Railfan & Railroad
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| Editor | E. Steven Barry |
|---|---|
| Categories | Rail transport |
| Frequency | monthly |
| Year founded | 1974 (including Railroad Magazine, 1906) |
| Company | White River Productions |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Website | www |
| ISSN | 0163-7266 |
Railfan & Railroad is an American monthly magazine that has been in publication since the 1970s. It was the first magazine title created in-house by Carstens Publications. As a magazine dedicated to trains and rail transportation, it stands out from its main competitor Trains as a publication focused on the enthusiast and related activities. Established in 1974 as Railfan magazine (ISSN 0098-0714), it merged in 1979 with Railroad magazine, which Carstens purchased at that time. The magazine was renamed Railfan & Railroad, but the two former titles were listed separately on the masthead until 2015. The magazine was acquired by White River Productions in September 2014. The magazine is produced monthly, edited by Steve Barry.
As early as 1968, future Railroad Model Craftsman editor Tony Koester visited publisher Harold Carstens to pitch an idea for a "railfan's" magazine, at the insistence of his friend Jim Boyd (who was at the time an occasional contributor to RMC). At the time, Carstens cited the lack of potential advertisers and stiff competition from the long-established Trains and Railroad magazines as a reason for not starting the new publication. As a result of that initial meeting, Carstens did make an offer to Koester to join the staff of RMC.
By 1971, Jim Boyd had joined Carstens Publications to work on sister publication Flying Models, and Koester was editor of Railroad Model Craftsman. In the fall of 1974, publisher Hal Carstens had a change of heart given the popular rise of the railroad enthusiast movement, and the increased potential for advertising revenue. He tipped off Boyd and Koester that he intended to produce a quarterly publication, starting with a Winter 1974 issue. The new publication would be known simply as Railfan as an indicator of its intended target market. Within a matter of weeks, Boyd and Koester had produced the first issue of the new magazine.
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