Trains and Railroads Books

A wonderfull source of information for the "o" and 027 gauge operator.Explains how to set up accessories from Lionel.I found an excellent track plan,for an 027 layout,with a trestle,in a limited space. Highly recomended!

I found this to be an interesting book, though the Chapter 11, "The Train Lost In The Snow" is so full of errors that I cannot believe much of it.

First of all, The Simplon Orient Express from Paris to Istanbul (I forget when the name changed, but it was about then) and got marooned in the snow in Turkey. But the route in the book states that the train went from Paris through Switzerland to Milan and Venice.

True, but after that, the book does not agree with the published route for the train. It says that leaving Venice, the train went "approached Linz" and got to Vienna with a delay of less than an hour. Now the Simplon Orient Express did not go to Linz or Vienna. It then says it went to Budapest, which it also did not. Then it talks about crossing the Rumanian Hungarian border, but the train did not go to Rumania. (Other consists of the Orient Express did go to these places, but not the Simplon.)

Other details are also in error. The chapter frequently refers to the trouble of getting steam from the locomotive to heat the cars. On the Orient Express cars at the time, the cars were heated individually by a heater in each car. The roof of each car contained two reservoirs, one for hot, and one for cold, water. The hot heater was heated by a coal stove at the end of each car and fired by the conductor of each car. The hot and cold water fed taps in the individual compartments wash basins, and also the facilities in the toilets. The hot water also fed a radiator in each car for heating purposes.

I am mystified by the large number of errors in this story, and wonder how reliable the rest of the chapter can be. I have doubts.

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.

As an American, I have not had the chance to actually ride one of these. But I will admit, this is my second book on HSTs, my first being Heyday of the HST by Galvin Morrison. This book simply puts the other one to shame. First off, the other book is just a collection of Mr. Morrison's pictures of HSTs. This book is divided nicely into chapters based on the trains development, use by individual train operating companies, maintenance, and even derailments and wrecks!(my favorite chapter) Only the last part of the book is in color though. Along with the lack of some technical drawings and what decision were made behind the building of this trainset are why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5. Hopefully in 5 to 10 years, Mr. Marsden will update it with comparisons to England's next invention, the IEP (Intercity Express Programme). It is laid out in the typical Ian Allen Publishing format, where the story is told more by pictures and captions rather than chapters written full of history and some pictures like we see from publishers in the U.S. But if you have little knowledge or understanding of the types of trains in England (and there are some in Australia though not pictured in this text) I would recommed this book.

This book ties into the audio cassette and model trains of the Great Railway Adventure series. The two main characters are brother and sister Tuck and Billie who help a brave engineer when he is injured. The illustrations are in an older style that is very vivid and detailed. My 5 year old daughter, a train enthusiast, loves all three books in this series.

I'm an Italian railman and I work in a regional "rule" office for Italian State Railway (FS/RFI). I'm very interesting about signalling of abroad railway net and this book is very good in order to have some knowledge about british-world railway expecially to learn the english words use in railway. Excuse me for my poor English!

My 12-month old loves to push this book around because the wheels make noise as they turn. The text is cute, but the actual book is a little difficult to maneuver since the pages slide rather than turn. It makes a great pull toy though!

The book, like a long train trip, gets tiring after a while, but Theroux loves traveling this way. His observations of the people, land and culture are well worth reading.

Patrick Dorin's recent book on Santa Fe Passenger trains gives a concise look at a great era of California railroading. The photos are mostly black and white, but show a variety of equipment and places. Go Warbonnets! The book would be useful to both modelers and people interested in historical material. I recommend this book!

Kevin EuDaly is known by Santa Fe fans for his quality writing and photography. Santa Fe Rails, Vol. 1, is a look at the railroad in the first half of the 90s prior to the BN merger. Photography is almost exclusively 1990-1995. It is generously illustrated with special chapters on Curtis Hill, GP60Ms, 1993 midwest flood, Willow Springs Yard (Chicago), Hopper rebuilds, Argentine Yard including a trackplan, SD45s, SD75Ms, and an illustrated locomotive roster as of 12/1/95. This is a very useful resource for fans of the last hours of the Santa Fe Railway. Paper, 144 pages.