Ingles served on the staff of Trains Magazine from 1971 to May 2007, beginning as assistant editor under editor David P. Morgan and subsequently holding the posts of associate editor, managing editor, editor, and senior editor. A Chicago native, Dave inherited an interest in railroading from his father, John S. Ingles. He graduated from MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Ill., and attended graduate school at the University of Tennessee's transportation school in Knoxville. He had worked for three daily newspapers before joining Kalmbach Publishing.
A classic "railfan's railfan" that took over Trains in 1987 upon the retirement of David P. Morgan, Ingles had and promoted interests in railroading common to many fans, including diesel locomotives, passenger trains (he had ridden virtually every mile Amtrak has ever operated), and railroad cartography/maps. Under Ingles' editorship, Trains Magazine steered somewhat away from Morgan's view of the magazine's mission of part business journal and part enthusiast publication to encompass more technical detail, history, and pure railfanning. Some of this continued with Ingles' transition to Classic Trains Magazine, a nostalgia-themed publication.