Trains and Railroads Books

Tobin is a train and kids love trains. This little train teaches young children and those with social problems how to make friends. I recommend this book for classes of special education children or those with Asperger syndrome. It's really appropriate for any young child who is beginning to realize the world is a social place and skills are needed to become a member of a group where each person has a role and follows rules.

I am a pre-school teacher. I took this book out at the library because we were studying trains. I had no idea how much it was going to help some of my students. This book helps all kids.

My son with Autism and my son who is on target love this book, it is a great book to help get my sons to discuss proper behavior to make a friend

I am a teacher of children with Autism and use this book in order to help my students' classmates to understand that everyone makes mistakes when they are learing how to make friends. We discuss the mistakes Tobin makes and how the other engines forgive his mistakes because they know he is trying very hard to be a friend. I also read the book to my students section by section as we learn the rules for making friends. This book is wonderful for many populations and can be used in so many ways. Other books by this author are just as wonderful.

I bought this book originally at a Future Horizons and love it so much that I'm donating this one to my sons school. It's a great book for those children that have an awkward time making friends. I highly recommend this book.

our two year old daughter loves the potty train. she was showing all the signs of being ready for the potty but this was the book that turned theory into practice. she loves to sit on her potty with the book in her lap and a big "choo choo" as things started to happen. a wonderful book, very engaging for small children. our six year old even liked it, especially the last page (and i aint going to spoil the surprise for you). i would highly recommend this book for anyone with a child ready to take the next step in life's great adventure.

This is an absolutely wonderful book! We read it every night for a week, and one day our 21 month old son declared he wanted to "ride potty train". A success! It's a great way to get children excited about the potty, reduce any fears, and make it a fun way to visit the bathroom (we keep ours in a basket by the potty).
It's light-hearted and beautifully illustrated. A must-have for any child (especially boys since this is the featured character) that loves trains.

This wonderfully engaging book has become my standard gift for my friends' new born grandchildren. Everyone who has been fortunate enough to receive it has loved it. A pediatrician friend of mine doesn't want to rush her little one's life along, but knows that when it's time it will be the first one to be read to her.
This charming story of potty training gives kids permission to try it without guilt. The pictures and colors bring the story to life. You'll love it!

Great buy for boys who love trains and the zoo. My son is bowel training and this is the book that he asks for during poopytime. The story is short and the pictures are bold and bright. Great find!

I have a Thomas fanatic on my hands, so anything with trains is a hit. My son was repeating the book after only one read and thought it was great fun. We'll see how much it really helps with the potty training, but I think it is a fun way to introduce the topic to him!

This is a great story of the magic that Christmas brings each year.

A dear teacher friend recommended this book and said she couldn't read it to her class without crying! I thought I would be able to read it to my grandson without tearing up, but alas...he had to finish the last few pages! (Much to his delight!) It is such a gentle, tender story. Even when you KNOW what the outcome will be, you can't help but FEEL the emotions the writer conveys so well! Outstanding illustrations put this book in a rare class!

This was a beautiful story written and illustrated. It allows one to discover how people can reach into the hearts of so many with a simple act of kindness. It also reassures children that one does not have to have a lot to change the lives of another. And that dreams do come true.

Karen

I like Chris Soentpiet's book called Silver Packages. The pictures he drew were OUT OF THIS WORLD!!! The book was outstanding! I like the part when the boy is holding his first one in front of the Christmas tree.

If you want to read a great book then read Silver Packages because it will just touch your heart. It all started when no one had anything so every Christmas a man came and threw silver packages out the back of the train. Chris Soentpiet's illustrations are colorful and interesting.

I am both a photographer and a "train nut". This book is outstanding!

I'm not a railroad enthusiast per se, but I have to admit I was captivated by the photographic artwork of O. Winston Link. This book abounds with not only great photographs, but Mr. Link has definitely defined Americana of the 1950's through his photography. As a child of the 50's I can definitely relate to the steam locomotives, by the beautiful sounds they made not only at rest, but also by the rhythm of their wheels, and the melodic shrill of their whistles. O. Winston Link is without question one of the greatest photographers of our country, and his photography shows it. This is a great book, and I recommend it to anyone interested in a bygone era.

American steam railroading should go down in history as the most evocative and romantic aspect of the industrial age. Winston Link understood what was happening during the 1950s, and he took care of it. Times were changing, the cheapness of the airplane and automobile were replacing the steam railroad with its giant fire breathing behemoths--indeed the most 'human-like' machines, in my opinion. Link primarly photographed at night using indepedent flashbulbs and reflectors; this way he could control the lighting. This makes his images haunting, yet nastolgic and desirable.

My favorite shot in this book is titled "Highball for the Double Header", one of the last images Link photographed of the railroad, and one of the few in which he used color film at night. In it you witness his mastery for composition as well as symbolism: two articulated steam locomotives being given the all clear by a switchman's lantern, the man being dwarfed by the giant engines and their cloud of steam reaching far up into the night sky--all perfectly illuminated by Link's flashbulbs. A fitting end to Link's oeuvre.

Get this book, you won't be disappointed. Check out the new museum dedicated to his work in Roanoke: www.linkmuseum.org

O. Winston Link, in my opinion, was the best train photographer that ever lived. He knew where to aim the light, how much light to have, and the best places to take photos. Most of Link's photos are taken at night, which enhances view of the massive amount of pure white steam.

This book defines nostalgia more than clearly. Being a railroad and steam locomotive enthusiast myself, I dream about the living in pictures that Link took. In the book, Thomas Garver, one of Link's assistants, illustrates the sounds, details, and reasons for the trains being where they are in each photo.

The Norfolk & Western was the last major railroad in the U.S. to say "good-bye" to steam power. When Link heard of the inevitable decision, he immediately began to "document" the railroad as it was before steam was gone. From about 1955 to 1958, he spent countless hours taking thousands of photos of the steam engines on the N&W. "The Last Steam Railroad in America" brings out some of the best photos he ever took.

I like the photos in this book that pertain to the "Abingdon Branch" of the N&W. I used to live in Damascus, VA, a small town that was one of the major stops on this line. The railroad bed is now a bike trail and I have found every spot that Link stood at in order to take his photos of the Abingdon Branch.

I highly recommend "The Last Steam Railroad in America" to any train enthusiast, photographer, or anyone who has memories of a steam locomotive roaring by their home. It will always have a special place on my bookshelf.

While my major interest in photography has always been the early-20th-century Camera Pictorialists, I've always loved the photographs of the late Winston Link. With their tremendous detail and chiaroscuro, they have qualities few photos have - drama and mood. Link was actually trained as an engineer but made his living as an industrial photographer. Even his commercial photographs had a strong narrative drive; they told the story of his clients' products. Because of his tremendous mastery of technique, Link was able to compose photographs with great spatial depth, and through well-placed illumination, bring them off. Link was long interested in steam locomotives but when a commercial assignment brought him to Virginia, he began a five-year-long project to document the Norfolk and Western railroad, the last steam railroad in america. While he shot the trains of the N & W in daylight - in both black and white and color - it was his night scenes that made Link a cult favorite among photographers. To capture the tremendous size of the locomotives and their ever-present steam, Link carefully composed each shot, blocking in where the locomotive would arrive and placing syncronized flashbulbs along the track to capture a steam locomotive at full cry. Winston Link was an American original who answered to his own muse - the steam locomotive.

I saw this book on the shelf and opened it ever so gently and reverently. Those beautiful pictures of Lionel Trains reproduced from the old catalogs graced the pages. I went back in time for a few moments and tried to recall those days so long ago. I relived for a very fleeting moment that era and in a blink of the eye it was gone. But I savored the moment and put it away somewhere special to take out again perhaps on a rainy day as I gaze out my window in a bit of melancholy and think how long ago it was when I held my first Lionel Train. Flipping through the pages of this book is a moving experience if you grew up with Lionel Trains as I did. Collecting Lionel Trains and the catalogs was truly a family affair and one I will always cherish. This is an important book for me. I don't have to take out my Lionel catalogs with their yellowing and brittle pages or pull out streamlined passenger cars or boxcars from my closet in orange boxes now crumbling at the edges. I can sit down and open this book and gaze into the past and just remember. Just remembering is good enough these days. Just remembering when.

A "must have" for Lionel Train enthusiasts. I'm not sure who enjoys it the most, my 60 year old husband or our three year old grandson! Ours is getting so dog-eared from hours of enjoyment that we might need to think about a repalacement!

Officially licensed by Lionel itself, The Art Of Lionel Trains: Toy Trains And American Dreams by Roger Carp is more than just a simple showcase of promotional art that the Lionel company used to advertise their classic model locomotives; its informed and informative text follows the journey and evolution of the internationally famous model railroading company and its various products that inspired hobbies and dreams in households across America. Illustrated throughout in full color and a highly recommended addition to any personal or community library Railroading History collection, The Art Of Lionel Trains is as much a trip down memory lane for model train buffs as it is a peek to an era when advertising art was lively yet simple.

The book is a beauty (as a graphic arts product) but as the review title reads I am a little bit disapointed. Don't get me wrong. I like Roger Carp and his writting. In fact, he is almost the only reason I am suscriber to TCC magazine. However the book, in my humble opinion, falls short in the two aspects one could possible focus on: the Lionel art and the information about it. The illustations though as nice as we expect from Lionel history are pretty much common for Lionel enthusiasts and very well known from long ago. One could think that being this a book about Lionel art something special would appear.

The text did not contribute much to the common knowledge of Lionel aficionados. Commom places such as the bond between fathers and sons and the search for security during rough times, fill most of the space in the book. Not even short biographies of artists as important as Robert Sherman appear in the text. Carp's great sense of humor is also pretty much absent.

In short, I think the other superb books by Roger Carp left me expecting more than real life provides. Everyone has the right to some "failure". In the case of Roger Carp I think this book fills the bill for that.

"Saying 'Lionel' to anyone over the age of 40 brings forth nods of recognition and stories of smoking, whistling trains chugging around Christmas trees."

"The Art of Lionel Trains" is a showcase of familiar images, famous pictures and the artwork from catalog covers, newspaper advertising and other marketing pieces. Some of the pictures are sentimental and show the dreams of children.

When my mother bought my husband his first Lionel Train, I think he spent most of one afternoon putting the track together and then would amuse our cats by running the train at least once a day, complete with smoke billowing about in our mostly empty room. I kept wondering what was burning. My memories of Lionel Trains now include cats jumping across tracks to avoid the impending doom. They were actually quite fascinated for weeks.

This book highlights classic Lionel trains, helps to revive memories of toy trains from the past and analyzes art and its relationship to dreams and values.

The Chapters Include:

Dreams of Ambition 1900-1923
Dreams of Consumption 1920-1933
Dreams of Authority 1931-1947
Dreams of Security 1946-1964
Dreams of Nostalgia 1963-1993
Dreams of Tomorrow 1990-2003

This book is a history of Lionel Trains from 1900-2003 and is the perfect gift for Lionel Train fans everywhere. Each chapter contains detailed information on all things train through an analysis of advertising.

What I noticed, is a sense of family unity throughout the pictures. It also seems that a Lionel Train looks best with a Christmas tree. Artists actually started promoting this idea back in the1920s. The text in the advertising is readable in most cases. You have to love the pictures of the poor kids watching while "grandpa and dad" took over the train tracks.

Roger Carp has been a member of the editorial staff of Classic Toy Trains magazine since 1988. You might want to look for additional selections by Roger Carp:

The World's Greatest Toy Train Maker: Insiders Remember Lionel

Classic Lionel Display Layouts You Can Build

~The Rebecca Review

Great artwork combined with a good story makes this an all time favorite and makes Katy a hero. All of my kids (especially my boys) loved this book. There are always big smiles when I finish reading how "Katy did."

The Author Bill Peet has the gift to spark the imagination of all children. His stories are amazing. There are over 30 kids books by him and I recommend them all!The Caboose Who Got Loose (Sandpiper Books)

This is a children's book with a complete plot, in rhyming prose, like no other! It deserves to be a classic on every American boys list. Featuring a caboose that transforms above regretting her role, and then obtains her ideal. With a full double-page drawing of like say 10 workers rehabilitating a locomotive! How could it get better than that! Warning: my 2 year old Thomas-lover won't let us put him to bed without reading this book, too. 2nd Warning: the same 2-year-old is petrified of the picture of the searchlight shining on the moose on the second to last page. He makes me try to skip that page. Something about the expression of a moose in the headlights that bothers him, I suppose.

This is a book that is very close to my heart. As a child, I would always pick this book for my mother to read to me. I still have the book and have since introduced it to my nieces. The artwork is beautiful and the story is timeless. I highly recommend this book to anyone with children. I'll always remember the last line, "Yes indeed, oh indeed, oh indeed, Katie did".

This story is about Kate the Caboose. She is in the back of a long freight train, and she hates it. She hates the smoke, the bumps, the noise, and the ride. One day, she pulls into the station. While waiting for the engine to be refitted, a lonely signal tower tells Kate how it longs to be a caboose, so it can see the world. Kate leaves the station with a new attitude about her life. When the train hits a bump, Kate's coupling breaks. Find out what happens to her in this exciting book by Bill Peet.

My 3-year old loves this book! After reading it every night for a month or so, he began to recite the entire book to me from memory. I can't even remember it, and I'm the one reading it! It is a lovely story about giving and helping and kindness. Sweet and thoughtful and well-written. A keeper for years to come!

What a sweet book, especially for children who love trains. It is very soothing as I am lulled when my husband reads it to my son!!

We bought this for our 2year old son for Christmas that is becoming really fascinated with trains. It is a wonderful story and isn't just enjoyable for him, but me as well. It is a book that is captivating for all ages and highly recommend.

My five-year-old has been a Thomas the Tank Engine fanatic since he received his first video on his first birthday. I stumbled across this book in an outlet mall and was captivated by the illustrations. The story is simple and sweet and we read it every night at bedtime. I've bought copies for our friends with little ones with similar interests. This book is well worth the purchase price!

I bought Niccolini's Song for my 4 year old son, because he is in love with trains and hates going to sleep. The endearing story and the lovely illustrations capture a child's imagination and it is a pleasure to read just before going to sleep. He loves it and it is one of his favorite bedtime stories. At least it makes him get IN the bed and stay there.

This is an excellent reference work. The layout of the book is easy to use and the pictures are first class. This book surpasses many of the standard reference works available. Makes a great addition to a reference library on Lionel Trains.

this is the only book you will ever need if you collect older lionel trains it covers all the bases and lets me remember everything I forgot many years ago when I got my first train set extremely informative thanks I only wish there was a book to cover later years

Excellent amount of information on post Lionel trains. The catalog contains the highest amount of information on Lionel trains, the value and rarity for each model. Plenty of photos to provide visual reference for your research.

Now in a newly expanded and updated second edition, David Doylle's "Standard Catalog of Lionel Trains' showcases Lionel toy trains made from 1945 through 1969. Surveyed in an authoritative collector's reference this new edition packs over a thousand color photos with its expanded catalog , which includes variations on Lionel cars and accessories. Many collectors of Lionels will find come to consider this a major 'must have' bible of information, packing in color photos and charts of values for Lionel trains in all conditions.

The best or one of the best Lionel guides to postwar Lionel trains. The only guide that authoritatively lists all production variations over the years covered.

My two year old grandson is totally in love with trains, especially Thomas and friends. He loves anything with trains. This was a perfect fit for him.

The illustrations are interesting and lend themselve to questions and answers. The flaps are large and sturdy, and opening one actually changes the action in the picture.

My little girl's birthday gift arrived on time and in great shape. It also cost a lot less that it would have if I had gone to the mall AND I didn't have to drive. :-)

This book was just right for the price. I bought it for my 2 yr. old boy because he loves Thomas and I needed to spend a few more dollars to save on shipping costs. The book has been a huge hit with him! He loves the flaps and that James is on one of the pages also.

Thomas is our 2-yr old son's favorite thing right now so we got him a new Thomas book. "Wave Hello to Thomas" is a very simple book with nice pictures and fun flaps. After just a few weeks he has memorized the book and will sit happily "reading" and lifting the flaps. He even takes the book to bed with him.

I've yet to meet a Richard Scarry book I didn't like. This one is no exception. The story is entertaining; the book has flaps (a big plus w/my son); and the whole book folds out to a train. After reading it, my son likes to unfold the whole train and pretend he's in a train cage. Whatever that is. Too, a good travel book - 8 hour car ride, 4 hour plane ride. Been there, brought this book. No tears.

The storyline is great and a nice idea that the full train opens up displaying each car; but some pages have no flaps on them at all. Lift the flap books are great but need to have more than just a handful of flaps; especially for a R.Scarry book; kids that like those are into detail and to only put a handful of flaps on there kind of shortchanges it.

This book is very entertaining, young children will be fascinated by it. Although it is only nine inches long, it folds out to an eight foot train. The premise is that Bananas Gorilla has lost his bananas and is searching the train for them. Bananas Gorilla goes from car to car, and there are captions at the bottom of the pages describing the search. As a combination of story and advanced manipulatives for young children, there is no question that this book is one of the best.

My preschooler received this book in his Christmas stocking. We tuck it away to pull out on rainy days. Classic Scarry illustrations in a very creative format. This book is an A+++ in our home!

If you're looking for a great train book or even just a lift the flap book, then be SURE to get this one! It's absolutely adorable! Poor Bananas gorilla has lost his bananas somewhere on the train and he has everyone looking for him. I just love all the little details in the drawing of this book - there's a worm driving a tractor on top of one of the train cars, frogs jumping into a big kettle on another, and so on. You really have to take some time to see all the neat little "extras" that are in this book. It's really not a literary find, but it's great for little ones to see all the neat things that Scarry has hidden throughout the book. It's printed on both sides and it's just wonderful. I'm just glad I found it and I cannot recommend it enough. Great book!