Book Description

Customer Reviews (2)

Clinchfield railroad in the Coalfields
Clinchfield Railroad in the Coalfields Bob Helms book is full of good information on Railroading on the the old Clinchfield line from Elkhorn City, KY south.A book that a clinchfield fan will use as a good reference when following the line.

The BEST CRR Book Ever!
Bob has done a GREAT job bringing the real Clinchfield to a book! He features details about the NORTH end, where Dante is the main yard and describes the mine runs and the railroad features in excellent detail. A MUST HAVE for ANY railfan interested in the Appalachian Coal areas!! ... Read more

Book Description
The Economics of Railroad Safety stems from thetraditions of industrial organization and law and economics. Theobjective of the book is to examine the exact nature of the `safetyproblem': how much safety should be provided; what might hinderobtaining such a level of provision; and what we can do about it.Discussion of safety is often infused with emotion. By contrast, theauthor uses a logical approach to laying out the economics of safety,allowing the informed reader to understand exactly what constitute themain issues. Therefore, while the book deals specifically with freightrailroads, the theory is applicable to all forms of transportation.
The Economics of Railroad Safety is divided into three mainsections. The first section puts the railroad safety issue intocontext. The second section provides a consideration on the economicsof safety. The objectives of the third section are to discuss why themarket may not produce the socially-optimal level of safety, and topresent the range of policy responses that might be deployed to dealwith any market failures. The book concludes with a summary of thepublic policy recommendations on grade crossing, trespassers,industrial injuries, and operational safety. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is a journal article from Computers and Operations Research, published by Elsevier in 2007. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
Hazardous materials are potentially harmful to people and environment due to their toxic ingredients. Although a significant portion of dangerous goods transportation is via railroads, prevailing studies on dangerous goods transport focus on highway shipments. We present an analytical framework that incorporates the differentiating features of trains, notably volume and nature of cargo, in the assessment of transport risk. We focus on hazardous materials that are airborne upon an accidental release into the environment. Each railcar is a potential source of release, and hence risk assessment of trains requires representation of multiple release sources in the model. We propose a risk approximation approach, which is not only effective but also robust with regards to the positioning of hazardous cargo in the train. We report on the use of the proposed approach for the assessment of population exposure associated with ''Ultra-train'' that passes through the city of Montreal everyday. ... Read more

Book Description
Originally published by UNC Press in 1952, The Railroads of the Confederacy tells the story of the first use of railroads on a major scale in a major war. Robert Black presents a complex and fascinating tale, with the railroads of the American South playing the part of tragic hero in the Civil War: at first vigorous though immature; then overloaded, driven unmercifully, starved for iron; and eventually worn out—struggling on to inevitable destruction in the wake of Sherman's army, carrying the Confederacy down with them.

With maps of all the Confederate railroads and contemporary photographs and facsimiles of such documents as railroad tickets, timetables, and soldiers' passes, the book will captivate railroad enthusiasts as well as readers interested in the Civil War. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

CONFEDERACY'S WEAKEST ASSET
A MAJOR INOVATION IN THE CIVIL WAR WAS THE STRATEGIC USE OF RAILROADS ON BOTH SIDES. THE CONDITION OF THE SOUTHERN RAILROADS AFFECTED BOTH THE CONFEDERACY AND THE UNION IN THIS WAR.DIFFERENT GUAGES OF TRACKS, WHETHER THE TRACKS RAN NORTH AND SOUTH OR EAST AND WEST WAS OF GREAT IMPORTANCE.THE ABILITY TO REPRODUCE CAPTURES OR DESTROYED ROLLING STOCK AND RAILS WAS A MAJOR FACTOR.IN THIS WORK BLACK ENLIGHTENS US TO THE PROBLEMS AND PROGRESS OF THE CONDEDERACY'S RAILROADS AND GIVES US A CLEAR PICTURE OF THEIR OPERATION AND MILITARY VALUE.A BOOK WELL WORTH READING.

A very useful and fascinating book
After reading dozens of scholarly books, and writing published articles related to the Civil War myself, this book was a refreshing read.It is a reminder of the enormity of the task faced by the bureaucrats andbusinessmen behind the Confederate armies.Yes, the tide did turn atGettysburg.

But for those who like to play "What if?" andspeculate on the fortunes of war, this book is a bleak testimony to thelong odds the south confronted.The Confederate States were almostcompletely unequipped to fight a modern, industrial war.

One shortcomingof this book, and it is a minor one, is that the story is told primarilythrough the eyes of railroad tycoons, and ignores to a great extent theperspective of well-known military personalities.This stems in part fromthe fact that Black relies heavily on the railroads themselves (theirannual reports) for his source material.More research from militarysource material would round the picture out.

On the whole, however, Mr.Black must be commended.As I said, "fascinating."

IMPORTANCE OF RAIL TRANSPORTATION DURING THE CIVIL WAR
This was a fascinating book as it put the Civil War into a slightly different context.It spotlighted the fact that many of the the major battles were fought over areas which were strategic rail centers - the best example being Atlanta.

It also clearly pointed out that the South was severely hampered by three different track gauges limiting the ready ability to carry freight long distances.In addition, even though the track gauges of a connecting railroad might have been the same, many of them were state owned.And some states would not permit rolling stock to cross state lines.This meant offloading and reloading freight at the state border.

And the Southern railroads never came under a unified control until very late in the War - in contrast to the North.And the South only had about a third of the track miles that the North had.

I highly recommend this book to any serious student of Civil War history.You don't even have to be a rail fan to enjoy it. ... Read more

Book Description
This complete and illustrated guide to railroad signaling in the U.S. simplifies and presents the utterly bewildering array of mechanisms, procedures, and rules that have evolved since the 1830s to promote safety, impose control, and disseminate information on America's railways. In addition to providing a brief history of North American signaling from the nineteenth century onward, Brian Solomon provides photos of equipment and explanations of not only how it works, but how it is used and what it all means. Solomon also explains how trains on the same route are given 'precedence' or placed in pecking orders and how routes are broken down into digestible segments called 'blocks' that help dictate the speed and manner in which a train is driven. The result is a fascinating look at the development of communication on the rails, from the days when slips of paper describing an engineer's track orders were held on a metal hook for him to grab on the fly, to today, when instructions are transmitted via computer. Major manufacturers of signaling equipment are represented. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Railroad Signaling
I purchased the book in my capacity primarily as a railroad union officer (BLE&T), and secondarily as an amateur rail historian (former Vice-President, Pacific Region, NRHS). I was hoping to find the book to provide a bit more technical detail than what it contains. Having been involved in several signal related accident investigations, I have found my techicnal expertise to be somewhat lacking when the time comes to interview those railroad employees whose responsibility it is to maintain and repair railroad signalling systems. I don't know that Brian Solomon's book will go a long way towards helping me increase that knowledge; but it does provide a comprehensive bibliography which I am sure I can put to use in reaching my goals in that regard. From a historical perspective, the book is a helpful primer to those who wish to understand the basics of train control methods.

Rail crew
This is a basicoverview of all types of railroad signals. It covers the history and development of visual and electrical signaling systems. To get an understanding of how signals work this is an excellent book. Unfortunately no book could cover all signals that you may encounter trackside. Because each railroad has its own signal system, you will have to refer to their timetable to decode local signal aspects and indications.

An easy read with excellent graphics, "Railroad Signaling" is a must for anyone interested in railroads and the technology that goes with them.

Railroad Signaling
I worked as the BN Roadmaster's Clerk at Northtown for five years and had an excellent working relationship with the Signal Department. By reading this book, I now understand the complexity of signal installations.

This book is written in a way that a lay person can appreciate how the different types of signals operate in relationship to each other. Brian Soloman speaks about the signal systems in various part of the country work (and are different from the BN's) and has pictures of same.

This book is a must for railfans.

Ed Burns of Anoka, Minnesota

Almost a good book
Brian Solomon's Railroad Signaling book is one that has been missing from the ranks of books about railroads for many years. There has not been a general publication about the sometimes perplexing and interesting world of railroad signaling aside from GRS's book of many years ago and an article in Trains magazine from 1957. Anyone who really wanted to understand these things, had to either befriend a railroad signaling engineer or maintainer, or become one!

So, while the need was great, and this book could have been a welcome addition to a serious railfan's or modeler's library, there are enough troubling points about this book that make me want to caution you about it.

Mr. Solomon decided to take a historical approach to the development of the art and science of signaling. While that is as good an approach as any, the unfortunate result was that about two thirds of the book discusses things that are seen only occasionaly in museums. Also, he is obviously fascinated by the old semaphore signals as the vast majority of the pictures in the book are of those rather than the newer types that are in use today. He also spends a lot of time developing the history from the 1870's to the 1970's and then has a very brief chapter about the advances that the computer age has brought to bear since then. The is one small subsection on such an important topic as PTC and none on CBTC which are the two main technological deployment of the early 21st century.

Another irritating problem is the frequency of typos throughout the book. At one point I was totally confused as to whether the signal protecting a grade crossing of old was called a wigwaG or wigwaM since both appeared interchangeably in the same paragraph.

The layout of the text was also rather confusing with some concepts being given after descriptions of how they were used. I had to look in advance of my reading for the technical diagrams to try and figure out what he was writing about. Unfortunately, some of his diagrams are incorrect as well.

On the good side, he does cover both American and British practices which therefore explain over 90% of what is used around the world today. Being an American author it is no surprise that he focuses most of his attention on American practice. It would have been nice though, to have more of an explanation of the differnces in, for instance, the use of divergent routes vs American speed routes.

The author does provide many of the rules that are in use in various locations and points out that these are examples as each railroad and transit property essentially following their own preferences.

So my conclusion is that while this was an excellent first effort, it needs to be thoroughly revised and recast to be the premier book explaining the arcane art of railroad signaling.

Railroad Signaling
Broad overview of railroad signaling; but I would have liked more technical detail. ... Read more

Book Description
By the time it was merged into the Union Pacific in 1995, the Chicago North Western was one of the nations oldest surviving railroads, a testament to the Midwestern stoicism with which it had gone about its business since 1859. CNWs story unfolds in this richly illustrated history. The story spans the decades from the 1850s to the 1990s; takes in steam and diesel motive power, freight and passenger operations; and features all the key characters and events that figured in the Chicago North Westerns rise and eventual demise. It is also accompanied by hundreds of images, historical photographs, route maps, and period print ads. ... Read more

Book Description
In describing Penn Central's operational history and the factors that led to its formation and downfall, author and former PC employee Peter Lynch offers a collection of the best Penn Central color imagery from the archives of photographers Thomas McNamara, J. W. Swanberg, David P. Oroszi, and others. These region-by-region collections depict freight and passenger operations, motive power, rolling stock, and facilities along 20,000 miles of trackage in states from New England to Illinois. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A Well Done Follow On To Peter Lynch's "New Haven Railroad"
Peter Lynch's new "Penn Central Railroad" is a nice follow-on to his excellent "New Haven Railroad" of last year.The Penn Central book is formatted and laid out in a similar manner to Peter's previous work, combining well-written historical narrative with a good selection of photographs of trains and locations.

A good summary history of the Penn Central is provided.Among other things this covers the circumstances leading up to the merger of the New York Central and Pennsylvania railroads (and the inclusion of the New Haven), the merged railroad's financial and other problems, a review of its operating regions (Eastern, Central, New Haven, etc.), and the circumstances that led to the formation of Conrail.

Although I enjoyed the narrative, I most appreciated the numerous photographs of Penn Central equipment in various "interim" color schemes.By this I mean shots of equipment in New York Central, Pennsylvania, and New Haven color schemes with Penn Central stencilling and numbers.I have not seen most of the photographs in this book published elsewhere.

I'm a long-time member of the New Haven Railroad Historical & Technical Association (http://www.nhrhta.org) and the New Haven is my favorite railroad.By rights I guess I ought to hate the Penn Central, but I don't.For better or for worse, it's the railroad that I grew up with during my childhood and there is substantial nostalgic appeal to me.I highly recommend "Penn Central Railroad".

Penn Central Railroad/Peter E Lynch
An informative and well illustrated general history of the Penn Central Railroad focusing on PC operations and merger plans, and what actually happened on and to the railroad, and further breaks the story down by operating region.Excellent text, good region maps (surprisingly, no system map), and well chosen photographs by a serious author who apparently comes from railroad management ranks.Peter E Lynch has produced a balanced work that both railfan (anti-PC foamers will have to look elsewhere for solace) and historian will appreciate.

A slight distraction is that Thomas McNamara photo captions appear to need closer scrutiny.Of the locations I am familiar with, most of the "Horseshoe Curve" photos aren't Horseshoe Curve or otherwise aren't correct.For the record:Page 66 appears to be the curve east of ETT Benny where the Red Arrow derailed decades earlier.Page 156 is ETT Benny interlocking with westbound TV at right while at left an eastbound tonnage train is coming down the slide from Portage Tunnel.Page 16, if Horseshoe, train is eastbound downgrade (note the heavy brakeshoe smoke, and heavy sand accumulation on roadbed offoreground tracks).

The only real historical weakness in the book seems to be the lack of any real discussion of Hurricane Agnes (June 1972) and it's heavy impact on PC, giving it only a paragraph of text and mentioning it only as a "violent storm".Only an undated photo on page 132 gives readers any real hint as to the devastation this storm caused but the caption makes no mention of it (See the Aug-Sept 1972 issue of Penn Central Post, "Special Issue - The Flood").

All in all, Penn Central Railroad is an excellent and needed contribution to the historical record. ... Read more

Book Description
At its postwar peak, the North American railroad industry comprised as many as 100 lines. The classic system maps produced by the railroads of the day, collected for the first time in this volume, offer a sweeping view of the industry's remarkable reach in the period of its greatest power. Each railroad's routes unfold in multi-page spreads featuring a capsule history, vital specs such as track mileage and years of operation, and period photographs, all detailing the mid-twentieth-century might of North American railroads. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Atlas of N. American Railroads
I awaited delivery of this book with some trepidation; what were the chances it would properly cover my three favorite railroads? I need not have worried. Coverage of these is great but I've hardly noticed as there is so much else to read and learn about. I drive many of these [virtual] tracks in MS Trainsim and it's great to see where my tracks fit in to the big picture.
The packaging was very thorough and the book is well produced, of very good quality and the right sized format. I would certainly recommend this atlas to anyone interested in this subject.

Robert Bach
New Zealand

Atlas of North American Railroads
This is not a typical atlas in the classical definition of the term.Rather the author somehow found maps produced by the several railroads he covers in his book to provide the mapped details of each specific route.This makes it a bit unconventional and some who think every atlas author should provide original maps may well be disappointed.But I like this book.I give the author credit for finding so many different maps.Some actually are available online, but others seem to come from railroad promotional literature (and difficult to find except for true railroad collectors).

The scope of the book is surprisingly broad.Some of the railroads shown here have been defunct for decades.The book has good text and several photos that show lines that many people only know as memories.It covers modern routes that have emerged from buyouts and mergers (i.e., BNSF) but omits Amtrak.This book has good nostalgia value but the maps, regardless of their origin, are quite informative.A good historian can decipher information for any type of source, even old rail route maps.I enjoy reviewing this book and recommend it fully.

Not what I had hoped for
This book contains lots of maps of railroads, as the title suggests. I'm not intentionally being flippant, but that about sums it up. It is a good historical reference, but sorely lacking as a comprehensive tool for viewing existing lines and rail traffic and railroad ownership. I was a history major, so the history was interesting to me, if sketchy, and it was interesting to see what railroad topography looked like in Florida, for example, in 1810, but again, not useful as a modern tool. I was expecting a railroad atlas, state by state, something like what one would get from AAA for highways. This is not that, just to warn you, but for what the authors intended I'm sure it is excellent.

An Attractive Workhorse of a Book
Bill Yenne's atlas is mostly a compendium of historical maps -- I don't think there's an original map among the hundred-plus in the book. The majority are railway system maps from the Golden Age of the American passenger railway (ca. 1930-1950), but there's U.S. Army survey maps going back to 1831 (for the Baltimore & Ohio) and modern route maps from 2004 (Canadian National) and 2005 (Burlington Northern Santa Fe). The maps, as you may have gathered by now, are organized by railway system, not by date or region. There are also a number of attractive, but not particularly gripping, photographs of trains on the various lines -- this is a book primarily for the committed enthusiast, not for the curious amateur. Fortunately, as a committed enthusiast of atlases, if not of trains, I found plenty of interest, not least the shift in graphic design over the century and a half covered here. The index is not top notch (no mention of the Empire Builder in it, for example) but fairly serviceable. Not every rail line or company in North America gets coverage, but the vast majority fall either under their own entries or those of their immediate predecessors or successors in the Darwinian chain of rail competition. The entries are terse, but reasonably complete, and some even take time to note, for example, that "Casey" Jones and the City of New Orleans both have the Illinois Central (the former tracks of which run six blocks east of my house) in common. In short, this book is a fine reference work, highly recommended for railroad buffs in need of a comprehensive set of route maps, or map buffs in need of the same. ... Read more

Book Description
The first rail lines in northeast Ohio opened for business in July 1850, and by the 1890s, northeast Ohio was laced with railroad tracks. Cleveland was the hub of railroad activity, and important rail-served lake ports developed at Ashtabula, Conneaut, Fairport Harbor, Huron, and Lorain. Akron became a center of southerly east–west lines. Over 310 passenger and combination depots were established at various points along the railroads to serve the needs of passengers traveling throughout northeast Ohio. Depots were the focal point of communities—news arrived over their telegraphs, traveling salesmen gathered on the trackside platforms, depot staff maneuvered four-wheel wagons loaded with baggage, parcels, and milk cans, locals gathered to meet, greet, and send off family and friends. The depot was a veritable beehive of activity at train time. Railroad Depots of Northeast Ohio offers a glimpse into these golden years of train travel through the use of early postcards and photographs of selected depots and related structures. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Transportation Journal, published by American Society of Transportation and Logistics, Inc. on March 22, 1993. The length of the article is 5836 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

From the supplier: Important managerial and environmental predictors of shortline railroad performance are identified. These include traffic density, the percentage of traffic originated and overall sales of the primary products carried by the railroad. The extent to which managerial actions and characteristics explain variations in shortline railroad performance is also examined. The implications of these findings for shortline managers striving for better performance are also assessed.

Citation Details
Title: Determinants of shortline railroad performance.
Author: Curtis M. Grimm
Publication: Transportation Journal (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 1993
Publisher: American Society of Transportation and Logistics, Inc.
Volume: v32Issue: n3Page: p5(9)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Book Description
Few states have a railroad heritage as rich as Pennsylvanias. This illustrated book offers a colorful look at the Keystone States historic railroads, the men who built and ran them, and the engineering feats that made them possible. Railway historian Brian Solomon also shows readers around the legacy those railroads have left in the form of todays rail lines, historic tourist roads, museums, and destinations. ... Read more

Book Description
This illustrated history of the Long Island Rail Road begins with a brief look at its origins with the Brooklyn Jamaica Railroad in 1832, and at the lines early attempts to reach Boston via Long Island and ferry service to Connecticut. Author Stan Fischler tells the story of Pennsylvania Railroads purchase of the LIRR in 1900, the construction of Penn Station and tunnels into Manhattan, and the building of LIRRs diesel and electric rolling stock and passenger cars. Archival and modern photography, route maps, print ads, and timetables recreate the drama of this iconic commuter railroad from 1834 to the present. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A Disappointment
Having been raised on Long Island, I have been waiting for a good illustrated history of the Long Island Rail Road.After reading this book I am still waiting for one.

The book provides a poorly balanced and integrated view of the LIRR.The text and illustrations appear to have been assembled and laid out by different people, and the organization of the book does not result in continuous and reasonably complete coverage of the material.There is a heavy treatment of the LIRR in Brooklyn and New York City with an overemphasis on the multiple unit trains to the detriment of major aspects of the remainder of the railroad.There is very little coverage of the transition from steam to diesel, when the LIRR fielded a facinating variety of locimotives from different manufacturers.Almost nothing of the stations found throughout Long Island, which were known for their architecture, is seen, and nothing about freight operations, which formed a small but interesting part of LIRR operations can be found. Large aspects of the LIRR in Nassau and Suffolk counties is not covered well, if at all.Instead, one finds pages wasted with entire chapters on the Atlantic Avenue tunnel, disasters, and Pennsylvania Station along with two pages dedicated to "Mile-a-Minute Murphy" and his bucyle race with a train.

The selection of illustrations is at times random with poor linkage to the immediate text.Pictures of time tables and tickets are inserted in a way that makes them appear as filler, and no maps showing the evolution of the rail road are provided to support the text.

The fact that the author is from Brooklyn and apparently has a strong interest in subways, appears to have biased the contents of the book.I do not recommend this book.

Long Island Rail Road
Great book. Stan Fischler is a great storyteller to begin with (his "Confessions of a Brooklyn Trolley Dodger" are a grat personal reminiscence of his childhood growing up in Brookly as well as of the trolleys of the area). The LIRR was a essential element to the growth of Long Island and even the acceleration of its population right after WWII. Great photos and story of the struggles and the sometimes "love-hate" relationships between the Long Island RR and its customers and the Pennsy (which held control till the early 50s). Brings the story of the Railroad closer to the present. Is of the same quality of the other MBI Railroad Books.

Neither Color nor History
The MBI Railroad Color History series has provided concise histories ofselected railroads and a nice selection of photographs, mostly in color. This book on the LIRR is disappointing. The majority of photographs are black & white, although this is not a drawback as the 19th century b&w photos presented are nicely reproduced in a size and quality not previously seen. The history, on the other hand, is disjointed and woefully incomplete. The author spends far too much time on sidebars and anecdotes (although warning that historians have refuted the stories that he is about to relate, he then goes on to include them anyway). A section of photographs on the 1950 wrecks is much too long and includes a completely unnecessary graphic photo of bodies inside a wrecked car. The only maps are on the endpapers and are very nice, but depict the 19th Century system (one is undated, the other is about 10 years off), with no additional maps showing the railroad as it matured. In conclusion, the reasonable price justifies buying the book for the early photographs alone, but don't expect any kind of cogent history of the LIRR.

For Railfans only
The LIRR is here because they have always been here, not because they deserve it.If you have a romantic attachment to trains, this book is OK.For any other reason skip it.

Books like this are great at telling only one side of the story, the LIRR's spin side.Not told here are the years of ridership losses, how the LIRR is fast becoming the 2nd busiest RR "on the continent" and all the corruption that takes place on every major project.

Any LIRR commuter has a vastly different perspective on the LIRR and that story seems to never be told.

... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (1)

All Aboard!!!
This easy to read and view book is part of the 500 Photograph series and is worth it's value.

Although the book delves into the classes of locomotives that ran in North America, we are also treated to the Passenger trains they hauled and the stations they once patronised.

Set out with Pioneer Steam first, we move through the eras that were importaint in the history of railways ending with the most up to date trains we have today.

A great book for all ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Essential for the PRR modeler or anyone with a Pennsy interest.
This book is exactly what the title says: it describes the PRR's principal trains, their consists, and the passenger cars that comprised them during 1952 and to a lesser extent previous or subsequent years.

This period is a very interesting one for modelers since it was just before the precipitous decline in the Pennsy's passenger services, just after the widespread dieselization of PRR passenger service, but just before the end of steam operations.

It's illustrated with photographs of the cars used, either from the same timeframe or later.Most of the pictures appear to be new; I don't recognise them from previous works. ... Read more

Book Description
Few images speak as clearly of a time and a place as a dramatic black-and-white photograph of an American steam locomotive powering through that storied era of railroad history. All the new photographs in this beautiful book meticulously recreate that original style, capturing the bygone age of steam rail against the settings of its heyday, including period architecture and other details. The result is the crisp, stunning quality of contemporary photography - reproduced in highest-quality duotone prints - of the iconic locomotives of yesteryear.Featured trains include the Milwaukee Road; the Cumbres and Toltec snowplow runs; the Cotton Belt 819 in Arkansas, Missouri, and Illinois; the Savannah and Atlanta No. 750; the Frisco 1522 in Missouri; the Norfolk and Western 611 and 1218 in Georgia and Tennessee; the Union Pacific 3985 in Wyoming, Nebraska and Arkansas-these are just some of the historic runs and routes Steam Trains brings this era to life with its evocative photographs and accompanying narrative accounts of the locomotives that are still cherished today. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Steam Trains James P. Bell
Excellent photographs. However, the light gray ink used for print makes it VERY difficult to read. I can understand the selection of this shade from an artists point of view, but it's a pity that those (over 60 year old) who will be most interested will have the poorer eyes. If print were darker, I would given it 5 starts. Otherwise, it is an excellent pictorial work. Mr. Bell is a photographic artist.

Simply outstanding - not to be missed by any collection train buffs frequent.
There have been numerous train books published over the decades, but steam trains too seldom receive their own coverages apart from the general train genre - making STEAM TRAINS: A MODERN VIEW OF YESTERDAY'S RAILROADS most notable and a recommended pick for general-interest public library lending collections. The author is also a photographer here, so is not limited to vintage or collection holdings: his lovely black and white photos capture the antiques in their modern activities, while 23 profiles explores the trains' unique characteristics, the places which still run and maintain them to date, and passenger experiences along the way. Simply outstanding - not to be missed by any collection train buffs frequent.

Pictures of Steam Engines Still in Use
Books of pictures of steam engines pulling trains from the days when steam was king are quite common. In this book Mr. Bell, who readily admits that he didn't want to live back then when antibiotics hadn't been invented, and neither had air conditioning, television, etc. etc., has been taking photographs of steam locomotives for the last thirty years or so.

These are engines that are still running, preserved and out on the high iron where you can see them once in a while.

Here are the two UP engines, the 4-8-4 No. 8444, and the 4-6-6-4 'Challenger' No. 3985 (She just came through town here, and I couldn't believe the size of the mob that showed up to see her.)

Here's the Durango & Silverton - you really need to ride this one twice. Once in the summer, and again in the winter when everything is snow covered.

And besides that, there's another twenty or so engines shown from all parts of the country.

I only have one complaint - the type in the captions of the photographs is printed in grey ink, and it's hard for my old eyes to see it unless I hold the book just so. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The most enjoyable railroad book I have read.
My comments will be brief, as the fine review already provided by James Heidel is accurate and complete.I intend only to convince any of those who are unsure of buying this book that this really is a great value.Simply excellent writing combined with ample information has resulted in the best book I have read about railroading.

A great history book about a great railway.
This publication covers the complete history of the Chicago & North Western Railway from the initial charter of the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad in 1836 through the final years before the C&NW was absorbed by the Union Pacific in 1995.This work is one that a reader will come away having learned the evolution of the former C&NW and the reasons for its prominence in railroad history.It is a must have reference text for any fan of Midwest rails. Professor Grant has included numerous illustrations and b&w photographs from his personal collection and from others that have been crisply reproduced and concisely captioned.The generous footnotes and ample bibliography provided are illuminating and will offer any student of Midwest rail history an excellent starting point for a research endeavor of their own. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (2)

Buy This Book
This inexpensive book is well researched and an interesting read.If you have an interest in railroad dining car operations, especially from a northeast line, this would be an excellent addition to your collection or reference library.Last Thanksgiving we tried out a couple of recipes from the book and they turned out very well.Highly recommended.

What A Great Book!
Marc Frattasio has done a wonderful job of telling the story of the New Haven Railroad's dining car department and onboard food service in Dining on the Shore Line Route.This book has something to appeal to every railroad fan; well-researched historical narratives, loads of photos, and a big selection of recipes.I especially appreciated the photographs of the train crews (especially all the hostesses and other women), the first-person stories by railroad workers about their adventures working on the trains, the illustrations (and stories) about all the dining car china patterns used by the railroad, and of course the interesting recipes.This is a great book on an interesting aspect of the New Haven's history that up until now has been undocumented. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Transportation Journal, published by American Society of Transportation and Logistics, Inc. on September 22, 1994. The length of the article is 6100 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

From the supplier: Interviews were conducted with short line railroad executives, short line shippers and officials of the Iowa Dept. of Transportation to determine the criteria that make up a successful short line railroad. Based on these interviews, a profile of a successful firm was established based on criteria related to traffic components, management and labor components, relationship to Class I railroads, financial components, track quality components and state assistance components.

Citation Details
Title: A profile of short line railroad success.
Author: Michael W. Babcock
Publication: Transportation Journal (Refereed)
Date: September 22, 1994
Publisher: American Society of Transportation and Logistics, Inc.
Volume: v34Issue: n1Page: p22(10)

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Book Description
This digital document is an article from Transportation Journal, published by American Society of Transportation and Logistics, Inc. on December 22, 1998. The length of the article is 7641 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

From the supplier: Profitability models for grain-dependent short line railroads were developed to determine the factors that wield an influence on the margins of these railroads. The economic viability of grain-dependent short line railroads is vital to rural areas since they could affect grain prices, transportation costs and shipping profitability. The study found that the profitability of grain-dependent short lines is only slightly high. Results also suggest that some short lines have the tendency to need government assistance in order to continue operating.

Citation Details
Title: Grain-dependent short line railroad profitability: an operating cash flow approach.
Author: Marvin Prater
Publication: Transportation Journal (Refereed)
Date: December 22, 1998
Publisher: American Society of Transportation and Logistics, Inc.
Volume: 38Issue: 2Page: 18(1)

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