Not to intentionally continue on a negative streak - but even negative reviews can be worthwhile, too - so I'll follow up on Chris' post with this commentary on:
Historical Atlas of North American Railroads, by John Westwood and Ian Wood
This book was given to me as a gift. Sadly, although an interesting concept - and with some rarely seen illustrations of, say, defense facilities during World War II - it is pretty much just a ''potboiler'' as former Smithsonian Curator of Land Transportation John H. White, Jr. referred to such books. Worse, it is filled with factual errors and goofs - the most egregious for me was labeling a full-page photo of the 4449 clearly at the Portland, Oregon station with its iconic ''TAKE THE TRAIN'' sign on the clock tower - as being in Toronto ! There are others that are almost as bad, and most of the photos we've seen before. Buy something else and better - unless you want to maybe use it as the subject of a trivia game at a party of railfans to see who can find the most errors, or something else of the sort.
If you want confirmation, just read the customer reviews at the Amazon webpage for it -
http://www.amazon.com/Historical-Atlas-North-American-Railroads/dp/0785823018#noop
Actually, the first review by ''Karsten Engelmann'' was pretty informative and suims it up pretty well, as this excerpt will demonstrate: [emphasis added - PDN]
"Now, I am not an expert at railroads or anything, but the obvious errors in this book are disturbing. If I can find so many so easily on stuff I know about, goodness, how many are there are things I DONT know about? Now, I studied geography as an udergraduate, and for my masters degree. I studied at Brigham Young University under Dr. Alan Grey - an expert on US historical geography, specifically on rail history (his dissertation was on the analysis of the route the Union Pacific took on the transcontinental route). So I did learn a thing or two both about railroads and maps."
- Paul North.
It's been awhile since I posted in this thread. While I was on my WNY trip, though, I thought I'd bring along something related to the area I was traveling to. I brought Commodore: The Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt by Edward Renehan.
It ended up being a bit of a letdown from a railfan's point of view. A very large portion of the book was devoted to Vanderbilts efforts on the water. Only a couple of chapters towards the end of the book were dedicated to his rail activities. Additionally, the book suggests that much of the rail accomplishments that are associated with Vanderbilt were actually accomplished by his son, Billy, with the Commodore merely serving as a figurehead. Because of that, they almost seem like a footnote in the book.
So from a strictly railfan's point of view, I really wouldn't recommend it. However, if you're looking for a read on colorful life (although, one that I wouldn't really say deserves a lot of admiration), it might be an interesting read.
-ChrisWest Chicago, ILChristopher May Fine Art Photography"In wisdom gathered over time I have found that every experience is a form of exploration." ~Ansel Adams
I just finished Zephyr, Tracking a Dream Across America by Henry Kisor. It is an account of a trip westbound on the California Zephyr in the mid-1990's, when it was a much more substantial train than it is now. Mr. Kisor is a close observer of his fellow travelers and the Amtrak crew as well as including some of the history of the places along the line and its construction. I found it fascinating; you want to rush to the computer and book a trip on this train.
Honestly I had a real tough time putting down, "The Wreck Of The Penn Central". I read it at work, at the coffee house, at home, between innings at baseball games, etc., etc. A fantastic book and written so a person without an MBA can understand it.
Rails to the Rosebud. The Chicago & North Western Branch Line to Winner, S.D. by Dr. Vernon E. Linnaus ISBN 978-0-942035-77-3 80 pages, dozens of B&W pictures, maps, and 6 pages of footnotes(1)
Elenor Rigby.
That's what was going through my mind as I read this neat, little book. Written by a college prof., this book tells the story of the birth, life, and death of a CNW branchline in northern Nebraska/ southern South Dakota.(2) It could be the story of a 100 other grain branchlines on nearly any railroad in the county. All you would need to do is change the names. The rest of the story fits a familiar template.
Boosters try to convince a railroad, any railroad, to build into an area. The railroad finally builds a branchline, in this case CNW. Farmers prosper. Towns pop up and flourish. More people settle in the area. More growth, followed by more prosperity. Things change. Transportation changes. The economy changes. Life on the farm changes. The line starts to whither. Eventually, the line is pulled up. Thirty years pass. Most everyone forgets about the line. Somebody writes a book.
Elenor Rigby, picks up the rice in the church where her wedding has been.....
Footnotes:
(1) The most vivid thought from the book, is that the new rail line took business away from the riverboats. These riverboats operated on the Missouri River from Omaha and Sioux City. They were paddlewheel boats, powered by horses on treadmills!
(2) I went to college with quite a few gals from this area. They seem to have had a bumper crop of cuties born around 1960.
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
Encyclopedia of North American Railroads-2007 1282 pages
Moving Mail and Express by Rail by Edward DeRouin-2007 223 pages A very good book on the Railway Post Office
Logging Railroads of Weyerhauser's Vail-McDonald Operation by Frank Telewski and Scott Barrett-out-of print.354 pages
An awesome book to read.This book also covers the Chehalis Western, which operated on the old Milwaukee Road lines in Washington state.It has a complete roster of the entire Weyerhauser company railroad,including the Chehalis and Western.
No More Mountains to Cross-The Milwaukee Road in the 1980's by Robert P Olmsted 1983 out of print A great book on the Milwaukee Road from Chicago,IL to Portage,WI
The Southern Pacific in Oregon by Ed Austin and Tom Dill -Out of Print 322 pages Lots of maps,and photos of the SP in Oregon
American Car and Foundry,ACF Tank Cars,Billboard Refridgerator Cars,and Pullman-Standard Freight Cars1900-1960 all by Edward Kaminski. These are all awesome reference books on freight cars.
I'm a DL&W nut, so the Tabers' three books are there along with two editions of Shelden King's Phoebe Snow, Lowental and Greenberg's DL&W in Northern New Jersey and Casey's Lackawanna Story. My favorite, Clear the Tracks by Bromely. Then there are Erie Power and Men of Erie and Mott's tome, too. Several other EL, DL&W and Erie books. NY and Harlem is there along with Steel Rails to the Sunrise. Beebe and Clegg's early books, Ball's books. Fogg...and W.S. Young's Starrucca, Tunkannonck, and Short Line books. I have over 100 non fiction railroad books and almost two hundred rail fiction books: from Lathrop and Chapman and Beach to some very strange contemporary rail fiction including Maxwell's Train. All the mystery books from Murder on A Train (Christie) and Orient Express (Greene) to Murder at Union Station (Truman). I continue to find fiction books to add to my library several times a year.
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.
Amateur Book Review: Derailed by Joseph Vranich
I've owned this book for several years. I made it about half way through once, but stopped for some now unknown reason. I picked it up again last week and buzzed through it in the matter of a couple days.
I think Mr. Vranich is a controversial figure among railfans, and it's easy to see why. There are no bones about it -- he wants Amtrak GONE. Personally, for me, it was kind of enlightening to see a little bit of "the other side" of Amtrak since I've mostly been exposed to the railfan perspective.
While it was good to get a little taste of "the other side of the story," I don't buy into a lot of Mr. Vranich's ideas. And his dogmatic approach to implementing his plan to kill Amtrak gets kind of tiresome, as does comparisons between the speeds of various Amtrak trains and trains in other countries. He makes a point about some Amtrak trains being slower than trains in Lower Whatchamacallitstan, but having to have that point brought up over and over again gets tiring.
In the end, this book made me think a lot and changed my perspective a bit, so I have to say that I enjoyed it despite some of my reservations.
' Been a while......
#60 Regional Railroads of the Midwest by Steve Glischinski (c)2007 ISBN# 13:978-0-7603-2351-9. 160 pages, chock full of color photos.
I've had my eye on this book for a while, and finally broke down and bought it at a train show. (Merry Christmas to me..)
Imagine a well crafted, 12-part, magazine series. This book has 12 chapters, each about a different railroad. They include:CC&P, DM&E, ES&L, Indiana RR, IC&E, Iowa Interstate, Kyle, Red River Valley & Western, TP&W, Twin Cities & Western, WC, and Wisconsin Southern.Each chapter tells where the road came from, it's history from startup, power, and sort of a 'where they are today' snapshot. Each railroad chapter features a system map, except RRV&W. I guess Rodney Dangerfield isn't the only one looking fo respect. It says something about the changing nature of railroading, when (darn near) 4 out of the 12 are gone now.
You'll like this book, if you're into: Regional Railroads, Railroading in general, or Midwest Railroads. Note that the midwest now seems to include parts of Kansas and Colorado(?)
I'd like to see a similar, follow-up book, about other regionals, and perhaps one about smaller railroads too.
Amateur Book Review: Narrow Gauge in the Rockies by Lucius Beebe and Charles Clegg.
This is one that's been sitting on my shelf for years that previously had not been read. As a Colorado Railfan, it seemed almost irresistable to me when I bought it. There are a lot of fantastic pictures, including some shots of locomotives that I've had the opportunity to shoot (C&S 9, DRG 346, RGS 20).
The accompanying text, however, was disappointing. I think Beebe had a tendency to go over the top with his prose at times, and this book is a prime example of that. I think what irks me the most about his hyperbolic ramblings is that he never really got into the meat of the matter. He spent far too much time trying to create similes between each of the narrow gauge lines to classical mythology that he forgot to tell their stories adequately.
Ignoring that issue, the book is a nice way to get a little taste of Colorado narrow gauge railroading from the 1870s to the 1940s or so. While all railroading fascinates me, I've really been drawn to the local stuff since I moved here. Narrow Gauge in the Rockies gave me a good jumping off point and I plan to start filling out my book collection with more volumes on Coloradoan railroading, especially the narrow gauge lines.
In addition to the above, I am reading Follow the Flag by H. Roger Grant, a history of the Wabash RR. Prof. Grant did his usual thorough study and I am enjoying the book enormously. Not a lot of photos or maps, but it has a very cohesive text.
Wabash was a family RR in that two of my uncles worked for them, and continued through the N&W years. There are plenty of copies on Amazon at reasonable prices and I recommend it highly.
I agree with the above assessment. Mr. Ambrose has plenty of faults, not only the colloquialisms, but he sometimes states legends as facts and sometimes gets his facts wrong.
But I have a copy on my bookshelf and consider it a great read, an excellent story, and well worth the price. I'd also recommend it.
Amateur Book Review: Nothing Like it in the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869 by Stepen Ambrose
This was a book recommended to me by MC in the CNW Non-Transcon thread (one of my all-time favorites). It proved to be an excellent read of a truly magnificent story. I think every railfan -- and every American for that matter -- has some knowledge of the transcontinental story, but I think very few realize just how amazing an accomplishment it was. It truly is a story of high drama.
The late Mr. Ambrose is a somewhat controversial figure in literary circles and I'm not entirely fond of his writing style (mostly I disagree with his overuse of colloquialisms) but he does manage to tell a good story. What a cast he had to work with, too! Judah, Huntington, Stanford, Hopkins, Crocker, Dodge, Durant, the Ames brothers, the Casement brothers, etc., etc. all come to life. Somewhere in the first few chapters the reader begins to realize what a challenge these men (and a few women) faced and just how important to this country their success was. Add in a little flavor from side stories of Hell on Wheels establishments, nitroglycerin, Indian problems, and the Credit Mobilier scandal and it makes for a great story.
I really recommend this book to anyone who wishes to delve deeper into the story of the first Transcontinental. It's a great read and the importance to railroading and to America goes so far beyond just knowing that the UP and CP met at Promontory in 1869. History will come to life when you read this one!
#60( by me,at least) Nature's Metropolis by William Cronon
ISBN#0-393-30873-1 530 pages, including 100+ pages of notes and bibliography
This is a book that MichaelSol had recommended on another thread. () It is basically, an economist's history of why Chicago became what it became. It's no surprise, that the library got it on an inter-library loan from a state university.
Who would believe, that an economist could write an interesting book, with chapter names like: "Annihlating space:Meat" ? It covers the main sources of Chicago's economic history, involving location, transportation,grain,lumber, hogs and commerce. There is a good chapter about the railroads and Chicago.
You'll like this book, if you're into: economics,railroads, Chicago, or American History.
I sometimes buy books from a discount bookseller, that sends me big, newspaper-like catalogs. Sometimes, I can find a good railroad book on the cheap, and other times.....
I received my copy of Brian Soloman's book The American Train, the other day. When I open it up, I was (somewhat) amzed to find I already had the book. Funny thing is, the book is titled The American Train, but it's all about diesel engines.
Tonight, I went up to my third floor book piles(!) to look for the other one. To my dismay, the other one is titled The American Diesel Locomotive. No need to write a new book, just change the title of one you have already written.
Attn: Norris --
If you want to number these two shorties nos. 60 and 61, go ahead; or not, as you please. It's your thread and you can do what you want to. - al
Two reviews by Al Smalling re: SAL/ACL/SCL passenger services: [In the past two weeks a thread I started on CLASSIC TRAINS, looking for titles about these celebrated lines' passenger service, (esp. 1946 thru April 30, 1971) resulted in some very solid recommendations. Early in the week, three books arrived in the mail from used-book vendors; here are mini-reviews of two of them. BTW the captioned thread on CLASSIC TRAINS is still active as of 1-31-08.]
- Seaboard Coastline in Florida by Bob Warren and Fred Clark: SEABOARD COASTLINE IN FLORIDA is widely available from online used-booksellers for about $7 to $10 not including shipping. Published by Carstens in 1985 (about the time of the CSX merger), it's a good solid 115 pages of useful detail and fact prepared by former SCL employees (I would hazard a guess historians or career railroaders, not publicists). Note that the focus is on the post-1967 merger and features freight, SCL passenger ops only having lasted about four years, from 1967 merger to Amtrak's assumption of passenger services on May 1, 1971. Although not quite in my (passenger) area, SEABOARD COAST LINE is a good solid book to own, foundational in its discussion of equipment and well-composed, with plenty of photographs (practically all of them B&W, though). Dimension-wise, this specialty book is about half the size of a more typical paperbacked art or "coffee-table" paper, the perfect-bound side not as tall as the tome is wide. All this implies that the very cheapest copies may be too dog-eared and worn to be appealing; but owing to its ready availability, I had the relative luxury of ordering SEABOARD COASTLINE IN FLORIDA for $9.00 + $3.99 S&H from a used-bookseller in Virginia that IMHO definitely deserves its reputation for quality and service.
- BY STREAMLINER FROM NY TO FL (Joseph Welsh, Motorbooks International [MBI] January 2003, 144 pp;, softbound), was in print as recently as 2002 but even a "good"-ranked used copy now costs as much or more than the original pub. price; I've even run across "very good used" copies for sale by some used-booksellers for $100 and more. Too rich for my blood! But at least it isn't terribly difficult to locate used copies; this book (inferentially at least) seems to have had the biggest sales according to Amazon's ranking among other similar works. I would guess it was designed to appeal to the largest coalition of readers in mind: history buffs, the nostalgic, and lovers of railway art and the postwar passenger experience in general and the SAL type of NYC - FLA travel in particular. And those are exactly the same people who IMO, BY STREAMLINER would appeal to today. The front cover helps set the tone: a Fifties-style painting of a SB SAL train on the NEC (through the snow and under the cat!). Not the most efficient book in the world, but loads of fun with the best anecdotal material (old menus, photos of the passengers, etc.), I've yet to see. I feel sure I'll have even more fun and learn even more history as I explore its depths. BTW, as of this date, BY STREAMLINER also has a unanimous five-star ranking by the four Amazon amateur reviewers.
- I also have to hand ATLANTIC COAST LINE PASSENGER SERVICE: THE POSTWAR YEARS by Larry Goolsby (hardcover edition, TLC Publishing, 1999, 128 pp.), a beautiful shrinkwrapped version from a Midwestern used-bookseller that specializes in transportation topics (mostly rubber-tired production vehicles and NASCAR, but airplanes and trains too). I can't open it yet, though: too tempting. Have to wait until the income-tax prep is under way.
Already standing is a thread on CLASSIC TRAINS called "Seeking Info . . . " that's a general request for participants to reminisce, among other things, about their experience of the postwar NY-FL land connection and other SAL/ACL/SCL passenger services. Love to see you there! - a. s.
#59 Stealing the General / The Great Locomotive Chase and the First Medal of Honor by Russell S. Bonds. ISBN 10:1-59416-033-3 444 pages, including 57 pages of notes and Bibliography.
I have heard of the Andrews Raid, the truth behind the legend of The Great Locomotive Chase, but had never really checked into it much. As a kid, I probably watche the Walt Disney movie version of it, but those tend to stray a little away from facts at times.
This book is written by a lawyer for Coca Cola, rather than by a history professor, who appears to be a history buff. The result is somewhere between Disney and hard core history.
The raid, which actually was a failure, was seen as a grand plan to put a big split in the middle of the Confederacy. Some saw it as a way to start a "conquer and divide" sort of rift in the south, leading to a hasty end to the war, which was only about a year old then. About 1/4 of the book involves the actual chase part of the adventure. The rest of the book concerns the raiders capture, imprisonment, and capture, and the Civil War history pertinent to the time frame of the narrative. I can't say that I learned much about railroading, but I did learn a lot about the Civil War. (or the War of Northern Aggresion, if you listen to my reletives in North Carolina).
You'll enjoy this book, if you're into railroad legends,adventure, and Civil War history. I got this book before Thanksgiving, and read it on and off since then. Every time I picked it up, I imagined a narrator doing voice-over: "When last we left our heros......" Of the 24 raiders, 8 were hanged, 8 were eventually traded for Confederate POW's, and 8 escaped prison before being hanged. The escaped raiders all made it back to the north, from Atlanta, deep inside the Confederate lines, to rejoin the Union army. Two of them had to go by way of the Gulf of Mexico!
Murphy Siding wrote: #57 Steel Rails of Hawkeyeland, by Donovan L. Hofsommer. 279 pages text, plus 55 pages of notes/bibliography(!) ISBN #0-253-34515-4 copyright 2005 I must appologize. Someone on this forum recommended this book, but I don't remember who.() Whoever it was- a big thank you to you! This is a fairly in depth history of railroading in Iowa. Because of where Iowa lays, it had, and still has a lot to do with the western transcontinental railroads and their traffic. Because of this, nearly everything that had to do with the southern transcontinentals, and the granger roads, happened to Iowa. There is good coverage of the birth,growth, maturity, and unfortunately death, of a lot of Iowa rail lines. The stories about industry shifting, passenger decline,railroad bankruptcies, and branchline abandoodments in Iowa could be the same story for several dozen other states as well. The story is the same, all one would have to do, is change the names. A few things I learned from the book: Iowa once was so overbuilt in raillines at one time, that it is said you couldn't be more than 30 miles from a rail line anywhere in the state. At the time, I suppose, they didn't think they were oever built, but times change. The 60's & 70's hit Iowa hard, in the railroad business. Milwaukee Road, Chicago & Northwestern, and Rock Island had the most mileage in the state. Between 1961 and 1971, Iowa lost one half of it's railroad tracks. You'll like this book, if you're into: Iowa railroads, specific railroad history(IC, MWK,CNW,RI), or just good, general railroad history.
#57 Steel Rails of Hawkeyeland, by Donovan L. Hofsommer. 279 pages text, plus 55 pages of notes/bibliography(!) ISBN #0-253-34515-4 copyright 2005
I must appologize. Someone on this forum recommended this book, but I don't remember who.() Whoever it was- a big thank you to you!
This is a fairly in depth history of railroading in Iowa. Because of where Iowa lays, it had, and still has a lot to do with the western transcontinental railroads and their traffic. Because of this, nearly everything that had to do with the southern transcontinentals, and the granger roads, happened to Iowa. There is good coverage of the birth,growth, maturity, and unfortunately death, of a lot of Iowa rail lines. The stories about industry shifting, passenger decline,railroad bankruptcies, and branchline abandoodments in Iowa could be the same story for several dozen other states as well. The story is the same, all one would have to do, is change the names.
A few things I learned from the book: Iowa once was so overbuilt in raillines at one time, that it is said you couldn't be more than 30 miles from a rail line anywhere in the state. At the time, I suppose, they didn't think they were oever built, but times change. The 60's & 70's hit Iowa hard, in the railroad business. Milwaukee Road, Chicago & Northwestern, and Rock Island had the most mileage in the state. Between 1961 and 1971, Iowa lost one half of it's railroad tracks.
You'll like this book, if you're into: Iowa railroads, specific railroad history(IC, MWK,CNW,RI), or just good, general railroad history.
Hmmm, I'll have to find that one.
Brian (IA) http://blhanel.rrpicturearchives.net.
Commodore-the life of Cornelius Vanderbilt by Edward J. Renehan
I don't have all the price details on this book, but I just finished a copy I checked out of our local library. The book is well written, well researched and a colorful account of the life of a man who was the richest of all the robber barons. It is somewhat short, but has a good bibliography.
I only wanted to put it in here as most of us think of the New York Central when we think of the Commodore, but the author chooses to spend most of his time telling about the maritime details of his career. Only a few references to railroading, mainly a few stock deals and the means by which Vanderbilt consolidated the NYC and the Hudson River RR.
A good book and a worthwhile read but not a train book.
Murphy Siding wrote: al-in-chgo wrote: I agree, Eric. Very informative book and engagingly written. - a. s. Awe, shucks! You don't have to call me Eric. You can just call me by my name- which is Norris.
al-in-chgo wrote: I agree, Eric. Very informative book and engagingly written. - a. s.
I agree, Eric. Very informative book and engagingly written. - a. s.
Oops!
Okay, Norris. Wilco. - a.s.
Murphy Siding wrote: #56 The box that Changed the World Fifty years of container shipping-an illustrated history by Arthur Donovan and Joeseph Bonney. ISBN #978-1-891131-95-0 262 pages. This book actually has very little about railroads in it. The subject matter, however, has everthing to do with modern railroading in America. The authors go into great detail about the development of ocean container shipments over the last 50 years, and how it has revolutionized the ocean trade. A good sequel book would be one about how the container has revolutionized retail trade in the world. greyhounds recommended this book in several threads. I'm glas I finallly got around to reading it. You'll like this book, if you're into transportion, shipping, and railroads.
#56 The box that Changed the World Fifty years of container shipping-an illustrated history by Arthur Donovan and Joeseph Bonney. ISBN #978-1-891131-95-0 262 pages.
This book actually has very little about railroads in it. The subject matter, however, has everthing to do with modern railroading in America. The authors go into great detail about the development of ocean container shipments over the last 50 years, and how it has revolutionized the ocean trade. A good sequel book would be one about how the container has revolutionized retail trade in the world.
greyhounds recommended this book in several threads. I'm glas I finallly got around to reading it. You'll like this book, if you're into transportion, shipping, and railroads.
Reminiscences of a Railroad Engineer - Wilson - 1896 This is a very thin book - 62 pages - and amounts to an addendum to his work Brief Review of Railroad History which discussed the technical aspects of railroad construction. This work consists of personal experiences. What I enjoyed about the book is the fact that Wilson was in at the beginning (1828) so his experiences are those of someone who has to make it up as he goes along.
The Railroad Caboose - Knapke - A combination of the history of its development and use along with first person accounts. It is well illustrated and the last chapter, Caboose Gallery, is just that - a compilation of pictures of every kind of caboose imaginable.
In the Traces - Railroad Paintings of Ted Rose - This is first and foremost a collection of pictures of Rose's watercolor paintings. There is an introduction by Ted as well as an introduction by Garver. Scattered through the book are occasional commentaries. This is one of those cases where a picture is worth a thousand words - and then some. If you've ever admired his work then this is the book to have.
Murphy Siding wrote: I just received my December Trains Magazine. Jim Wrinn's From the Editor column is about the fact that he too, is a book nut! He points out, that Matt Rose's fvaorite book is Leaders Count, about the forming of BNSF. Has anybody read this book? Is it any good? Is it biased? -Thanks
I just received my December Trains Magazine. Jim Wrinn's From the Editor column is about the fact that he too, is a book nut!
He points out, that Matt Rose's fvaorite book is Leaders Count, about the forming of BNSF. Has anybody read this book? Is it any good? Is it biased? -Thanks
1. Yes 2. Not too good in my opinion. It does reach away from BNSF for business examples, but is otherwise 3. a commissioned work of "fee-losophy."
Why do these execs want to be Donald Trump anyway? Not worth the effort.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.