PASSING THE TORCH.

Two of my ferroequinology colleagues of long standing are making career moves.

Rob McGonigal is retiring as editor of Classic Trains.

Rob has spent nearly a quarter century building the readership and the reputation of a truly great magazine. Not ever being on his staff, I’ve delighted in picking up every issue and encountering it afresh, just like all of you. I’ve been engrossed, entertained, even thrilled by what’s been in its pages. Once in a while, I’ve even had the privilege of being one of Rob’s writers.

Mike Schafer is retiring as editor of Passenger Train Journal.

I remember an afternoon in 1981 when Schaf and I were putting PTJ together in the rented basement of an insurance company in Waukesha, about the only digs Publisher Kevin McKinney could afford. I was working nights on the Milwaukee Sentinel copy desk and coming out to PTJ during the day, often bringing our family dog, a female named Zorro. The basement was spacious, plenty of space for a dog to roam.

You'll have to click over for the rest of the dog story.

Both Rob and Mike will continue to write about things that run on rails.  Let there be clear tracks ahead.