Railroad Model Craftsman
Encyclopedia
Railroad Model Craftsman is an American
magazine
specializing in the hobby of model railroading. Its first issue in March 1933 was called Model Craftsman because it covered other areas of scale modeling as well. In April 1949 it changed its focus to model trains and changed its name to reflect this change. While it can claim to be the oldest model railroading magazine in continuous publication in the United States, rival Model Railroader
counters with the tagline "Model railroading exclusively since 1934."
Published by Model Craftsman Publishing Corp., the company moved headquarters from Chicago to New York City in 1934. The company relocated to suburban Ramsey, New Jersey in 1942. In 1955 the company moved to an old telephone company building on Arch Street in Ramsey. In 1962, Hal Carstens was named publisher and continued to grow the company through the decade. The name of the publishing company was changed to Carstens Publications in 1969. The last big move came in 1973 when the publishing company moved to Newton in northern New Jersey.
The magazine is published by Carstens Publications, located in Newton, New Jersey
. The company also publishes Railfan and Railroad and Flying Models
magazines.
As its name would suggest, Railroad Model Craftsman concentrates more on scratch building
and kitbashing
than its closest competitor. Although the magazine is not scale-specific, most of its plans are published either in HO scale
or S scale
, with instructions on converting them to other scales. Almost all of the content in the magazine is generated by readers, with very few articles produced by the editors.
The staff of RMC consists of Bill Schaumburg, Editor, Chris D'Amato, Associate Editor, and Jim Ankrom, Associate Editor. All have been involved with producing RMC on a monthly basis for almost 30 years. Bill Schaumburg succeeded Tony Koester
as Editor in the early 1980s.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
specializing in the hobby of model railroading. Its first issue in March 1933 was called Model Craftsman because it covered other areas of scale modeling as well. In April 1949 it changed its focus to model trains and changed its name to reflect this change. While it can claim to be the oldest model railroading magazine in continuous publication in the United States, rival Model Railroader
Model Railroader
Model Railroader is an American magazine specializing in the hobby of model railroading. It was founded in 1934 by Al C. Kalmbach and is based in Waukesha, Wisconsin. It is published monthly by Kalmbach Publishing...
counters with the tagline "Model railroading exclusively since 1934."
Published by Model Craftsman Publishing Corp., the company moved headquarters from Chicago to New York City in 1934. The company relocated to suburban Ramsey, New Jersey in 1942. In 1955 the company moved to an old telephone company building on Arch Street in Ramsey. In 1962, Hal Carstens was named publisher and continued to grow the company through the decade. The name of the publishing company was changed to Carstens Publications in 1969. The last big move came in 1973 when the publishing company moved to Newton in northern New Jersey.
The magazine is published by Carstens Publications, located in Newton, New Jersey
Newton, New Jersey
Newton is a town in Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the town population was 8,244. It is the county seat of Sussex County....
. The company also publishes Railfan and Railroad and Flying Models
Flying Aces (magazine)
Flying Aces was one of a number of so-called "flying pulp" magazines, popular during the 1920s and 1930s. Like other pulp magazines, it was originally printed on coarse, pulpy paper, but later moved to a "slick" format. The magazine was launched in October 1928 by Periodical House, Inc...
magazines.
As its name would suggest, Railroad Model Craftsman concentrates more on scratch building
Scratch building
Scratch building is the process of building a scale model "from scratch", ie. from raw materials, rather than building it from a commercial kit, kitbashing or buying it pre-assembled....
and kitbashing
Kitbashing
Kitbashing or model bashing is a practice whereby a new scale model is created by taking pieces out of commercial kits. These pieces may be added to a custom project or to another kit. For professional modelmakers, kitbashing is popular to create concept models for detailing movie special effects...
than its closest competitor. Although the magazine is not scale-specific, most of its plans are published either in HO scale
HO scale
HO or H0 is the most popular scale of model railway in the world.According to the NMRA standard S-1.2 predominantly used in North America, in HO scale, represents 1 real foot ; this ratio works out to about 1:87.1. According to the MOROP standard NEM 010 predominantly used in Europe, the scale is...
or S scale
S scale
S Scale is a model railroad scale modeled at 1:64 scale, S scale track gauge is . S gauge trains are manufactured in both DC and AC powered varieties...
, with instructions on converting them to other scales. Almost all of the content in the magazine is generated by readers, with very few articles produced by the editors.
The staff of RMC consists of Bill Schaumburg, Editor, Chris D'Amato, Associate Editor, and Jim Ankrom, Associate Editor. All have been involved with producing RMC on a monthly basis for almost 30 years. Bill Schaumburg succeeded Tony Koester
Tony Koester
J. Anthony Koester, more commonly known as Tony Koester, is a well known member of the United States model railroading community. Koester popularlized the idea of proto-freelancing with his HO scale model railroad layout, the Allegheny Midland , along with his friend Allen McClelland's Virginian &...
as Editor in the early 1980s.