I'd like to heartily recommend the book Real Stories of the Rails, from Kalmbach.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1627005870/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
To my taste, this is the best bang for the buck I've ever gotten on a new railroad book. It has 40 real-life tales, covering 1920 to 1990. Accounts by engineers, firemen, brakemen, dispatchers, operators, trainmasters, RFEs, a locomotive mechanical engineer, and other categories.
All are very well-written and flawlessly edited. All were previously published in Trains, totally or mainly in the DPM era. I personally had read none of them before, but I went years and years not reading Trains when I was younger. So, some of you will have read some, for sure.
The type is small (but, IMO, not too small), so when you combine that with the 8.5x11 format, we're talking about a lot of content. There aren't tons of photos, but there is a good amount, and most are good or excellent.
I can't recommend this book enough. I loved it. There was not a single account I did not thoroughly enjoy. At $25 (available only in soft-cover), you can't beat it. And Amazon has it for under $19!
Still in training.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.