The end of Ctt

[Anonymous]

As someone with almost 20 years in the magazine business, there is an ebb and flow to it. Ad content will dictate edit volume in nearly every circumstance; like Brian stated, it pays the bills. NO ads, and regardless of how many subscribers you have, you'll quickly go out of business. This spring may be especially hard if all of the retail guys are down on revenue, because, despite us year-round customers, all the hobby businesses make thier big money in the Oct-Dec holiday quarter. We should be glad we even get a magazine we like; take it from someone who tried to self-publish a quarterly, this can be a financially terrifying business without long-term planning and solid money in the bank. It will make you moderately rich if you start out a millionaire and are not managing it all the time.

In reading the above comments, the real question that comes to my mind is how much is e-commerce /the Web changing the marketplace? Everybody with an ebay account becomes a dealer, drawing money through the hobby but not through the traditional outlets. For those of us who like news, we are getting a spoonful of it everyday here at trains.com and other sites. For the most part, we still expect the internet to be a free forum, but someone needs to generate the content as well as eat. I know the few sites I do commercial work for do not pay enough to be comfortable with them as full time employment. So, my guess is that, sooner or later, we will be subscribing to places like this and will consider the 20.00 a year it costs to be part of our everyday lives just like a regular paper subscription.

But don't worry; that probably won't happen until the flat panel screens are cheap enough we can hang them up on every bathroom wall opposite the john....

[FJ and G]

Norm's layout is the best detailed layout I've ever seen in any scale or gauge. With different camera angles and topical material, it could be written in just about any magazine, and duplicated too.

While not done frequently, duplication is possible. For instance, a layout called Buckeye Central (or something to that effect), was published in OGR and I believe in Kalmbach's Great Layouts series or MR (one of the 2). It is 2-rail O. I think OGR picked it up last. But as a rule, mags don't duplicate content. But Norm's work is exceptional.

[Anonymous]

I believe Norm's layout is scheduled to be featured in an upcoming (November) issue of "O Scale Trains." That being the case, I wouldn't expect that you'll see it in CTT or elsewhere, at least in the near future. As a general rule, magazines do not duplicate content that has already been covered in a competing publication.

No question about it, though, Norm does some superb work.

[prewardude]

One layout that CTT really needs to feature is NORM CHARBONNEAU'S. That is the nicest O gauge layout I have ever seen, period. Norm has managed to do in O gauge what George Sellios has done in HO. The guy's incredible!

Regards,
Clint

[Anonymous]

I enjoy CTT all the way. I hope the list of layouts I sent them, that were never shown in the magazine will be featured in some future issues. I would also like them to "revisit" some of the greatest layouts shown in the magazine to see what changes were made.

[dlagrua]

What we are seeing is that the demographic of those who buy and collect the trains is changing. Hence the train publications like CTT and Model Railroader must do their best to adjust to this changing market. It appears that the market is still strong for certain products, and weak on others. It will be interesting to see what the train collector market will look like in 10 years, when some in the "Baby Boom" generation retire, relocate, and go home to meet the Lord. You can bet that collectible trains will aways be with us, but perhaps on a smaller scale...and if the next generation remembers dads trains and "discovers " toy trains as they themselves reach middle age, then who knows what will result. The hobby may be transitioning but is it far from dead.

[mackb4]

I smell a conspirator on the forum,or a bad egg.CTT has always produced a top rate magazine,and website.To think the market has dried up is ludicrous.CTT and the other "O" gauge magazines complement each other on the amount of articles that there is to write about.Meaning for more than one magazine to survive covering a hobby,has to mean there's plenty of news,articles,new products and people in the hobby to keep on going.I think CTT and the others,will survive as long as printing is free press in this country.When freedom of press is gone.Than so will your rights as hobbist.Don't stop the windmill from turning as long as there's wind.[2c]

[superwarp1]

Lets, see. I subscribe to CTT, Trains, Classic Trains, OGR. But back to O gauge. CTT and ORG have there strong points and there not so strong points. I like CTT product reviews(even though the Kline berk review was way lacking) and I like the layouts on OGR.

The content of both magazines and the amount of pages has shrunk for both. Sign of the times. The bubble of the late 90's if not burst, is deflated a little.

Regards,

Gary

[DCmontana]

I have been a subscriber since the Spring of 93. Within a year of subscribing I had cobbled together a layout and was running my old trains again. Two layouts later I have the biggest pike ever, 5 X 12, not much by many standards, but it is a lot of fun. There are very few articles that I don't appreciate and I read the magazine cover to cover every issue. It is slick copy, well layed out, and really well done by journalistic standards. I have liked some issues better than others, but have never been displeased. I like to see layouts of any size. Small 0-27 layouts jammed with the old accessories all the way to giants designed and built for a customer. They are all fun for someone! I never appreciated standard gauge, but articles in CTT made me look at the pre-war stuff in different light. I don't appreciate any body that believes my way or the hi-way. All aspects of toy trains are fun and need to stay that way. I do have one complaint, I am echoing from above. Oh how I wish CTT came to my home every month! We are now in the doldrums! No April, June, August issues! How will I survive the coming lean months? I shall dig into the back issues from the nineties! Keep those articles on all aspects of toy trains as a hobby!

[Anonymous]

As several of you have posted, there are a number of logical reasons for the size and content of CTT. I have subscribed to both CTT and OGR since joining the hobby in 1999.

I look forward to each and every issue to see what is happening within the hobby, what new products are being introduced and to see how other collector/operators are displaying their layouts and collections.

I also know that the current economic conditions such as high energy costs are affecting everyone in the hobby. At a recent train show, a friend of mine and a noted dealer, admitted that the high cost of gas has had a dramatic impact on his business. In order to control his costs, he is evaluating the number of shows he can attend and how much money he can afford to budget to advertise in both CTT and OGR. He is seriously considering curtailing his advertising to subsidize his travel expenses.

This is just a small example of the kind of decisions people make in order to absorb the unexpected rise in fuel costs we have all had to live with in recent months. This trickle down effect has to also affect the advertising revenue of CTT, MR, OGR, etc.

CTT and the other publications will have to do their best to weather the storm until things settle down and advertising revenues once again begin to grow. All they can do is offer the best product they can publish with the resources available.

Steven Tapper
Northern Central High Railers

[Anonymous]

If you dont like it, dont read it.

[ChiefEagles]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Leonard


I subscribe to both CTT and OGR for 3 year periods and after awhile I give the issues plus TRAINS to my primary level teacher daughter-in-law who along with other teachers uses them from time to time in her classes.

Now that is a good idea and use of old issues. Helps the kids get interested in the hobby. Good job Leonard. [tup]

[Anonymous]

I like CTT much better now that it has a greater focus on operations. At times I will read about the boxes or postwar engines[I have the Southern 2333 F-3s and old "Service Station sets ,early Williams brass and others] but in general I have lost interest in postwar. But I recogonize that other readers are devoted to the postwar era of models. I enjoy tallking and argueing with O-gauge friends who could care less about my scale Command equipped steamers and early diesel.

I subscribe to both CTT and OGR for 3 year periods and after awhile I give the issues plus TRAINS to my primary level teacher daughter-in-law who along with other teachers uses them from time to time in her classes.

During the late 1980s I first bought both magazines at Chuck Anderson's "Inside Track" hobby shop in Greensboro but soon decided to subscribe. About the same time I stopped my MR subscription but still buy it often.

[Anonymous]

When I first seen Classic Toy Trains Magizine it rekindled my interest in
trains. I had did the HO and N scale and for a short time American Flyer.
from 1986 till 1994 i had no trains at all. A very good friend of mine
who hasa since departed Mr John Hearld had a subscription to CTT. he would give me the ones that i found interesting. After the demise of the Excursion
Program at NS i wanted to see steam locomotives running. So i decided to
get one of my own. I knew I could not have a real fire breathing locomotive and
i did not have the ca***o do so "Capt. John" ran his realistic O gauge locomotives . I was hooked. so i hope that CTT does not fall to the wayside.
frankly I dont think it will. I do miss Kent Johnson's "talkin Toy Trains".
Kent and his father seem to have a great relationship and they have a common
interest and bond with the trains.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Allan Miller

Thank goodness there are some outlets for guys (and gals) who like to write more than a few hastily chosen and often misspelled words on forum threads, and who are willing to devote the time and effort to helping spread the word about the hobby and share knowledge and experience in a way that cannot adequately be duplicated in any other medium.

You are right, Bigboy 4005 makes a lot of sense.
[tup]

[Anonymous]

Thank goodness there are some outlets for guys (and gals) who like to write more than a few hastily chosen and often misspelled words on forum threads, and who are willing to devote the time and effort to helping spread the word about the hobby and share knowledge and experience in a way that cannot adequately be duplicated in any other medium.

[jonadel]

Amen to dontrainman.

Quantity vs quality is only important when drinking beer[:D]

Jon

[Anonymous]

Counting pages is like counting rivets. It's quality not quantity.

[cheapclassics]

To all,

As one who contributes to the magazine (and hopes to continue to do so), I can tell you one of the hardest aspects is writing the stories. There have been a few (very few) times when the story just flew off my finger tips onto the keyboard, but there have been many times when the words were formed one keystroke at a time and revised several times before submission. I usually try to read every article at least once even if it is on a topic of no interest to me because I appreciate the effort that went into producing it. As Brianel so aptly pointed out, there are many facets to the hobby and not all articles are going to appeal to every reader. I am just so thankful that a magazine exists that serves our enjoyable hobby. Perhaps when the number of advertisers increase, there will be more pages as well.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[cnw1995]

I probably spend more time with each issue of CTT than other reading materials - practically wearing it out reading it on my commute. I like the variety - find I can always learn something interesting or new... I like the tactile experience of reading a mag vs. just online info.

[Anonymous]

Hey,I like it all! Old boxes, new boxes, O-27, O gauge, s gauge, traditional,TMCC, DCS,it's all the news that's fit to print. Just one thing. I think articles about the guy that's so busy with his life that he doesn't have the time to build his own pike & hires an architect to build him a 300 ft x 400ft layout belongs in Architecturals monthly, not CTT. Easter

[Kooljock1]

Horsefeathers!

The entire advertising business hit a soft patch in the last six months or so. I'm in radio, and we saw it too.

You should've seen the articles about the death of radio due to satellite(XM is now in serious financial difficulty and there's panic in their HQ), the death of Oldies radio(now Madison Avenue is waking up to a huge untapped boomer market that they forgot about), and of course all the businesses that have bought the hype from the mainstream media that the economy stinks and is getting worse(unemployment numbers are the lowest in a decade and housing starts are the highest since 1973).

Here we are now two months later, and ad revenues have shot up, WAY up. The ratings for the station I work for...an OLDIES station no matter what they want to call it are WAY up...my show alone was up 20%.

So the ad business will bounce back, including at CTT & OGR I think. And at some point, probably after the appeal between MTH and LIONEL is done, no matter who wins(and it seems that Wellspring has deeper pockets than we thought!), LIONEL/K-LINE will go back to advertising in the mags.

As for the article mix at CTT, I find it entertaining and informative. EVEN the articles about boxes tell a story about the trains, the thoughts their makers were having, and the culture they were selling to at various times.

My ONE suggestion for CTT Bob, is that your articles include personal tidbits about the layout builder/collector. Is he married? Does he have kids? What does he do for a living? Does he have other interests/hobbies/sports that he's into? Trains are as much about people as they are about items. These personal touch-points will add more interest and insight into what motivates us all to be in the World's Greatest Hobby, and may encourage more casual readers to join our ranks!

Other than that, you have one GREAT magazine!

Jon



[8D][8D][8D][8D][8D]

[Richard A]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dougdagrump

Just a troll trying to start a flame war. [tdn]

The thought crossed my mind, too. It seems they are surfacing more frequently with each passing month.

[dougdagrump]

Just a troll trying to start a flame war. [tdn]

[Big_Boy_4005]

I'm not sure what to say about all this, but here goes.

I have every issue of CTT that was ever published, except for the last few. I have allowed all of my subscriptions to lapse, including CTT, MR and Trains. Tomorrow will mark the eighth Friday that I have held out renewing.

It had gotten to the point where I didn't even spend 10 minutes looking at them, which is why I wonder, why bother? I gave up OGR last year, and haven't really missed it.

Is it the magazine content or is it me just being burnt out, or maybe I've outgrown the limits of the publication? Perhaps it's all three. Whatever the case, the thrill is gone.

Brian makes a great point, which is: the 3 rail O market had become splintered. The publications are not to blame, the manufacturers are. The downfall of the publications may be in trying to please everyone, they please no one.

Brian, remenber, it is circulation which drives everything. No readers, no advertisers. Advertising rates are based on circulation. How many people can your message reach?

Publishers are in a particularly tough spot, because they have two distinctly different sets of customers, readers and advertisers. However, one is the cart and one is the horse.

The universal truth in business is: THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT!!!!

The internet and Ebay are killing brick and mortar hobby stores. Is it killing the magazines too?

[brianel027]

Bob Keller's reply was kind and thoughful. Maybe I can add a little more insight that he might not feel comfortable speaking about. I don't know how things specifically work at Kalmbach, but at one time I was the production manager for a weekly newspaper. Before anything happens, I would consult with the sales staff and the publisher to determine the amount of advertising space sold. I would then make a call on how many papges the issue should be based on these numbers and run it by the publisher.

It might not be of obvious importance to the reader, but the advertising space sold is the bread and butter of any publication and cover the production costs and the weekly salaries. Subscriptions are important too, but it is ad revenue that is number one. From my experience, there were times where editorial copy would be of such importance that I could go beyond what the advertising percentage would normally allow. I knew that important editorial copy could generate additional newsstand sales, and also be used by the sales reps to increase future ad sales, ie: Look at this important issue we covered... our newstand sales exceeded normal sales by 50%. If your ad had been in here, it would have been seen by x-amount of additional readers.

Obviously CTT ad revenues are down by some. Lionel hasn't advertised in some time. Nor had K-Line, nor will K-Line again at least as we knew them. I haven't done the numbers, but it seems to me that there were more smaller shops purchasing ads in past issues of CTT. Recent years have seen a falling out in the numbers of train/hobby shops, so obviously there are fewer retailers around to purchase ads. Everyone likes the big mail order places due to their discount pricing, but it doesn't help smaller guys who operate on tighter wholesale margins. And even the big guys are feeling the bite... the owner of Train Express was quoted in a newspaper as saying his sales are down substantially from years past. Obviously as businesses feel the pinch, they will look for ways to decrease costs and become far more selective about spending money on things like advertising. This plays a big part in the quantity and variety of articles in any given single publication. Again, ad revenues are the bread and butter.

That said, a good issue with good reading will keep and grow subscriptions. Increases in subscriptions with newstand sales are a good incentive to attempt to increase those ad revenues. I think CTT does a pretty good job and trying to be fair and cover as many bases as they can, given how devisive and diversified the hobby has become. Or think of it this way: at one time it was pretty much just Lionel with collectors and operators. There was just one way to run the trains. And now.....
-TMCC only operators
- DCS only operators
- Noncommand operators
-Those who only collect
-Those who collect and operate
-Scale prototypical operators
-Toy train operators
-Hi Railers
-Rabid buyers of only one brand (who think that brand is the only one)
-027 track operators
-Tubular 0 operators
-FasTrack operators
-Super 0 operators
-Gargraves operators
-Atlas 0 track operators
-MARX tinplate operators

And on and on... you get my train of thought. My train hat is off to Bob and the CTT staff. We're a tough group to please.

And while I'm on it, how about some more articles on 027 track operators and more reviews of NON-command non-scale traditional products [:D]

[kehoesj]

Speaking as a subscriber from Issue # 1, I have thoroughly enjoyed each and every issue as CTT continued it's growth along with the hobby, expanding it's annual publication schedule - whether thick or thin. CTT has helped my family learn a great deal about our hobby that we wouldn't have necessarily otherwise. I wouldn't trade our complete collection of CTT for anything rolling on 3 rail track. I salute the staff of CTT for continuing to be covering a wide variety of topics. End of CTT? No, I give them the highball!

[Anonymous]

I don't think it's ending though, I was disappointed in it . There have been some good articles. They need more writers ,that's for sure. If I could come up with somthing I would write for them but, I just don't know that much. I do lve my postwar trains though.

[jakeoregano]

Geez, I wish someone had told me the collector market was dead. I'd better stop collecting right now!! Why am I always the last to know?

Seriously, I think the comment about the collector market being in transition is probably correct. I think there are younger collectors/operators out there who are slowly coming to appreciate the older trains. But the market is far from dead. Otherwise, some of us out there would be able to pick up that mint blue comet set for pennies. If it were dead, I'd buy every prewar item on the market!!

As for CTT, I think it's a pretty good mag. Get this: If there is an article I'm not particularly interested in...I turn the page.

My .02.
Dwayne