Kalmbach Media

Last updated
Kalmbach Media
Kalmbach logo.png
Founded1934
Founder Al C. Kalmbach
Defunct2024
Headquarters location Waukesha, Wisconsin, United States
Key peopleCharles R. Croft
Publication typesBooks, magazines
Nonfiction topicsHobbies, trains, crafts, model railroading, autos, drones, astronomy, snowmobiles.
Revenuesubscscriptions
No. of employees275 [1]
Official website www.kalmbach.com

Kalmbach Media (formerly Kalmbach Publishing Co.) was an American publisher of books and magazines, many of them railroad-related, located in Waukesha, Wisconsin. [2]

Contents

History

The company's first publication was The Model Railroader, which began publication in the summer of 1933 with a cover date of January 1934. A press release announcing the magazine appeared in August 1933, but did not receive much interest.

In 1940, business was good enough for Kalmbach to launch another magazine about railroads in general with the simple title of Trains Magazine . From its first issue dated November 1940, it grew quickly from an initial circulation of just over 5,000.

Kalmbach became exclusively a publisher when it discontinued its printing operations in 1973, opting to contract production from other printers. [3]

In 1985, Kalmbach purchased AstroMedia Corporation, adding its four magazines: Astronomy , Deep Sky, the children's science magazine Odyssey and Telescope Making. [4] [5]

Kalmbach began publishing its annual Great Model Railroads in November 1990. [6]

In 1991, Kalmbach purchased Greenberg Publishing of Sykesville, Maryland. Also included in the purchase was Greenberg Shows, which sponsored nearly two dozen combined model railroad and doll house shows on the East Coast. [7] Intending to focus on the adult hobby and leisure market, Kalmbach sold the publication rights of the children's science magazine Odyssey to Cobblestone Publishing of Peterborough, New Hampshire in September 1991. [8]

In January 1992, Kalmbach began publishing Earth magazine. [9] [10]

Kalmbach purchased Discover Media, publisher of the science magazine Discover, in August 2010. [11]

Gerald B. Boettcher, the company's president, retired in June 2012. [12] Charles R. Croft became the new president. [13]

In 2016 Kalmbach acquired Rather Dashing Games, a board game company based near Lexington, Kentucky. [14] In 2018 the company sold the board game company to Loren and Heather Coleman, owners of game publisher Catalyst Game Labs. [15] According to the Rather Dashing Games website, the company is now a division of Catalyst Game Labs. [16]

In 2017 the company hired digital media veteran Dan Hickey as its sixth chief executive officer. [17] Hickey was the first Kalmbach leader hired from outside the company in its 84-year history. The company was renamed Kalmbach Media in 2018. [18]

Sale to Firecrown

On May 1, 2024, Kalmbach Media announced the sale of several titles to Firecrown Media, including Trains, Model Railroader, Classic Toy Trains, Classic Trains, Garden Railways, and the trains.com web site. [19] Also included in the sale is Astronomy magazine, FineScale Modeler, the Kalmbach Books division, and related e-commerce sites. The sale left Kalmbach with Discover magazine as its sole remaining publication (now sold to LabX Media Group).

Magazines

The company also produces some annual publications.

In addition, it publishes numerous books, including the Tourist Trains Guidebook. An illustrated compendium of more than 450 tourist railroads, dinner trains, and rail museums in the U.S. and Canada, the 300-page guidebook's 2009 edition provides reviews by Trains magazine staff and contributors. [21] It was the original publisher of Jim Scribbins' The Hiawatha Story in 1970.

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Discover</i> (magazine) American general audience science magazine

Discover is an American general audience science magazine launched in October 1980 by Time Inc. It has been owned by Kalmbach Media since 2010.

<i>Model Railroader</i> American rail transport magazine

Model Railroader (MR) is an American magazine about the hobby of model railroading. Founded in 1934 by Al C. Kalmbach, it is published monthly by Firecrown Media of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Commonly found on newsstands and in libraries, it promotes itself as the oldest magazine of its type in the United States, although it is the long-standing competitor to Railroad Model Craftsman, which - originally named The Model Craftsman - predates MR by one year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GE U25B</span> GE U25B 2,500 hp diesel electric locomotive

The GE U25B is General Electric's first independent entry into the United States domestic road switcher diesel-electric locomotive railroad market for heavy production road locomotives since 1936. From 1940 through 1953, GE participated in a design, production, and marketing consortium (Alco-GE) for diesel-electric locomotives with the American Locomotive Company. In 1956 the GE Universal Series of diesel locomotives was founded for the export market. The U25B was the first attempt at the domestic market since its termination of the consortium agreement with Alco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EMD E6</span> American diesel-passenger locomotive

The EMD E6 was a 2,000-horsepower (1,500 kW), A1A-A1A, streamlined passenger train locomotive manufactured by Electro-Motive Corporation, and its corporate successor, General Motors Electro-Motive Division, of La Grange, Illinois. The cab version, E6A, was manufactured from November 1939 to September 1942; 91 were produced. The booster version, E6B, was manufactured from April 1940 to February 1942; 26 were produced. The 2,000-horsepower (1,500 kW) was achieved by putting two 1,000-horsepower (750 kW), 12-cylinder, model 567 engines in the engine compartment. Each engine drove its own electrical generator to power the traction motors. The E6 was the seventh model in a long line of passenger diesels of similar design known as EMD E-units.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EMD E7</span>


The E7 was a 2,000-horsepower (1,500 kW), A1A-A1A passenger train locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois. 428 cab versions, or E7As, were built from February 1945 to April 1949; 82 booster E7Bs were built from March 1945 to July 1948. The 2,000 hp came from two 12 cylinder model 567A engines. Each engine drove its own electrical generator to power the two traction motors on one truck. The E7 was the eighth model in a line of passenger diesels of similar design known as EMD E-units, and it became the best selling E model upon its introduction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EMC E4</span>

The EMC E4 was a 2,000 horsepower (1,500 kW), A1A-A1A passenger train-hauling diesel locomotive built by the Electro-Motive Corporation of La Grange, Illinois. All were built for the Seaboard Air Line Railway. The E4 was the fifth model in a long line of passenger diesels of similar design known as EMD E-units.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EMC E3</span> American diesel-passenger locomotive

The EMC E3 is a 2,000 horsepower (1,500 kW), A1A-A1A passenger train locomotive that was manufactured by Electro-Motive Corporation of La Grange, Illinois. The EMC demonstrator #822 was released from La Grange for test on September 12, 1938. The cab version, or E3A, was manufactured from September 1938 to June 1940, and 17 were produced. The booster version, or E3B, was manufactured in March 1939 and September 1939, and 2 were produced. The 2,000 hp (1,500 kW) was achieved by putting two 1,000 horsepower (750 kW), 12-cylinder, model 567 engines in the engine compartment. Each engine drove its own electrical generator to power the traction motors. The E3 was the fourth model in a long line of passenger diesels of similar design known as EMD E-units.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EMD E8</span> Model of 2250 hp American passenger cab locomotive

The EMD E8 is a 2,250-horsepower (1,678 kW), A1A-A1A passenger-train locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division (EMD) of La Grange, Illinois. A total of 450 cab versions, or E8As, were built from August 1949 to January 1954, 447 for the U.S. and 3 for Canada. 46 E8Bs were built from December 1949 to January 1954, all for the U.S. The 2,250 hp came from two 12 cylinder model 567B engines, each driving a generator to power the two traction motors on one truck. The E8 was the ninth model in the line of passenger diesels of similar design known as EMD E-units. Starting in September 1953, a total of 21 E8As were built which used either the 567BC or 567C engines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bay Line Railroad</span> Class III railroad in Southeastern United States

The Bay Line Railroad is one of several short line railroad companies owned by Genesee & Wyoming Inc. It operates between Panama City, Florida, and Dothan, Alabama, including a branch from Grimes to Abbeville, Alabama, reached via trackage rights on CSX's Dothan Subdivision between Dothan and Grimes. The line interchanges with CSX at Cottondale, Florida and Dothan, Alabama, and with the Hilton & Albany Railroad at Hilton, Georgia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EMD E9</span> Model of 2400 hp American passenger cab locomotive

The E9 is a 2,400-horsepower (1,790 kW), A1A-A1A passenger train-hauling diesel locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois, between April 1954 and January 1964. 100 cab-equipped A units were produced and 44 cabless booster B units, all for service in the United States. The E9 was the tenth and last model of EMD E-unit and differed from the earlier E8 as built only by the newer engines and a different, flusher-fitting mounting for the headlight glass, the latter being the only visible difference. Since some E8s were fitted with this, it is not a reliable way to distinguish the two. The E9 has two 1,200 hp (895 kW), V12 model 567C engines, each engine driving one generator to power two traction motors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EMD F7</span> Model of 1500 hp North American cab diesel locomotive

The EMD F7 is a model of 1,500-horsepower (1,100 kW) diesel-electric locomotive produced between February 1949 and December 1953 by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors (EMD) and General Motors Diesel (GMD).

<i>Trains</i> (magazine) Magazine dedicated to trains and railroads

Trains is a monthly magazine about trains and railroads aimed at railroad enthusiasts and railroad industry employees. The magazine primarily covers railroad happenings in the United States and Canada, but has some articles on railroading elsewhere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EMD GP38</span> Model of 706 North American diesel-electric locomotive

The EMD GP38 is a four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between January 1966 and December 1971. The locomotive's prime mover was an EMD 645 16-cylinder engine that generated 2,000 horsepower (1.49 MW). The company built 706 GP38s for North American railroads.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EMD GP39</span>

The EMD GP39 is a 4-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between June 1969 and July 1970. The GP39 was a derivative of the GP38 equipped with a turbocharged EMD 645E3 12-cylinder engine which generated 2,300 hp (1.72 MW).

<i>Astronomy</i> (magazine) American monthly magazine

Astronomy is a monthly American magazine about astronomy. Targeting amateur astronomers, it contains columns on sky viewing, reader-submitted astrophotographs, and articles on astronomy and astrophysics for general readers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al C. Kalmbach</span> American businessman

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

This article contains a list of terms, jargon, and slang used to varying degrees by railfans and railroad employees in the United States and Canada. Although not exhaustive, many of the entries in this list appear from time to time in specialist, rail-related publications. Inclusion of a term in this list does not necessarily imply its universal adoption by all railfans and railroad employees, and there may be significant regional variation in usage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aberdeen and Rockfish Railroad</span>

The Aberdeen and Rockfish Railroad is a short-line railroad operating in North Carolina, United States. At one time, the AR was a Class 2 railroad. The railroad has 47 miles (76 km) of track between Aberdeen and Fayetteville, North Carolina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David J. Eicher</span> American editor

David John Eicher is an American editor, writer, and popularizer of astronomy and space. He has been editor-in-chief of Astronomy magazine since 2002. He is author, coauthor, or editor of 23 books on science and American history and is known for having founded a magazine on astronomical observing, Deep Sky Monthly, when he was a 15-year-old high school student.

References

  1. Kalmbach Publishing. "Charles R. Croft named President".
  2. "Kalmbach Media Co. | Better Business Bureau® Profile". www.bbb.org. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  3. Day, Dan (March 11, 1982). "Hobby magazine turns into big business" . Eau Claire Leader-Telegram. Retrieved September 17, 2018 via NewspaperArchive.
  4. Eicher, David J. (April 9, 2013). "Astronomy magazine: 40 years and counting". Astronomy.com. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  5. "Longtime Kalmbach President Jim King dies". Kalmbach Media. July 27, 2018. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  6. "Kalmbach Publishing Co" . The Business Journal-Milwaukee. November 12, 1990. Retrieved September 17, 2018 via Gale General Reference Center GOLD.
  7. "Kalmbach Publishing Co" . The Business Journal-Milwaukee. American City Business Journals. January 28, 1991. Retrieved September 17, 2018 via Gale General OneFile.
  8. "Kalmbach Publishing Co" . The Business Journal-Milwaukee. American City Business Journals. September 9, 1991. Retrieved September 17, 2018 via Gale General Reference Center GOLD.
  9. "Earth" . Folio: the Magazine for Magazine Management. October 1, 1991. Retrieved September 17, 2018 via Gale General Reference Center Gold.
  10. "Magazine Covers the Earth For Those Who Live On It". Orlando Sentinel. December 31, 1991. ProQuest   278007990.
  11. Mickey, Bill (August 5, 2010). "Kalmbach to Buy Discover Media". Folio. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  12. Trains (Kalmbach Publishing). Vol. 70 (no. 1). January 2010.
  13. Kalmbach Publishing. "Charles R. Croft named President".
  14. "Kalmbach expands reach with acquisition of Rather Dashing Games".
  15. "ACD News". www.acdd.com. Retrieved 2019-07-24.
  16. "About Us". Rather Dashing Games. Retrieved 2019-07-24.
  17. Daykin, Tom (September 6, 2017). "Waukesha-based Kalmbach Publishing appoints Dan Hickey as new CEO". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  18. Guaglione, Sara (May 17, 2018). "Kalmbach Media Rebrands, Introduces Print Magazine From Paid Video Product". Publishers Daily. MediaPost. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  19. Fuller, Craig (May 1, 2024). "Firecrown Media Grows Again with Addition of 'Trains,' 'Astronomy'". flyingmag.com. Firecrown Media. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
  20. "Bead&Button Show and Magazine to Close Permanently" . Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  21. Wrinn, Jim, ed. (2009). Tourist Trains Guidebook. Waukesha, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing. p. 6. ISBN   978-0-87116-273-1.