Wonderful book, wonderful railway
921798
I have been hesitating buying the three Middleton Press Somerset & Dorset books (this, "Bournemouth to Evercreech Junction," "Burnham to Evercreech Junction") because I felt that my copy of wonderful Mac Hawkins "The Somerset & Dorset Then and Now," along with other titles, more than adequately covered that ground, and because cumulatively the Middleton books added up to a pretty penny.

Then I found out that one ancestral branch (which had previously been traced to Wiltshire), came from near Midsomer Norton, on the Bath to Evercreech segment of the S&DJR, which led to all my S&D books coming out at once and an order for this title.

All the Middleton Press railway books I have gotten have been at least "very good" and many "quite wonderful," with excellent compliments of reproductions of old maps and photographs. This is one of the "quite wonderful."

I suspect Vic Mitchell made a significant effort to compliment, rather than duplicate, the maps which are a major hallmark of the Hawkins book, and probably did the same for the photographs. The titles obviously were intended for very much the same audiences, and since many of the prospective purchasers would have been able to compare the books before buying, it would have been important to make the choice in favor of "both."

Comparison was not an option in Seattle, so I was making a bit of a plunge - with absolutely no regrets. Text, photographs, and maps provide great interest, great value, and enhance any S&DJR library.

And the S&DJR is a great choice for any American railway lover who has had any sort of interest in steam era British railways, and wants to go deeper, to some communities and the trains that served them. Quirky, scenic, and very appealing, the S&D is a great balance between the overwhelming big systems and the tiny branch lines, while including significant aspects of both.

After hardly a pause, I went ahead and ordered the Bournemouth volume, to complete the main line, then the Burnham, to complete the system. I am very pleased with all. Very definitely a good value.
4974938
I have well over 80 Railroad history books, and I would rate this one amoung my top five, the quality of the photos is beyond what you would expect for the time period, and I love reading the quotes from the old "hogers", fireman, and others about their experiences, I paid $30 for it and it was well worth the price.
4460074
If you have an interest in toy trains, in particular European `O' gauge trains, you will enjoy this book.  If you are a collector or operator of Hornby, Basset-Lowke, or Marklin `O' gauge trains you will want this book.  If you own or are interested in the new ACE three-rail, "ready to run" `O' gauge trains you will love this book.  `Brilliantly Old Fashioned - The Story of ACE `O' Gauge Trains" is all at the same time:

- a history of recent 3-rail European trains

- a catalog of the ACE production over the past ten years

- a view into how model trains are produced in today's global economy

- a scrapebook of pictures from train shows and events both in England and on the Continent

ACE Trains has rejuvenated the European 3-rail market with their new line of tinplate coaches, tank wagons, and locomotives and beautiful diecast locomotives.  This book, chuck full of pictures and engineering drawings, provides a full review of the ACE products as well as a highly readable narrative about how the products are made and the personalities involved in the business.  I highly recommend the book.
2234090
This is a great book for the enthusiastic train person in your life. If he already has a library of train books, then this belongs with them.
Shorty
410131
No doubt this model locomotive is far less complex than other designs by the same author. The book deserves high praise for its contents and quality. The drawings are very clear, the author goes at lengths explaining how to make all the pieces for the completion of this beautiful live steam locomotive. This project is quite complex and requires machine tools such as a lathe and a milling machine. Some training at the machine shop is also a must. Additional to the instructions this book is also a good reference for those considering to set up a small machine shop, the author describes his machine tools, measuring instruments, hand tools, etc. Mr. Hiraoka provides a wonderful guide for those interested on live steam models.
1901676
If you have a child that loves trains then this is the book for you! The large format plus double page spread ensures that you get a really full picture of what is going on. Start off in the train station where the passengers are embarking and then you are off on the commuter train. Want to see the view from the engineer's perspective? Then go on up to the cab! Once it is at destination then it is time to watch the freight train with all its various cars. This is followed by the overnight train and then the High-Speed train.

A nice glossary is included at the end of the book as well as some notes from the author.

LOVELY! Well-written and illustrated.
92000
American Shortline Railway Guide is a great help for any train buff. Over 500 short lines are described: history, current status, number of engines (some lines with full listing), cars, as well as address of owner and radio  frequencies. I especially liked the many pictures accompanying the text.  There is really one drawback only: The book does not contain any maps. You  will need a train atlas or a Rand Mc Nally on the side, unfortunately.  Other interesting details are lists of abandoned and non-operating lines as  well as addresses of ownerships companies. A must-have for US train buffs,  especially in conjunction with the Train-Watchers Guide to North American  Railroads (also by George W. Drury).
2724948
The Standard Catalog of Lionel Trains - Cataloged sets, by David Doyle is a very nice book on Lionel Trains.  The photos of the Lionel sets are excellent.  Do not miss this book if you love Lionel Trains.  Richard Archer
2918704
Some of the most spectacular railroad photography I've seen, with great descriptions for each photo. It includes illustrated maps and the author's narrative. This book shows the Burlington Northern Railroad at its finest. Truly outstanding.
3697291
This was a great book for a child interested in trains and locomotives. (or an adult) Very well written and illustrated. I would recommend it.
4512095
Kids constantly and without cease, amaze.  For example, you enter into the profession of Children's Librarianship with a set of preconceived notions.  At least, I did.  I assumed that kids, little kids, would be interested in the following topics:  Fairy tales, dinosaurs, trucks, firemen, and various animals of a pet-like nature.  What didn't I count on?  The lure of trains.  Children adore trains.  They like to learn about what makes a train run.  They like to see where it goes and what kinds of sounds it makes.  Why on earth is this?  I would've thought that in this topsy-turvy world of high tech electronics and sleek modes of transportation the world of trains would have been abandoned and forgotten.  Not so much.  And as a result, various picture books have capitalized on this locomotive goldmine.  Some of these are delicious inventive affairs, like Margaret Wise Brown's, "Two Little Trains" (be sure you get the version illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon).  And then there are others like "All Aboard!".  A perfectly harmless book that shows photographs of trains with some vague sound effects and, as a result, captures the hearts of youngsters everywhere.  It's a fine book.  Just not as great as some of the other train tales out there.

Photographing one of the five Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge steam engines still in working condition today, the book views the train as it navigates its way along the Colorado Rocky Mountains in the summertime.  The book begins with, "All aboard!  Turn the page and step back to a time when narrow gauge steam engines clickety-clacked along the historic San Juan wilderness".  And clickety-clack they do.  This isn't really a book that supposes that what you see in the pictures could have taken place decades ago, of course.  The passenger holding the digital camera says as much.  But with a loud whoo-whoo the machine is off and chugging.  We get a lot of two word descriptive sentences after that point.  Things like "Lights blinking" and "More steam".  The text is fine and all, but it never gets a momentum going.  You find yourself wishing that it would slowly increase like a train, hit its peak, then slow down at the end.  It never does.  Instead, it just comes to a normal close without much hooplah.

But what the book lacks in inventiveness it almost makes up for in its afterword.  At the end of the tale the reader is given factual information about the classic Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge locomotives.  There's a section on the tracks, and another on the whistles.  There's even a webpage for the trains themselves (which, frankly, were a bit more enticing than the book).  These facts at the end of the story may be a little old for some kids, but for others they'll be the perfect way to learn more about their favorite forms of transportation.

Now don't get me wrong.  This is a fine n' dandy book and certainly will make its way onto the bookshelves of many an enthusiast for years and years to come.  But there are better books about trains out there.  Choose this one if you absolutely must have a book that includes real photographs of trains.  Choose "Two Little Trains" if you want something particularly well-written as well.  A nice book.
1691935
This book has everything I ever wanted to know about trains, the difference between AC and DC motors, how the modern locos operate and too much more to type!
2921897
When I saw this book mentioned by Don Phillips in the June 2006 "Trains" magazine it became a must purchase. Having read "The Wreck of the Penn Central"(1971), in about 1980, and having watched the demise of steam,as a kid, then the railroads themselves, I never thought I would see a day when railroads would get back on their feet - but they have. There are many factors as to why and this book spells them out. The story leads right up to today(July 2006)with one of the cast of characters from the book, John Snow, former CSX Chairman, who presided over the split of Conrail with Norfolk Southern, appearing on TV, as retiring Secretary of the U.S. Treasury. I could not put the book down. It is a great business school case study and though there are many good signs, the story has not ended. A prominent character in the book, Jim McClellan, former NS VP, notes at the end of the book that NS had used the "CSX Card" to persuade itself to innovate; but he worried about the future when relative peace and stability would reign between the two. As "Trains" notes there is constant pressure from shippers to get Washington to put the screws (just the right amount!)to the railroads because there are too few of them, meaning real or perceived lack of competition. Tom Murray, "Trains" magazine (July 2006) notes concern regarding performance improvement for two other key railroads, UP and BNSF, but also seems to agree with McClellan, that urgency is limited by strong revenues! Chapter One is worth reading again as a summary of where you have been, because it is a long complex train ride to the end. This chapter describes the phenominon and a theme of the book, of those who work to save and improve their industry and those who wish only to please a Wall Street, at the cost of everything else, and then, for the latter, to walk away at the end with staggering millions of dollars. It is also the story of old fashioned ethics, honor, dedication, and sense of responsibility - having the equivalent of an Ike or Nimitz, people for the ages, who appear on the scene at the right time, and who are able to cajole and convince other strong willed people of a path that is well to take.
1549756
Mr. Barnes, a slightly mysterious rabbit in a blue suit, goes on a train ride in this incredibly engaging and original book. "All Aboard" combines old-fashioned sensibilities (the first few pages evoked 1950's illustrations to me) with a rarely seen sophistication in the test and illustrations. I loved it.

Amiko Hirao's dazzling pictures draw the reader right into the center of the story. You are immersed in the huge color displays, and the cinematic collages and low and high picture angles.  Without showing a single step, she conveys both the upper berth and the aisle of a train; she inserts cut pictures of faces into a colored-pencil nightscape; she startles us with an immense dark tunnel. In one particularly original picture, a child looks directly at the reader, a passenger (only the right arm is shown) reads a yellowed newspaper with the headline "Olivia is Born," and a cuff-linked giraffe talks on a cell phone-it's dreamlike, a little noir film in day-glow colors.

Mary Lyn Ray's writing also combines the traditional and the original.  There are familiar repetitions and rhythms (although look how she punctuates the following):

Whoonk whoonk wahooomk. The trains start slow.
But then it begins to roll.
Long train, silver train. Long train, silver train.
Long train. Silver train. Long train. Silver train.
Train, train, train, train.
Whooo whoooooo

and there are phrases that convey imagery and metaphor: Baggaged boxes "sleep," and, as the train rolls along:  "A city slides by, strung with lights in the night, like a tug of dreams on a river." Similarly, one page has the familiar cadence of " A freight flashes by...Red red yellow green yellow yellow blue green. Vrooom. Vroom. Vroom," but the next page describes how "Mr. Barnes likes to look out the window. He likes to see the between.  The between where's he's come from and where he goes to." The book also has a fun surprise ending.  How can you not like an author who dedicates the book "for everyone who waves from trains, and all those who wave back?"

I think that kids from toddler to early grade school age will enjoy the book immensely. However, because of the art and design, teens and adults will appreciate Ray and Hirao's exceptionally talented imagination.  Very, very highly recommended!
4597655
Beautiful book!!got this for my fianc and he loved it!! It also comes with two prints that are really nice!!!  The book has trains from different eras as well as from different places around the world ... any train lover will love this book!
4089705
On an impulse when old-time (pre-Amtrak) railroads popped into my mind, I purchased this book.  It has quickly become one of my all-time favorite impulse purchases.  Beautifully illustrated with full-color side-views of several dozen classic American passenger trains, the book also features floor plans of selected railroad cars (sleepers, lounges, diners, domes, etc.), archival photos, period magazine advertisements, and reproductions of menus from some of the classic dining cars.

The book covers the period from about 1910 to 1970, when the government's consolidation of the surviving passenger lines into the Amtrak system ended the golden age of the American passenger train.  Brief but informative text describes each train, its unique design features, it's builder, it's dimensions, its typical configuration, and its purpose and route.

This is a book that will appeal to the rabid railroad enthusiast, the middle-aged or elderly person who remembers riding the rails as a youth,  and the younger person who wonders what it was like to travel via the railroads before the dominance of the high-speed jet airliner.
2406951
Beautiful illustrations and writing take you, the reader, on a journey cross-country in a train ride at the birth of the railway. Even my 3 year old enjoyed sitting through the lengthy text to discover the surprise ending for the family you observe throughout the journey! Plenty of excitement and adventure for little children, while older children and adults can benefit from the rich history included. This would be a great addition to any American History curriculum!