Dan’s Train Blog

How has the cost of Model Railroader changed over the last 40 years?

The cover price has gone from 50 cents to $5.50. Accounting for inflation the price has gone from $3.00 to $5.28 in constant 2005 dollars. Per page it has been 3-5 cents per page throughout.

Overall, the cost of Model Railroader has been pretty steady over the years.

The bigger question is how’s the value of the magazine held up?

Year	Pages	Price	Inflation to 2005	Price in 2005 dollars	$/Page 2005 dollars
1966	66	$0.50	500.6%	$3.00	$0.05
1967	70	$0.50
1968	74	$0.60
1969	86	$0.60
1970	86	$0.60
1971	86	$0.60	381.4%	$2.89	$0.03
1972	86	$0.60
1973	90	$0.60
1974	90	$0.75
1975	98	$1.00
1976	122	$1.00	242.2%	$3.42	$0.03
1977	124	$1.00
1978	138	$1.25
1979	148	$1.25
1980	154	$1.50
1981	146	$1.75	112.8%	$3.72	$0.03
1982	146	$1.75
1983	154	$1.75
1984	154	$2.00
1985	154	$2.25
1986	146	$2.50	79.0%	$4.48	$0.03
1987	146	$2.50
1988	162	$2.50
1989	162	$2.95
1990	166	$2.95
1991	170	$2.95	43.8%	$4.24	$0.02
1992	170	$2.95
1993	162	$2.95
1994	162	$3.50
1995	170	$3.50
1996	162	$3.95	24.9%	$4.93	$0.03
1997	154	$3.95
1998	154	$3.95
1999	154	$4.50
2000	142	$4.50
2001	130	$4.50	10.7%	$4.98	$0.04
2002	134	$4.95
2003	136	$4.95
2004	136	$4.95
2005	122	$5.50	0.0%	$5.50	$0.05
2006	114	$5.50	-4.0%	$5.28	$0.05