Brother can you spare 379.00 for a copy of the Official Railway Equipment Register? also do they still make a Official Railway Guide?

[divebardave]

have not seen a Official Railway Guide since 1990 something

Reply today and you'll receive The Official Railway Equipment Register in print for only $379 and save $61 off the basic rate. ORER subscriptions are also available on CD for $450 plus $10 shipping and handling or in a print and CD combination for $650 plus $18 shipping and handling.

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

I believe that there is still a freight edition of the Official Guide.  You might be able to find slightly older editions of the ORER at a more reasonable price at swap meets.

[BaltACD]

Official Guide and Equipment Register have always been high priced pieces of 'literature'.  The railroads would buy subscriptions for their major stations and facilities that needed them - there was then a distribution list for how those stations were to forward them to a station of lesser importance and so on and so on.

The little Agencies I worked in Indiana and Illinois would be 6th or 7th on that distribution list - they would forward their copies to the 'circular file' when the 'new' one arrived.

[CShaveRR]

This price is actually for a four-issue (one year) subscription to the ORER.  They no longer sell single issues.  I bought a subscription in 1994-1995 and in 2004-2005, before deciding that I could go without.  There are stes available on the Internet that provide more information about a given car than the ORER ever did.

Also, I'm told that the ORER's listings of private owners (i.e., cars with reporting marks ending in "X" have drastically diminished in past years, for whatever reason (you must need to pay for an entry).  But that drastically diminishes its usefulness to me, so I no longer bother to buy them.


I don't know about whether the Official Guide is currently published (it was last sold to a company in the United Kingdom), but again, I think they had reduced it from monthly to quarterly, and the details in the listings, such as information concerning branch lines, the detail on maps, etc., are very disappointing.  It's been decades since I've purchased one.

[Flintlock76]

Reminds me of the time I was at a train show several years ago.  A guy had a copy of the "Locomotive Cyclopedia" from 1946 for sale.  No price on it, which should have set off the alarm bells.

"How much do you want for this?" I asked.  "$200" was the reply.

Thirty years ago I'd have roared out "WHAT?  ARE YOU ON DRUGS?" but I'm a much more mellow person now.  I just smiled, put the book on the shelf, and walked on.

[tree68]

My aunt worked for a lumber wholesaler - I believe she was traffic manager, which meant a lot of contact with the railroads.  

She gave me several items over the years, chief of which was a ca 1957 copy of the Official Guide.  It's all of two inches thick, and filled with many wonderful details of railroads of the era, right down to that little two mile long mill railroad that was an official railroad.

The pages are brittle, so care is required when leafing through it.

[Deggesty]

After Amtrak came into operation, the publisher began publishing passenger guides and freight guides.. The last issue I bought was in 1984, I think (it was a long time ago). 

Now, you have to go to the internet to obtain the Amtrak schedules. I do not know if VIA still publishes timetables.

The Guide used to be three inches thick

[Electroliner 1935]

Deggesty

After Amtrak came into operation, the publisher began publishing passenger guides and freight guides.. The last issue I bought was in 1984, I think (it was a long time ago). 

Now, you have to go to the internet to obtain the Amtrak schedules. I do not know if VIA still publishes timetables.

The Guide used to be three inches thick

I inherited my dad's collection of OG's which had issues from the 1930's. I added some of the 70's Amtrak OG's. Right now, I'm looking at a Sept. 1952 issue which has 1500 pages. It's lost its back cover and pages are frayed. But it holds so many memories. It even contains some steamship and airline schedules. It includes RR’s in Mexico and Canada and US Barge companies. It includes names of R.R. officials as well as freight only line stations. The station index is 240 pages long. Listing includes all stations (freight & passenger) and where there were multiple passenger stations, it listed each station and what railroad used it, AND the distance between each station. For example, Chicago lists nine stations: Dearborn, Grand Central, Union,  Central,     La Salle, C. & N.W. Wells St*., C.N.S.& Mil*. Sta, C.S.S.& S.B.  [* were L stations for the North Shore Interurban.]. And the guide lists distance between each pair of stations. This was helpful when I planned some one-day trips from Cincinnati to: Louisville via B&O to and L&N returning, Terre Haute via PRR returning via NYC. I had to plan to be able to make my connection and allow time to get between stations.

Today, it is sad to see how much is gone.

 

 

 

 

[MP173]

I have about 25 Official Guides including two reprints - 1916 and 1926 with "real" Guides in each decade from 30's thru 90's.

These are real treasures as the history of passenger trains are documented.  Pretty depressing in the late 60s as the listings were smaller and smaller.

If anyone is interested and in the St. Louis area, the Barriger Library on the campus of UMissouri/St.Louis has a huge collection (possibly each month).  The library is an incredible collection of not only books, but magazines (company magazines and historical society plus fan).  I believe there is a collection of Equipment Registers.

I was there last month for 3 hours and could have stayed 3 days.

 

Ed

[BaltACD]

MP173

I have about 25 Official Guides including two reprints - 1916 and 1926 with "real" Guides in each decade from 30's thru 90's.

These are real treasures as the history of passenger trains are documented.  Pretty depressing in the late 60s as the listings were smaller and smaller.

If anyone is interested and in the St. Louis area, the Barriger Library on the campus of UMissouri/St.Louis has a huge collection (possibly each month).  The library is an incredible collection of not only books, but magazines (company magazines and historical society plus fan).  I believe there is a collection of Equipment Registers.

I was there last month for 3 hours and could have stayed 3 days.

Ed

The Barringer photo gallery is a wealth of images of the way things were.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/barrigerlibrary/albums/

[ZephyrOverland]

Unfortunately, the Official Railway Guide is no longer being produced. I believe the 2nd Quarter 2020 issue was the last published. Appearently, the publisher decided to fold a lot of information that was carried in the Official Guide into another existing publication, the Pocket List of Railroad Officials. The end of a 152 year run....

[tree68]

I have an Official Guide from 1957.  The pages are in rough shape - I rarely get it off the bookshelf any more.

But it is, indeed, a wealth of information.  Not only are there railroad schedules and information about tiny short lines longs since forgotten, but there are steamship, and even airline schedules contained in it's pages.

My late aunt worked for a lumber forwarder.  I got a few railroad "keepsakes" from her, as most of their shipping was by rail.  The Official Guide is the crown jewel, though.

[JPS1]

Many years ago, when I lived in NYC, I used to take the train to Washington, go to the Association of American Railroads Library, and look through Old Guides, schedules, documents, etc.  It had a trove of information.  I am not sure whether it is still possible to get into the library, but if you are planning to be in the Washington area, give it a go. 

[Overmod]

JPS1

Many years ago, when I lived in NYC, I used to take the train to Washington, go to the Association of American Railroads Library, and look through Old Guides, schedules, documents, etc.  It had a trove of information.  I am not sure whether it is still possible to get into the library, but if you are planning to be in the Washington area, give it a go. 

I thought nearly the whole of this collection went to the Mercantile Library in St. Louis in 1995 (and is now accessible as their special collection B-4).  This is associated with the UMSL library system and, while more than usually 'open to the public' is constrained by the school's academic calendar and any current COVID-19 precautions.

Best way to get current details is probably to call them at [phone] or [phone].

 

[JPS1]

Overmod

 JPS1 Many years ago, when I lived in NYC, I used to take the train to Washington, go to the Association of American Railroads Library, and look through Old Guides, schedules, documents, etc.  It had a trove of information.  I am not sure whether it is still possible to get into the library, but if you are planning to be in the Washington area, give it a go. 

 

I thought nearly the whole of this collection went to the Mercantile Library in St. Louis in 1995 (and is now accessible as their special collection B-4).  This is associated with the UMSL library system and, while more than usually 'open to the public' is constrained by the school's academic calendar and any current COVID-19 precautions.

Best way to get current details is probably to call them at [phone] or [phone]. 

You probably are correct.  It has been many years since I used to go to the library in Washington.  BTW, if I remember correctly, they also had every issue of Trains and Railway Age from day one.

[samfp1943]

[quote user="Overmod"]

JPS1

Many years ago, when I lived in NYC, I used to take the train to Washington, go to the Association of American Railroads Library, and look through Old Guides, schedules, documents, etc.  It had a trove of information.  I am not sure whether it is still possible to get into the library, but if you are planning to be in the Washington area, give it a go. 

I thought nearly the whole of this collection went to the Mercantile Library in St. Louis in 1995 (and is now accessible as their special collection B-4).  This is associated with the UMSL library system and, while more than usually 'open to the public' is constrained by the school's academic calendar and any current COVID-19 precautions.

Best way to get current details is probably to call them at [phone] or [phone].

[/quote]

The J.W. Barriger Library ( and collection?)  is housed in the "Mercantile Library' section of the UMSL [University of St. Louis, as noted above]. 

Sone time back a Poster here MP173 (Ed M.) had visited the facility at UMSL, and left an e-mail address to 'join' their mailing list of Barriger Library photos  I joined, and have enjoyed periodic publication of Mr. J.W. Barriger's personal photo library.  They were originally on the site: FLICKR. 

Since that time the site: FLICKR has changed hands, was purchased in approx 2018 by  SMUG MUG... Here is a little info on that site change[ from a TRAINS Forum thread... 

Posted by samfp1943 on Wednesday, May 2, 2018 11:33 AM

ChuckCobleigh

SmugMug

Details here: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/companies/flickr-smughug

 

A little info on "Smug Mug" frorm the link provided by Chuck Cobleigh and its plans for FLICKR: "...“Now, we are excited to expand our family and our home. We’re thrilled to announce that Flickr will be joining SmugMug to create the world’s best home for photography.”

SmugMug, a Silicon Valley company founded by a father-and-son team, said it plans to maintain Flickr as a separate entity and site.

“Flickr has survived through thick and thin and is core to the entire fabric of the internet,” said SmugMug CEO Don MacAskill in an interview with USA Today.

“It’s a fantastic product and a beloved brand, supplying tens of billions of photos to hundreds of millions of people around the world.”..."

I have enjoyed for several years additions from the Barriger Library Collection of Photographs, In St. Louis.  Since a  posting by  Ed M. (MP173) about his visit to the J.W.Barriger III Library at UMSL several years back.

[linked @]  http://www.umsl.edu/mercantile/barriger/index.html 

 After a brief correspondence with the gentleman in charge of the collection...I joined FLICKR, and have enjoyed their periodic postings of new collections of J.W.B.III's personal photo collection..

I certainly hope that "Smug Mug' will continue to host this interesting photo library collection.

Here is a link to one of the photo postings on FLICKR

@ https://www.flickr.com/photos/barrigerlibrary

[ IIRC the photo posting still come through as FLICKR (?) I have enjoyed seeing those photos for several years now. ]