Best books about locos and freight cars

[xploringrailroads]

Hi everyone. If you had one book to suggest for a newbie like me who is interested in learning more about locos, boxcars, tank cars, gondolas ... what would be this book?

Thanks for your help!

[BaltACD]

There is no one book.  There are a entire library of books, depending upon what your instant interest is.  That instant interest will change and evolve over time.

[MMLDelete]

XRR, I think a subscription to Trains would be very helpful to you. There will be things you don't understand, just as there are things I don't understand. But on monthly basis, you'll see photos, captions, columns and articles from which you'll learn a lot. You'll even learn from the ads. And you can save them for future reference. A very good investment. I think you would also enjoy and learn from Classic Trains, a quarterly.

[cv_acr]

A quick look at the catalogs of Withers Publishing/Diesel Era (https://www.dieselera.com/catalog) and Morning Sun Books (https://morningsunbooks.com/) will give you an idea of just how much is out there, and there are more publishers than that, plus web resources on top of that.

There was at one point a book called the "Contemporary Diesel Spotter's Guide", which would help point out how to visually identify different diesel models by their spotting features. I think the most recent version was over a decade ago, so it wouldn't feature some of the newest most modern engines.

The rest of this topic really breaks down into pretty fine detail and specific topics, covering specific car types, specific builders, and/or specific railroads. And it's still not possible to cover "everything" in any single resource.

[Convicted One]

xploringrailroads

Hi everyone. If you had one book to suggest for a newbie like me who is interested in learning more about locos, boxcars, tank cars, gondolas ... what would be this book?

I'd suggest that you do the same thing that I did. Go down to you local library's main branch, in the "Business and Technology" section, and find the section or sections that are predominantly railroad related., and just scan the adjacent shelves.

You can use the catalog to find this section, but do not rely on the catalog to reveal all that may be on those shelves, because titles, naming convention, authors,  and subject varies widely. Physically go stand there and look.   And, don't forget to ask if they have a seperate "oversize" section, where the books having a lot of illustrations might be kept seperate.

 

As I recall, my library had two seperate section in the B&T department. One section was more devoted to railfan type issues (folklore and paintschemes), while the other section focused more on the actual business of railroading.

 

Make sure that you at least browse through "The Men Who Loved Trains" by Rush Loving.....while it may or may not be your cup of tea, you are GUARANTEED of meeting  at least one other rail enthusiast during your life time who will insist the book is the alpha and omega of railroading....so it will be to your advantage to be at least passingly familiar with it.

[Murphy Siding]

MBI Publishing has a series of books called Enthusiast Color Series. The best ones I have are Vintage Diesel Locomotives, Freight Train Cars and Modern Diesel Locomotives. Each is about 96 pages with lots of photos and fairly straightforward explanations.

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS597US598&sxsrf=ALeKk03RKq2hu_nwpvdSZUmGgNbCepW_sQ:1613004413724&q=mbi+publishing+enthusiast+color+series&tbm=isch&chips=q:mbi+publishing+enthusiast+color+series,online_chips:freight+train&usg=AI4_-kQKQKjbjIqGwevlZTJAEoiOgWbsjA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwis--bYzeDuAhVIVs0KHUr-CasQgIoDKAJ6BAgEEBI&biw=1920&bih=896 

[Paul of Covington]

   If you want ONE book to start with, I'd suggest "The Railroad--What It Is, What It Does" by John H. Armstrong.  It describes equipment, operations, track structure and just about everything else.

[CShaveRR]

If your library uses the Dewey Decimal System, the magic numbers for things railroad are 387 and 625.

I will echo Paul's comment about The Railroad:  What it is, What it does.  That's a very detailed book, but well structured.  It may be a little dated now, but it's still good for the fundamentals.  The original author has, sadly, passed on, but I hope someone can be found to carry the torch.

[MMLDelete]

CShaveRR

If your library uses the Dewey Decimal System, the magic numbers for things railroad are 387 and 625.

I will echo Paul's comment about The Railroad:  What it is, What it does.  That's a very detailed book, but well structured.  It may be a little dated now, but it's still good for the fundamentals.  The original author has, sadly, passed on, but I hope someone can be found to carry the torch.

 

I third this motion. Some of it was above my head technically so that may apply to XRR also. OTOH, when I go back and read parts, I understand them better. I'm actually planning to go back and read a chapter tonight.

Kind of a "must" book for serious railfans.

I think this 2008 edition is the latest. Amazon's associated vendor has 8 new ones in stock.

https://www.amazon.com/Railroad-What-Does-Introduction-Railroading/dp/0911382585/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=The+Railroad%3A+What+it+is%2C+What+it+does&qid=1613059585&s=books&sr=1-1

I was just glancing at mine. XRR, you've gotta get one, man. It's a gold mine of info.

[Convicted One]

CShaveRR

If your library uses the Dewey Decimal System, the magic numbers for things railroad are 387 and 625.

 

Oh, that sounds so delightfully simple.   But unfortunately my library has a fondness for compartmentalizing some segments of the catalog to remote locations. Sometimes they leave a place holder sign on the shelf specifying where the remote is, sometimes those signs disappear.