Good reference books

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone I need some reference books, mostly pictures for 1890s-1930s era mining, logging and generic rail. Any advice would be appreciated [:)]

[bman36]

Hey there,
This one is Canadian but a very good book. Vancouver Island Railroads by Robert D. Turner. ISBN number is 1-55039-077-5. In there you will find a lot of great shots and info. Later eh...Brian.

[vsmith]

This is far to wide a subject .There are too many to cite, please be more specific about what you are looking to study, first off are you looking for standard guage or narrow guage. there are literally 100's of book out there, so a little more information please.

IOW are you looking for standard gauge logging or narrow guage logging , eastern logging in the Ozarks Appalacians, southern logging or west coast logging California, Rocky Mountans, Northwest Coast or British Columbia?

Mining is just as conveluted.

I have some books I will recommend, Gerald Best's "Mexican Narrow Gauge" which has some remarkable photos on narrow gauge steam south of the border all the way down to the Yucatan. Very good book that I highly recommend.

Another great reference book of narrow guage that is readily avalible (I got my copy from Barnes & Noble) is called "California High Country Narrow Gauge" it is a reprint under a different title of the classic book
"Narrow Gauge Nostalgia" and cover 8 California NG routes.

Gerald Best's Book on the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railway called "Nevada County Narrow Gauge" (what else) is also a classic for narrow gauge.

"Rails to the Redwoods" is another good book.

Too many sources on the D&RGW so maybe others will thru in their 2 cent and recommend some.

[Anonymous]

I know its a massive topic I suppose the most unique type of reference with lots of pictures. I mostly want them for ideas. I'm not big on exact replicas more of "that looks cool, I'll make my own"

[Anonymous]

I don't understand why you wi***o live in the past, the present is pretty good and the future looks rosy. You can't do much about the past, so why worry abou it.

Their are many great things happeneing in the world of trains right now, so why concentate on the past?

Rgs

Ian Kawana etc.

[Anonymous]

ian, I have always preferred the steam era and the 20s/30s in particular. The locos are more interesting to me with their moving parts and smoke.

[grandpopswalt]

Ian,

You're obviously a "the glass is half full" kind of guy, good for you, I envy you. However there are a lot of us curmudgians, of all ages, who don't share your optimism of a rosey future. And the present is a little scary too with the turmoil in the middleast among other things.

For a lot of us the GR is an escape from reality. It's an imaginary nostalgic trip back to a "better time" when life was more simple. So we put on our blinders and pretend that it's 1920 or 30, that a loaf of bread costs a nickle and you can buy a new car for $500. We pretend that the great depression never happened, or at least wasn't really as bad as they say it was. It's somhow comforting to contemplate a time when there were no Nukes, no terrorists, no Anthrax, no global warming, etc, etc, etc.

It's easier to create a plausible miniature version of a short-line NG RR operating in the backwoods of some mountain range than to make a believable modern day GR. Also, very few of us were actually around when the little steamers were in use, so we can let our imaginations fill in the blanks. And as Mr. Irate Squirrel points out, those old steam engines just plain looked cool. To successfully create a good standard guage modern RR requires a lot of room and a lot of $ in order to run very long trains with multiple diesel engines. A few guys have managed to pull it off, like Marty Cozad, but most of the present-day layouts I've seen just don't cut it, at least in my opinion.

Walt

[Anonymous]

Hey Mr. Irate Squirrel,
The Colorado railroad Museum has a large selection of rail related books, http://www.crrm.org/
Also, check the FYI thread on this forum for other RR book sellers.

Ian, didn't I see an old time steam loco on your layout?

OLD DAD

[cacole]

Go to your local public library and look for "mining" books -- there should be ones that you can check out.

[vsmith]

QUOTE: Originally posted by irate squirrel

I know its a massive topic I suppose the most unique type of reference with lots of pictures. I mostly want them for ideas. I'm not big on exact replicas more of "that looks cool, I'll make my own"

Definetly look for the California High Country Narrow Guage book, lots of ideas in there.

THE best source for narrow gauge IMHO is the magazine "Short Line and Narrow Gauge Gazette" the articles , models, and photos are an outstanding source of information.

Added 6/23/04

All the Hoolabalu over the Disney issue reminded me that another really interesting book if you can find it it , surprise!, Walt Disney's Railroad Story, Its actaully a very interesting book covering Walt's live steam backyard layout and how it influenced Dizzylands design. It also includes alot of restoration photos of the parks Steam loco's. Very well done book.

[Anonymous]

I have a need to fill both the past and now.
Do a search on the net in Google under Images [:)]

[Anonymous]

Hi irate squirrel
for a completly different slant on the timber railways
if You can find a copy
of the out of print
Rails Through The Bush
by Adrian Gunzberg
This will give you a look at the West Australian Timber industry which is a little different on the railway side of things where the company main line
was more often than not as good as the Government railway system.
Regards John