Trains and Railroads Books

I purchased this book over 20 years ago. This is a fantastic book of Steam Engine engravings. You won't find a better collection (at least I haven't.)

This book is a collection of engravings from the 19th Century, each with minimal history. It is an absolute gem , a cache of information about locomotives from before the era of manufacturers photographs. Engravings were used as illustration in sales literature and publicity material, and so a wide variety of locomotive types are depicted covering more or less 1800-1900. The accuracy of the engravings is superb-in some cases it is possible to scale from an engraving to determine pipe sizes, nut bolt diameter etc. For the price this book cannot be beaten.

What an interesting book that is based on a true story of a silk train that derailed in 1927 along the Fraser River in Canada. Back then " Silk Trains" would speed through towns across the country to New York carrying bolts of finished silk, raw silk and even carried live silkworms. The silk trains moved very fast, they where insured by the hour and the faster they made it to New York, the shippers paid less money! Even today the speed records these trains made have still never been broken! And all trains, even a royals train was even delayed because the silk trains always came first.

I enjoyed this book and it's story about a little girl named Emma who father worked on rail station and knew all about the silk trains. Emma's Mama had a made a silk blouse and with the scrapes left over Emma had a ribbon for her hair and 3 squares for her parchwork quilt and so began Emma's fasination of silk and wanting more silk possibly her own silk shirt. So, when a silk train derails and a reward is offered for any silk found. She does find some and I really like the ending of this story that is more than a fiction, it's history!

I found this book while doing some research on children's books, and it was a complete surprise. My grandmother is from the area discussed and used to watch the Silk Train when she was a little girl. She had only mentioned this recently, and my brother and I were interested enough to look on our own, but came up empty. I'm buying three copies, one for my brother, one for me and one for gran!

Obviously, in the states, it is hard to find a book on how to prepare, fire, and drive a British steam locomotive. This book provides plenty of illustrations, photos, text and history that deals with the many aspects of this subject. Great read!

This book is simply the best book for the person who either has absolutely no idea how a steam engine works, to the expert "engine drivers" themselves. If there is one thing that could be better, it is a few of the drawings. Some of the drawings are downright confusing such as the drawing of the "fixing plate" on page 19 and the "vacuum operated steam brake controls" on page 162. Also, some of the british names for things are a bit hard to understand over here, such as the "hanging jubilee clip" and the jigger valve". Everything else is very good and very well explained though. And I make no hesitation to give it five stars.
Brian starts off with a detailed description of the moving and nonmoving parts of the engines. He then carries on to discuss the cleaners dirty work, then the fireman's duties, then the drivers duties.

Freight Weather is the complete railroad book. You can enjoy it simply for the beautiful photos, or for the great writing, or for the details about trains. This is one of the few books that combines all three -- words, photos and info. I have looked at a lot of railroad books and I highly recommend this one. Well worth owning.

I now have all three of this author's books and this one is by far the finest of the trio. The photography is breathtaking and the anecdotes are quite interesting. I would highly recommend the book to anyone who likes trains or even anyone who just appreciates some of the fine scenery this country has to offer.

How GE entered the Diesel Locomotive field with little previous experience and raced ahead to beat out EMD and other "Old Timers". Well written with superb photos. Should be in the library of every rail enthusiast.

I was amazed with facts on GE locomotives. I am waiting the author to make a similar book on GM locomotives. On this kind of books all railway enthusiasts are hardly waiting.

This book offers a fascinating look into the world of 1830s-era
Philadelphia and its environs. There is interesting material
here on the history of immigration, the Irish in America, railroad construction, epidemiology, ghosts and folklore. The core of the book is a story about Irish railroad workers in Chester County that was largely unknown until the authors began studying it (they obtained a historical marker for it from the Commonwealth's Historical Commission in 2004). In addition, there are interesting ghost stories that will make for better than average Halloween reading.

This remarkable new book is a must read for Irish-American history. A reconstruction of the fate of an immigrant Irish work crew who died of cholera (and possible violence) while building the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad in rural Chester County in 1832 is the main focus. The story of the tragic deaths of 57 young Irish immigrants is combined with much fascinating detail concerning Irish and Irish-American history of the time. The much neglected history of the P and C Railroad is handled very well as is the discussion of the pandemic of Asiatic Cholera in North America. There is even a evocatively described ghost story. Readable, yet scholarly, this is an incredible book.

REPRODUCTION OF THE 1952 INSTRUCTION BOOKLET FROM A.C GILBERT
THIS BOOKLET COVERS TRACK LAYOUTS,TRACK WIRING,MAINTANCE,
LUBRICATION OF CARS/TENDERS/LOCOMOTIVES.(INCLUDES DIESEL ENGINE)
TRANSFORMER AND OPERATION IS INCLUDED,REVERSE UNITS AND THERE OPERATION IS ALSO COVERED..
A GREAT LITTLE BOOKLET.
I DO NOT RECOMMEND THE SCENERY INSTRUCTION MATERIALS ON PAGE 40
**ASBESTOS PLASTER**KEEP IN MIND THIS BOOKLET IS FROM 1952.
3/16" S GAUGE MODELS ONLY

I'm really glad I got this little book. I have a train layout but did not have the instruction book, so I had no where to turn to for information. This book solved the problem. I wish that I had it a long time ago. The information is clearly set out and there are many illustrations. For setup, maintenance and routine repairs, I highly recommend this book.

This is a wonderful book combing the early history of Colorado and the narrow gauge and later standard gauge railroads. The railroads were the dominating force of progress in the mountainous terrain, bringing down coal, silver, gold and other minerals, while carrying supplies up to the mines and ranchers.

The author captures the smell and sound of steam engines working the narrrow corridors of the mountains. It is like being in the cab, with the sounds of smoke pouring from the stack, steam gusting, whistle wailing, bell clanging, and fire roaring in the firebox, and the smells of coal and grease and hot metal combined with the lurching and pounding of the engine on the narrow gauge tracks.

The book will appeal to steam fans, rail buffs and history schloars for a look at the "reality of railroading in the West."

This is a reprint of a Colorado and Southern engineman's life story. Although the book is very readable, you won't find much of the "romance of the rails" here - just hard work and men trying to get a job done in often dangerous circumstances.

It's a good introduction to steam-era railroading for those who are too young to remember, and it will revive memories for those who do.

This book is loaded with information about the golden era of passenger trains. Lots of large color photos of the great trains. This is certainly my favorite book about passenger trains!

This is a beautiful history of passenger railroads. The photographs are beautiful, but this is far more than a "coffee-table" book--the text is rich, fascinating and well-researched. Many boxes and sidebars add interesting side notes. If there were a college course on "Golden Age of Passenger Trains 101," this would be the textbook. Definitely one of my favorite train books of all time--and I have plenty!

I love that this is the original oldy-timey version of the Thomas stories. My son loves the illustrations. The size is easy to handle. There are about 3-4 stories per book.

These original format books are charming. The stories, while they usually have a moral, are not heavy handed. The art is lovely and appears to be original to the vintage. This series introduces new characters without the rampant commercialism the is so apparent in the more recently written Thomas books. I've read all of these stories many, many times, and they still charm both myself and my son.