Which books would you say are the MUST have in any classic railfans library?
I’d say that THE TRAINS WE RODE VOL I & II, SOME CLASSIC TRAINS and SOME MORE CLASSIC TRAINS should be on the list. Which ones do you have in your stash and which are you currently looking for?
Mixed Train Daily would be on my list if I had to condense my library to just a few volumes. I still pick up things out of those photos every time I look through it.
Bill
For Classic Train fans Steam Steel and Limiteds is a must in any passenger train library.
And for UP fans Union Pacific Streamliners is almost a bible for those fans.
Don Ball Jr.'s Decade of the Trains the 1940’s is a great book for that time period…text is by Rogers Whitiker who worked the Traffic Control Center of the Transportation Corp during the war and most of the pictures are first time shown Office of War Information pictures…lot a facts and figures as well as some personal experiences
Just looking at my shelf there are a few that I can recommend. David P. Morgans books Steam’s Finest Hour and The Mohawk That Refused to Abdicate are definites. Any of the various railway power books by Alvin F. Staufer (Pennsy Power I and II, C&O Power, Erie Power, etc…). I also like Richard Cook’s Super Power Steam Locomotives. And one other volume of interest is a little known work by Jack Farrell called *The Berkshire and Texas Types–*loaded with solid information and some good photographic work.
Thanks for all the suggestions fellas [tup] much appreciated. Gives me an idea what to look for. Night Trains is a good one as well I have to say.
Just found a new Milwaukee Road book from Museum of North Idaho. Has anyone bought it, is it any good?
The Milwaukee Road’s Western Extension
The Building of a Transcontinental Railroad
by Stan Johnson
Over 500 pages 8 1/2" x 11", nearly 450 photographs, drawing and maps, detailed index. Valuable list of historical research sources and first time in print correspondence.
I would add “American Narrow Gauge Railroads” by George W. Hilton.
Enjoy
Paul
I would strongly recommend, if you are interested in passenger trains, that you pickup an Official Guide for the 50’s and also early 60’s.
As described in other posts here, the Guides are very valuable for historical looks at passenger trains and railroads during those periods. The maps are very valuable references.
ed
Fellas, here’s another two that I have to recommend…
The Great Northern Railway
A Pictorial Study by Charles & Dorothy Wood
and
HIGHBALL
A Pageant of Trains
by Lucius Beebe
both Locomotive Cyclopedias I & II, (I think both are out of print)they both feature nothing but engines and drawings of them during the classic era.
It’s also possible to get the Official Guide on CD Rom. I have the 1936 edition, purchased onliine from a company called Railway Station Productions. When I bought it they only had this year available; don’t know if they’ve added any other editions.
Lost World:
How do you like the CD Rom edition? Personally, I like the ability to take a look at a book. Call me old school, but it is comforting to have a book in my hands.
Also, how is the quality? I can see the benefits of being able to print out specific maps, timetables, equipment lists, etc.
ed
Ed:
Having never had an Official Guide in my hands, as they’re hard to find, the CD rom edition is all I know. But it is scanned page for page from the original, including timetables, the lists of officials and agents, and of course the maps. All pages can be viewed as you would the originals (two pages spread before you), or page by page, with the ability to rotate the page, which comes in handy when viewing the maps, which you would flip horizontally to view in the actual book. The CD version is also alphabetized in a toolbar on the left of the screen, so you can search for roads by name as you would in the original edition. The scan quality is excellent, and I would recommend the CD rom edition to anyone as I am very satisfied with mine.
I’ll be the first to admit that I am not a C&O Allegheny fan. They are just plain ugly, a pipefitters nightmare. That said, the absolute best monograph on a single locomotive that I have read is, “Allegheny, Lima’s Finest” by Gene Huddleston. This is just a fabulous book!
Wyoming,
To which Locomotive Cyclopedias are you refering to? Kalmbach, Hundman, Simmons-Boardman?
How about those North American Steam, The Northerns, The Mountains and The Berksire & Texas types, any good?
J. Parker Lamb’s Perfecting the American Steam Locomotive, probably the best account of the design and operation of steam locomotives available to the layman. When I first read this book, I wished I had it when I had to write a paper for my high school physics class.
They’re OK, but seem to be a bit pricey these days.
Three Barrels of Steam is another pricey letdown! That is unless you just want a bunch of pictures of SP 4-10-2’s.
Without trying very hard, it would be possible to invest a BUNCH in reference books, general and specific, about railroads in general or about one specific railroad. The titles are out there!
So, what do I have? A fairly comprehensive collection - all in Japanese. I won’t bother listing titles.
Chuck (modeling what I railfanned - Central Japan in September, 1964)
Which is great as long as you can read Japanese.
I have some stuff on Russian RR’s sent to me from Russia. Of coarse, I can’t read a lick of it.