When I first saw comments about the loss of the index pop up on the forums, and some intimation that the NMRA might be taking it over, I sent the following  emal to the NMRA. The reply stated that the NMRA is currently in negotiation with Kalmbach in that regard.

The letter:

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Kalmbach does not seem to be interested in people. Perhaps they do not realize that their business depends on people. If they really cared, they would at least have a place on the website for people to send them comments. I guess they just don't want to be bothered by mere people.

Many businesses do not seem to have the ability to look at both sides of a coin. With the index gone, thousands of web items that point to their magazines are missing. All those entries kept their publications if front of the public all the time. Now, they are less visible then they were a short time ago.

All of us have seen cases of business with closed minds. Lots of these businessses are now CLOSED, just like their minds were.

If they really cared, they would at least have a place on the website for people to send them comments.

http://www.trains.com/mrr/default.aspx?c=contact&id=28

Kalmbach is locking any dicussions on this issue the last time I looked.

Rich

From my own experience I would say that Kalmbach is only interested in hearing what a good job they are doing so locking threads that do otherwise is a given on their forums.

As for being able to send them comments.  Sure you can email customer service and get an automated response.  Eventually an actual person will respond, who probably can't field many questions or comments beyond, "how do I renew my subscription?", or "where is my, (insert month) copy of the magazine?", but you will get a response, most of the time...

Last time I had a request, I emailed Kalmbach and asked them.  This was regarding permission to share scans of a steam locomotive detailing article from a long-gone publication to which Kalmbach still held the rights.  I wanted to share this article on the Yardbird Trains Yahoo Group, since most of us steam nuts over there like that sort of thing.  Long story short, I received a very polite response (No) from Neil Besougloff himself.  Although I was disappointed in the answer, I was pleased to receive such a timely response from someone on the staff there.  Just wanted to share a mostly positive experience.

I still think removing the index was a bad decision, and I have said as much in a thread over at The Gauge, (and called the folks at Kalmbach 'pansies' for doing so - mostly in jest) but I still want to respect the work they do and the long history/legacy of contribution to the greatest hobby they have made.  I'll say it again - I'm really glad Joe has been working to either salvage the old index or get a new one going with the NMRA hosting.  And I say thank you to all the computer-tech-minded folks who can make that happen.  While it was disappointing to see the old index go, I'm hopeful that the new index will be even better!

Galen

While we're waiting for the NMRA and Kalmbach to conduct negotiations, we've actually got people working on plan B - standing up a new index regardless of how the talks go with Kalmbach.

There's enough tech savvy model rairoaders out there who care about their fellow hobbyists that one way or another, this very valuable index will re-appear.

Kalmbach is playing things much closer to the vest these days - they do their craft well and they want to do everything they can to not allow their lead to get eroded. Were I in their shoes, I'm not sure I'd be handling things any differently.

I tire of the Kalmbach bashing, frankly. Their products are top-notch, and hardly a month goes by that I don't purchase one of their publications.

Meanwhile, they can negotiate with the NMRA around the old index assets and their final state. One way or the other, the index is coming back, that much you can count on.

I tire of the Kalmbach bashing, frankly.

While I'll be the first to admit that I would normally line up to take shots at Kalmbach. I don't feel that anyone is bashing them here.  I am certainly not bashing them.  Rather I am being honest about MY experiences with their customer service.  I could say much more, in all honesty, but I don't want to use MRH as my soapbox in what would seem to many to be an attack on their favorite dead tree publisher.  Besides that, I've moved on, as has the source of the problem, so why whip the horse, right?

Kalmbach is their own worst enemy, IMO, in their handling, or lack of handling, any expressed negativity, and I think a lot of the perceived bashing they get is simply just desserts, BUT AGAIN, that's MY OPINION.

Their products are top-notch, and hardly a month goes by that I don't purchase one of their publications.

I respectively disagree.   At least one of their products has taken a real plunge with regards to quality, again, in my opinion.  Perhaps it will improve as other publications challenge the quality and content that had become the norm.

I'm through directly supporting Kalmbach but I still have a "to buy" reading list that includes a number of their book publications so I still do buy their products on occasion.

As for the "NEW" index.  This sounds quite promising to me.  I encourage those involved to forge ahead without regard for what Kalmbach OR the NMRA might be doing.  Perhaps when the two of them get finished with "negotiations" there will already be a better index in place.  Wouldn't that be great!

Bring on the new and improved Railroad Modeling Index!!

She has a candy bowl????  What the heck are they doing over there, lol.  I've always found Kalmbach's how to books very interesting and I usually pick up one a month as well as the MR magazine.  I really hope the index can be saved.  I've been using it for a few years now and found it to be a very valuable resource for info on future projects I have planned.  It's too bad they couldn't have tracked it's usage (or could they???) because then maybe they would have realized just how much it got used. 

I have sent several email questions to MRR and they have replied each time. I may not have gotten the answer I hoped for sometimes but at least they replied with something other than an automated message.

Example: "What color was used on the walls of the room that was seen in the opening of the Salt Lake video series?"

Response: "Painted so long ago no one remembers, sorry".

IMHO we should actively support any business that makes model railroad info available and advances the community of model railroaders. Some will be better than others (read as MRH) but none deserve negative remarks. If they support the hobby then they deserve our support even if we don't fully understand or agree with their business decisions.

A popular phrase around the office is "Go buy your own chemical company and you can run it any way you want to!"