Motive Power Publications was founded in 1998 after a desire to cover a hole in the railfan magazine marketplace
The original concept was developed by Stuart Ellis and Brad Peadon. The concept was simple; produce a magazine that primarily covered locomotives in Australia. As luck would have it, the right people were involved at the right time. Patrick Buchanan was a driving force in the early days, and his experience in the pre press department was invaluable. Rodney Williams ran a small printing company on the Central Coast of NSW and was a friend of the family.
So after a lot of hard work and everything lining up, we were able to launch our first issue on 23 August 1998 on Central Station in Sydney in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of Clyde Engineering / EMD in Australia. A print run of 300 copies and 24 pages was produced, (4 pages in full colour and the rest in black & white on matte paper), and the magazine was a hit. We were forced to do a re run a few weeks later on, with another 300 copies.
From there on we published on a bi monthly schedule, and had formed a great team of dedicated supporters to do our best to cover the Australian locomotive scene in detail. We could not have chosen a better time, as the revolution of private operators across Australia was just beginning.
As of June 2020, we have been in continuous production ever since, with 4500 copies printed each issue and have passed the 130issue mark with flying colours. We supply most leading hobby shops across Australia, newsagents through Ovato distribution, and a subscription service. Motive Power is read by industry leading professionals and enthusiasts alike. There is a number of overseas subscribers as well. We currently print 68 pages in full colour.
Motive Power Publications is owned by Stuart Ellis, and it is his passion that keeps Motive Power where it is today, Australia’s leading locomotive magazine. This passion is shared deeply by all in the MP team.
We aim to produce the best railway magazine in Australia, and we do everything we can to keep our reproduction and contents standards to a first class rating
We have a fantastic reputation for reproducing some of the best work from leading railway photographers across Australia.
We always welcome feedback, whether it be good, bad or indifferent as this is a magazine produced by railfans for railfans.