As some of you may know, back in 2004, my book, "Welcome Aboard the Disneyland Railroad!" hit the shelves. It was (and still is) the most comprehensive book ever written exclusively about the Disneyland Trains. Michael Broggie was kind enough to write the foreword, and many folks like to think of it as a companion volume to his wonderful book.

The book's been out of print for a while now, but over the years, I've added a lot of new material, and I've asked some friends to contribute vintage photos from their collections. This time, Theme Park Press is publishing an all-color version in hard cover, along with soft cover and Kindle versions. The book should be out this September.

Publishing an all-color hard cover book is very expensive, so the publisher has set up a Kickstartercampaign, and today we reached our goal!

I know there are lots of folks here who enjoy Disney and the trains of Disneyland, so if you missed out on the first edition, I guarantee you will enjoy the second edition just as much if not more!

Congratulations Steve! I know you've been working on an updated version of your book for sometime. I can't wait to order my copy.

All the best,

Paul

If you haven't done so already, be sure to consult the Gerald M. Best Collection at the California State RR Museum Library in Sacramento. There is extensive coverage of the early development and operations (1940s-1960s) of both the Disneyland RR and the Grizzly Flats RR, both of which Best was acquainted with. This includes negatives, photographs and correspondence--a treasure trove of data for your second edition.

Thanks guys.

I actually have copies of several letters Best wrote answering questions about the development of the Disneyland railroad. Some are very interesting! I will try to see what I can find at CSRM.

It so happens that I have a good friend who does not know about your book, and he is a Disneyland Railroad fanatic and modeler. I just tried your kickstarter link, and got nothing in the way of information for him. Please make sure that we get the word when your second edition is ready, congratulations and best of luck with it.

Thanks Sammy. I will keep you posted.

If there are is another copy of the first edition available, he'd probably reduce it to tatters...

Probably not for the price he would have to pay -- even used! -- on amazon.com!

I am looking forward to see how those used-book prices 'normalize' when the new edition comes out. I have little sympathy for people who put high prices for artificial scarcity ... without any of the markup going either to the author or the original publisher.

I doubt anyone ever gets those ridiculously-high asking prices.

Steve said



They do if you can't find a copy any other way! And when the book is a popular railroad subject that for some reason doesn't bear reprinting, the sharks smell railfan blood...

I needed a copy of Vernon Smith's One man's Locomotives for the technical chapters on poppet valves. Interesting to see what everyone asked for it. I considered myself fortunate to find a copy on eBay for $75.

Books like this are not easy to find in libraries that are close to you, or that provide interlibrary loan to libraries accessible to you. In this particular case, the only people 'benefiting' from copyright are the dogs-in-the-manger who are sitting on their copies. Perhaps there are ways to sweet-talk those people down from their high nominal asking prices -- I certainly did not find any when I went around the usual sources (including Amaxon and abebooks) asking.

Hey, it's the free market! You're perfectly free not to read it if you don't want to pay what's asked...

It was a REAL moral delimma, my buddy saw his first steam engine at Disneyland when he was a kid, I HAD to tell him what I know. But he doesn't like being roto rootered any more than anybody else, I told him he should wait for the second edition. Now HE can decide what to do instead of me...

Yeah first editions have gotten a little pricey http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchR ... d+Railroad

Well, I am happy and proud to say the second edition was released yesterday! You can get it on Amazon. However, if you go to the publisher's website (below), you can find more information on the book, including the table of contents and a couple excerpts.

The Disneyland Railroad - A Complete History in Words and Pictures

I hope other rail fans who appreciate these historic trains will find this a worthwhile little volume!

Were there two covers for this book? I am pretty certain mine has a red cover, though I don't have it at hand to check since I'm not at home.

Update, looks like they used the cover image for the new paperback version. $25 for this is a steal, if you don't have a copy already and you have the slightest interest in Disney railroads, buy it!

Thanks Bob!

The red-covered book is the story of the Ward Kimball steam locomotive, a former 1902 Baldwin Forney. It's still available.

The two green-covered editions focus on the entire railroad. We updated the cover a bit for the new edition.