I have a suggestion for the editorial staff at Trains. I have been reading Trains since the age of ten which makes for over forty years of reading which is unfortunately longer than the age of some of the posting correspondents here on the forum. As I write this, I wonder how many readers know who he was and the enormous creative influence and mentor he was for an entire generation. Some of his articles are so indelibly etched into me so deeply they have probably had more of an influence than I can describe here. He taught me by example just how effective the written word on a page can be. I hope that in the future, the Trains staff considers reprinting some or at least one of his articles. If I had to make the difficult choice of only one to chose, it would be ,”Look Away.” I strongly believe that a new generation needs to be exposed to his writing not only as part of your magazines wonderful heritage but as a means to demonstrate poetry and truth can be found in the subject of trains in the hands of a gifted writer such as David.
As someone who has been reading Trains for about forty years also, I must say that I did enjoy many of DPM’s articles, (although I don’t recall the one quoted by wallyworld). I would guess it covered the South, which reflected Morgan’s origins. As a non-resident of the USA, I was impressed by Morgan’s interest in areas outside the United States, and how broad the scope of coverage was in his time as editor. It wasn’t just the writing, but the photography and artwork were very advanced for the time. I still have all the copies I bought at the time, and I’ve picked up others from the 1960s as I can. I will often refer to a Trains article of that time, particularly articles on US steam locomotives, which provide excellent technical and historical detail. Most of these weren’t written by Morgan, but the whole magazine reflected his style, which included a very high standard of English usage with a broad vocabulary. It provided a high standard to which those of us who wanted to write such articles could aspire!
It would be nice to see some of the historical articles, those where the subject is still relevant, repeated in Trains (or maybe in Classic Trains). It would be interesting to see some of those articles allied to the much better quality of illustration now available, in particular the much greater use of colour and more detailed maps and diagrams.
Peter
Recent issue of Railroad History had an appreciation/review of DPM and his contributions.
Like his work or not, the man could write and made things interesting.
work safe
Do you remember the name of the book by Kalmbach? I am interested in getting a copy.
I loved DPM’s articles, I wish people now could read them.
toyomantrains,
My recollection of the Morgan collection book title was;
“The Mohawk that refused to Abdicate (and other stories)”
It had a Gil Reid painting on the cover
(that’s just my recollection, of course, I don’t have a copy)
Peter
The most recent book is “Confessions of a Train-Watcher, Four decades of railroad writing by David P. Morgan”, edited by George Drury. Kalmbach published it in 1997. It has 39 of his articles reprinted. “Look Away” is not included but "Early on one Frosty Mornin’ " is.
garr
I am familiarwith the book. I just thought one article reprinted would give greater access to David’s writing especially since I am sure there are quite afew folks who haven’t had the reward of reading his prose. I was mulling over other notable writers of railroad
topics and Bill Middleton came to mind. I think Bill singlehandedly saved and promoted the history of the interurban era as far as a mass audience was concerned in his Trains
articles. Then I was thinking back to past issues. There have been several tributes in Trains about photographers, why not writers? Some of these folks are still with us, some are not…I think it would be great and educational to read about how they were drawn to trains in their lives and their writing process. What a great series of articles. They would be a change of pace.
If you can find it I recommend DPM’s “The Mohawk That Refused to Abdicate”
A good selection of stories and photos.
Sometimes DPM could let his eloquence get away from him and things got a bit too flowery … but the story about the NYC Mohawk is very exciting.
Dave Nelson
In my humble opinoin…
trains mag. hasnt touched what DPM brought tothe table. He was a very elegant and informative writer and has help mold my veiw of railroading. I wasnt able to experience railroading in its glory and heyday but thanks to his writhings, one is able to visualize what it would have been like. J.D. ingles era was a pleasant one as well. Not muched has rwally caught my fance in trains mag for a few years but the latest issue with the rock island in it has my kudos. LONG LIVE THE ROCK!!!
HERE, HERE, AND AMEN, A SUPERB SUGGESTION!
Thanks tomtrain for being so helpful- can’t wait to read it!
Well it’s Derby time here in Louisville, KY. David P. would have a field day
of taking shots of trains at Louisville Union Station (if there were still any
trains coming in or going out of Louisville)
I can just remember back to old issues of Trains with his pictures of
Louisville at Derby time.