Publications Guidelines

The Nickel Plate Road Historical & Technical Society

Guidlelines for the Submission of NKPHTS Magazine Articles

The Nickel Plate Road Magazine is published by the Nickel Plate Road Historical & Technical Society for its members and historians interested in the former New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad and its predecessor companies. Articles, manuscripts, photographs and other historical data, as well as items of contemporary nature relating to the Nickel Plate Road, are welcomed for publication. No part of the publication may be reproduced for commercial use without the permission of the contributor of the material involved (and the Editor).

Please send all submissions and inquiries to:

Publications Director
NKPHTS, Inc.
P.O.Box 381
New Haven, Indiana 46774-0381

You may send email inquiries to:

You should receive a post card or note acknowledging that we received your materials. Submission does not guarantee publication. Likewise, when a submission is made has no bearing on when, or if, it may appear. Both selection and issue date are totally up to the Publications Director. Therefore, there are no "deadlines". However, compilation and selection dates by the Editor are roughly 2/15, 5/15, 8/15, and 11/15.

For general guidelines and ideas on how to prepare an article for publication, refer to other hobby publications which specify the same. The guidelines for a successful article in the Nickel Plate Road Magazine will not be that different.

Departments currently included in our publication are:

Editorial Comment - by the Editor of the magazine
Along the Line - current news about former NKP trackage, buildings, people, etc.
Tack Board - questions and/or answers re: NKP research, and modeling information
Feature articles - information compiled and logically organized to tell a story or make a point; requires quoted sources to be acknowledged.
Photo essays - captions should precisely identify subject, and details to be observed, and should not rely on Editor to guess at information via observation of the photo only (such as location, date, classification, names, numbers, dimensions, specifications).
Stories and anecdotes - should pertain to life on/along the Nickel Plate Road. Accounts told in the first person ( I, we ) are preferred to things heard from someone else second or third hand (he, she, they), unless verifiable by you or at least one other person. Veterans of the NKP should not be bashful, however, as it is much better to have your story submitted for publication (even if not "perfectly written"), than not have it shared at all.
Car 831 - letters to the editor, commentary, opinion
NKProducts - personal review of commercial products or publications re: NKP; can be done by anyone - do not need to be "certified expert". Follows general product review formats in other magazines, but does not serve as either an endorsement nor a panning of any item. Rather, it is one member's point of view on "what they thought about" an NKP item they purchased.
Cover photos - see below.
Advertisements - none allowed in magazine. Member's only, submit to Interchange Point flyer/insert by cutoff dates: 1/1, 4/1, 7/1, 10/1.

Articles and manuscripts should be typed or printed-out on plain white paper, double spaced, using Times New Roman, or similar typewriter font, size 12 or 14, if possible. Neither computer diskettes nor e-Mail attachments are usable for NKPHTS articles at this time. If certain information is in doubt, incomplete, or not verifiable, try to research it further before submission, or at least point it out to the editor in a cover letter, Vs. representing it as fact.

Photographs submitted are preferably black and white prints. Color slide photographs submitted should be the actual slide, or copy, not a print made from the slide. Neither digital prints on computer diskettes nor e-Mail attachments are usable for NKPHTS articles at this time. The best publication results when attention is paid to achieving a full range of grays, and avoiding view obstacles and harsh sun/shadow conditions. Distance from subject should be considered when attempting to illustrate details referred to in the text or caption, remembering that the Editor may ask the printer to enlarge, or reduce, your photo.

While basic grammar and spelling can be corrected by the thee Editor, if preparing your work on a computer, use your spell-checker and grammar editor. If preparing the document manually, ask someone else to proof-read your work. Such efforts may increase your chances of publication, and decrease time from submission to publication date.

Drawings, illustrations, or artwork, submitted should preferably be in black ink on white paper with attention paid to line thickness, density, and detail pertinent to the article. If graphic arts or computer labeling is not available to you, and you do not have a steady hand, type out your label copy on a separate sheet and submit along with both the original drawing, as well as a Xerox copy to show how the labeling is to be pasted in on the original.

Memorabilia should be reproduced on a photocopier, or photographed, to the best possible black and white contrast and detail.

Please label or tag all items, but take care to not use tape which will leave residue or ink which will bleed through, or smudge onto, other photographs or drawings; use blank white sheets of paper in between.

If specifically requested by contributor, item(s) will be returned after publication. Otherwise, all articles, manuscripts, photographs and other historical data submitted become the property of the NKPHTS, and are properly stored and indexed by the Publications Director, an elected member of the Board of Trustees.