All -
Thank you for the time and insights of your responses. I already have a small collection of "Railroad Magazine" from back in the 1960's and 1970's, as well as the Droege book on Passenger Terminals and Trains and the Armstrong book, so I can pretty well appreciate what you were intending to communicate.
I need to think about this a little more, and figure out better what it is I'm actually looking for here. (I know, this may have been an instance of "Post first, think later", but what the heck . . . )
In the meantime, I searched to see if any of these are available on inter-library loan ("ILL" = cheap & easy way to check them out without having to buy them), but pretty amazingly, none are, at least not in Pennsylvania, and that's only the 2nd time that's happened to me, as I recall. (Next step: Northwestern University's transportation library) So I may have to spring for one or more of them to get a better look, although at $40 - $45 each that's very reasonable, considering. If I do, I'll remember to "pay it back" by posting a review or commentary of some kind here, but don't look for that anytime soon - it may be a couple of months until I have enough time to do that.
Again, thanks for your comments. Have a good weekend.
- Paul North.
I recommend "The Railroad, What it is and What it does" by John H. Armstrong. A dry, but very informative book on all aspects of railroading and the rail industry. It is available at Transalert.com.
The books are available from Simmons-Boardman, the same people that publish Railway Age. I have the one on Dispatching and found it informative. It is not very exciting reading, it is, after all, a textbook, but it is packed with information. I recommend it. There is a lot of european and rail transit content, but a lot of it carries over to our country as well. I would definitely recommend it.
George
Paul, Thomas White or TAW is a former Dispatcher for B&OCT, and a former Chief Dispatcher for BN. He is currently a consultant for WADOT advising them on capacity projects relating to Sounder Transit. He is a frequent poster to the Trainorders website. He and Dr. Prachl are very qualified to write on the subject. IIRC Dr. Prachl is a professor of Railway Studies at a University in Germany (University of Braunschwieg?).
Am not sure what you are looking for in the way of information. I would say that any book on the subject by an expert in the field will give good information and theories. You might also want to read the old AAR Code rules as well as specific railroads' books of rules of the operating department. Then find some old RAILROAD MAGAZINEs in which the art and interpretation of train orders were often discussed for some "field" experiences. And probably also find old ops and dispatchers who will thrill you with tales of the days of yore and flimseys.. The books you mention sound very academic and will probably give you a lot of information, but if you want more, want application, then old magazines and railroaders will broaden what you learn. Good luck, and enjoy!
Another set of books you might want to consider were those by Droge. Kalmbach reprinted his Passenger Terminals and Trains and his Freight Terminals and Trains often pops up at shows and antique stores.
RIDEWITHMEHENRY is the name for our almost monthly day of riding trains and transit in either the NYCity or Philadelphia areas including all commuter lines, Amtrak, subways, light rail and trolleys, bus and ferries when warranted. No fees, just let us know you want to join the ride and pay your fares. Ask to be on our email list or find us on FB as RIDEWITHMEHENRY (all caps) to get descriptions of each outing.
Is anyone else here familiar with these books, or their authors ? What do you think of the books and/ or author(s) ? Any other comments/ constructive criticisms/ observations/ recommendations, etc. ? Thanks in advance for any insights that you can provide !
I certainly did not understand how railroads work until I worked for one. As one good friend of mine put it, "I thought I knew about railroads until I went to work for one. Then I found out I didn't know ****." After a couple of months on the console, I called him up one night and said, "I see what you mean ...."
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