Trains will get a new editor

[arbfbe]

Mark,

Best of wishes. Call when you come to visit you sister. We can go chase trains and drink the local brews.

Alan

[Anonymous]

Mark--

You did an excellent job. Best wishes in your new career.[:)]

[Big_Boy_4005]

Mark,

I've been sitting here the last couple of days in shock and disbelief. I saw this topic shortly after it was posted, and was rather upset. The reality is just beginning to sink in for me. As one who knew you long before you came to be editor, the moment I learned that you had taken the position I subscribed to Trains. Prior to that I only read MR and CTT. I have always felt that it was a perfect fit with your talents and experience.

I have enjoyed reading each and every editorial you wrote, and seeing the occasional photo that I recogonize from the past. I will certainly miss that when you leave.

After reading your response above, I can see how that job can take a toll on a person. As readers we have no idea what it takes for you to bring us this magazine we so enjoy. As one who has subscribed to Kalmbach publications for as many years as I have, I've seen a lot of staff changes, but the quality continues on.

I reailze that you are probably not at liberty to say, but I suspect that you aren't selling your home for this move. I hope this is simply a change of title and responsibility, and not venue, and am anxious to see how this all shakes out. I have a hunch, but time will tell.

Best wishes,

Elliot

[edblysard]

Hey,
Just a idea...
Don Phillips has the smarts, the credentials, the skills, and he is currently sorta un-employeed.
???
Just a thought...
Ed

[espeefoamer]

This is a real shocker.[:0]Train your replacement well.I'm sure Trains will keep up the same quality level that it always has.

[rrnut282]

I'm glad to hear you're sticking around for a while. I hope you can convince your successor to maintain the status quo for a while. I would hate to see quality at Trains take the siding.

[Anonymous]

Mr. Hemphill:

I have read TRAINS since the '60s and have been a subscriber since the '80s. The issues published while you were editor are the ones I have enjoyed most.

I also appreciate your courteous replies to my e-mails.

Best of luck to you and your wife in your new endeavors and I will look forward to reading your posts on this forum.

Sincerely,
Southernfastmail (Hal Smith)

[Anonymous]

All:

My words don't describe how pleasant it is to read all of your best wishes. I have stressed to my staff and my contributors, again and again, "Readers Come First!" and it's deeply gratifying to see that policy pay off. You are the people that pay my salary, and I sought to reward your faith. Many times, that meant I had to work evenings until 11 p.m., and sometimes until 3 a.m. in the morning, not to get the issue done, but to get the issue done right. You deserved nothing less than the very best I could do, and as I came to know all of you, whether in this forum or through correspondence or meeting you in person, I wanted to do my best all the more.

I'm not exactly leaving, however. If I can, I'll remain at Trains long enough to do a full turnover to the new editor. He or she would be very depressed to have to untangle the mess that is my affairs. I'll continue to be involved in the magazine to a fairly significant degree if that works for the new editor. And I'll still be on this forum, where nice people can be found.

Mark W. Hemphill

[Anonymous]

It's really too bad to see that you're leaving us, Mark! We'll certainly miss you! I wish you and your wife the best of luck in the future!

[greyhounds]

I'd like to mention something about the stature Trains now has.

Monthly, I attend a seminar held by the Northwestern University Transportation Center. There are some accomplished people who regularly attend and present. Ed Burkhart made the last presentation. The senior rail analyist for Morgan Stanley has presented. John Reed is a regular. Krebs has been there. Andy Sze, former head of Clipper, is a regular. You get the idea.

I don't know why they let me in.

In my experience, the magazine that is most quoted by these folks is Trains. It serves as an important source of information for this group. I think Mark made that happen. Sorry to see him go.

"Well, you saw the story in Trains about..."

KS

[Anonymous]

Um, I don't remember there being a vote amongst the forum members approving this departure? Did I miss that day? I think we'll need to veto Mark's departure via a 2/3rds majority of Forum members.

Like others, I may not always have agreed with everything I read in Trains, but it is a quality publication and as good as it has been in the 25 yrs that I've been reading.

Best wishes in your new endeavors and thanks for your time and effort at Kalmbach!
- Stack

[cherokee woman]

Mark, locomutt and I will miss you very much. Both of us enjoy reading your articles in
Trains very much.

Good luck in whatever the future holds for you and Mrs. Hemphill.

WE WILL MISS YOU! [:(]

[BaltACD]

The only constant in the rail industry is change....I guess that change extends to the rail related publishing industry also.

Mark -

Good luck in your future endevors.

[jchnhtfd]

Man, are we going to miss you, laddie!

[Anonymous]

MAN!, and right after I re-subscribed for the first time in 4 years!!!

I think we will all miss your presence in the magazines, and hope you will show your name around here again soon.

[FJ and G]

This is a big surprise and disappointment! Although there are a couple of philosophical disagreements I have with Mark, he's been the best editor ever.

He certainly put a lot of sweat into the magazine. Perhaps too much. Hope he didn't get burned out.

Dave Vergun

[Anonymous]

well Mr. Hemphill,

I hear that you are moving on. I know we have had a rocky past, and i'm probobly the last prson you want to hear from right now, and that is quite understandable. I'm am not writing to you today to change the past, I am Writing to you today in regards to the future. When we look back, The present is slowly becomming history. This is an unavoidable situation. The present slips into the past all of the time. ON many ocassioans, I would have loved to have re-written the past, But the rocks remain as they were cast, and will do so for until the dawn of time. I have little to no fear of you becomming Idle, I know you have a vast library of Railroad books, (More books then I could ever dream for) and your Railroad experience should keep you very busy indeed.

I use this line many times- I think it is a good idea to use it now. If you think the end or the beginning of your life long Journey is what counts for the msot; that would be incorrect. What matters the most about a journey, is what is picked up, and the knowledge gained. All in All, Your Railroad skills were among the most flamboyant on this forum, And though you may have thought I wasn't listening, I was. In the line that is also used so many times. You sir are a gentlemen and a scholar, I thank you for sharing your Knowledge, I have picked up more from you then you think.

Mr. Hemphill, Life is Waiting for you, sure we all mess up, but we'll survive!

God bless, and God's Speed.

[Mookie]

Wow - I didn't see that coming - I never check the news wires, only because I have to work in between the forums.

Mark, sorry to see you are leaving. But I am glad you are going because your wife found a great job! That pleases the female side of me!

Good luck in the future to you and the family

Mookie

[daveklepper]

I cannot imagine anyone having done a better a job as Editor and I hope your replacement "fits your shoes", as they say. I think the railroad industry, North America, and even the World are better off because of your excellence in your job. I hope your next assignment in the industry is as rewarding for you and as rewarding for the industry, and that you and your wife and family have great pleasure and peace and health in your new location, wherever it is. If you let me know your mail and/or email address, I promise to limit my messages to topics you approve and to make them both brief and constructive. Dave Klepper

[Anonymous]

Wow.

My head has been in the "sand" at work and I have missed something "big" here. Very sad news indeed it is, I am shocked and disappointed.

But I wish Mark and his family the best in his new endeavor. Mark, you will be missed greately here. Do stop in and say "HI" and have a cup of coffee at the Depot Diner and Coffee Shop.

You have added to all our lives with your editorials and posts in the various threads. You provided a knowledge beyond what many of us possess and it has provoked in us an interest to continue to ready the magazine and your posts. Yes, Mark, you will be missed. As they say in reference to railroads, "Gone, But Not Forgotten". With a sad heart we say Goodbye for now, but look forward to a "new" forum member.

GOOD LUCK, AND BEST WISHES. [:)]

[cstaats]

Mark,
Good luck in your next career. I hope you find a position you love as much and are as good at. Stay safe.

[greyhounds]

Rats. Mark sure did a good job. Good luck to him and his wife.

Ken Strawbridge

[CShaveRR]

I wish it paid as well as my current job...

Trains has been great during your tenure, Mark. I hope both you and the magazine continue to prosper, and we'll expect some of your usual authoritative and insightful comments here from time to time.

Carl

[edblysard]

Welcome to the farm, Harry,
Aint that the way it goes, right after you join, Mark takes a powder?

But your right, Mark does write in such a easy to understand manner, user friendly...both in Trains, and in Model Railroader.

If he gets to pick his replacement, we ought to be in good shape, though...


Ed

[Harry A. Rodman]

Mark, Sorry to hear you are leaving. I just got here and was looking forward to conversations with you via e-mail. You have done so much good work during your time at "Trains". I have always looked forward to reading your articles. Good Luck & keep in touch . Harry Rodman

[Modelcar]

....Now that is a surprise. Mark we have enjoyed TRAINS magazine for years and you have added good stuff under your tenure. An example: recent photos...in the Mountain Railroad issue. We wish you the best and I join other members on here in asking you to visit back often.
Quentin

[jeaton]

I just double checked on the time icon, and damn, it isn't April 1st. Let's see if we can get Bergie to let Mark keep his 5 gold stars as a going away gift.

Mark, Best of everything to you and the family. Keep writing!

Jay

[Anonymous]

ED FOR EDITOR!!

QUOTE: Originally posted by edblysard

Well, now that just S***s...
Just when we get 'em broke in...

You know, ya send 'em to school, teach 'em to read, and they up and leave, just like that.

Mark, where are you going to find any job that is as much fun as riding herd on 20 to 50 or so middle aged adolescent train junkies?

Well, hope it works out the way your wife wants it too, and hoping you have as much of a impact there as you have had here.

Good Luck, and Best Wishes to you both,

Unihead Ed

ED 4 ED

LC

[Anonymous]

Mark-

I wish you all the best in your future endeavors. Make sure the new guy (or gal) stops by here too. Don't be a stranger.

LC