Trains and Railroads Books

This is a wonderfull book of the steam trains in eastern canada as I saw them in the 1950s. most books on the subject of steam trains show a world view foreign to my experience. Great pictures of this era and a wonderfull historic contribution.

This book is a feast for the eyes, the text alone is well worth the purchase price. The addition of the authors and others photographs is a "time machine experience" for this reviewer, who grew up in Detroit, Michigan in the 1950's . Canada and the Detroit area was the Mecca for the last real steam bastion in this era and Mr, Zimmermann has risen to the challenge of showing us what it looked like with words and photographs. A nice mix of color and Black & White photos illustrate the tale. But the narrative makes this volume a stand out in my opinion. If you were not able to witness the show in person, this book is a worthy replacement and belongs in any steam fans library.

This book carries on the very fine writing from this author's previous work, Merging Lines. This is an exceptionally good history of railroads in America since 1970. It explains why we see which railroad companies are still operating and what happened to the likes of Southern Pacific, Western Pacific, Conrail, Southern, Rio Grande, etc. It is a very easy read and hard to put down. I look forward to the next book from this author.

Drawing from numerous sources, Saunders weaves the economic and political history behind Railroading As We Know It Today into a work that is all at once comprehensive, insightful and engaging. This is no less than the Definitive Work and I have been recommending it as such to colleagues.

Having been with the Rock Island and Conrail for much of the time period covered, I can also attest that he seems to have gotten the facts not only right, but also in perspective.

Henry Posner III

Chairman
Railroad Development Corp.
Pittsburgh, PA

YORKSHIRE POST. MAY 2ND, 2005.
The railway marvel that beat the world
For those who marvel at the British star of the National Railway Museum, a new book contains some startling disclosures. The Nazis and an Italian car designer played their part in Mallard's world speed record.

John Woodcock reports.

In the age of steam, the footplate rather than a football, was the route to celebrity. Unbelievable though it seems now, engine drivers on the East Coast Main Line were almost as famous as today's soccer stars.
The London & North Eastern Railway saw valuable mileage in promoting those who propelled their expresses. A man entrusted with Flying Scotsman and the other classic names had his face featured on all kinds of marketing material. Biscuit tins, playing cards, jigsaws and posters. Few jobs were as prestigious in any sphere.
Among the sooty, oil-stained heroes was Joe Duddington, based at the Doncaster depot, and making a flambuoyant fashion statement 70 and more years before David Beckham.
He almost always wore his cloth cap back to front, in traditional racing style, a particularly appropriate gesture given the place in history he was to claim on the afternoon of July 3, 1938.
He was 61 at the time. How many individuals approaching their old-age pension today would be given the chance to a break a world speed record?
Duddington and his colleague, fireman Tommy Bray, had been informed they were needed for a secret mission. Its outcome would reverberate around the world, not least in Nazi Germany, and owe much to the influence of a brilliant Italian who out of economic necessity had switched from building racing cars, to designing and manufacturing trains.
Adolf Hitler's propaganda machine, and the genius of Ettore Bugatti, are two of the lesser-known factors behind Mallard's immortal fiery dash between Grantham and Peterborough on that Sunday afternoon.
Their impact on events over those few miles, and on a Derbyshire vicar's son, Nigel Gresley, who designed the extraordinary locomotive, are detailed in a new book about the record-breaker.
It was an era of political and social crisis that produced fertile ground for uplifting diversions. There was an almost fanatical obsession with breaking air and land speed records, not least in Germany where the feats of the Reichsbahn's steam engines and diesels were trumpeted by Joseph Goebbels as symbolic of Nazi power.
At one point Gresley, the innovative chief mechanical engineer of the LNER, but receptive to the ideas of others, thought an adapted version of the Germans' 100mph Flying Hamburger could have a role on the East Coast route. He was also facing fearsome domestic competition from the LMS, the company with a rival route to Scotland.
In the end Gresley found a conqueror of both on his own drawing boards at Doncaster works. It was an improved version of Silver Link, an A4 Pacific whose curved, wedge-shaped front, "more dart than tube", owed much to his association with Bugatti and his streamlined motor designs.
What names should he give his new fleet? Apart from golf, Gresley had a love of wild birds, and in his office at King's Cross, a clerk saw him jotting down names on the back of an envelope.
Suggestions included Guillemot, Herring Gull, Wild Swan, Gannet and Seagull, all "strong on the wing" in keeping with the imageof the railway's fliers.
Come the day, No. 4468 Mallard was chosen for what had officially been scheduled as a brake-testing run, but which, to the few in the know, was also to be an attempt on the British steam speed record, held by the LMS.
Even without fare-paying passengers the train looked majestic; locomotive in garter-blue, its enormous driving wheels a rich Coronation red, six carriages from the Coronation Pullman, and a teak-pannelled dynamometer car, packed with recording equipment. Destiny beckoned, and with typically-British elements. Those on board had a packed lunch and cup of tea, a stink bomb was added to lubricants to provide an early warning if the engine's middle
big end overheated, and the record bid began with a speed restriction of 18mph at Grantham caused by Sunday track maintenance.
Driver Duddington described what happened next. "I accelerated up the bank to Stoke summit and passed Stoke box at 85. Once over the top, I gave Mallard her head and she just jumped to it like a live thing."
In Stoke Tunnel one of those taking measurements recalled how they "were treated to a thrilling display as the whole
car was lit up by a torrent of red-hot cinders streaming back from the locomotive's twin chimneys".
Up front, Duddington and his fireman were pushing ever closer to the previous national best of 114mph. "After three miles the speedometer in my cab showed
107 miles an hour, then 108, 109,110... before I knew it, the needle was at 116 and we'd got the record'.
There was a momentum to press on and challenge the world mark of 124.5mph, set by a German steam locomotive. Could Mallard beat it? She "took wing" and Duddington told later how he urged her on. "Go on girl, I thought, we can do better than this. I nursed her and shot through Little Bytham at 123..."
As the train shook violently, crockery crashed to the floor, and "given the chance the guard would have happily got off" according to official archives, monitoring machines revealed that the locomotive reached 126.1mph for a few moments before a distinctive odour indicated that the stink bomb had done its job.
Mallard limped into Peterborough, all but exhausted, but with a new name, "Blue Streak", courtesy of an ecstatic media, and a record that would never be broken.
Gresley, who had already received a knighthood for his achievements in railway technology, was not on board for his finest hour. While his deteriorating health kept him at home, the driver and fireman he'd chosen for the task became national celebrities.
Duddington responded by heaping praise where it was most deserved. Mallard, he said, was "the best engine ever built, and which ever will be built".
Hard as he tried, even spinmeister Goebbels couldn't undermine the universal acclaim for Britain's first conquest of the Nazis, an event, incidentally, which is still much debated among German rail enthusiasts.
The book's author, journalist Don Hale, became as nationally famous as his subject through his campaign to clear the name
of Stephen Downing, imprisoned for 27 years for the murder of
a woman in Bakewell, Derbyshire.
Researching the Mallard story, much of which had not been told publicly before, took Hale to Germany and into the records here of a time when luxurious steam trains contrasted with soup kitchens, Mosley's Black Shirts and the Jarrow Hunger March - whose 200 protesters were transported home from London on a special train, courtesy of LNER.
Mallard was finally withdrawn from service in April, 1963, with a total mileage of 1,414,138, and five years before the last steam trains ran for British Railways.
She is now the most popular exhibit at the National Railway Museum, unlikely ever to steam again, but a memorial, as Hale points out, to intelligent, startling design, brilliant construction, and the pride of those who drove, fired, repaired and cleaned her.
Still ahead of her time, too. With the exception of the Eurostar service, no everyday passenger trains in Britain exceed her record speed.
(...)

(...)

This book is a must for all steam enthusiasts. Not only does it tell the story of Mallard, but also the story of Sir Nigel Gresley one of Britain's finest railway engineers. The chapters flow effortlessly into one another recalling the golden age of steam with such realism, that you can virtually smell the coal dust and hear the sounds of Britain's greatest steam engines. The rivalry and tension between competing rail operators, and also the German railways, builds up into an exciting climax. Mallards record breaking day is recalled in great detail leaving the reader with a complete sense of that exciting day in British history. It's packed with detail, accurate information, and some rare photographs.

I have read it from cover to cover and thoroughly recommend it.

Chris Williams - Stoke-on-Trent.

I knew our 2 year old daughter liked trains when I bought this book, but I had no idea it would be such a hit! She carries it with her everywhere and we ready it over and over. The lovely, bright illustrations have lots of detail, so there are many things we can talk about. (If mommy and daddy get tired ready the story over and over!)

We had to order a new copy, since the first one was literally loved to pieces!

I started reading this book to my son when he was only a few months old. Now, at a year, it is still one of his favorites. The bright illustrations and rhyming narrative hold his attention. Plus the squeaky cover with the 3D people and animals makes this book a good toy/story to take on trips.

Although my 2 year old adores trains, I resisted introducing him to the Thomas series of merchandise, books, and videos because I've heard it can be an expensive addiction. I also was turned off by the one Thomas video I saw because I dislike the creepy rolling eyes in the traditional films. However, I saw found this book in a used book store and decided to get it. The text is not so excessive that it would bore a toddler, but is a nice graduation up from simple rhyming books. It doesn't have a "plot," but is a great preparation for longer stories.

Each character is introduced with photos from the Shining Time Station video. When they eyes aren't rolling around manaically, I can handle it (!). My 2 year old loves this book and I've read it countless times.

My only gripe with the book is that the section on the freight cars ("troublesome trucks" in other books) does not have an accompanying photo that makes it clear who is being described. A close up of a single car would have been better. Also, because several of the trains are the same color, it can be hard for a toddler to distinguish them, but that's not a problem with the book. It does create the opportunity to ask a child to identify the numbers on the side of the different trains.

This book is a great stand-alone Thomas book for any toddler who loves trains.

My 2 year old son adores this book! I've read it to him so many times and he never tires of it.

My three year old loves this book! It's his favorite bedtime story and he looks forward to sitting on daddy's lap and having this story read to him. The watercolor illustrations evoke the thoughtful story line of a little boy, his favorite toy, and an elderly/magic great-grandmother. Highly recommended!!!

My 5 year old son absolutely loved this book. It reminded me of him, always having to bring his trains everywhere and his new obsession with the Santa Fe Railroad. Such a beautiful story. I only wish I had known about this book around Christmas time. Thank you Mr. Hooks.

This is an excellent book about the Milwaukee Road and I am happy to add it to my Milwaukee Road shelf. The photos are excellent and the selection was done very carefully in that there are photos of many types of equipment from the various decades. The history of the railroad is detailed just enough and allows the reader to understand this railroad. I recommend adding this book to your Milwaukee Road or general railroading collection.

The writer is in the rail industry. He's careful. Both the photos and the text reflect this. This is not an academic history, but it is a first class ticket on a first class story about a first class railroad. Tom Murray is a good writer. It is rare to suggest in the trade that this writer didn't write enough. The selection of photos was done with a finely tuned and patient hand. The result is a book that is not just a pleasure to read; it is a genuine resource about this timeless railroad and its unique story.

My son (23 mons) really likes this book. Generally I can tell how much he likes a book based on the number of times he would like me to read it. This one rates a six and then I hide it and point something else out.

For the reading parent, it is nice as the text is just repititive enough to please the kids without driving you crazy. The length is also quite nice.

This is one of my (19 month old) daughter's favorite stories. She loves filling in the animal sounds, dog barking, donkey hee-hawing, etc. I got it from the library, she likes it so much, I just bought a copy.

My son loves this series. Fun to read and highly recommend for your little reader.

I first picked up a Nate the Great book for my five year-old a few months ago after having been warned off getting him the Junie B. Jones series as there is a lot of negative language in those books (calling people "stupid" and things like that).

My son was just getting into reading chapter books and these were a great introduction. He had previously read the "Biscuit" books about the girl and her dog, biscuit. The language in the Nate the Great books is not difficult to read, but there are enough words per page that your child will feel as though they are reading a "big kid" book. The stories are interesting as well - we have fun reading them together and trying to figure out the clues and solve the mysteries right along with Nate. My son laughs out loud at some of the things Nate says and has now read about six of them! He devours them in under an hour and asks me to pick up more every time I go to the library.

It is great to see my son's confidence in reading boosted by these wonderful books and to see him not only enjoying reading, but enjoying the stories and using his logical thinking skills to figure out the mysteries as well.

I would recommend this and other Nate the Great books to beginning-intermediate readers - ages 5-8/9. Enjoy!

THIS BOOK SHOWES THE NCNG AT ITS BEST. OUTSTANDING BOOK FOR MODELERS AND TRAIN BUFFS. TWO THUMBS UP!

This is the definitive work on the definitive Sierra Nevada narrow guage railroad. A classic work, the text is fascinating, the photographs enchanting.

Recently republished, the plates are excellent. I was first introduced to this work 20 years ago, and it continues to be a favorite.