''Pacific RailNews'' ''(PRN)'', originally named ''Pacific News'' and later ''RailNews'', was an American monthly magazine about

railroads Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

and

rail transit Urban rail transit is an all-encompassing term for various types of local rail systems providing passenger service within and around urban or suburban areas. The set of urban rail systems can be roughly subdivided into the following categories, ...

, oriented for

railfan A railfan, rail buff or train buff (American English), railway enthusiast, railway buff or trainspotter (Australian/British English), or ferroequinologist is a person who is recreationally interested in trains and rail transport systems. Rail ...

s. It was published from 1961 until 1999. Although its coverage primarily concerned the

western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

and

western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada� ...

, the magazine included less-detailed news on railroads and rail-transit from non-western states, as well as

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

History

Founded in 1961 as ''Pacific News'' (ISSN 0030-879X), by the

Pacific Locomotive Association The Pacific Locomotive Association, Inc. (PLA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of the physical aspects and atmosphere of Pacific Coast railroading during the period from 1910 to 1960. The Pacific Locomotive Association ...

, from its inception the magazine was originally published monthly by Chatham Publishing Company (of Burlingame, California), Karl R. Koenig, editor and publisher. Issue number 1 was published in September 1961.''Pacific RailNews'' issue 300, November 1988, p. 3. By the third issue the magazine was independent and not produced by the Association. ''Pacific News'' was originally printed on uncoated paper, but

coated paper Coated paper (also known as enamel paper, gloss paper, and thin paper) is paper that has been coated by a mixture of materials or a polymer to impart certain qualities to the paper, including weight, surface gloss, smoothness, or reduced ink absor ...

was used starting with issue 32. The magazine was acquired by

Interurban Press Interurban Press was a small, privately owned American publishing company, specializing in books about streetcars, other forms of rail transit and railroads in North America, from 1943MacDougall, Kent (May 19, 1983). "Books Ring Bell With Devotees ...

in 1983, and the October 1983 issue was the first under the new publisher. Publication was then bimonthly for a time, but returned to being monthly in December 1984. Starting with the October 1984 issue, the name was changed to ''Pacific RailNews'' (also informally written ''Pacific Rail News'') (ISSN 8750-8486), so as to more clearly indicate its subject area to anyone not yet familiar with the magazine. As of 1992, when Interurban Press was publishing the magazine, ''PRN'' had a circulation of about 10,000 and subscribers all over the world. In 1993, Mac Sebree, publisher of ''PRN'' and owner of Interurban Press, retired and sold the entire business to

Pentrex Pentrex Media Group, LLC, is an American producer and seller of railfan-related videos and DVDs. It was founded in 1984 and was originally headquartered in Pasadena, California, Pasadena, California.

.Ryll, Thomas (November 29, 1994). "Felida man tracks light rail" (profile of former ''PRN'' publisher Mac Sebree). ''

The Columbian ''The Columbian'' is a daily newspaper serving the Vancouver, Washington, and Clark County, Washington area. The paper was published for its first decade (1890–1900) as a four-page daily that was meant as a counterweight to the local Republic ...

'', p. A3. Pentrex took over both ''PRN'' and ''

Passenger Train Journal ''Passenger Train Journal'' ''(PTJ)'' is an American magazine about passenger rail transport and rail transit past and present, oriented for railfans and rail passenger advocates and published currently by White River Productions. Founded in 1968, ...

(PTJ)'' from Interurban Press, but discontinued ''PTJ'' in late 1996. The geographic coverage of ''Pacific RailNews'' was expanded to include all major U.S. railroads, rather than just those in the

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

and

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

, and effective January 1997 the magazine's name became ''RailNews'' (ISSN 1091-2436). Pentrex eventually decided to discontinue publication of all of its magazines, and the final issue of ''RailNews'' was that dated August 1999.

Format

Each issue of ''PRN'' had feature articles and several pages of news. Under Interurban Press, the news coverage was separated by railroad company (e.g.,

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...

Southern Pacific The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

), with a regular

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (newspaper), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the fo ...

for each, but at the front of each issue there was also a general news section for national, miscellaneous or last-minute news. A "Short Lines"

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

covered the

short-line railroad :''Short Line is also one of the four railroads in the American version of the popular board game Monopoly, named after the Shore Fast Line, an interurban streetcar line.'' A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that opera ...

s. Until 1989, coverage of urban rail

transit Transit may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Transit'' (1979 film), a 1979 Israeli film * ''Transit'' (2005 film), a film produced by MTV and Staying-Alive about four people in countries in the world * ''Transit'' (2006 film), a 2006 ...

was also presented in the form of regular locally compiled news columns covering the then-few light rail systems in the

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

states, supplemented at the back of the magazine by a separate one-page column (by publisher Mac Sebree) giving briefer rail-transit news on the rest of the country; the latter was called "Interurbans Newsletter" in tribute to a previous newsletter which had given birth to

, ''PRNs publisher. In fall 1989, the individual columns on west coast light rail systems and the "Interurbans" column were combined into a single, smaller news section for rail transit, and other sections of the magazine were also reorganized at that time. The magazine was expanded from 48 pages to 56 pages in January 1990.

's acquisition of ''PRN'' in 1993 eventually led to other format changes. Starting in January 1995, most issues had 82 pages, and the word "Pacific" was made much smaller than the words "RailNews" on the cover.''Pacific RailNews'', January 1995. "Pacific" was dropped altogether from the magazine's name in 1997, as coverage was expanded to include the

Eastern U.S. The Eastern United States, commonly referred to as the American East, Eastern America, or simply the East, is the region of the United States to the east of the Mississippi River. In some cases the term may refer to a smaller area or the East ...

Along with the magazine's size, the proportion of photos and maps published in color also had been increasing, and by 1997 the only

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

images in the magazine were the occasional historical photo that had been shot on black-and-white film originally.

References

{{Reflist Bimonthly magazines published in the United States Monthly magazines published in the United States Rail transport magazines published in the United States Defunct magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1961 Magazines disestablished in 1999 Magazines published in California

History

Format

See also

References