I just suggested that because they are more tech savvy then us all fa**s, they prefer computer railroading to modeling.

In every trend there comes a counter-trend ... the big new trend among Millennials (those reaching adulthood since the year 2000) is the "Maker Movement". See Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maker_culture

The idea is to unplug from all this technology and to build things with your hands - the "old fashioned way" if you will, but with an eye to leveraging new technology in clever ways to enhance the do-it-yourself approach. Those in academia (such as Yale University) see model railroading as an ideal maker hobby and a good tutor for high tech concepts needed as kids get trained to enter the 21st Century workforce. See this video:

Joe . Congrats on the Web site  I being a newbe to this hobby have found nothing but friendly help and advise from this forums. Please keep up the great work

Smokey Dawson        Australia

Magazine audience size comparison as of February 1, 2017 with year-over-year trends (YOY).

Model Railroad Hobbyist:
90,668 total unique audience circulation (YOY: +1.1%)
33,209 subscribers (YOY: +1.5%)

Model Railroader:
114,771 total paid circulation (YOY: -1.8%)
89,157 total paid subscriptions (YOY: -1.4%)

Railroad Model Craftsman:
25,553 total paid circulation (YOY: -6.8%)
11,045 total paid subscriptions (YOY: -4.6%)

See the new stats posted.

MRH has plateaued, only growing very slightly over last year.

Meanwhile, the paper mags continue their downward slide of 5-10% per year.

Assuming this rate continues, MR, for example, will drop below our current 33,000 subscriber number in about 9 more years. RMC will drop below 5,000 subscribers (a number considered needed to sustain a paper magazine) in about 7 more years.

So the paper mags are likely to be overtaken by the internet in the next decade. I don't think Kalmbach will wait that long before they decide to make some major changes in their offering. Can't say what White River will do since they've never been an internet firm much at all.

Joe,
How do you approach potential advertising companies?
For example Badger Airbrushes is a company that I would recommend to approach. They have a huge online presence with Facebook and I think they would support your magazine.

Craig

We've talked to Badger, they're currently "not interested".

Thanks for that info Joe. Kind of surprising to me, but also understandable.

I run a couple of model railroad companies and we are looking for a "younger generation" modeler over 18 years of age to help us run our digital media advertising. THis is a paid position and could very easily help in providing modeling funds.

If you or any 18+ age modelers you know are willing to work about 12 hours per week doing youtube, facebook and model railroad forums I would love to speak to you/them. 

Contact me directly at Railroads2005@yahoo.com and please put "Digital Media Job" in the subject line.