The Railway Magazine

"The Railway Magazine" is a monthly British railway magazine, aimed at the railway enthusiast market, that has been published in London since July 1897. As of 2008 it is the railway magazine with the largest circulation in the U.K. with a monthly average sale during the preceding year of 34,661. [cite journal|author=Pigott, Nick|title=The best-selling railway title in Great Britain|journal=Railway Magazine|volume=154|issue=1284|month=April | year=2008|pages=3] It is now published by IPC Media, with ISSN 0033-8922. It has no connection with John Herapath's 1835 title of the same name.

History

"The Railway Magazine" was launched by (Sir) Joseph Lawrence and ex-railwayman Frank E. Cornwall of Railway Publishing Ltd who discerned an amateur enthusiast readership for some of the material they were then publishing in a railway staff magazine, the "Railway Herald". They appointed as its first editor a former auctioneer, George Augustus Nokes (1867-1948), who wrote under the pseudonym "G.A. Sekon". He quickly built the magazine circulation to around 25,000. From the start it was produced in Linotype on good quality paper and well illustrated with photographic halftone and occasional colour lithographic plates.

In 1910, following a dispute with the proprietors, Nokes resigned and started a rival, and very similar, magazine, "Railway and Travel Monthly". Both this and "The Railway Magazine" in 1916 were purchased by John Aiton Kay (1883-1949), proprietor of the "Railway Gazette" and Nokes's title was renamed "Transport and Travel Monthly" in 1920 before being amalgamated with "The Railway Magazine" from January 1923. Apart from this episode, "The Railway Magazine" had no serious commercial rival in its field until the 1940s. Kay himself served as editor after his predecessor had left for service in World War II. For many years the magazine shared editorial direction with the "Railway Gazette", and for periods had officially no editor of its own. From May 1942 to the end of 1949 paper shortages compelled bimonthly publication.

The magazine claims a record for the longest unbrokenly-published series, begun under the title "British locomotive practice and performance" in 1901. [cite journal|author=Semmens, Peter|title=Practice & Performance: the story of the longest running railway series in the world|journal=Railway Magazine|volume=143|issue=1155|pages=77–80|month=July | year=1997The September 1930 column was 'pulled' by the editor as being too critical of Nigel Gresley's LNER locomotives – Semmens, "A Century of Railways" p.13.] Its first writer was the New Zealand-born Charles Rous-Marten (1844-1908). One of those who shared authorship of the series after his death was the Great Eastern Railway engineer Cecil J. Allen (1886-1973) who became sole author from 1911 until succeeded by O. S. Nock in 1958. From 1981 to 2004 the series was written by Peter W.B. Semmens (1927-2007), who also served as Chief correspondent from 1990, notably reporting on the Channel Tunnel construction. [cite journal|title=Obituary: Chief correspondent Peter Semmens|journal=Railway Magazine|volume=153|issue=1273|month=May | year=2007|pages=12] Authorship of the series, now called just "Practice & performance", has subsequently been shared by Keith Farr and John Heaton.

The editor originated a series of "Illustrated Interviews" with senior railway officials, the first being Joseph Wilkinson, general manager of the Great Western Railway. Other contributors of features in earlier days included Rev. W.J. Scott, Rev. Victor L. Whitechurch (1868-1933), Charles H. Grinling, railwayman H.L. Hopwood (1881-1927), and the much-travelled T.R. Perkins (1872-1952). Harold Fayle contributed on Irish railways (for many years it was traditional for the May issue to have a strong Irish content, with the January one having a Scottish slant). A notable series by the locomotive engineer E. L. Ahrons on "Locomotive and train working in the latter part of the nineteenth century" was published between 1915 and 1926 (and much later collected in book format). A very small amount of fiction was included in the magazine’s earliest days. [cite book|author=Nock, O.S.|title=Railway Archaeology|publisher=Patrick Stephens Ltd|location=Cambridge|year=1981|pages=168-9|isbn=0-85059-451-0] Another feature which has persisted since the early days has been answers to readers' questions, under the title "The why & the wherefore".

Notable photographic contributors of the Interwar period included Maurice W. Earley (1900-82), W. Leslie Good, Frank R. Hebron (d.1980), F.E. Mackay, O.J. Morris (1902-61) (who produced the first colour photograph published in the magazine, in 1938) and H. Gordon Tidey. The cover design, incorporating a photograph, remained substantially unchanged from the early 1900s to the mid 1950s; colour was first introduced there in 1963. In common with most similar magazines, the pictorial content is today largely in colour.

In earliest days current news paragraphs were placed at the back of the magazine under the headings "What the railways are doing" and "Pertinent paragraphs"; from 1987 news was moved to the front. The magazine has also over the years steadily extended its detailed coverage of locomotive and rolling stock movements. It now covers current British railway news, modern traction, some history, heritage railways and general and international railway topics.

Editors

† "died in office"‡ "nominally Deputy Editor"

References

Bibliography

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External links

* [http://www.ipcmedia.com/brands/railway/ Official website]