas, comfy chairs, and coffee tables, I think that print material has a place in our lives. I can't imagine kicking back and browsing a web page being as rewarding as a magazine. There is no end to the web. At the end of a magazine article you just might get out of your chair and do something.
Maybe not the 00's, but I think the 10's will be the decade of the "unplugged."

While I agree that RMQ is a good publication and RyPN provides a good outlet for preservationists, its content needs to become more mainstream. It needs to get away from the "news reporting" so typical of railfan-type publications (i.e. what engine or car was acquired by X museum), and do more substantive articles on, say, conservation techniques of railcars, volunteer recruitment tips, or archival management. It needs to delve more into railway museum topics that offer advice and information that can be implemented in a practical way bya member organization. The sharing of information is key here. Paul Hammond's series of articles on development-related issues has been a good start in this direction. I think part of the problem why we don't see more of this material in RMQ is because: 1) Many professionals in the field are so busy in their own Museums that it's hard to produce material for another publication; 2) The railway preservation field is still very ameteurish and the professionals verses the buffs mentality still persists; we need to get beyond this rationale and implement professional museum standards to bring the railway museum field up to par with the maritime and aviation history museum people. Until this happens, we will still linger on as the black sheep in the museum community.

> I heartily concur. We see RyPN and RMQ as
> being complimentary.

> RyPN's advantage is timeliness: we can get
> news items out in something closer to real
> time. Also, we cast a somewhat wider net,
> extending beyond railway museums to NRHS
> chapters, adaptive reuse projects, and
> anything else that catches our fancy.

> Looking at things from the ARM side, Aaron's
> extensive network of museum correspondants
> is a priceless asset, and lets RMQ do a much
> better job than we do of keeping up to date
> on the full panoply of museum-based
> projects.

> If RyPN is to devleop a print quarterly or
> annual in the next year or two, we'd surely
> want to coordinate with Aaron and ARM to
> make sure that we cover different needs and
> niches than the well-established RMQ.


http://rrmuseumpa.org

I very much agree Kurt. I think this ties in with the idea of trying to get the standards at RyPN (and maybe ARM too) up to what was achieved at L&RP. And, I don't think it will happen until we start paying for material (not to disparage are generous and much appreciated contributors).

Writing quality material is difficult and takes time. Even though the cause is noble, we can't expect people to make the effort without being compensated.

I very much hope we have our non profit status in the near future, can start collecting funds, and paying for material, and maybe even have some paid staff.

Railway Preservation News
hkading@rypn.org

I know Bob's highest aspiration for this site has always been that it become a primer on good preservation practices, both technical (how do I replace that roof?) and archival (how do I organize my collection?). Unfortunately that's the area in which we've fallen the farthest short of our hopes. We're an OK news bureau, and we have a useful message board, but for serious preservation techniques reporting--we'll we haven't done much. As Hume says, good writing takes time and energy, and as we are not in a position to pay, we have trouble drawing folks away from the shop and the archives to pond on the keyboard for us. Any article contributions folks can make to us along these lines would be welcomed with tearful gratitude.

http://www.geocities.com/scrantontrains
eledbetter@mail.rypn.org

Who owns copyright of material from L&RP? Some of the articles are classics, and would make fantastic articles for RYPN.



john.stewart@crc.ca

> Who owns copyright of material from
> L&RP? Some of the articles are classics,
> and would make fantastic articles for RYPN.

Pentrex owns the copyright, and has told us they are not interested in any republishing agreement.


eledbetter@mail.rypn.org

> Pentrex owns the copyright, and has told us
> they are not interested in any republishing
> agreement.

Technically, we requested permission to reprint some L&RP editorial material from Pentrex and received a curt no answer.

We did not offer to pay for the rights. And, I suspect (my personal opinion) the copyright for L&RP would be available for the right price.

But, unless you were interested in starting up the magazine again, I'm not sure how much value those rights would hold.

I loved L&RP, and there are articles in there very much still relevant today, but it hasn't been published in 5(?) years, and just like everything else, the material gets old and dated.


Railway Preservation News
hkading@rypn.org