Model Railroad Library

[WSOR 3801]

 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.

[Anonymous]

 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!

[jeffrey-wimberly]

 Model Railroading in Small Spaces - 1982
The HO Model Railroading Handbook - 1998
303 Tips for Detailing Model Railroad Scenery and Structures - 1995
HO Railroad From Set to Scenery - 1995
Model Railroading with John Allen - 1996
Model Railroad Scenery and Detailing - 1990
ABCs of Building Model Railroad Cars - 1985
The Basics of Model Railroading (video) - 1988

[oldline1]

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

[tomikawaTT]

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)

[West Coast S]

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 

      

[SilverSpike]

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.

 

[dknelson]

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

[aloco]

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.

[IRONROOSTER]

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

[nbrodar]

 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. 1998
Yungkurth, Chuch. Trackside around Scranton. 1999

Delaware & Hudson:
Odell, Jim et al. D&H Color Guide. 1997
Serenstis, Jaimie FM. Delaware & Hudson, Thunder & Lighting Stripes. 2003
D&H Timetable No. 1; October 26, 1969
D&H Timetable No. 2; October 31, 1971
D&H USRA Extension Operations Plan; April 1 1976

Reading:
Bernet, Gerard. Color Memories of Reading's Shamokin Division. 1999
Bossler, Craig. Reading Color Guide. 1993
RDG Timetable, July 29 1974
RDG Operating Rulebook, 1969
RDG Safety Rulebook, 1969
RDG Summery of Equipment, January 1, 1974

Pennsylvania RR:
Ball, Don Jr. The Pennsylvania Railroad 1940s - 1950s. 1986
Burgess, George H. Centennial History of The Pennsylvania Railroad. 1949
Jacobs, TImothy. The History of the Pennsylvania Railroad. 1988
McGonigal, Robert. The Hear of the Pennsylvania Railroad. 1996
PRR Eastern Region Timetable No. 20, October 31, 1965
PRR Operating Rulebook, 1949

General Railroad:
Trains Staff. The Historical Guide to North American Railroads. 2000
Knapke, William. The Railroad Caboose. 1968

I also have a box of other timetables and rulebooks I've yet to sort through.

Nick

[rrinker]

 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

 

[tgindy]

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!

[ErnieC]

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

[leighant]

 

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:

_Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, Volume 1_ Richard E. Cox.

1984, Vanishing Vistas, Sacramento, Cal. 

 

_ATSF Color Guide to Freight and Passenger Equipment_, Lloyd E. Stagner.1995, Morning Sun Books, Edison, N.J.  128p. Bulkhead Flat cars.  Detailed specifications covering Santa Fe's fleet of 1,780 bulkhead flat cars for wallboard, pulpwood and similar commodities.  September, 1970. _Caboose Cars of the Santa Fe Railway_ Frank M. Ellington.  1978,Railroad Car Press, Colfax, Iowa.  100 p. _Car Names, Numbers and Consists_ ed. by Robert J. Wayner. 1972,Wayner Publications, New York. 249p. _Car Service and Per Diem Rules_ Circular #210-K, The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway (et al.) Effective January 1, 1949.  62 p. _Coach, Cabbage and Caboose : Santa Fe Mixed Train Service_  John B. McCall.  1979, Kachina Press, Dallas, Texas. 256 p.    Frame Depot Plan Folio_ Supplement to Vol.16 #1 _Santa Fe Modeler_1st Quarter 1993. 16p. General and Special Purpose Flat Cars.  Detailed specifications on Santa Fe's 1,900 car fleet... October, 1970. _Head End Cars_ Frank M. Ellington & Joe W. Shine, Santa Fe Railway Passenger Car Reference Series- Vol.1  1999, Santa Fe Railway Historical & Modeling Society, Highlands Ranch, Col.  159 p. _Iron Horses of the Santa Fe Trail_ E. D. Worley.  1965, Southwest Railroad Historical Society.  2nd printing, 1976, Philip M. Dybvig Inc. Dallas, Texas.  480 pages + diagram section D1-D128. _Listing of Freight Cars by Class and Car Number 1906-1991_ compiled by Larry Occhiello. Santa Fe Modelers Organization, Inc., Norman, Ok. and Santa Fe Railway Historical Society Inc., Long Beach, Cal. _Modeling Cajon_ Pete Youngblood.  1985, Trans-Anglo Books div. ofInterurban Press, Glendale, Cal. 72p. _Official Pullman-Standard Library, Vol.1 Santa Fe_ W. David Randall &William M. Ross.  1986, Railway Production Classics, Godfrey, Ill.190 p. + I-XX. _Passenger Train Equipment 1870-1975 of the Atchison Topeka & Santa FeVol. 2 Business and Special Purpose Cars_ Frank M. Ellington & Joe W. Shine.  1975, Railcar Press I & II, Colfax, Iowa.  177 p. _Per Diem Demurrage Switching_ Santa Fe System Lines. 1964. 12p. _Quarter Century of Santa Fe Consists, A_  Fred W. Frailey.  1974, RPC Publications, Godfrey, Ill. 208p.

 

_The Railroad_ "Furnished through courtesy of Santa Fe System Lines."1958.  34p.  Publicity/educational handout aimed at high school age. _Rating of Railway Bridges_ Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Systemissued by Bridge Engineer, System- August 1930, Revised July 1931, January 1934, September 1939, July 1946, April 1950 (reproduction)Refrigerator Cars: Ice Bunker Cars 1884-1979_ (Santa Fe Railway Rolling Stock Reference Series- Vol.2) C. Keith Jordan, Richard H. Hendrickson, John B. Moore and A. Dean Hale.  1994, Santa Fe Modelers Organization Inc., Norman, Ok. 288p. _Route of the Warbonnets_ Joe McMillan.  1977, publ. Joe McMillan 176 p.    Santa Fe 1940-1971 in Color; Volume 4: Texas-El Capitan_ Lloyd E. Stegner.  1994, Morning Sun Books, Edison, N.J. 128p. _Santa Fe Boxcars  1869-1953_ (Santa Fe Railway Rolling Stock ReferenceSeries- Vol.4) John C. Dobyne III, 2001, Santa Fe Railway Historical & Modeling Society, Inc. Derby, KS.258p. _Santa Fe Diesels and Cars_ 1974, Wayner Publications, New York. 79p. _Santa Fe in the Lone Star State_ Vol.1 1949-1969, Steve Allen Goen, 2000, Four Ways West Publishing. all-color coverage of Texas ATSF.  _Santa Fe Railway Painting & Lettering Guide for Model Railroaders__Volume 1 Rolling Stock_ Compiled by Richard H. Hendrickson.  1990, Santa Fe Modelers Organization, Inc.  Dallas, Texas.  65p. ___Santa Fe ...Steel Rails Through California_ Donald Duke & Stan Kistler.1963, Golden West Books, San Marino, Cal. 184 p. _Santa Fe Streamliners; The Chiefs and their Tribesmen_, Karl Zimmermann. 1987, Quadrant Press, New York.  112p. ___Santa Fe System Standards_ 1978, Kachina Press, Dallas, Texas. 3 VolumesSanta Fe Trackside with Bill Gibson_, Lloyd Stagner, 1999, Morning Sun Books, Scotch Plains, NJ. 128 p.   _Santa Fe's High Level Cars_ Dennis J. Kogan, Larry Occhiello and NelsonH. McCormick.  1975, Prototype Modeler, Inc.  pages unnumbered. _Southwestern Prototype Modeler_ Jan/Feb 1974- May/June 1977 _Stock Cars of the Santa Fe Railway_, Frank M. Ellington, John Berry, and Loren Martens.  Originally published by Railroad Car Press.  1986 second printing by Santa Fe Railway Historical Society, Inc.  Los Angeles, Cal. 134p. _System Employee Timetables, November 29, 1942, Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway_    Vol. 1 Eastern Lines; Vol. 2 Western Lines;Vol. 3 Gulf Lines; Vol. 4 Coast Lines.Reprinted June 1992 by Santa Fe Modelers Organization, Inc. Norman, OK  _   Work Equipment Cars_ (Santa Fe Railway Rolling Stock Reference Series- Volume 1) W. W. Childers.  1993, Santa Fe Modelers Organization, Inc.Norman, Ok. 254 p.  _   

I have attempted to  put different titles in different paragraphs but this website frequently jumbles them all together, regardless of how I type.

 

 

[SilverSpike]

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.

 

[nbrodar]

 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, 1978
MR Staff. The Practical Guide to HO Model Railroading, 1986
Schleicher, Robert. The Model Railroading Handbook Vol I. 1975
Schleicher, Robert. The Model Railroading Handbook Vol II. 1975
Westcott, Linn. The HO Railroad That Grows, 195?

Layout Planning:
Armstrong, John. Track Planning for Realistic Operation, 2nd Edition, 1979
Koester, Tony. Designing & Building Multi-Deck Model Railroads, 2008
Koester, Tony. Realistic Model Railroad Building Blocks, 2005
Koester, Tony. Realistic Model Railroad Design, 2004
Rice, Iain. Shelf Layouts for Model Railroads, 2009

Modeling Reference:
Koester, Tony. The Model Railroader's Guide to Coal Railroading, 2006
Sperandeo, Andy. The Model Railroader's Guide to Passenger Equipment & Operation. 2006
Wilson, Jeff. The Model Railroader's Guide to Bridges, Trestles & Tunnels. 2005
Wilson, 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. 1988
Fiehmann, Don. The DCC Guide. 2007
Polsgrove, Mike. DCC Projects & Applications. 2006
Sperandeo, Andy. Easy Model Railroad Wiring. 1990
Thorne, Peter. 34 New Electronic Projects for Model Railroaders. 1990
Thorne, Peter. Easy to Build Electronic Projects for Model Railroaders. 1988

Scenery:
Frary, Dave. How to Build Realistic Model Railroad Scenery, 2nd Edition. 1991
Frary, Dave. How to Build Realistic Model Railroad Scenery, 3rd Edition. 2005
Koester, Tony. Planning Scenery for Your Model Railroad. 2007
McClanahan, Bill. Scenery for Model Railroads. 1958
MR Staff. Scenery Tips and Techniques from Model Railroader Magazine. 1989
Sassi, Lou. Basic Scenery for Model Railroaders. 2002
Sassi, Lou. How to Build & Detail Model Railroad Scenes Vol I. 2004
Sassi, Lou. How to Build & Detail Model Railroad Scenes Vol II. 2009

Structures/Urban Modeling:
Pryke, John. Building City Scenery for You Model Railroad. 2000
Wilson, Jeff. Basic Structure Modeling for Model Railroaders. 2005

Operation:
Chubb, Bruce. How to Operate Your Model Railroad. 1977
Koester, Tony. Realistic Model Railroad Operation. 2003

How big is your library?

Nick