Garden Railways
Encyclopedia
Since 1984, Garden Railways magazine has been the world's largest circulation magazine about the hobby of running large-scale trains outdoors, also called garden railroading. Each issue features hobby news, product reviews, how-to articles, featured railroads, and much more.
The first issues of Garden Railways were published in black and white. Text was generated on a typewriter. In 1985, a primitive IBM computer and a daisy-wheel printer were acquired, which allowed text to be printed out in justified columns. These columns, printed out in strips, were then pasted up by hand in the old-fashion way.
Petria MacDonnell joined GR's staff at the beginning of 1986 as the magazine's first gardening editor, later succeeded by Chip Rosenblum, Barbara Abler, and Don Parker. There were other familiar names in the early pages of the magazine, like Peter Jones, who had a column in every single issue of Garden Railways until his death in 2009.
The magazine continued to grow, becoming an international publication with contributors from all over the world. In August 1985, Garden Railways, along with the Denver Garden Railway Society, sponsored the first ever Garden Railway Convention, in Denver, Colorado.
The May–June 1986 issue of GR was the first that appeared with the popular arched title on the cover, which became a trademark of the magazine. With the November–December 1986 issue, Garden Railways appeared with its first full-color cover. After that, color was gradually incorporated into the inside of the magazine, too.
Under Kalmbach's ownership, the magazine has continued to grow and evolve, expanding greatly in both circulation and page count. It continues to be the biggest, most comprehensive, and most widely read magazine of its kind in the world today. Its authors come from all parts of the globe and all walks of life, bringing to the magazine color, diversity, and garden railroading in all of its many manifestations.
History
Garden Railways magazine began publication in 1984 by Sidestreet Bannerworks. The magazine evolved from the company's newsletter, the Sidestreet Banner, which dealt primarily with the small scale live-steam locomotives that the company was importing at that time. Marc Horovitz was the Editor and Barbara Horovitz the Horticultural Editor.The first issues of Garden Railways were published in black and white. Text was generated on a typewriter. In 1985, a primitive IBM computer and a daisy-wheel printer were acquired, which allowed text to be printed out in justified columns. These columns, printed out in strips, were then pasted up by hand in the old-fashion way.
Petria MacDonnell joined GR's staff at the beginning of 1986 as the magazine's first gardening editor, later succeeded by Chip Rosenblum, Barbara Abler, and Don Parker. There were other familiar names in the early pages of the magazine, like Peter Jones, who had a column in every single issue of Garden Railways until his death in 2009.
The magazine continued to grow, becoming an international publication with contributors from all over the world. In August 1985, Garden Railways, along with the Denver Garden Railway Society, sponsored the first ever Garden Railway Convention, in Denver, Colorado.
The May–June 1986 issue of GR was the first that appeared with the popular arched title on the cover, which became a trademark of the magazine. With the November–December 1986 issue, Garden Railways appeared with its first full-color cover. After that, color was gradually incorporated into the inside of the magazine, too.
Changing ownership
In 1996, Garden Railways was sold to Kalmbach Publishing Co. in Wisconsin. Marc remained as editor of the magazine while Barb, the magazine's former Horticultural Editor, retired the following year to pursue other interests. She was succeeded by Pat Hayward in 1997, who was subsequently succeeded by Nancy Norris in 2008. Rene Schweitzer, the magazine's production editor, joined the staff in 1998.Under Kalmbach's ownership, the magazine has continued to grow and evolve, expanding greatly in both circulation and page count. It continues to be the biggest, most comprehensive, and most widely read magazine of its kind in the world today. Its authors come from all parts of the globe and all walks of life, bringing to the magazine color, diversity, and garden railroading in all of its many manifestations.