The late Jim Boyd's long awaited "Steamtown In Color" has been released by Morning Sun. As you would expect with a Boyd book, the photo choices are very good. As you might expect with a Morning Sun book, there are typos and such in the captions that require the reader to question and double-check facts as presented.

For those interested in the early days of railroad preservation and the network of men who pretty much invented the field of steam locomotive preservation and operation, the first third of the book is a treasure trove of who-did-what-when. Not sure that it exposes any "new" info, but it presents the story very well.

At 128 pages of (mostly) photos, it is somewhat light on story. I had hoped this work would end up being the final word on Steamtown artifacts - from how they were purchased to current state. Some of that info is scattered throughout the book, but not in a consistent fashion. Like many Morning Sun books, it often feels like a slide show being narrated by a friend... Not a scholary report, but not a waste of time, either.

What you do get is a visual timeline of the trials and tribulations of one man's passion that eventually lead to establishment of a National Historic Site that carries on his dream.

The book is a light touch, but a worthy account of a museum that - through it's many activities - influenced untold steam buffs.

Rob

Nice review, Rob. Thanks for the alert.

I am surprised that Morning Sun did not ask someone to proofread the text. Jim had increasing difficulty seeing text on a computer screen due to his failing eyesight.

PC

Morning Sun books are notorious for typos and odd/incorrect captioning.

My personal "favorite" is in the first of the two volumes on the Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad. It features two nice photos of NORTH Shore Line caboose 1005, with the NSL lettering clearly visible in both shots, while the captioning speaks to the South Shore's transition from wood to steel cabooses and noting the 1005 as a CSS&SB hack.

I may have to pick this one up. Unfortunately, as the above posters say, Morning Suns quality has gone way down in the last 2 years. Numerous typos, absolutely horrible photo reproductions and quite often "random" photos which have no business in the book. You would expect better for these 60$ slide shows.

Paul

I took a gamble and ordered it off a eBay seller as I had some pay pal money I could play with. I know the complaints people have about the publisher’s previous books, but I already had their Milwaukee Road in the West book and really liked it. I’ve always thought that the history of Steamtown would make a good book. Just got it yesterday and I haven’t read it through but have looked it over pretty well by now. It’s pretty thin but I really like it, mostly just photos and captions with some basic text. There’s still room for a more comprehensive history of the operation if someone wants to write it. I’d always had an interest in the early days of this operation, having read the book “Twilight of Steam Locomotives” (which mentions the early version of it many times) so many times as a kid and seeing it on TV every now and then in my youth. I’ve seen very few of these places and times in color before, so although it was one of the more expensive (new) books I’ve bought in recent years, I feel it was worth the money.

Back in April and May, 1010, when I was proofreading Jim's Railfan & Railroad article on the Scranton trolley museum, he told me that it was to be one of the chapters in his new Steamtown book. My computer only found 2 typographical errors, I think they were a misspelling and a missing period. He did read me an excerpt from the proposed Steamtown book, which was much longer than a photo caption. If it didn't make it to publication, I'll try to remember it and post it here.

Here is a link to my own reivew of this book:

http://www.tonyheld.hoboandbowser.net/review-steamtown-in-color-by-jim-boyd/

RIP, Jim Boyd.

Good review!

Quick FYI: the link to my review has been updated.

New to this site so learning the ropes! Been out of railroading for a while and maybe it is time to get back.
Back in the 70s, a gang of us from Ontario and Québec used to drive down to Bellows Falls for their fall weekends. Steamtown was a wonderful place, especially with all the Canadian engines in steam! We were there when heavy CPR Pacific 2317 was unveiled.
Bumped into Jim Boyd there, as of course, he wrangled us all through the fantastic night photo sessions - still have the slides to prove it! We had a few breakfasts with Jim there as well, allowing a chance for us to solve all the world's problems. Jim was first class and just one of the guys on the photo lines. It was very sad to hear of his passing.
I still miss Bellows Falls and those fall weekends. It was a wonderful location and a picturesque route.

You lucky railfan! :-) While I was born in 1980, my parents never visited Vermont so I missed any chance at having been there as a toddler. Too bad Vermont did not work out; I learned from Boyd's book that Don Ball Jr. said of Vermont's anti-billboard laws that prevented Steamtown from putting up a new one: "Vermont's idea of an economy is to buy the mountain and pray for snow." At least railfans like you and Boyd documented the Bellows Falls locale thoroughly for future generations of train buffs like me to enjoy. :-)

I have quite a selection of slides from trips there. How does one go about scanning them?
There is even some triple headed action with CPR Pacifics! That sound is imprinted in my memory banks!

Seems like an obvious error right? Why didn't somebody catch that?

The problem is that it's not as easy as it seems. Imagine you're a proofreader and are not familiar with either railroad. OK, so there's a picture of a train car lettered for railroad A but claimed to be owned by railroad B. Is that really that unusual? You need only to look to the BNSF and all the former ATSF and BN painted units still online, though with corrected reported marks by now, to know that it's certainly possible.

So, do you "correct" the author only worry you'll be told "You idiot! They bought that used, acquired it in a merger, whatever, and hadn't painted it yet!" or do you figure "Well, he wrote it, so I guess he's correct..."

This editing and proof reading stuff is trickier than it looks.

Bob,

You are right, writing and proofing are hard. It requires a willingness to research, great subject matter expertise and the humilty to admit error.

There are some railroad authors who continually hit on all three, but in the easy printing age we are in, many authors miss 'em all. It comes down to the publisher to decide what level of error they will publish. Ironically some of the best books of late (in terms of historical record) have been self-published and that goes back to point one about the traits of a good author.

Like anything, there's a hard way and an easy way... the results reflect the path taken.

Rob