Re: 'Australian Railway Enthusiast"

[Greg Triplett <triplett@hotkey.net.au>]

Hi Mark,

It's a sad sight. Do you still get the mag ?

>> Perhaps for cost reasons the ARE mag may have changed printers and or image prep although that isn't necesarily a reason for quality to drop.<<

The printing seems to be OK. My problem is with the content
such as poles growing out of funnels. Basic stuff I would
have thought.

>> It's disapointing that after we raised the standard of the mag to now hear that it has slid backwards.<<

I used to look forward to reading ARE but now it's just a
joke. I'm comtemplating how to broach the subject without
upsetting to many people. I don't think the editor knows
that there's a problem.

If the railfan groups are to survive then they have to come
to grips with what the younger railfans are interested in.
It's not history and technical articles about a 38 is better
than a 9F. Generally they are photters and watchers of
todays railway scene. The flagship magazine should have a
reasonable quota of contemporary stuff. The only
contemporary stuff in the ARE rag was 2 articles about
tourist RR's. 

I hang out with a group of people who are active photters in
Victoria. I'm 50 years old and most of the group is 10-20
years younger than me. Very few are members of ARE or ARHS.
This year I decided to enter the ARE & ARHS slide comps and
I've been along to all the meetings. I'm relatively young
compared to most there. I don't think the pennies have
dropped yet. 

There's all kinds of interesting stuff going on in Victoria
and around the country and it's not covered at all. I
suspect that's a turn off for the younger railfans who are
the future of the hobby.

Regards

Greg Triplett