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Locomotive and passenger car reference books

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  • Member since
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  • From: THE FAR, FAR REACHES OF THE WILD, WILD WEST!
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Posted by R. T. POTEET on Friday, June 20, 2008 7:29 PM

 rstaller wrote:
 I'm looking for a couple of books, by I believe Kalmbach Publishing.  I think they were called Locomotive builders cyclopedia, and Passenger Car cyclopedia Vols. 1 and 2.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Not quite sure of the exact names though.  R Staller
Kalmbach has published two cyclopedias of locomotive drawings, one steam, the other diesel. Robert Hundmann has published two cyclopedias of steam locomotive drawings; there is, apparently, a third in the works which will cover the articulated locomotive drawings from Mainline Modeler; I heard that when Hundmann had his magazines up for sale one reason he could not find a buyer for Mainline is because he insisted in retaining the copyright on his steam locomotive drawings.

 Carsten has published three volumes of passenger cars extracted from the pages of Craftsman; they were considerably more prolific in this area than Kalmbach and I suspect there is probably a fourth volume in the offing. There were a couple of series on streamline cars published in the '70s, '80s, and '90s. One of these was titled The Pullman-Standard Library and the other titled The Passenger Car Library; the latter one deals with flute sided passenger cars. The books are segregated by corporate users, they are pricey and appear to be reproduced from prototype drawings and are meticulous and exact but if you are into passenger cars they are indispensible.

From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet

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Posted by dti406 on Thursday, June 19, 2008 11:25 AM

Back in the 70's Kalmbach did two books on Passenger Trains, Classic Passenger Trains and More Classic Passenger Trains.  These had a history of the train and pictures, but I do not remember if there were any drawings.  These are long out of print although you may find them at used book stores or ebay at highly inflated prices.

Regards

Rick

Rule 1: This is my railroad.

Rule 2: I make the rules.

Rule 3: Illuminating discussion of prototype history, equipment and operating practices is always welcome, but in the event of visitor-perceived anacronisms, detail descrepancies or operating errors, consult RULE 1!

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Posted by Dean-58 on Thursday, June 19, 2008 9:52 AM
 IRONROOSTER wrote:

There were also Locomotive Dictionaries and Car Builder Dictionaries reprinted by Newton Gregg.  He also published extracts as Train Shed Cyclopedias.  Sadly, Newton Gregg is gone but you can still find them with used book dealers.

Enjoy

Paul 

Don't know if I've mentioned this, guys (NO memory!), but for used model railroad magazines and books about real railroads, I've been using www.railpub.com for years.  I've done a lot of dumb things over the years, usually from pure silliness, but I still congratulate myself on buying the 1950 through 1961 bound volumes of MR (later bought '45 through '49) and bought some of the reprints offered by Newton K. Gregg under his Trainshed Publications banner.  Since I've been modeling 1890s-1912 era trains for nearly 40 years now, I also love my 3-volume (paperback) set of the "1898 Car Builders Dictionary," also from Gregg--which is actually a cyclopedea.  For an "old-time" modeler, this set is worth its weight in gold!  I also bought individual sections of the reprints of "Buildings and Structures of American Railroads," by Walter C. Berg, C.E. (with the Lehigh Valley at the time).  I later regretted not buying the entire book in a single volume, and when I spotted a copy at Railpub, a few years back, I bought it.  This one tells you what materials were used, which was best for what purposes--how expensive things were to operate!--all the knowledge you'd need to build the real thing!

I've heard the Carstens passenger car series is excellent, though a bit pricey for my means, and I'll someday buy the one for the early years.  Meanwhile, Kalmbach's "Locomotive Cyclopedea, Volume I: Steam" is chockful of good photos and reference materials, including all the "Bluebook" of steam locomotive appliances and appurtenances.  The more you learn about the real thing, the better your modeling will be!

Dean "Model Railroading is FUN!"
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Posted by IRONROOSTER on Tuesday, June 17, 2008 9:31 PM

There were also Locomotive Dictionaries and Car Builder Dictionaries reprinted by Newton Gregg.  He also published extracts as Train Shed Cyclopedias.  Sadly, Newton Gregg is gone but you can still find them with used book dealers.

Enjoy

Paul 

If you're having fun, you're doing it the right way.
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Posted by G Paine on Tuesday, June 17, 2008 7:56 PM

George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch 

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Locomotive and passenger car reference books
Posted by rstaller on Tuesday, June 17, 2008 5:38 PM
 I'm looking for a couple of books, by I believe Kalmbach Publishing.  I think they were called Locomotive builders cyclopedia, and Passenger Car cyclopedia Vols. 1 and 2.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Not quite sure of the exact names though.  R Staller

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