Staff Special/photos as noted
Winter 1974: That first cover of Railfan featured Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 759 struggling at the crest of the grade at Devil’s Hole, Pa., while hauling an excursion from Hoboken, N.J., to Scranton, Pa. While the magazine debuted in 1974, the idea for a prototype-focused magazine had been brewing at the Carstens Publications office for years — and NKP 759 would be the genesis of putting those ideas in motion. In 1968, future Railroad Model Craftsman Editor Tony Koester stopped in to meet with Publisher Hal Carstens about an idea he had — a railroad magazine for railroad enthusiasts, otherwise known as “railfans.” At the time, the big railroading magazines on the newsstand included Railway Age (founded in 1856 and aimed at industry types), Railroad (established in 1906 as a pulp publication targeted toward railroaders themselves), and finally Trains (a 1940 creation of Al Kalmbach, and the biggest in the field that at times straddled the line between industry and enthusiast-focused content). While the trio of publications covered a wide swath of the railroad landscape, there was nothing that was published exclusively for the “active” railfan — the type of person who was spending their weekends chasing trains and riding fan trips along main lines and short lines from coast to coast.
The late 1960s was an odd time to pitch a magazine with a positive spin on the railroad industry, even if it was targeted at its biggest boosters. The over-regulated industry was reeling from subsidized competition from airlines and trucking companies, the inability to set competitive rates or abandon underperforming lines, passenger trains that were bleeding cash and losing ridership, and legacy labor contracts that were better suited to the steam era.
It was an excursion pulled by Nickel Plate Road 759 from New York to Niagara Falls, N.Y., that had brought Tony Koester to the area in October 1968. The locomotive had been returned to service two months before by Ross Rowland’s High Iron Company to operate a series of trips that would set the stage for the 1969 Golden Spike Centennial Limited and then the 1976 American Freedom Train. The Berk was of particular interest to Tony, an Indiana native who grew up along NKP’s Third District in the twilight of steam. In 1966, he co-founded the Nickel Plate Historical & Technical Society, and also edited the society’s newsletter. He was also involved in helping 759 return to the rails.
ABOVE: Original Publisher Hal Carstens poses outside his company’s new headquarters in Newton, N.J., making the move from suburban Ramsey in 1973. —WRP Collection
At the same time, Jim Boyd was making a name for himself in the field of railroad publications, becoming a regular contributor to Railroad Model Craftsman with articles that focused on the diesel rosters of various Midwestern railroads that were of great interest to modelers. Koester had befriended Boyd as he helped develop content for the NKPHTS publication, and Boyd also had a few items published in Trains magazine. A native of Dixon, Ill., Boyd had attended the Layton School of Art in Milwaukee for photography and design, and had landed a job at a television station in Rockford. When he wasn’t busy with work, he was an active railfan, often with good friend Mike Schafer in tow. Acting on Mike’s lament at how few railfans there seemed to be in the area, together they came up with the idea to found what would become, in 1969, the North Western Illinois Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. It was also Boyd who encouraged Tony to approach Carstens with a revolutionary idea for a new magazine.
Editing the NKPHTS newsletter gave Tony a new appreciation of and enthusiasm for publishing, which led to the development of a proposed outline and even a mock-up of a new magazine that would cater specifically to railroad enthusiasts. The information delivered would be immediate and up to date, along with bold graphics and captivating photography. The name of this proposed new publication was obvious — Railfan.
ABOVE: A young railfan named Howard Pincus was tipped off by his friend Steve Bogen about a new magazine edited by Jim Boyd looking for contributors. Howard submitted several prints including this available-light night shot of a Penn Central RDC idling the night away at Danbury, Conn., on December 27, 1970. It became the first photo contribution to Railfan. —Howard Pincus photo
Following the 759 trip, Tony made his way to the Arch Street headquarters of Carstens Publications in Ramsey, N.J., and approached Hal about a great new “publishing opportunity” he wanted to discuss. In those days, not only was Hal running the entire publishing company out of the former telephone office building, he was also editor of RMC. Despite being so busy, he made time to meet. After thoughtfully listening to his presentation, Hal pulled an old folder from his desk that was also labeled “Railfan.”
Great minds think alike, except that Tony had not considered the most important aspect of the publishing business, which was advertising. Hal wanted to launch a railfan’s magazine, but didn’t feel there were enough advertising prospects to go toe-to-toe with Trains and Railroad in the late 1960s. Defeated, yet cordial, Tony thanked Hal for his time, and on his way out the door, asked him to keep the idea of Railfan in mind. “Keep me in mind, too, should you ever need any help with RMC,” he said, almost on a whim. Hal surprised him by saying he was looking for an associate editor with layout experience, and that he should submit a resume. Three months later, Tony and his family relocated to New Jersey and he joined the masthead in May 1969.
Once Tony established himself in the Carstens offices, he continued to call upon Jim Boyd to provide material to RMC, as he wanted to build up the magazine’s reputation as one that understood realistic scale models could only be built with a clear understanding of real railroading. Meanwhile, Jim had left the television station in 1968 to join Electro-Motive as a field instructor, accompanying deliveries of new diesels and reporting on their performance. Two years later, he marked up with Illinois Central as a brakeman.
ABOVE: Trains Editor David P. Morgan and Boyd have a discussion in Keysville, Va., in August 1993 during the National Railway Historical Society annual convention. —Steve Barry photos
When Carstens acquired Flying Models magazine, Tony suggested Jim as the perfect candidate for the job of editor in 1971. It turned out to be an excellent choice, as Jim could lay out articles, take photos, and also do some writing along with his editing. The bonus was working right next door to Tony, creating a direct pipeline for fresh railroad content for RMC.
By the early 1970s, Carstens had established itself as a publisher of growing hobby magazines, including RMC, FM, and Creative Crafts & Miniatures. In 1973, staff moved into a brand-new office building and warehouse built in Newton, N.J., and additional ad salesmen had come aboard to help with the growth in sales and circulation. A disruption in the paper industry sent Hal scrambling to secure enough stock to print his magazines, and at some point, he ended up with a surplus that had to be used in order to maintain a supply.
“Prepare to have your mind blown as it’s never been blown before,” Tony said as he entered Jim’s office and closed the door one morning in September 1974. In his hand was a photocopy of a draft for a new quarterly publication called Railfan. Hal hadn’t breathed a word of this to anyone in the office. Ad Manager Wayne Daniels had intercepted the proofs for the rate card, and tipped off Tony. Tony tipped off Jim, and they immediately set to work on the first issue. But who was going to be editor?
At the time, Tony had his hands full editing as well as handling the art direction and layout of RMC. Jim’s railfanning experience as well as his brief stint as an IC brakeman and a field man for EMD made him the obvious choice. Sure enough, buried in the proofs was a sample of the masthead listing Jim Boyd as managing editor. Railfan was about to get the highball!
The next two weeks were spent putting together drafts of possible stories and coming up with graphic design treatments. When Hal finally called Jim into his office one day, Jim tried to act surprised when he saw the color proof of the first cover featuring NKP 759 struggling up the hill at Devil’s Hole. Hal asked Jim, “What do you think?”
ABOVE: All staff members who worked for Railfan & Railroad in its first 25 years was together at Devil’s Hole, Pa., in September 1996 on a celebratory trip. From left to right are former Associate Editor Mike Del Vecchio, former Associate Editor Bruce Kelly, former Editor Jim Boyd, then-Publisher Hal Carstens, then-Associate Editor George Fletcher, former Associate Editor Chris Kimler, and then-Editor Steve Barry. —Steve Barry collection
Halfway through a brief discussion of the concepts of Railfan, Hal figured out Jim knew what was coming. They called Tony in so he could act surprised, and soon they were all laughing.
“Your shipping deadline is October 19, which means you’re already about three weeks late, so you better get at it.”
That first issue, dated Winter 1974, was built from material that was already in the RMC files, as well as additional content generated by Hal and Bob Mohowski (at the time a schoolteacher and a railfan and model railroader who worked part-time for RMC). Jim oversaw production, and Tony generated a lot of the initial graphic treatments and came up with the column names. The iconic early Railfan logo was drawn by Jim Boyd, based on updated Louisville & Nashville lettering diagrams for its new, modern logo appearing on new diesel orders. Once the new magazine hit the newsstands, the reaction was immediate and overwhelmingly positive. Not only did advertising support follow, but so did subscribers.
ABOVE: In a rare moment for the usually remote workers to meet, Editor Steve Barry, Managing Editor Otto Vondrak, and Associate Editor Justin Franz met up at the Center for Railroad Photography & Art’s 2023 Conversations conference at Lake Forest College. —Elrond Lawrence photo
The 1970s were tumultuous times, as many railroads were fighting for their survival in the face of shifting traffic patterns and increased fuel and labor costs. Strategic mergers were the only way for some companies to continue operation. For the railroads that were doing well, rapid modernization meant the closure of stations and towers, abandoning redundant branch lines, and new diesels and rolling stock replacing old.
As the nation prepared to celebrate its Bicentennial in the mid-1970s, there was a renewed interest in history and preservation. While so much vintage railroad equipment had been scrapped, a great deal more had been saved as railfans became more active and vocal. Several steam locomotives were returned to main line excursion service, which generated even more interest — and Railfan was there to record it all. According to a piece Jim Boyd wrote in November 1999, “We adopted a conservative style and focused on ‘railfan’ rather than ‘industry’ topics and points of view. The magazine would be friendly, and not talk down to the readership.”
