HeadlineNews Farewell to a former editor of The Railway Magazine
It is with great sadness that we record the passing of Peter Kelly, one of only 10 men to have held the post of editor of The RM in its 126-year history.
PETER was larger than life in more ways than one, an imposing figure with a jovial personality and a monumental passion for trains, traction engines, tractors, bicycles, motorbikes and virtually every form of heritage transport.
Taking over the regulator of The RM at a time of dwindling copy sales in early-1989, he used his experience as a newspaper journalist to completely overhaul the product, increasing the number of news pages, shortening deadlines and enhancing the colour content.
He broadened its appeal to younger readers by beefing up the modern traction content and insisted on payments being made to photographers; until then, all they had received was a free copy of the magazine.
Although winning readers back from rival publications took longer than anticipated, Pete (he preferred the shorter version of his name) must be given huge credit for laying the editorial foundations on which his successors were eventually able to regain and retain market leadership.
But he was not simply satisfied with reporting the news; he believed in making it too. In 1993, he cycled 926 miles from John O’ Groats to Land’s End to raise awareness of the fledgling A1 Pacific project – one of seven end-to-end pushbike odysseys he made in his lifetime, another of which raised funds for pioneer Class 40 No. D200.
Early influences
Born in Warrington, Cheshire, on August 2, 1944, as the eldest of six children, Pete had cut his railway teeth locospotting at nearby Winwick, on the West Coast Main Line. As he grew older, he and brother Geoff would often ‘bunk’ Dallam motive power depot and be given unofficial cab rides in the shed yard, and on the turntable, by friendly drivers.
The generosity of those footplatemen rubbed off on Pete, whose unselfish willingness to help others remained with him throughout his life.
In common with many young railfans, he was frequently in trouble with teachers for looking out of the classroom window at trains instead of concentrating on his lessons, but he left Sir Thomas Boteler grammar school with five GCEs and soon landed a job as a trainee reporter on his local newspaper.
After working for the Northern Echo in Darlington, he joined the specialist publication Motor Cycle News at Peterborough and while there became involved in railway journalism, quickly gaining a reputation as an innovator with a flair for commercial foresight. His ability to spot ‘gaps in the market’ resulted in the launch of Rail Enthusiast, Railway Photography & Video, and vintage machinery title Old Glory before he moved to The RM. He was also instrumental in helping to establish what is now The RM’s sister title, Heritage Railway, 10 years later.
Having edited, or contributed to, so many titles, Pete was popular with virtually everyone in transport publishing circles. He was a great friend as well as a colleague and enjoyed nothing more than ‘talking trains’ with us over a pint and a ploughman’s lunch.
His N-gauge layout and the vintage tractor he owned were particular sources of pleasure, as were his trips to the railways of his beloved Isle of Man, but an aspect of his career that gave him a huge amount of personal pride was the series of interviews he undertook with Britain’s leading railway artists in the 1990s, his favourite being Terence Cuneo OBE.
Upon leaving The Railway Magazine to return to Peterborough in August 1994, he alluded to the pressure of deadline-driven journalism when he wrote: “Editing such a long-established and prestigious publication has been a privilege and an honour… although I think the air in the office will be somewhat less blue in future!”
Pete passed away peacefully at his Lincolnshire home on December 28 with his faithful dog Elsa by his side. He was 78.
“Having edited, or contributed to, so many titles, Pete was popular with virtually everyone in transport publishing circles.”