Reading C630 past a PC F7 on Conrail at Conway, Penn.; two GG1s on freight crossing the Perryville Bridge in Maryland; ex- Pennsy tugboat Chicago in green; and Alco switchers keeping company with EMD road units at Cedar Hill, Conn. The calendar folds out to 11″×17″ and sells for $14.95 postpaid from PCRRHS, P.O. Box 43, Flagtown, NJ 08821; www.PCRRHS.org. The 2014 calendar from the Friends of SP 4449 features a dozen large, full-color images of Southern Pacific 4-8-4 No. 4449 at the recently demolished Brooklyn round- house in Portland, Ore., and on excursions to Bend, Ore., Stampede Pass, and through the Columbia River Gorge, as well as the loco- motive’s trips to TrainFestival 2009 in Michigan and to the California Railroad Mu- seum in 1991. Each month includes a small- er photo, as well. The calendar folds out to 12″×18″ and sells for $13.95 plus $5.00 ship- ping from the Friends of SP 4449, P.O. Box 42486, Portland, OR 97242; www.4449.com.


NEW PUBLICATIONS


Virginia’s Legendary Santa Trains by Donna Strother Deekens and Doug Riddell is avail- able from The History Press. It’s the story of the holiday trains operated by the Rich- mond, Fredericksburg & Potomac, Norfolk & Western, and Atlantic Coast Line in con- junction with department stores such as Miller & Rhoads, Cox’s, J.C. Penney, and oth- ers between 1955 and 1971. Children could enjoy a fast ride on the high iron and discuss their holiday desires with Saint Nick en route or at their destination. While the San- ta trains ended after one season with Am- trak in 1971, today the Buckingham Branch Railroad and Virginia Railway Express con- tinue the tradition. This 6″×9″ softcover sells for $19.99 at bookstores and from The History Press at www.historypress.net. It can also be found as an e-book at Amazon .com and other online sellers. Southern California Local Freight Trains 2013/2014 compiled by Charles Freericks is a railroad enthusiast’s field guide to the local freights known as haulers, road switchers, and switchers, along with industrial opera- tions. The book gives the street addresses of all yards and train start locations along with the official symbols and the local names of each job (i.e., Union Pacific train LOQ25 out of West Colton Yard is the “Anaheim Hauler.”) The nominal start times (which can vary widely — these are freight trains!) and each job’s duties are also provided. Listings are provided for over 500 jobs: BNSF trains oper- ating out of nine locations, UP trains out of 23 yards, Amtrak, LA Junction, Pacific Harbor Line, four Genesee & Wyoming and three Watco operations, and five military installa- tions. The Fillmore & Western, Santa Maria Valley, Pacific Imperial, Baja California Rail- road, Plaster City Railroad, Mojave North- ern, and Trona short lines are also listed, along with 18 industrial operations. Informa- tion is also available on the location of wig- wag signals, industrial locomotives, rail trac- tor operations,


museums and tourist


railroads, model railroad shops and clubs, live steam, and more. Nine pages of b&w pho- tos illustrate a variety of the locations de- scribed. The list price of this 136-page 8¹/₂″×11″ softcover is $20.99 from www.create space.com/4333730 and it’s also available as an e-book from Amazon (http://tinyurl.com /SoCalLocalFrt) for $9.99.


BOOK REVIEWS A Steam Odyssey:


2014 Trackside Calendar Now Available


The Railroad Photographs of Victor Hand W.W. Norton & Co., Inc.; 500 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10110; At your favorite bookseller or online at www.wwnorton.com. 192 12″×11″ pages, b&w. $75.00


Victor Hand’s photographic pursuit of steam power started in 1958, when his mother accompa- nied 15-year old


Victor to


Roanoke, Va., so he could shoot


Norfolk & Western steam in regular service. His search for active steam expanded to Kentucky, Colorado, Quebec, and Mexico, and when steam finally died in North Amer- ica, Hand began to search the globe, going to Australia and New Zealand, South Africa, England, the Soviet Union, China, and, seemingly everywhere in between. After spurning his father’s expectations for him to become a doctor, Hand earned a degree in law, but the call


of the rails


brought him to a career in railroading. Starting as a locomotive fireman on the New York Central, Hand worked for several east- ern railroads in train service and in man- agement until he landed at the United States Railway Association, where his task was to decide which routes and facilities of the bankrupt Northeastern lines would be- come part of the new Conrail system. Ironi- cally, one of his final jobs, as a Norfolk Southern consultant, was to oversee the parceling out of Conrail routes to NS and CSX Transportation in their 1999 acquisi- tion of the successful railroad. Over the years, several of Hand’s extend- ed photo safaris took place while he was be- tween railroad jobs, and unlike many steam fans, he developed an interest in diesels. For example, while working seven days a week in the run-up to Conrail, he spent a rare day off committing the Lehigh Valley, soon to be swallowed by Conrail, to film. While a very few diesels are evident in Odyssey, they take a decisive back seat to the steam locomotives which remain at front and center. A consum- mate darkroom technician, has always shot b&w film in 120, 6×7 cm, and 4″×5″ format and still uses a Speed Graphic sheet film camera. His compositions are simple and strong, well printed, emphasizing the loco- motives and their surroundings whether in a shop or terminal or out on a main line or branch in North America, Asia, or Europe. This big, beautifully printed and cleanly laid out book presents 162 images with sub- jects ranging from Hand’s first trips to the N&W, Illinois Central, and Grand Trunk in the late ’50s, the Nacionales de Mexico, reg- ular service Rio Grande narrow gauge, and British Rail’s “transition era” in the mid-six- ties through North American fan trips and regular service steam overseas to the end of the main line steam era in China in 2005. Since then, he has also taken advantage of various photo charters to make memorable images. Each photo is briefly identified by subject, location, and date, with correspon- ding detailed captions provided in the back. A foreword by Don Phillips fills in the de- tails of Hand’s development as a railfan,


The 2014 Trackside calendar features steam, diesel, electric and traction scenes all in full color


www.railroadphotographer.com/ calendar


                   


            


       


          


             


 51


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