The Allegheny Midland Historical Society

The Midland Road logo copyright MODEL RAILROADER Magazine and Kalmbach Publishing Co., used by permission.

About Tony Koester

Tony Koester majored in electrical engineering at Purdue. In 1966, he cofounded the Nickel Plate Road Historical & Technical Society. After a few years doing civil engineering work for a land-surveying company in Indiana, Tony accepted an editorial position at Carstens Publications in New Jersey in 1969. He worked his way up from associate to managing editor and then editor of "Railroad Model Craftsman." In 1981, he joined Bell Laboratories' Technical Publications Department. Part of the Labs split off in 1984 to become Bell Communications Research, and then Telcordia Technologies in 1997. Tony retired from Telcordia just past the 20-year mark in 2001.

Tony has served as editor of Kalmbach's annual "Model Railroad Planning" magazine from its inception in 1995. He has also written the Trains of Thought commentary for "Model Railroader" since 1985. Following his retirement from the telecom industry, Tony expanded his relationship with MR to bechome contributing editor. His first book, "Realistic Model Railroad Operation," was recently published by Kalmbach, and he is working on a second book at this time. Tony is one of a very few two-time recipients of the National Model Railroad Association's Distinguished Service Award. He and wife Judy, who celebrated their 41st anniversary in 2003, have traveled around the world to meet with various model railroad groups and to ride trains, but his favorite remains the former Nickel Plate Road.

Tony is also involved in the Model Railroad Skills Institute, which is a part of Model Railroad Resources, Inc. He's a partner with Henry Freeman, Dave Frary, Bob Hayden, and Allen Keller.

Last modified: November 23 2007.

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