New readers start here
A brief history of Freightmaster
Back in the early 90s, I was doing a lot of videoing - I even released some
titles - the '37s in Focus' and '47s in Focus' series.
I was also becoming interested in freight, but after the demise of 'Freightfax',
I had trouble finding out what was running and where to go...
I visited Collectors Corner in London and bought a full set of just-out-of-date freight WTTs.
However, I found these very difficult to read 'in the field', constantly having to flick between
'up' and 'down' sections to find out what was due next.
So for ease of use, I typed out lists of what was due in both directions at a particular location,
together with what type of train it was, and what it should be hauled by. (sound familiar?!)
When I showed people these lists, they said I should publish them in a book, so in Winter 1994,
the first 'Freightmaster' appeared, photcopied and stapled together, costing £4.95.
The book was immediately a huge success, and during 1995, each edition sold more than I could produce!
In Summer, I was contacted by a particularly impressed reader from Swindon who happened to be
a business consultant as well as a railway enthusiast and that he thought Freightmaster had massive
potential, but I needed to get the project out of first gear, starting with getting the book properly
printed and bound, rather than just photocopied.
From the Spring 1996 edition, therefore, the book has been printed by Tekprint in Swindon.
The reader's name was Martin Buck, and since early 1996, he has been responsible for the
production of Freightmaster, from overseeing design and production at Tekprint through to
the distribution of the books to the shops!
He has also been responsible for the development of Freightmaster, and our many brainstorming
sessions over the years has led to several revamps of Freightmaster:
Revamp #1 - Spring 1996
Having the book professionally printed enabled us to relaunch the book, with more tables,
a new 'Freight Encyclopedia' section, and a rather jazzy metallic silver front cover!
Sales continued to grow during 1996, but readers complained that the metallic covers were easily
damaged, so from the Winter 1996 edition, the book gained a laminated full colour cover.
The first picture to grace the cover of the book was appropriately taken at Swindon!
In 1997, we were busily preparing for the launch of Freightmaster's passenger companion
volume 'Class One', so I had little time to make improvements to Freightmaster itself.
However, I had been taking note of readers' comments received during the year, so in spring 1998 came...
Revamp #2 - Spring 1998
The book was printed on expensive eggshell paper using metal plates; this gave the book a 'quality' feel,
with maps and fine text reproduced pin sharp.
The book was also expanded by twenty pages, to accomodate twenty new locations, plus the expansion
of many existing ones to full 24-hour coverage.
Although the printing costs rose significantly, we only put the cover price up by 80p!
We then left the book alone for a couple of years, but in 1999, after doing an extensive
survey of our subscribers, we decided to 'relaunch' the book for the new millennium...
Revamp #3 - Spring 2000
This time, the revamp concentrated on the 'hotspots', getting rid of so-called "timing points"
such as Margam and Wembley yards, which are virtually inassessible, and replacing them with
the top-requested locations in our customer survey.
This added many locations, such as Willesden, Oxford, Leicester, Preston and Cardiff, the
last three also acheiving more parity with Class One.
What next?
I know that it would be nice to add more locations and/or make all the existing ones 24-hour, but I am already
stretching my gen sources to 110%, so the book is likely to stay basically as it is for the foreseeable future.
That said, I am can still 'tweak' the book if neccessary, so please let me know
if there are any new locations or other improvements you would particularly like to see.
Mark Rawlinson, April 2005