Guidelines for contributions to Railpace Newsmagazine

Thanks for your intrest in Railpace Newsmagazine. Your countribution of photos, railroad news, and feature articles is welcome! Let's take this opportunity to get acquainted and review some helpful suggestions...

OUR SCOPE & COVERAGE AREA

Railpace is The Northeast's Own Rail Newsmagazine, focusing primarily on Northeastern prototype railroading, an area which includes all of New England and Eastern Canada (Ontario and East); Southward through Virginia, and Westward through West Virginia and Ohio. News photos and news from outside this area which is of significant interest to our readers, is also welcome--such as Northeastern locomotives or trains in new or unusual locations.

NEWS REPORTS & FEATURE CONTRIBUTIONS

News Reports - Short, concise reports of railroad industry news, acquisitions, abandonments, motive power, color scheme changes, new services, shortline news, etc. We cover freight and passenger railroading, shortlines, commuter/transit, and tourist/museum operations. Clippings from newspapers are useful to complement your feild news reports.

Photo Features - Both contemporary and historical features are welcome. Photo features use pictures to tell the story, with good, detailed photo captions.

Feature Articles - Contemporary adn historical features are welcome. Feature articles, while including a good selection of photos, also include well-researched text and maps. Topographical maps and railroad employee timetables add depth to the story.

Train Chaser Guides - Railpace Train Chaser Guides are one of our most popular features, and can cover an entire railroad, railroad line, or locale. Guides include topographical maps, driving directions to photo vantage points, train operation information, and schedules, radio frequencies, etc. If you are interested in preparing a Railpace Train Chaser Guide, please contact us to determine its suitablility, and to verify that someone else isn't already working on the same topic.

PHOTO CONTRIBUTIONS

Your color photo contributions are the "meat" of Railpace Newsmagazine. You are our "field reporter" and we rely on your photo-journalism to cover the Northeastern railroad scene. Quality color slides of newsworty rail events are needed. Before sending a news photo, ask yourself if it is really enwsworthy and current. If it's news, send it in right away - we pride ourselves on having the fastest news and photo "turnaround." To avoid being "scooped" you've got to be quick!

35mm Color Slides are the preferred medium for publishing. Kodachrome-64 is the best all-around film, yielding excellent color and contrast. K-25 and K-200 are also good choices,as is Fujichrome. Use Kodak (Kodalux) processing for consistent quality results. Larger-size transparencies (such as 2-1/4 x 2-1/4, 2-1/4 x 2-3/4, 4 x 5, etc.) are also acceptable for publication.

Higher speed films (ASA 400, 1000, "push" processed, etc.) are grainier and not as well suited for enlargement. Avoid budget or brand-X prrocessing.

Do not use Type 5247 negative film to produce slides, as the color balance and contrast is not consistent, and the sharpness and grain is unacceptable.

"Instamatic" or "110" Disk Film, Polaroid prints, and color negatives do not produce a satisfactory enlargment and reproduction suitable for publication.

When selecting color slides for publication, choose those with maximum sharpness, good color balance and contrast, and excellent exposure. Exposure should be "right on," as there is no exposure "compensation" required for magazine publication.

Avoid dark, underexposed slides, especially on grey, heavily overcast days. News events happen in all types of weather, but since color is limited, we pick the best... and brightest!

Black & White contributions are welcome. Although Railpace is primarily a color publication, we do use some black and white, especially to illustrate historical items. Some contributions of 35mm color slides may, st our discretion, be published in black and white.

All Photo Contributions are returned, whether or not they are published, within a reasonable period of time, provided the materials are legibly marked with the owner's name and address, and when accompanied with a stamped, self-addressed envelope bearing sufficent return postage.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

Mauscripts shoudl be typed, double-spaced, and PROOFREAD for accuracy. Then proofread aain, or ask a freind to look it over. Avoid the frantic call to make corrections as the story is going to press. News items and brief reports may be handwritten, provided they are legible. Illegible chicken-scribble will be ripped up to shreds.

COMPUTER DISK & MODEM TRANSFERS

Hey, it's the '00's, and hardly anyone uses typewriters anymore. If you prepared your manuscripts on a word processor or computer, send us the file on disk. This saves us having to retype it, and reduces typographical errors.

We can accept high and low density, 5-1/4" floppy disks and high and low 3-1/2" diskettes. We can accept most word processing programs, (Word Perfect, Word, Word Star, etc.) and also ASCII files. Be sure to tell us what version word processing software you are using (i.e., WordPerfect 5.1). If in doubt, contact us beforehand.

If you're really high-tech and have a modem, you can transmit to us at 1200 or 2400 baud using Kermit or Bitcom protocols. Contact us at (908) 699.1868 before attempting to transmit files.

Label all of your materials with your full name and address. Mark EVERY slide, print, caption page, and letter so that you can see your credit line in print, and so that we can return your materials to you.

tttlogobox.jpg (21710 bytes)

To get back HOME - Click here!

Don't Forget to send me contributions at my address in the magazine. Questions, ideas, and comments can be emailed to me at theteentrack@aol.com. Thanks!

Webmaster - Charlie Albanetti