Al C. Kalmbach

Al C. Kalmbach (1910–1981) was the founder of Kalmbach Publishing, a publisher of magazines and books geared towards enthusiasts of several different hobbies.

Albert Carpenter Kalmbach was born in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. He grew up in Milwaukee, not far from the shops of the Milwaukee Road.

He was ambitious from an early age. At 12 he spent some of his savings to buy a small hand operated printing press. He would publish the Milwaukee Sun, a neighbourhood paper, until he enrolled in Marquette University. In 1932, after graduation, he had a job offer working on the Pennsylvania Railroad's electrification project, but the job fell through due to the Depression. He started a new printing company, The Milwaukee Commercial Press, which specialized in church newspapers, besides commercial job printing.

His interest in railroads began during his early life in Sturgeon Bay. The rail line that served his relative's business (Fidler-Skilling Fuel & Dock) was the Ahnapee and Western Railway. His interest in model railroads came from helping his friend Frank Zeidler (later mayor of Milwaukee) with electrical problems on the O Scale layout Zeidler was building. Al was hooked and began construction in 1928 of his own layout, the Great Gulch, Yahoo Valley & Northern, in his parent's attic. In the winter of 1932-33 he helped to organize the Model Railroad Club of Milwaukee.

Kalmbach, seeing the interest people had in the operating O Scale layouts at the 1933 Chicago Century of Progress Exhibition, turned to one of his lifelong loves — railroads — for the topic of his first magazine. The Model Railroader began publication in the summer of 1933, the first issue dated January 1934. A press release announcing the magazine appeared in August 1933, but did not receive much interest. The bank refused to loan Kalmbach any money, many felt sorry for him, and a few told him he was crazy.

His first wife, Bernice, herself a journalist, encouraged and helped Al put "The Model Railroader" together. They figured it would be a sideline business from their commercial printing operations. Soon they were devoted seven days a week to the venture.

The magazine was well received by model railroaders, and the young publisher carried the entire press run (272 copies) by streetcar to be mailed. By July paid circulation exceeded a thousand copies. Growth continued, but the magazine was not a big success. The Model Railroader became profitable after three years. It took Kalmbach seven years to pay off the loans used to launch the magazine.

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