Trains.com

New Pix Online

2899 views
20 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    December 2017
  • 2,671 posts
New Pix Online
Posted by Lithonia Operator on Friday, July 30, 2021 8:54 AM

I have added about 40 additional images to my online gallery. They are mostly b/w images from the 70s thru the 90s.

Still in training.


  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Northern New York
  • 25,020 posts
Posted by tree68 on Friday, July 30, 2021 10:12 AM

Very nice!

LarryWhistling
Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) 
Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date
Come ride the rails with me!
There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...

  • Member since
    December 2017
  • 2,671 posts
Posted by Lithonia Operator on Friday, July 30, 2021 10:21 AM

Thanks, Larry!

Still in training.


  • Member since
    January 2019
  • From: Henrico, VA
  • 9,728 posts
Posted by Flintlock76 on Friday, July 30, 2021 10:24 AM

Wow!  Great shots!  What a wonderful cornucopia of images, I'll be going back to it over and over!

Thanks!  Bow

  • Member since
    September 2003
  • 21,669 posts
Posted by Overmod on Friday, July 30, 2021 10:26 AM

These are spectacular.  There are books to be published out of these.

That girl's facial expression is a hoot!

Did Boston and Maine really think that painting a large "BM" on the front of a unit was a good idea?  At least the paint is blue and not P&W brown...

BRING BACK THE CHARGER PICTURE.

  • Member since
    December 2017
  • 2,671 posts
Posted by Lithonia Operator on Friday, July 30, 2021 10:46 AM

Thanks, OM! Yes, that girl looks like "where the blank have they let us off here?" Big Smile

As soon as I get these captioned (groan), I may start looking for ways to get some published. Certainly a book would be wonderful, but that's a pretty high bar ... We'll see.

I will be adding more, but not until September. When it's a substantial addition, I'll let you folks know.

Still in training.


  • Member since
    December 2017
  • 2,671 posts
Posted by Lithonia Operator on Friday, July 30, 2021 10:48 AM

Overmod

Did Boston and Maine really think that painting a large "BM" on the front of a unit was a good idea?  At least the paint is blue and not P&W brown...

Apparently. Confused That's pretty funny.

Still in training.


  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Northern New York
  • 25,020 posts
Posted by tree68 on Friday, July 30, 2021 1:52 PM

Lithonia Operator
As soon as I get these captioned (groan), I may start looking for ways to get some published. Certainly a book would be wonderful, but that's a pretty high bar ... We'll see.

I have a friend who self-published a soft cover book on Reo fire trucks - a real niche market, to be sure.  I have exactly zero details on the process, other than he did much of it on-line. Delaware is shown on the endpage, but I don't know the company.

I have a couple other similar books, one of fire-related postcards, the other of apparatus "On the Ramp."  Again, no details, other than it appears they may have been printed in South Carolina.

Of course, the ultimate question (42!) is whether you'd buy the book you want to publish.

All of the books I mentioned are available on Amazon at around $30.

LarryWhistling
Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) 
Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date
Come ride the rails with me!
There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...

  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: US
  • 25,292 posts
Posted by BaltACD on Friday, July 30, 2021 2:00 PM

tree68
 
Lithonia Operator
As soon as I get these captioned (groan), I may start looking for ways to get some published. Certainly a book would be wonderful, but that's a pretty high bar ... We'll see. 

I have a friend who self-published a soft cover book on Reo fire trucks - a real niche market, to be sure.  I have exactly zero details on the process, other than he did much of it on-line. Delaware is shown on the endpage, but I don't know the company.

I have a couple other similar books, one of fire-related postcards, the other of apparatus "On the Ramp."  Again, no details, other than it appears they may have been printed in South Carolina.

Of course, the ultimate question (42!) is whether you'd buy the book you want to publish.

All of the books I mentioned are available on Amazon at around $30.

I know we have one published author that participates from time to time 'NKP guy'.

He had published at soft back magazine format book on the Erie's history in the city of Kent, OH.

The who, what, where, why and when of the publishing odessey I have no idea.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Northern New York
  • 25,020 posts
Posted by tree68 on Friday, July 30, 2021 2:31 PM

Try "kdp.amazon.com."

I have no pecuniary interest in that - just passing along the site.

Nor do I have any idea of their costs. 

LarryWhistling
Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) 
Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date
Come ride the rails with me!
There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...

  • Member since
    December 2017
  • 2,671 posts
Posted by Lithonia Operator on Friday, July 30, 2021 3:48 PM

Self-publishing a high-quality photo book is a very expensive proposition. First I'd see if I can find a publisher who wants to publish my work. But first I'd need to develop a theme for the book, write some sample text, etc., etc. The whole process would be very complicated and time-consuming. Not sure I have it in me to properly shop a book proposal around. But as I said, we'll see. Never say never. I appreciate the encouragement.

Still in training.


  • Member since
    January 2019
  • From: Henrico, VA
  • 9,728 posts
Posted by Flintlock76 on Friday, July 30, 2021 4:38 PM

Hey man, if Lucius Beebe, Charles Clegg, Joe G. Collias, Don Ball Jr., Colin Garratt, Jim Boyd, Ron Zeil, and others could do it...  

Wink

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Northern New York
  • 25,020 posts
Posted by tree68 on Friday, July 30, 2021 6:35 PM

Lithonia Operator
Self-publishing a high-quality photo book is a very expensive proposition.

If you're talking a large format, glossy paper coffee table book, I'll agree with you.  

Looking at the Amazon (Kindle) site i cited, I find that a 300 page B&W paperback would cost you $4.45 per copy.  The same thing in color would be $21.85.

A one hundred page color paperback would be just under $8.00 per copy.

I don't see anything about minimums, but if you started with a first printing of 50 (which will be available on-line on Amazon) your initial outlay would be ~ $400.  If you sold the book for $25, you'd still end up with a decent return, even after the royalty is deducted.

In an example on their site, a price  of $7.42 for the B&W 300 page book would cover the cost of printing and the royalty.  Anything over that is profit.

The fellow I know who did the book got some for himself.  I'm not sure the arrangement, but that allowed him to have some to sell at fire events.

It's a place to start (again, I have no financial interest in Amazon or Kindle), and as you grow, you can look at bigger and better.

LarryWhistling
Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) 
Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date
Come ride the rails with me!
There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...

  • Member since
    December 2017
  • 2,671 posts
Posted by Lithonia Operator on Friday, July 30, 2021 7:28 PM

Flintlock76

Wow!  Great shots!  What a wonderful cornucopia of images, I'll be going back to it over and over!

Thanks!  Bow

 

Thanks, Flint. Somehow I missed your post earlier. I appreciate your comments and am glad you enjoyed the pix.

Still in training.


  • Member since
    December 2017
  • 2,671 posts
Posted by Lithonia Operator on Saturday, July 31, 2021 1:21 AM

tree68

 

 
Lithonia Operator
Self-publishing a high-quality photo book is a very expensive proposition.

 

If you're talking a large format, glossy paper coffee table book, I'll agree with you.  

Looking at the Amazon (Kindle) site i cited, I find that a 300 page B&W paperback would cost you $4.45 per copy.  The same thing in color would be $21.85.

A one hundred page color paperback would be just under $8.00 per copy.

I don't see anything about minimums, but if you started with a first printing of 50 (which will be available on-line on Amazon) your initial outlay would be ~ $400.  If you sold the book for $25, you'd still end up with a decent return, even after the royalty is deducted.

In an example on their site, a price  of $7.42 for the B&W 300 page book would cover the cost of printing and the royalty.  Anything over that is profit.

The fellow I know who did the book got some for himself.  I'm not sure the arrangement, but that allowed him to have some to sell at fire events.

It's a place to start (again, I have no financial interest in Amazon or Kindle), and as you grow, you can look at bigger and better.

 

Thanks for that info, Larry. Two friends of mine have self-published with Amazon, and they went with print-on-demand. the production quality of the books is good. One is a novel, the other is a memoir. Neither have photos. I have thought about publishing a collection of my short stories with Amazon, but I had never actually looked into pricing and process. Both of my friends speak positively of their experiences.

Still in training.


  • Member since
    January 2002
  • From: Cedar Rapids, IA
  • 4,213 posts
Posted by blhanel on Saturday, July 31, 2021 6:08 PM

Awesome shots, LO- even recognized at least a couple of locations I've been to (Essex, MT and Galesburg, IL).  Looking forward to the captions on the rest.

  • Member since
    December 2017
  • 2,671 posts
Posted by Lithonia Operator on Saturday, July 31, 2021 8:33 PM

Thanks, Brian! Much appreciated.

The captioning will begin in September. I'll let you folks know when that's done.

Still in training.


  • Member since
    December 2017
  • From: I've been everywhere, man
  • 4,269 posts
Posted by SD70Dude on Saturday, July 31, 2021 10:22 PM

I really like the Conrail shot with the class lights displaying Christmas.

As for 'dirty' locomotives, VIA had a brown unit painted up to promote a Quebec lottery.  Over time the paint faded and it was nicknamed 'the turd'.  

https://www.thedieselshop.us/ViaLotto.HTML

The Montreal commuter agency (now EXO, formerly AMT) was originally called the Société de Transport de la Communauté Urbaine de Montréal, or STCUM for short.  Since five characters is too long for a railroad reporting marks they shortened it to *** (the last three letters), and their trains would be addressed as such over the radio in both official languages.

Edit: I had typed their three letter reporting mark, and the forum software automatically bleeped it out!

Greetings from Alberta

-an Articulate Malcontent

  • Member since
    December 2017
  • 2,671 posts
Posted by Lithonia Operator on Sunday, August 1, 2021 4:55 PM

SD70Dude

I really like the Conrail shot with the class lights displaying Christmas.

 

A shot of mine? ??

Still in training.


  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: US
  • 25,292 posts
Posted by BaltACD on Sunday, August 1, 2021 6:24 PM

Lithonia Operator
 
SD70Dude

I really like the Conrail shot with the class lights displaying Christmas. 

A shot of mine? ??

Think he is referring to the shot of CR 3277.  One class light appears red and the other green - however the foliage in the background is far from Christmasy as the trees appear to be full of green leaves.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

  • Member since
    December 2017
  • 2,671 posts
Posted by Lithonia Operator on Monday, August 2, 2021 4:09 AM

That is odd about those lights. I wii eventually figure out when that was, but pretty sure it wasn't Christmas time.

Still in training.


Join our Community!

Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.

Search the Community

Newsletter Sign-Up

By signing up you may also receive occasional reader surveys and special offers from Trains magazine.Please view our privacy policy