Steam Glory 2

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Steam Glory 2 is one of those rare times that the promise is delivered. It teased good stuff and there it is, for all to see and enjoy. And that is quite a trick for an over analyzed subject that has been gone from USA’s mainlines for 46 years. My ranking: #8 The bigger, wider magazine size. #7 “Green Giants.” What BIG, FAT beauties! I never knew. Thanks. #6 “Reading Shops” the Reading motive power gets some respect. (I just wish there was images and stories of the men in the shops.) #5 “Southern Pacific’s Painted Ladies.” What a treasure! I have seen black and white photos of the one of the engines but to have almost all in COLOR! Awesome. #4“An Unforgettable Ride”, the story and great color of Pennsy K4s’ in their last days. (I could have seen them if my Dad only knew!) #3 “A Day With Engineer Herbel.” Wow! GREAT photojournalism! I wish I had taken Art Hanford’s shot on page 66-67 of fireman Pease yanking the water column over. What a great shot. (Pease’s right foot in the air makes it for me.) #2 Every few pages, like being handed a vanilla ice cream sundae with chocolate fudge while watching your favorite movie, we get landscape format, gutter free, suitable-for-framing COLOR photos of STEAM! I liked “Streamliner At Rest” on page 37, “Gathering At The Mount” page 68 and “Steam and Bilevels-1 and 2” pages 84/85. GEE WHIZ!!` #1 Incredible at it seems to me at this late date of 2006, “Streamlining the Centrals Thoroughbreds” actually presents NEW information. Here we finally see what was in the minds of two great steam designers and how they created their finest creations. However, what is most fantastic is the knowledge imparted by the article that the original respective locomotives drawings were opposite the ultimate historic value of the final designs. Today the pontificators of taste state that Kantola design for the Commodore Vanderbilt is inferior because of the slant nose and even worse, the covering of the running gear. Instead we see in the original design an abbreviated slant nose and FULL visual access to the fabulous monkey motion of Hudson reciprocating steam. On the other hand, the glorious projectile nose of Dreyfuss’s ’38 Century Hudson is smothered under a C&O M-1-like pug ugly steam turbine snoot. How different these men’s reputations would be today if their original designs had been implemented?! Thank you author Richard L. Stoving for bringing this important historical information to light. A big thank you goes to the staff at Kalmbach and especially to Editor Robert S. McGonigal. Well Done! Dennis A. Livesey