Very cool place to propose. Hiawatha Trail is beautiful indeed, and still not getting the attention it deserves in the railfan press. Got only a moment to spare right now, so I'll try to be unusually short on words in response to your four questions. 1) Could very well be waiting for a "slow month." If an article isn't about some recent development or something that's about to happen (like a picture essay on 4449), it can run today or five years from now and still do the same job. If the material is good, editors love having a few of these on deck to plug in quickly when there's an issue that's not already choked with features that are of a more time-sensitive nature. 2) I've wondered about this too. But if the editor thinks it's good enough for another magazine, or that its publication in another magazine would hurt his own magazine, he should go ahead and run it. 3) Oh yes, many are. I've got photos of such offices to prove it. In their defense, however, even the most organized of editors can let their files and contributions pile up into stacks several feet deep (literally!) because their boss won't provide them with an associate or secretary to help. An editor's main job is to manage the content and production of the magazine. With a large enough staff, that editor is managing others who do these things. At the top two magazines, they could easily employ someone in a full-time position just to handle the incoming and outgoing contributions. 4) Photos or anything else of value should always be sent to the magazine via FedEx or some other means where you've got a tracking number and delivery sign-off.