I snapped a few photos while cleaning the office this spring. What's on your railroad bookshelf?



The majority of my railroad books and some of my timetables are shown here. The top shelf of books are odd-sized editions while the bottom two shelves are general library items. The organizer at the top holds CTC Board, Railfan & Railroad, Railpace, and historical society magazines.




My fourth shelf of general railroad books and my railroad DVDs and tapes. The spindle in the middle is video shot by a good friend during his travels.




Small-sized employee timetables in a plastic tub. Penn Central is the dominant road here but I also spot timetables from Santa Fe, Hillsdale County, Pioneer Railcorp, Southern Pacific, and Fox River Valley and likely lots more in the envelopes.




Two signed editions pulled from my bookshelves. Jim Boyd signed Outbound Trains last August while Greg McDonnell signed Heartland, my favorite railroad book, two summers ago when he visited Deshler, Ohio.

I don't have any pictures, but my shelves include:

• MR 1970 - 2004+
  
• Various other issues of various other publications, including RMC, NMRA Bulletin, club newsletters
  
• Books on railways in Eastern Ontario
  
• Ian Wilson's "Steam..." series (at least a couple of them anyway)
  
• CNR materials, such as timetable, rates of pay, maps, etc.
  
• 1931 Royal Commission Report on the State of Transportation in Canada
  
• Picture books on stations, steam trains, and railways in general
  
• Vintage topo maps
  
• Some modelling reference books
  
• couple of videos

I see a Boston Mills Press book in that last photo - I have a couple including "Steam Trains through Orangeville" from the mid-1970s. Great reference.

Andrew

I am embarrass.. :oops:

My tiny book selection includes:

C&O Power

Chesapeake & Ohio Diesel Locomotives 1949-1972

Chessie System Diesel Locomotives

The Chessie Era

PRR Power

Norfolk and Western: Diesel's Last Conquest

Norfolk & Western First Generation Diesels

Norfolk & Western Second Generation Diesels

American Shortline Railway Guide.

Ghost Railroads of Kentucky.

I have 16 Railroad DVDs.

I thought it would be fun to take a pic. The video with the light reflecting on the cover is Amtrak on the Northeast Corridor.



Ralph

Wow, looks like some good collections!

I've got a full shelf of railway books as well as magazines. About 2/3 to 3/4 of mine are on British railways while the remainder are on the CNR, etc. I also have about 5-6 on the Somerset & Dorset Railway, which I'm quite fascinated with. It was a legendary rail line that ran through SW England from the mid/late 1800s until the mid-1960s.

About 1/2 of my books are on the prototype while the other 1/2 are on modeling.

Good question -- there's no end to railway books. I just bought several myself while on holiday in England (only returned 2 days ago!).

Rob

Well, my photos don't include Trains magazine, railroad paper, or any modeling materials. There are probably 400 issues of Trains magazine in my collection now, plus 100 railroad timetables, a dozen track charts, and all the modeling references...



This is the most-used railroad paper collection. Official Railway Equipment Register, Official Guide to the Railways, employee timetables past and present, track charts, and government documents.




One of the tubs of stored railroad paper. Visible (and identifiable) are:
- Canadian National employee timetables and rules
- Conrail employee timetables and rules
- Norfolk Southern employee timetables and rules
- Chicago & Northwestern track chart
- Wisconsin Central employee timetable
- Indiana Harbor Belt employee timetable

MR, 1958-2006
RMC, 1958-present
Various copies of:
Diesel Era, Narrow Gauge and Short Line Gazette, Trains, the finescale "Annuals", Model Trains magazine, Railfan and Railroad, Timber Times.
A number of hardbound books covering B&O, C&O, Clinchfield, D&H, Long Island, N&W, Narrow gauge, Steam locomotives, Diesel locomotives, Rolling stock.....
....and a couple of videos.

Right now all my books are scattered about in closets, bins, etc. but the new layout room will have a library and will prolly have several shelves for PRR/PC/CR stuff, a couple for the PRRTHS Keystones and Keystone Modelers, one for other magazines, and one for all other railroads and miscellaneous. I only have a few videos including Arkansas & Missouri, the Circus train, and a video of train disasters.

Dave

Hey Ralph, I see you have Don Ball's America's Colorful Railroads. What a great book. I think Don Ball is my favorite railroad photographer.

I like his work a lot! The Pennsylvania RR book next to America's colorful Railroads is also by Don Ball. Great stuff!

Ralph

railohio Wrote:I snapped a few photos while cleaning the office this spring. What's on your railroad bookshelf?

Not exactly on my bookshelf, but I have the same router sitting next to me...

Ralph, what do you think of the newest Penn Central volumes from Morning Sun? I'm waiting for them to start covering west of Pittsburgh and Buffalo before I jump in. Have you see the Pennsylvania Lines West books from The Railroad Press? They each have a number of Penn Central-era shots in them.

I'm pleased with both books Brian. Both were gifts so I didn't have to make decisions about relative worth or expense but each has 128 pages of all color photos featuring the diverse types of locomotives on the PC roster commonly associated with various geographical locations on the system. (for example, the use of F7s and GP9Bs on the B&M trackage). I can relate to having an interest in particular regions. The first volume with photos of New England and NY state is my favorite as it reminds me of my boyhood home. The second volume (Boston to Philly) should please PC electric locomotive fans but it also contains New Haven photos, a nice picture of diesels in a locomotive servicing yard, RDCs, and shots of a former Pennsy tug boat.

Thanks for the heads up on the Pennsylvania West Lines books. I haven't seen them yet but I have appreciated both of the PC oriented issues of TRP.

Ralph

Morning Sun titles are very inconsistent and as such I refuse to buy any without first flipping through the book. I'm afraid most of the "Trackside" series suffers from poor editing and/or insufficient source material. The "in Color" books are generally better, but I've been burned enough to check everything before I purchase.