The Model Railroader began publication in the summer of 1933, with a cover date of January 1934. A press release announcing the magazine appeared in August 1933, but did not receive much interest. The bank refused to loan Kalmbach any money, many felt sorry for him, and a few told him he was crazy. His first wife, Bernice, herself a journalist, encouraged and helped Al put
The Model Railroader together. Though they originally saw it as a sideline business to their commercial printing operations, soon they were devoting seven days a week to the venture. The magazine was well received by model railroaders, and the young publisher carried the entire first press run (272 copies) by
streetcar to be mailed. By July 1934, paid circulation exceeded 1,000 copies. Growth continued, but the magazine was not an immediate success. The magazine became profitable after three years. It took Kalmbach seven years to pay off the loans used to launch the magazine.
World War II introduced paper rationing, which dampened the growth of the Kalmbach Publishing Company. At the end of the war, MR's circulation was 18,000. 1949, MR's circulation had grown to 82,000. 1950, MR's circulation had grown to 104,000, thanks in part to a boom in interest in model railroading. As of 2007, the magazine had a monthly paid circulation of more than 160,000. 2017 the year's final issue garnered a reported circulation figure that fell below 100,000. The magazine, and Kalmbach Publishing (later
Kalmbach Media), celebrated its 85th anniversary in 2019. The magazine had to relocate 4 times, the original location was on 545 S. 84th Street (now a car wash) and later relocated to 1027 N. 7th Street (now part of
Milwaukee Public Television and
Milwaukee Area Technical College), from 1989 to 2024, they moved to 21027 Crossroads Circle in nearby Waukesha and in 2024, Kalmbach recently sold their building to Silgan Containers and the staff moving to nearby
Brookfield, Wisconsin. Another thing
Model Railroader had was their own model railroad layout, the
Milwaukee, Racine and Troy, which was located on the second floor of the Kalmbach Media offices in Waukesha (the original was located on the 3rd floor of the old offices at 1027 N. 7th Street which was in operation from 1975 to 1989). In May 2024, longtime publisher
Kalmbach Media divested of Model Railroader and other railroad interest magazines to publisher Firecrown Media. The Milwaukee, Racine and Troy model railroad was demolished when Kalmbach sold their building at 21027 Crossroads Circle and moved to Brookfield, Wisconsin, following the magazine's purchase by Firecrown media. == Features ==