O Gauge Railroading magazine started way back in 1969 as “O Scale Railroading.” Published by Vane Jones, the magazine got off to a good start, but the publishing schedule soon dropped out of sync with the calendar. Vane’s health had taken a turn for the worse and he was not able to keep up with the production schedule.
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| Run No. 1, the first issue of O Scale Railroading in June 1969 |
An OSR subscriber, Myron Biggar, enjoyed the magazine but was not pleased with the ever-slipping publishing schedule. He made an offer to Vane and ultimately purchased the magazine from him on March 31, 1986. The May/June 1986 issue, Run 87, was the first issue published by the Myron Biggar Group.
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| Run 87, the first issue published by the Myron Biggar Group |
When Run 109, the February 1990 issue hit the streets, subscribers were surprised to see that Myron had changed the name from O Scale Railroading to O Gauge Railroading. Myron felt there was a broader market to be found using the new title, and he was right. the “new” OGR flourished and the magazine grew at a rapid pace. During his time at the helm, the Myron Biggar Group published just over 100 issues of this magazine.
In the spring of 2002, Rich Melvin approached Myron about purchasing the magazine from him. Rich had been producing videos for OGR since 1993, and had gotten to know Myron pretty well. He thought Myron might be ready to sell the magazine.
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| Run 189, the October 2002 issue, the first issue from OGR Publishing, Inc. |
The deal was closed in August 2002, when Rich, along with Jim Barrett, Ed Boyle and then-editor Fred Dole, formed OGR Publishing, Inc. and purchased the magazine from Myron.
When Fred Dole abruptly and unexpectedly resigned as editor in Run 214, George Brown stepped up to the plate and handled the editing chores from Run 215 through Run 224. He did a great job editing OGR and set the stage for Allan Miller to take over as Editor.
Allan Miller stepped into the Editor’s role with Run 225 and is currently the OGR Editor-in-Chief.
In the fall of 2009 we published our first Digital issue, which was Run 239, the December 2009 issue. Today, the digital version of OGR is almost as popular as the printed magazine!