S Gaugian Magazine to end Publication

It sounds like a good opportunity for someone, perhaps White River Productions that now publishes Railfan among others.

I was wondering when this was going to happen.  None of us are getting any younger.

Regardless of people's opinions about the magazine, the S Gaugian has survived all the up and downs of S Gauge/Scale over the past 30+ years (that I have been in S) where others have tried and failed.

Are we to assume Scenery Unlimited will also be shutting down?

Best of luck to Don in retirement.

Rusty

This will be a great loss for the hobby. I wish Don well in retirement.

I've enjoyed his books about AC Gilbert and the company he founded, although I've never owned anything S gauge. Here's a not terribly important question but I'm curious. Intelius lists Don as 72 years old.  If that's correct, he started the magazine at age 15? 

Thanks to Don and his family/staff for their contributions and wishing him a healthy and long, enjoyable retirement.

Landsteiner posted:

I've enjoyed his books about AC Gilbert and the company he founded, although I've never owned anything S gauge. Here's a not terribly important question but I'm curious. Intelius lists Don as 72 years old.  If that's correct, he started the magazine at age 15? 

Thanks to Don and his family/staff for their contributions and wishing him a healthy and long, enjoyable retirement.

As I vaguely recall, (someone can correct me) Don started the S Gaugian as a mimeographed newsletter for a club in Tolono, Illinois when he was a teenager.

Rusty

I am not an S gauge hobbyist. Truth be told, S probably is the only major model railroading scale I have not been involved with, even though I consider it as something of an "ideal" modeling scale. That said, I really am sorry to see that magazine go. I do read it when I can get my hands on it because I believe ALL of our hobby publications, regardless of selected scale of coverage, provide very useful information. Don has done a great job with that magazine and his other publishing activities over a good many years, and I wish him nothing but the very best in his retirement. Like others here, I also hope that some other entity will pick up the baton and continue the fine publication Don created.

I guess I also am not surprised but it is sad in a way. Nobody is getting younger and I suspect they were seeing diminishing subscription numbers like most magazines. I know Don has done articles on how he started it all. I believe Rusty was right it was a newsletter started when he was a teen. I think he did show some examples in the magazine.

I do know I've been getting more Scenery Unlimited emails lately and it looks like Don is getting rid of at least some of his collection.

I wish him all the best in retirement.

End of line ! No publication, no new stuff available - so why S ? Sad.....

Neither of the alternatives is very complete and NASG is not worth the money for me.  I dropped them years ago.

If S scale modeling is to survive, we ought put away differences between toy/high-rail/prototypical scale and farm/train camps to figure out how best to cooperate and encourage manufacturers to continue to provide products in the scale we all share.

Don Heimburger, Ron Bashista, Don Thompson, Mike Ferraro, and Ron Sebastian have all kept S scale railroading afloat for a number of years; but those years do pile up. Maybe someone might develop a "1/64 scale" publication that combines S, Sn3, cars, trucks, and agricultural equipment to address a much larger market than any of the individual segments alone. 

Roundhouse Bill posted:

Neither of the alternatives is very complete and NASG is not worth the money for me.  I dropped them years ago.

You might wish give the NASG another try, Bill. The NASG publication, The Dispatch, has improved considerably in the last year or so. The NASG is composed of a large number of local clubs which, in turn, host annual conventions. The recent convention in Cincinnati was an enjoyable  success. There are not too many alternatives for the strictly-S community.

Have fun.

Bob

I agree with Bob.  The NASG Dispatch is really excellent under the direction of its new editor, Bill Pyper.  If you have any interest in 1/64th modeling, or American Flyer toy trains, it is mandatory reading!

Best wishes to Don Heimburger on his retirement.  I hope we will see him for many years at S gauge events!

Kirk Lindvig, USA Track LLC

I think all subscription based magazines are feeling the strain. Especially with the advent of the “free” publications such as S Scale Resource and Model Railroad Hobbyist. Those are my 2 favorite magazines. Dan Dawdy runs the SSR as well as the O Scale Resource and the Indy O and S show.  He is always looking for articles and contributors. And as was mentioned above is looking to broaden the appeal by reaching out to modelers in the farm community.

I will tell you that 1/3 to 1/2 of our  ~1600 members on the S Scale Facebook page are farming enthusiasts that are looking to broaden out to include railroading. 

tncentrr posted:

It sounds like a good opportunity for someone, perhaps White River Productions that now publishes Railfan among others.

I wouldn't be shocked to find this out, as they bought the other O scale magazine after it 'went under'.

Allan (as usual) makes an excellent point, in that there's always something to learn from any hobby magazines, even if you don't model in that scale. Heck, I often buy the HOn3 Annuals from White River as a lot of their info is transferrable to On30 (or any other scale/gauge).

I am not an S scale person by any means but I have to agree with the comments above. I have been an NASG MEMBER now for a number of years and I see the Dispatch as a good resource. I had subscribed to Don's magazine also but in the last few years I had let that subscription lapse, a good source but I didn't utilize it enough.

Ray

p51 posted:

tncentrr posted:

It sounds like a good opportunity for someone, perhaps White River Productions that now publishes Railfan among others.

I wouldn't be shocked to find this out, as they bought the other O scale magazine after it 'went under'.

 

Does White River have anyone versed in S that would be willing to take the helm?  White River (or anyone else for that matter) certainly wouldn't buy the magazine just to preserve the title. 

The NASG Dispatch and S Scale Resource are always begging for folks to supply content.  Without content, any reboot would be doomed to failure.  I'm sure Don had to scrape around occasionally for content to fill the Gaugian.  Then of course, there would be the complaints of "too much Flyer" or "too much Scale" to deal with.

Rusty

Rusty Traque posted:

p51 posted:

tncentrr posted:

It sounds like a good opportunity for someone, perhaps White River Productions that now publishes Railfan among others.

I wouldn't be shocked to find this out, as they bought the other O scale magazine after it 'went under'.

 

Does White River have anyone versed in S that would be willing to take the helm?  White River (or anyone else for that matter) certainly wouldn't buy the magazine just to preserve the title. 

The NASG Dispatch and S Scale Resource are always begging for folks to supply content.  Without content, any reboot would be doomed to failure.  I'm sure Don had to scrape around occasionally for content to fill the Gaugian.  Then of course, there would be the complaints of "too much Flyer" or "too much Scale" to deal with.

Rusty

Could not have said it better!

Ray

I just called Don and we discussed some of this.  The issue coming out soon will have a lot of information on his plans for Heimburger House Publications (His book business), Scenery Unlimited, and the S Gaugian.  He will be opening up his 7000 Sq/Ft building/warehouse in Forest Park Illinois to sell the books, trains, office equipment, ETC. He plans to continue, in a limited way, Scenery Unlimited.  He would sell the magazine and its resources if someone wanted to continue the publication.  

Look for the September/October issue for complete information.

The TCA magazine has had some nice Flyer articles lately. Although I've been mainly into O, I have a small post-war (link coupler) Flyer layout. I LOVE Flyer steam engines with the whitewall driving wheels and the choo-choo.