A preservation-related question, hopefully (if not, moderators do your thing!). I am interested in text and photos of Alco in its final years in the US, especially its facilities in Schenectady. I am contemplating getting the book in the subject line, but it is pricey these days. Any readers here have this book, and can offer feedback on the level of coverage (both text and photos) of Alco's last years, especially as pertains to its factory/assembly buildings?

The reason I ask is that I bought what I think is the Lima equivalent (by Eric Hirsimake), but coverage of Lima's facilities in its declining years was (my standards) scant, almost non-existent. Not that the book is bad-it isn't-but it wasn't what I thought it would be.

Feedback appreciated.

I have the book but it has been may years since I have read it. From what I recall it did have some diagrams and photos of facilities and grounds.

Now I want to read it again..

What I am particularly interested in, besides text about the last years of Alco (Trains magazine had a great article on this some time back), are photographs of the plant in those final years-abandoned or soon-to-be-sold heavy machinery, buildings empty or in a state of demolition, etc. The Jim Wrinn/Duane Galloway book "Southern Railway's Spencer Shops" had a fair amount of documentation along these lines (among other things, of course). The Lima book, by contrast, had essentially none.

I have the book in question. Please note that it is over 500 pages, and my comments are based on a fairly brief look, so it is very likely that I missed some items.

The author does cover the plant(s) in some detail.
Drawings - There are several drawings of the Schenectady and Auburn complexes, at various stages of the company's life.
Photos - In addition to the many day-to-day operations and builder's photos, there is a photo of demolition of a building at Schenectady, that had been used for military contracts.
Text - There are (at least) a couple of sections of text that discuss "retrenchment" - shutting down businesses, retirement of facilities, etc. Coverage of the topic is scattered, but totals at least several pages throughout the book.

In short, there is certainly coverage of the topics that interest you. However it is a relatively small fraction of the 500+ pages.

JR

John Redden-thank you! Exactly what I needed to know.