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Cool partnership

Are you going to get their full line digitized?

Possibilities ...

... for Northwestern/Western prototype railroading from the 1960s to present?

Wished we could

I've talked with Mike Confalone about this and unfortunately, we can't.

Mike's been publishing this "soft cover serial" for 13 years and he has not saved all the original paste-up files. That means we have no digital master to start with, so the original high-res images are all gone. We could OCR the text, but that would be tediuous - and if the images aren't easily available, scanning images off paper will yield mediocre results at best.

One hallmark of Railroad Explorer is superb images - the paper pub is almost a soft cover coffee-table book. When we have the digital image to work with MRH can give you awesome eBook images you can zoom in on up to 400% and have them still hold up on the screen - try doing that with a paper pub!

One goal as we start into doing eBooks is top-notch images that you can zoom in on and really study if you want.

We want to give you a lot for your $4.99 that you just can't get with paper ... and unfortunately, not having a digital master to start with on most back issues of Railroad Explorer won't allow us to maintain that high quality standard. But we can - and will - maintain this standard going forward.

Back issues of Railroad Explorer - available in print

I too wish we could offer the back issues in digital, but we can't.

However, the majority of the Railroad Explorer back catalog are available to purchase direct from Railroad Explorer. Some are sold out, but we have a total of 23 back issues, including the premiere issue available for purchase. We have a back issue special running now. 30% off if you buy 'em all.

http://railroadexplorer.com/backissues/index.htm

Mike Confalone

Publisher - Railroad Explorer Magazine

Nice but Why the password each time you wish to look at mag.

I guess there is a reason  so please tell us, Is there a mac version like the monthly magazine?

The pictures are great and really feel cold to an Australian where snow is a rarity.

All versions now available

All versions are now available. When you purchase this eBook, you get access to all 4 versions, so you can chose to download the version(s) you prefer to use.

Just curious

Are you guys planning any E-books on modeling techniques and that type of stuff or are you just going to do prototype information/photos things like this?

Michael

Anything and everything ...

Anything and everything are on the list for a possible eBook.

We're planning to build some topical eBooks that are reprints of MRH content.

We're also planning some eBooks that have totally new content - both model and prototype.

In all cases the eBooks will have no ads (save a house ad for MRH) and be micro-priced well below the typical $20 price tag for paper books. The eBooks will also have video and animations in them when appropriate - something you don't get with paper.

We're also upping the image quality still more in the eBooks than we've been using in MRH Gen2. You will be able to zoom way in on the photos and they will still hold up if you want to study anything up close. For prototype photos, this works really well, of course - which is why we wanted to debut our first eBook as one dealing with the prototype.

Mike Confalone is the publisher of the Railroad Explorer line and we're partnering with Mike to publish Railroad Explorer in digital form for those who may not have seen it before and would like to start getting this awesome series. Railroad Explorer has always been about superb imagery and engaging trackside railfanning stories (with no ads) - so we're keeping the digital version true to that vision by making the images top quality and super-zoomable and releasing reflowable ePub (iBooks) and Kindle versions as well as PDFs.

That's the kind of thinking we want to follow with our new eBook line. We want you to get a lot for your money.

Sounds good....

Even though I'm a freelance guy and not a strict proto modeler, I still enjoy good pictures of the prototype for inspiration. Mike's series looks very nice and the fact that you will be doing the other types of content is good news too. I wish Kalmbach would get off their duff and put some of their out of print stuff in E- book form. H Reid's book on The Virginian comes immediately to mind. Of course we know it would not be discounted much but it would probably be better than what a hardcopy fetches online these days.

Michael

Anyone get this book yet?

Anyone on here get this eBook yet? What do you think of it?

Just a request...

One thing another publisher/magazine that shall remain nameless does often is rehash already published articles into a book, and make it look like it is new material.  In the future there may be an E-Book i would be interested in because the topic may be of interest, but I would be very disappointed if it is already published material.  So my request is to make it CLEAR when promoting the book, how much material is "new" and what has been previously published.  It will save me the trouble of having to email and ask.  Though when it pertains to the other publisher, I always have to rely on "back channels" to find out what is in the books they publish, because their customer service people won't give me an answer.

Ken L

I agree with Ken.  I hate

I agree with Ken.  I hate when I buy a book from that other un-named publisher and I already have all the material indexed from magazines for future reference.

Chris M

Republishing material

As to republishing material, some eBooks will be republished content, but we will put on the cover, "From the pages of MRH" sort of like we do "Yes, it's a model" on some of our header images. We won't make it a secret, that's for sure.

Plus, if you ever do accidentally purchase an eBook from us that is republished content, just let us know that's not what you wanted and we'll give you a full refund, no questions asked.

Now that THAT is settled, how about the RAILROAD EXPLORER eBook? Anyone out there get it? What did you think?

Hmm ... no replies

Is it really true that not a single person on here ordered this eBook? The crickets are deafening ...

Hate them crickets, Joe! 

Hate them crickets, Joe!  Just purchased and downloaded the publication.  I'll post a review after I've had a chance to read it.

I'll second that...

This is probably the first thing I haven't bought, just not my cup of tea.

I soft of understand and sort of don't

I can understand not being interested in an eBook about a prototype region you don't model - I get that.

But if it IS a prototype you model, I don't get the thought that the internet is free and all you need. I would think the more information you can get the better.

I could somewhat understand if it was a $70 book we are talking about here. But if this is a region that interests you, and even if there is free stuff on the internet - this eBook content is NOT on the internet and it's only $5 to get it.

What am I missing here? Why is risking $5 such a big deal if this is an area that interests you? The $5 gets you high quality photos (far better than the typical web photo) and railfan stories that have been vetted by editors who know the prototypes well.

Are we getting so cheap that risking $5 is no longer even an option for the better edited content?

Got it, read it - my opinion

Rick - how are you reading it?

Rick: How are you reading it? PDF (which version), ePub, or Kindle? And on what device?

Joe, you ask what you're missing...

Joe, you ask what you're missing.

I am interested in new england railroads.  I bought a couple issues of railroad explorer when it first came out (the first and third, if memory serves).  The photos are all excellent photos, and the caption tells you what's going on.  It's a nice coffee table type publication.

So, why haven't I bought more of them, and why haven't I bought the online version?

Well it's a little hard to pin down exactly.  My main interest is present day railroading (and I mean that literally, rather than just as a reference to anything from the 80's on).  I get a lot of detailed current NE railroad info from Railpace.  The Railroad explorer books cover a wide date range, and the information in the captions, while interesting, is not usually particular relevant for me.  Sure, if I flip through one I come across a few interesting tidbits.  And it's fun to look at the photos.  I guess it's the same reason I don't look at all the online rr photo sites, I pretty much stick with photos.nerail.org unless I'm specifically searching for something.  And also the reason I stick to the mrh forums rather than reading and participating in more of them.  Time is just as much a cost as money.

I think the ebook version of Railroad explorer ought to be a great thing for people who either prefer an online version or found the print version too expensive.  But cost and format aren't why I didn't buy the print version of this.  I hope this is a success though - I can easily imagine buying other ebooks you might publish in the future.  And if I do, I think I'd go for the PDF file for reading on the tablet of my choice.

- Ken

Joe, to answer your questions

Joe, to answer your questions I'm reading the PDF landscape version on my Dell Windows XP PC.

I would buy an E-book about Northeast Railroads..

....but it would have to be late 1940s/early 1950s.  A book on modern railroading doesn't pique my interest at all.

Ken L

Will let you know!

If it was northern Minnesota

If it was northern Minnesota Iron Mining, I'd buy it immediately!  If it was northern Minnesota Iron Mining in the 1950s, I'd buy it even more quickly! 

Why would I buy the right topic (for me)?  Even though I have a lot of material already, I know that new-to-me material surfaces all the time. 

Why not this one?  Although I have an affinity for railroads in general, economics dictate that I be at least a little bit focused in my purchases.  As anyone who has seen my storage shelves for unused rolling stock would see, I have trouble enough with focus.