Being in this hobby for nearly a quarter century, I guess it's inevitable I's accumulate a large number of books. Some of them are rather "vintage"
Soup to nuts books:MR Staff. The abc's of Model Railroading, 1978MR Staff. The Practical Guide to HO Model Railroading, 1986Schleicher, Robert. The Model Railroading Handbook Vol I. 1975Schleicher, Robert. The Model Railroading Handbook Vol II. 1975Westcott, Linn. The HO Railroad That Grows, 195?
Layout Planning:Armstrong, John. Track Planning for Realistic Operation, 2nd Edition, 1979Koester, Tony. Designing & Building Multi-Deck Model Railroads, 2008Koester, Tony. Realistic Model Railroad Building Blocks, 2005Koester, Tony. Realistic Model Railroad Design, 2004Rice, Iain. Shelf Layouts for Model Railroads, 2009
Modeling Reference:Koester, Tony. The Model Railroader's Guide to Coal Railroading, 2006Sperandeo, Andy. The Model Railroader's Guide to Passenger Equipment & Operation. 2006Wilson, Jeff. The Model Railroader's Guide to Bridges, Trestles & Tunnels. 2005Wilson, Jeff. The Model Railroader's Guide to Junctions. 2006
Benchwork:Westcott, Linn How to Build Model Railroad Benchwork. 1979
Wiring/DCC/Electronics:Fiehmann, Don. Basic Electricity & Electronics for Model Railroaders. 1988Fiehmann, Don. The DCC Guide. 2007Polsgrove, Mike. DCC Projects & Applications. 2006Sperandeo, Andy. Easy Model Railroad Wiring. 1990Thorne, Peter. 34 New Electronic Projects for Model Railroaders. 1990Thorne, Peter. Easy to Build Electronic Projects for Model Railroaders. 1988
Scenery:Frary, Dave. How to Build Realistic Model Railroad Scenery, 2nd Edition. 1991Frary, Dave. How to Build Realistic Model Railroad Scenery, 3rd Edition. 2005Koester, Tony. Planning Scenery for Your Model Railroad. 2007McClanahan, Bill. Scenery for Model Railroads. 1958MR Staff. Scenery Tips and Techniques from Model Railroader Magazine. 1989Sassi, Lou. Basic Scenery for Model Railroaders. 2002Sassi, Lou. How to Build & Detail Model Railroad Scenes Vol I. 2004Sassi, Lou. How to Build & Detail Model Railroad Scenes Vol II. 2009
Structures/Urban Modeling: Pryke, John. Building City Scenery for You Model Railroad. 2000Wilson, Jeff. Basic Structure Modeling for Model Railroaders. 2005
Operation:Chubb, Bruce. How to Operate Your Model Railroad. 1977Koester, Tony. Realistic Model Railroad Operation. 2003
How big is your library?
Nick
Take a Ride on the Reading with the: Reading Company Technical & Historical Society http://www.readingrailroad.org/
Great list Nick!
My library reference material list is incomplete, but most of the titles are listed on my Piedmont Division web site: http://piedmontdivision.rymocs.com/modeltech.htm I need to take another inventory of all my titles and then update this page again.
Ryan BoudreauxThe Piedmont Division Modeling The Southern Railway, Norfolk & Western & Norfolk Southern in HO during the merger eraCajun Chef Ryan
Funny you should bring this up. I am currently trying to squeeze layout sections into my train room, which is somewhat more a train LIBRARY ROOM.
Bookshelves up to 4 feet high around 3 sides of room, with layout going in at 5 foot elevation. Books are against walls. Modeling supplies, rolling stock, etc. are in rollaway storage IN FRONT OF books to be rolled away when books needed. RR supplies are lighter on casters than books.
Model Railroader magazine in binders or boxed by year from 1948 to date. Complete since 1966. (Plug for Kalmbach: I used to subscribe to another modeling magazine but decided I just could not keep buying and storing ALL issues of all publications, and MR my favorite.)
Santa Fe Modeler/ Warbonnet etc in its various incarnations complete 1968 - date.
Official guides, Equipment registers, timetables, CLIC books, dispatcher sheets, etc.
Industry library re companies in area I model including Texas Almanac and State Industrial Guide for area I model
Architectural history library
Complete set of World Book encyclopedias from 1957 for reference to time period I model.
Santa Fe books:
1984, Vanishing Vistas, Sacramento, Cal.
I have attempted to put different titles in different paragraphs but this website frequently jumbles them all together, regardless of how I type.
Thanks, I thought I was the only one out of control! But unless you are a contemporary modeler you need the memory backup - at least that's the excuse I give the wife.
Have fun
Ernie C
Ye olde CR&T Library has 40+ Kalmbach/Carstens special books, a half-dozen+ Pennsy & Traction books, 100+ Model Railroaders, and 20+ Railroad Model Craftsman.
All titles would've been listed until I remembered the three signs of old age:
You begin to forget things, and I cannot recall the other two items right now!
Conemaugh Road & Traction circa 1956
I do not have nearly that many model railroad reference books (but I do have 2 editions of Track Plannign for Realistic Operation), and a collection of MR that is pretty solid fromt he 80's til now and quite a few from the 50's-80's, and a few older ones (including the whole year 1943 - interesting perpective in the middle of WWII), What I do have a plenty of reference boosk on my prototype, starting with vol 2 of Holton's history of the Reading (20th century), and including color guides and tons of the Morning Sun picture collections related to the Reading and Anthracite railroads.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
I also have a stash of Morning Sun and similar books as well as timetables and rule books.
Anthracite Region:Bernet, Gerard. Anthracite Country Color. 1998Yungkurth, Chuch. Trackside around Scranton. 1999
Delaware & Hudson:Odell, Jim et al. D&H Color Guide. 1997Serenstis, Jaimie FM. Delaware & Hudson, Thunder & Lighting Stripes. 2003D&H Timetable No. 1; October 26, 1969D&H Timetable No. 2; October 31, 1971D&H USRA Extension Operations Plan; April 1 1976
Reading:Bernet, Gerard. Color Memories of Reading's Shamokin Division. 1999Bossler, Craig. Reading Color Guide. 1993RDG Timetable, July 29 1974RDG Operating Rulebook, 1969RDG Safety Rulebook, 1969RDG Summery of Equipment, January 1, 1974
Pennsylvania RR:Ball, Don Jr. The Pennsylvania Railroad 1940s - 1950s. 1986Burgess, George H. Centennial History of The Pennsylvania Railroad. 1949Jacobs, TImothy. The History of the Pennsylvania Railroad. 1988McGonigal, Robert. The Hear of the Pennsylvania Railroad. 1996PRR Eastern Region Timetable No. 20, October 31, 1965PRR Operating Rulebook, 1949
General Railroad:Trains Staff. The Historical Guide to North American Railroads. 2000Knapke, William. The Railroad Caboose. 1968
I also have a box of other timetables and rulebooks I've yet to sort through.
I have over 100 books on the prototype railroads and another 40 or so on Model Railroading. I have all MR's but 6 back to 1950 and about 3 dozen from the 40's. I have all RMC back to 1971 and about 150 more earlier ones. I have all NMRA Bulletins/Scale Rails etc. back to 1972. I probably have 100+ on Trains. I have over half of the CTT's. I have issues from various other mags such as NWSL, Model Railroading, Mainline Modeler, etc. It all takes up 50+ linear feet of book shelves.
Who said packrat?
Enjoy
Paul
I've been in the hobby for 28 years and I never bought a 'how to' model railroad book. On the other hand, I've been in a model railroad club for about 25 years and I've learned a few things from other modelers.
Let me recommend two books, both of them out of print but fairly regularly seen at swap meets, that I enjoy having in my library of model railroad books (as opposd to books about prototype trains that provide useful information to the modeler as well as railfan).
The late Art Curren's Kitbashing HO Model Railroad Structures. Kalmbach should not have allowed this to go out of print, but admittedly it could use a bit of updating because while most of the kits he used are still available ownership of some of the tooling has changed hands. The key things here are the techniques not the specific structures. This guy was a wizard even when using fairly crude kits such as the old standby Mt. Vernon Mfg that Like Like now sells.
Robert Schleicher's Building Plastic Models. Yes Schleicher wrote for Kalmbach for a time. This one is, in a sense, more outdated than Curren's, but the approaches he advocates, the techniques he teaches, and the results he achieves, are all still highly useful to the modeler.
Dave Nelson
Dave, I obtained a copy of Art Curren's Kitbashing book from Amazon about a year ago. It is a used hardback copy from a library that is still in good shape. I love this book, and I agree, his techniques are the golden nugget and not necessarily the specfic kits that he uses for examples. In fact, many of the kits are still available on online auction or estate sales and most can be purchased for under $10.00 each.
As of late i've been refining my collection, disposing of those that have no future bearing on my modeling or no longer hold my interest.
In the last year i've purchased the following hard covers:
Pacific Fruit express, Signature Press
Billboard Refirgertor Cars, Signature Press
Sacramento Northern, also by Signature Press
I continue to aquire the entire series once published by Interurban Press regarding the Pacific Electric, two more to go and all 36 volumes will be complete. (rumors that the final 4 volumes are to be released by a un-named publisher have proven just that)
Vintage read:
A century of Southern Pacific Steam, binded by good ol' duct tape and older then my car (it too is held together with duct tape) !
SP Sacramento Shops line drawings effective as of 1927
Working copy of Kratville's 1959 publication: Motive power of the Union Pacific, complete with margin notes and hand annotations!
Model RR, bound volumes, 1962-1988 these include 2 volumes from the John Allen estate that survived the fire. Poor conditon with water and smoke dammage.
Much more remain in storage, too much to list in fact!
Dave
My library contains a lot of the titles listed by the OP, plus 60+ years of MR and multi-decade collections of two other model railroad-oriented magazines.
I can't list a substantial part of the library that occupies almost all the wall space of a 9x12 room - this site has a problem with printed Japanese...
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - from information in Japanese reference books)
Well, I've been modeling and a railfan since about 1955. I also did custom painting for 20+ years so I've accumulated just a few books short of 1,500 as of last month. My library has taken over one of my bedrooms and my wife and I like woodworking too so we built custom book cases with adjustable glass shelves for all of them. I really think I like my books better than modeling at this point!
I'd say my favorite model railroad book is probably the Virginian & Ohio by Carstens. My favorite prototype books are my collections on the Ma&Pa, Virginian, Interstate and (of COURSE) the N&W.
I just recently got the two new Morning Sun NKP In Color books and they are great! Love those Berks!
Roger Huber
Model Railroading in Small Spaces - 1982The HO Model Railroading Handbook - 1998303 Tips for Detailing Model Railroad Scenery and Structures - 1995HO Railroad From Set to Scenery - 1995Model Railroading with John Allen - 1996Model Railroad Scenery and Detailing - 1990ABCs of Building Model Railroad Cars - 1985The Basics of Model Railroading (video) - 1988
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
My model railroading and railroading library could fill a 20` container without a problem. There are a number of books where I am quite positive to have the only existing copy. Some of these gems are
"The Compendium of Modern Railroading" - published 1912 In Quedlinburg/Germany and
"Der deutsche Lokomotivführer im Weltkriege" (The German Engineer in WW I), published in 1919, with lots of interesting stories told in the language of those days.
In all, a lot of reading material to fill rainy days...
Edit:
I forgot to mention - MR from 1969 till today, unfortunately with a lot of gaps!
I've seen most of these, and I think my dad has most of the books listed.
One old one is 7 HO layouts by Atlas. Written by John Armstrong, with illustrations by Ted Stepek. The newer versions don't have the illustrations.
The Model Railroads guide to Industries, vol 1-3 is good to have as well.
Mike WSOR engineer | HO scale since 1988 | Visit our club www.WCGandyDancers.com