Trains and Railroads Books

The author has done a lot of work collecting statistics concerning the number and types of engines owned by each railroad. Unfortunately, I cannot see where this information is of much use. The book is full of many
small photos, most of poor quality. A few large photos would have been better. The book is completely
lacking in information on the actual workings of these steam monsters. The book would have been much
improved in a more traditional size and shape. All in all, not a good effort.

I highly recommend this valuable addition to any railfan's library.

Not having grown up in the era of these fire-breathing monsters, I can fully appreciate the power and technology of perhaps the greatest machines ever to roam the land. This book is absolutely necessary for any serious rail historian as well as the 'armchair railfan' who is wondering what 'super power' actually once meant.

This book is unbelieveable! It has history on the steam locomotives, the railroads who owned them, the manufactures, some of the major loco designers and the list goes on. My copy continues to get worn as I carry it to every Rail Museum I visit and carefully look up and read about each loco I look at. Don't visit any rail museum with out this guide!

This is a very complete review of all the major types of steam locomotives in service, from 1880's through 1950's. The archival photos are clear and beautifully detailed, all in sharp black and white. The best feature is the alphabetical format for road names and types of locomotives, as well as interesting detail topics like water usage, superheating, and types of fireboxes.

The steam railroad fan will find lots of detail that will add to his knowledge of the type, period, or rail line of his interest. The model train buff will find a lot of information on detailing his models and layouts to look like the exact prototype. If you want to mix lines and engine types, this is a great source to use to make sure you are not far off the historical track. The photos and printing are so good, you will want to use a magnifier to see all the detail.It comes in a handy pocket size, and you can only improve on this book by increasing the size to better see the great photos.

Guide to North American Steam Locomotives is a must for RAIL FANS & Model Railroaders alike. A book like this does not come along often enough. It is an ideal size for taking to Rail Museums & traveling. I would like a larger version for model railroading for home, with larger photos.
The book is well written with so much information packed into it small size. The images are clear showing good detail.
I highly recommend this book. You really should have one! You will not be disappointed!

My son, who is a huge fan of trains, absolutely loves this book and wind-up train.

After reading the "original" "retold by Watty Piper" edition, I see that the little red and blue engines were both "she"'s and not "he"'s after all. I apologize for providing inaccurate information in my earlier review. I give the Watty Piper version only 4 stars because Piper's prose is verbose. Whoever rewrote the story for the Cristina Ong version should be commended for having a very good ear for English prose--Watty Piper did not--and should consider issuing a full-length version of the story with more of Cristina Ong's illustrations.

Amazon doesn't do a very good job of describing this book. It is a humongous board book and the toy train is meant to travel within a groove on various pages of the book. Not what I wanted at all! I was very disappointed to find that the illustrations were not the original--they are of a much, much lower quality. I have no idea what I am going to do with this thing!

This is my favorite book! My son likes it too. The windup train stays on the track amazingly well.

This is a charming version. The train has a third wheel that fits in a groove-tack on each page, and little eyes are riveted as the story actually chugs along. My 3, 6 (and forty-something) year old boys love this wind-up/book combo.

I was disappointed when I received this book and turned off the lights to read to my children to find that the book did not glow. would recommend another choice.

This is a fun book for any Thomas fan. It is best to read at night or where it is dark. At the end of the page, turn out the lights and watch Thomas glow. The story line is simple and the added bonus of turning out the lights makes it a fun read for kids.

I bought this as a Christmas gift for my three-year-old daughter, who like millions of other children around the world, is a huge fan of Thomas the Tank Engine. Like a previous reviewer I highly recommend using a flashlight or lantern to make the glow-in-the-dark ink work properly, plus your child will love shining the light on the pages for themselves and discovering which of the illustrations "light up." This is made to be a fun book, with the effects far outweighing the story itself. So if you're expecting one of the charming Thomas stories in the tradition of the originals this is not it. However it will be a book requested over and over again, so it's worth getting.

Thomas has been given a very special assignment--delivering toys to the childrens' hospital for the holidays. He begins the late-night journey full of excitement, but as he heads into the mountains, a rock falls and breaks his headlamp! But all is not lost as friends come to his aid and help light his way...a friendly farmer with a spare lantern, a group of fireflies, and a kindly store owner who shares his Christmas lights with Thomas. Finally, he has enough light to continue his task and he arrives safely at the hospital to be greeted by the happy children. What makes this book even more special is the glow-in-the-dark illustrations that will delight your child with every page of the story (get used to seeing the lights go on and off in your child's room while they read this one!). And as usual, Thomas and his friends teach a wonderful lesson to young readers, this time that with perseverence and the help of kind-hearted friends, anything and everything is possible!

Thomas is delivering toys to the children at a hospital, when rocks break his headlights! But not to worry, he gets help along the way from a helpful farmer with a lantern, a store owner with christmas lights, fireflies, and 2 motorcycle cops. I was not very impressed with the glow-in-the-dark part of the book at first, but then my husband tried it with our battery-powered coleman lantern and then the graphics were great!

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.

Is it OK to say that you don't like TTTE? There is no denying that kids have been captivated by the Thomas phenomenon, including the mass merchandising of toys and every conceivable household accroutrement - from lampshades to bedspreads, toothbrushes to curtains...overpriced clothing ranges...mainly on the strength of the TV series and the BBC/ABC marketing arms.

But, but, but, but....I find the stories twee, dated and humourless. So dour...so class-ridden... I know millions will disagree, and there are millions of happy kids and parents out there.

Thomas was a passing phenomenon in our household, and there's nothing wrong with a bit of stodge mixed in with more nutritious fare. I wouldn's say "don't go there", but try to retain some perspective and balance in children's lives!

I purchased this particular Thomas the Tank Engine book for my grandchildren, as they have enjoyed the stories about Thomas in the past. However, if I could have seen and read this book in a book store, I probably would not have purchased it. While the graphics are extremely good (as usual), and the music is quite cute (and appropriately quiet), the story is just too short at 10 pages. In addition, I am always looking for books that are interesting for my grandchildren, but yet teach them new words. Unfortunately, this book just is too short to meet that criteria for me to rate it any higher than 3 stars.

This book is a classic. It contains the exceptional stories Thomas and Gordon, Thomas' Train, Thomas and the trucks and Thomas and the breakdown train. In the first story, the little blue engine gets carried away with himself and gets a run for his money from Gordon. In the next, Henry is ill so Thomas takes his passenger train with embarrasing results. In the one after, Thomas has a go with some troublesome trucks. Finally, while he is shunting, Thomas notices James having some trouble with some trucks, he gets a hold of the breakdown train and saves James and gets a Branch line of his very own with two coaches.

The story is abbreviated, true. And the illustrations are somewhat flat. BUT you get the 3-D face on the cover, the theme song played at the perfect volume with cows and sheep on the first double page (can hear the song better with the book open). Our one year old rarely makes it past that first page but there's no need! A run through of the song, some moos and baas... cheers up a sad (car bound) baby everytime.

I was very happy over the condition of this book. It arrived in great shape and was shipped very fast and packaged very well.

Should you buy this book if you already own the first edition, published in 1999? It depends what your prime interest is. If it's historical, note that altho the text is copyright 2007, it's actually identical to the 1999 edition, so the use of the present tense and references to "today" are misleading. On the other hand, this edition comprises 160 pages, against 128 for its predecessor, while the text is set in a smaller type so must take less space. The extra space is devoted to more photographs, which can be more expansively displayed. And as far as I can tell, without doing an exhaustive comparison, only one is repeated from 1999. So if you want a handsome new picture book,this is for you; otherwise, hang on to your first edition.

I wish it had more Photo's of Older Steam. I liked it over all. I have seen better books though. not a bad Book though if you have the money!

I like the book though over all!

Photos were great
History was disappointing, especially the part describing how SP came to be a large empire. Perhaps no one knows, but the author shouldn't have skipped over it by saying it was "too difficult to trace". The book in the same series about the Pennsylvania and the New York Central was much better from a historical standpoint.
I bought this book expecting to understand how SP came to be; admittedly I know a little more about the PRR being based in the East Coast, but this book left me more confused than I started.
Nonetheless, I am glad to see that people are continuing to write about railroads of yesteryear.

A well done historic line in this book, from the very beginning of small and big preceding railroad companies, under direction of the big four and all along the line in history, this Railroad company business was further set out and followed by its visionary engineers and leaders. A fallen flag today, this book gets my full recommendation as not only the wordings of this story of the friendly Espee takes you away to the era of beginning in a competative and wild environment the illustrations are well placed in the book, supportive to its text. Surprisingly well are the 'handle bars', seperatly described 'hotspots' along the Espee route... Donner Pass, Tehachapi Loop and more. So get the feel for the 'West'. Enjoy.

Author Joseph Vranich makes a strong case for high-speed rail networks in the USA. As he shows, an East Coast network makes great sense, as do California, Florida, and a Chicago-centered Midwest system. Readers see why high-speed rail can help us avoid highway gridlock and air traffic jams. As many know, a typical 60-minute flight (say, St. Louis-Chicago) often takes 5-6 hours due to airport access, waits, delays, etc. Imagine zipping along by rail at 180 mph with wide seats, laptop ports, a spacious aisle, conference rooms, and dining cars. Such reliable, efficient, high-speed systems exist in France (TGV), Germany (ICE), and several other nations. Granted, these networks are expensive to install, but make great sense over the long-term, as our now-clogged interstates once did back in the 1950's.

Since this now-dated book arrived in 1991, Germany, Britain, China, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Holland, Sweden, Taiwan and nominally the USA have joined France and Japan with high-speed trains, France has expanded her network, and Germany now researches 300 mph magnetic levatation. This book provides us with a solid look at an improved, reliable transportation future.

Joseph Vranich presents a glowing, glossy image of a New America linked together with a web of high speed, high tech, high cost SuperTrains. Unfortunately his largely anecdotal story telling has little serious thought regarding the fundamental reason why high speed rail has a very limited future in the United States. There is a reason why Europe has trains and America has planes. Europe is smaller than America. The distances are shorter. Not only does this make a tremendous difference in travel times but it also makes a huge difference in cost. Vranich completely avoids the cost issue.

Not a detail.

Each mile of track for one of his supertrains costs between $30 and $50 million. Who is going to pay for his 1000 mile network. He doesn't say.

This is a significant oversight.

Basically, SuperTrains is an excercise in nostalgic dreaming. A very nice one, with lots of nice images. But it is a very foolish book.

Ten years ago Mr. Vranich was on the cutting edge by suggesting supertrains for America. This book launched the $12 billion High-Speed Rail Act that is still pending in congress. But time has moved on. The trains of yesterday don't fit the NIMBY attitude of modern America. Future transportation will have to be clean, sustainable, safe, secure and -most of all- out of sight and sound for people living along the right-of-way. A good follow-up book will come out in April '03 called "Faster than Jet: A solution to America's long-term transportation problems."

The arguments posited by Vranich for a U.S based high speed rail network are so compelling and logically formulated that before completing the book I became a member of an organization devoted to high speed ground transportation. Topics explored include the present state of U.S. passenger railroads (focusing on Amtrak) as well as failed high speed rail initiatives , the politics of mass transportation, the problems faced by a near-saturated automobile/aircraft transportation network, the cutting edge technology in high speed rail occuring in Europe, including the imminent unveiling of magenetically levitated trains (maglev) in both Germany and Japan and a scenario of a future with high speed rail. The author's vision is left somewhat incomplete however as he neglects to explore the logistics of how a high speed rail system will link with other forms of transportation (intra-city rail and/or automated guideway transit systems, in addition to cars/airplanes?) to hopefully develop a superior transportation infrastructure to what is currently in place. Overall though, this is highly thought provoking commentary on how a mode of transportation viewed by most as outdated is in fact our best option for safer, more efficient, environmentally sound and less energy intensive mobility for the 21st century.

I just finished my Amtrak cross-america trip and was browsing for old fashioned train books in bookstore when I came acrossed this one. (Too bad you can't fumble thru book on amazon :) Differnt from other train books, this one explains the futuristic era of new rail system. The book concluded with a sci-fi like description of our future passenger rail system. It's nice to read a book that give you hopes and dreams. The book is so persuasive that I'm curious to hear the arguments AGAINST supertrains, just to balance out the supertrain "propaganda" from this book. Informative and fun read.

My daughter is 20 months old and is a huge fan of Thomas. After I started reading this book to her, at about 19 months old, she started saying her letters. She can say nearly every letter sound at least kind of, despite the fact that she could say only the word baby back then and has since learned otherwise only dada, nana, and mama. Just today, she pointed to a letter and said it on her own. She likes to look at this book while on the potty. I think it is pretty durable. The pages are thick and semi-glossy. The cover is an ordinary, glossy hardcover.

I wouldn't say this is the greatest book to learn ABC from. However, my 2 year old, a Thomas fan, loves this book. Big colorful pictures.

Thomas's ABC Book features color photographs of the beloved characters that live and work on the Island of Sodor, including Bertie the Bus, Sir Topham Hatt, Edward, James, Toby, Percy, Edward, and James. Each letter of the alphabet is highlighted, and is tied into a short sentence about the picture.

For example:

A" is for all aboard. "All aboard!" calls Thomas the Tank Engine.

"Q" is for quick. James the Red Engine comes to a quick stop.

This is a delightful book that introduces the alphabet for small children, and is especially engaging because of the colorful pictures that are actually clear still from videos (at least, that's what they look like). Young train enthusiasts will especially love this book-as well as parents wanting a short (but educational) bed-time story to read to the kids.

Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends from the Island of Sodor introduce ABC's to children. An excellent picture book that is perfect for pre-readers. A must have for any young Thomas fan! Purchase two as it is destined to become "well-loved".

Paperback with flimsy paper that doesn't stand up to much wear. Our copy is dog-eared and the back cover is ripped off and that didn't take long.

There is one page per letter with a photo from the televison show depicting the theme of that letter (not a hand drawn or computer generated illustration or cartoon). For example: A is for all aboard and the photo is of Thomas stopped at a station. The photos are great. Every page has one sentence at the bottom that uses the word in context. I do have a complaint that each letter is only shown in the upper case. Despite much room available on the page, when the word is spelled out the first letter is in tiny font just like the rest of the letters. I would prefer if the presenting letter were a larger font to highlight its' use in the word. I was hoping to use this book as a way to teach the letters to my son and this is why I am critical of these factors.

With that said, any little Thomas the Tank Engine lover will absolutely love this book.

Some of the words are a stretch or strange (T is for tracks but then the photo shows Terence the tractor and the sentence is "Terence tells Thomas about his tracks". Why not use T for Thomas (the one word the children are most familiar with), or else use Terence as he is pictured, or just say that T is for Thomas, AND Terence, AND Tracks?

This book has gotten us through some long car trips and air flights.

With all my little criticisms, I feel Iit's low cost justifies its purchase and replacement when it wears out.

We ordered this book as recommended with a "Thomas The Train" DVD. It is a little advanced for my 2 year old grandaughter, but she loves the pictures and story, and as she gets older will read it, I'm sure.

It is good to see real trains added to the Thomas models. We have an active track 50 yards from our house. She loves them.

Very neat little book for the buck. Great pictures, which appeals to my 2 yr old now, as well as informative text that will keep him interested as he gets older. A definate plus for the library of a little train lover.

My 5-year-old son loves trains and this book has been his favorite library book since he was 3. It is very informative, yet easy to understand for preschoolers through first-graders. I was so happy to find it on Amazon.com so that we can add it to his personal library!

This is a really cute book. My nephew (4 yrs. old) loves listening to me read it to him and looking at the pictures. As a teacher, having a child really interested in something is just the first step to get them to read. I would say that if you have a child who loves trains (like my nephew), then you should really look into getting this book ..... and others like it! :)

The quick reference to timetables and suggested routes is essential. The no-nonsense descritpion around sleepers and couchettes and other hotel train options gives useful and true advice to a novie and oldtimer alike. One of those books that one could get lost planning too much in for any trip.

This book is good for finding routes around Europe but is totally useless for arrival and departure times and train fares. It was put together in 1997 and published in 1998. Well, two years later some prices have gone up, some have gone down and trains don't run at the scheduled times in this book. I was unhappy that I didn't notice this earlier, I assumed it was the most up to date material. Don't be like me, get a different, more up to date reference guide.

I enjoyed two things about this. 1. The introductory explanation of rail travel. 2. Each country, easy day trips and major international trains from different countries.

As one reviewer stated, it is out of date but the schedules change ever year and are easily acessible so that is a mute point. This book is an excellent start point especially for first time rail travellers in Europe. I used it this summer and it is an excellent planning guide with maps and ideas to enjoy any rail travel. I highly recommend this as a companion if you are planning to do any rail travel in Europe.

Good basic information, well-illustrated. Very helpful tips. Don't believe the "other" review; not everybody is an expert. I've been a model railroader for 40 years, and I can recognize good, well-written information. This is a fine reference, and at the price, it belongs in your modeling library.

This book was extremely basic with information for the model railroad enthusiast. The book was too vague as to be of much benefit to any model railroader. It only had the beginnings of a book that should have been expanded upon to include meaningful information on both repair techniques and diagnostic procedures, on those problems that are most likely to be encountered. I would look elsewhere for a book that would be more helpful and informative.

I love trains but I want them to work right without any input on my part. I don't like repairing or maintaining them. That means that I needed this book even more than other hobbyists. It comes it handy with a wealth of information and tips on taking care of my running gear.

The book is divided into several logically laid out sections. The first gives some general background information on things like tools and work area. After that, there are chapters devoted to diesel locomotives, steam locomotives, rolling stock and the layout itself. Directions are given for disassembly and (hopefully) reassembly. More important, tips are given for where problems usually occur. This can help.

I still don't like the maintenance aspects of the hobby but it is a necessity. This book helps.

Excellent....in 2 hours of reading, I was able to get 8 out of 10 locomotives running that were not running before.