Category: Transportation: Trains

Copyright/published Year: 2018 by Steamscenes

ISBN: 9787926865652

Binding: hardcover

Description: For some, the "romance" of railroading died with the demise of ì the Rio Grande Zephyr, the sole remaining streamliner in the U.S. ì Domes flashing in Utah's desert sun as white-jacketed waiters in ì the dining car set the tables, the RGZ symbolized the end of an ì era.

After decades of partial de-regulation following passage of ì the Staggers Rail Act in October, 1980-and the rationalization ì and modernization it fostered-railroading has been transformed. ì Today's "freeways for freight" excel at hauling bulk commodities ì such as coal, oil, ore, potash and grain, as well as intermodal ì traffic, automobiles, chemicals and aggregates.

Competition from the trucking industry and the relentless ì pursuit of profit leave little room for nostalgia: steam ì excursions just get in the way.

Because of "merger mania" and abandonments, railroads have ì lost color and variety, older railfans claim-with some ì justification. Indeed, of the 36 emblems decorating the cover of ì the 1980 Handy Rand-McNally Railroad Atlas, a mere handful ì survive. Great names like the Ann Arbor, Bangor & Aroostook, ì Boston & Maine, Chicago & North Western, Delaware & Hudson, the ì Frisco, Illinois Central, the Katy, Maine Central, The Milwaukee ì Road, the Missabe, Missouri Pacific, Rio Grande, Rock Island, ì Santa Fe, Soo Line, Southern Railway, Southern Pacific and ì Western Pacific have passed from the scene. Even so, the ì fascination with trains endures.

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Born in Wales in 1948, the author emigrated to the U.S. nine ì years later. Leaving behind a British Railways network served by ì more than 15,000 coal-fired steam locomotives, he fed an appetite ì for trains with a diet of Daylights and other Southern Pacific ì streamliners. Sadly, he had arrived in California too late to ì witness the last stand of those cab-forwards, 2-10-2s and ì 4-8-4s.

Aided by income from part-time jobs and abetted by indulgent ì parents, he began spending summers in Britain and Continental ì Europe. But steam operations there were declining as fast as ì long-distance passenger service in the U.S. And since-at the ì time-an Argus C3 was merely an adjunct to riding steam-hauled ì trains, why bother to imitate what other, more experienced ì "globally-minded" photographers like Mike Eagleson, Harold ì Edmonson and Victor Hand were doing better? He had only to buy ì their books.

It was Japan that finally opened the author's eyes to the ì attractions of steam in settings other than stations and ì roundhouses. A Pentax K1000 purchased in Kyoto resulted in some ì acceptable images, encouraging further efforts.

The Sacramento Railfair of 1981 re-kindled the author's ì interest in North American railroading. The mainline steam ì revival of that decade supplied subject matter-a restored GS-4 ì 4-8-4, for example-he could only daydream about during childhood ì train-watching sessions at Glendale.

That steam is still a priority will be all too evident in ì these pages. At the same time, those legions of lookalike diesels ì don't look quite so awful, given a scenic setting and the "right" ì lighting. In the end, no stark photographic statement can capture ì the thrill of the quest and the quiet enjoyment of simply "being ì there."

224 pages, approx 11.5" wide by 11" tall.

Condition Information

This is a used book.

Additional condition description

2018 large book with full color photographs, shrink wrapped, mailed in a box.