The Spring 2026 issue of Classic Trains, which has arrived in subscriber mailboxes, will be the final standalone issue of the magazine that for 26 years has explored the golden age of railroading. Our quarterly time machine is not going away, however. We’re bringing it back home to the monthly pages of Trains.
Longtime readers will recall that Classic began as Trains Classic, a special standalone issue, in 1999. The next year it was spun off into its own quarterly magazine, rebranded as Classic Trains.
By folding its content back into Trains we’ll continue to bring you stories about steam locomotives, early diesels, great passenger trains, fallen flags, and the notable photographers who chronicled the magical middle four decades of railroading in the 20th century. And, in the process, we’re expanding Trains to 68 pages.
In addition to running at least one Classic-style feature story every month, Trains will continue to cover the latest preservation news. The Classic website will live on, too, complete with its archive of every issue.
Some readers no doubt will miss having a separate Classic Trains. I understand that. As a 26-year Classic subscriber myself, I have always enjoyed opening the mailbox to find the latest issue waiting for me. Four times a year the pages of Classic Trains transported me back in time. Now, beginning with the July issue of Trains, we’ll provide readers with the same time-traveling joy — but 12 times a year rather than just four.
We want to make the Classic-to-Trains transition simple. So we will convert your Classic Trains subscription to a Trains subscription. As a bonus, each remaining issue on your Classic subscription will be counted as three issues of Trains. In other words, if you have three issues remaining on your Classic subscription, you’ll receive nine issues of Trains.
If you subscribe to both magazines, your Trains subscription will be extended, too. If you don’t already subscribe to Trains, our goal is to give you enough of a feel for the expanded Trains that you’ll choose to renew.
Since 1940, The Magazine of Railroading has covered the industry’s past, present, and future. That won’t change. But bringing Classic Trains back into the fold will better balance our presentation of railroad history, contemporary operations, and stories on where the industry is headed.
We also aim to strengthen Trains by pausing the creation of periodic special-interest publications that focus on a single topic, such as railroad technology, short lines, and individual railroads. Why? Because all that great storytelling and photography belongs in the pages of Trains, the magazine where it all began.
Bill Stephens
Editor
Trains Magazine
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Can you keep Classic Trains out of Trains? I do not want even more stories about the 100+ old glory days of railroading in Trains. That is what a separate Classic Trains magazine was for. Trains needs more modern coverage, not less. Trains already has too much coverage of the olden days now.
I am sad to see Classic Trains hit the end of the line, but change is inevitable. I hope that your “folding in” results in a least a full length article or two per month so we can keep the classic period alive. My concern of course is that modern news and activity will swamp out the older period and just like us older folks that love the trains we remember, the Steam and early Diesels will fade away.
One request. Can you please offer a “cleanup” DVD set of all the issues from 2019 to the end of the line? It would nicely fill out my collection of DVD’s for all the issues.
Well, this sucks! I enjoy CT as a stand alone magazine. I’m not sure I will be getting my money’s worth now. Time will tell.
A sad day to be sure, CT has been a much looked for publication, I hope your plans to “fold into” Trains Magazine will bear good fruit. Thanks for 26 years of great reading.
I’ve been a Trains subscriber since the mid-1960s, and to Classic Trains as a gift subscription for about 10 years now. To be honest, Classic Trains was starting to take Trains’ place in my mind, because it provided many more firsthand, personal accounts of railroad events and experiences. They were much more relatable. That used to be a staple of a typical Trains issue, but that was years ago. So I’m disappointed that Classic Trains has ended.
That doesn’t mean I only want to live in railroading’s past, much as its history interests me. Of course I’m looking forward to where it’s going. Mergers, autonomous vehicles and the effects of AI on our economy will have profound effects on the railroad industry, and I hope to learn from an authoritative source like Trains how that will shake out. But I hope your promise to expand Trains with more Classic-style content brings back a Trains Magazine that more resembles the original one.
Thanks for the heads-up.
Bill, this plan sounds wonderful, indeed, a master stroke. Consolidating things in TRAINS makes perfect sense and will maintain its position as THE magazine of railroading.