A recent book sale notice included a volume by Henry B. Comstock, who was an editor for some time for Railroad magazine in the 1940s and 1950s. He seems to have been a person of multiple talents, working as an editor, a writer, and sometimes as an artist (the cover illustrations for Railroad in this time period were paintings). His writing style was described by a friend of mine as "purple prose," i.e., very colorful and descriptive. One example that I recall included some lines in a story on the then-new Cincinnatian on the B&O, in which he described a new highway bridge under construction as "lazy-tonging its way across" the Potomac River. In an earlier story from the WW II era on the operations of the N&W, he mentions electric sparks "flicking like the tongues of snakes" from the catenary through damp exhaust of the Mallet helper cut in ahead of his caboose as a coal train worked its way through the old, electrified Elkhorn Tunnel.

Other credits that I know about are the text and illustrations in his book, "The Iron Horse," and other illustrations in the January 1966 edition of Popular Mechanics on the subject of what would become the Metroliner service. Beyond his work, though, I know nothing of him at all. Can anyone tell us about the man?

Similarly, an artist who did many covers for Railroad in this time was Frederick Blakeslee; again, I know nothing of him at all, other than he has a signature line on a lot of Railroad cover paintings. Again, does anybody know anything of the man?

Hello. I am the grandson of Henry Comstock. I can tell you a bit about him if you like. He lived much of his working life, and his early retirement years too, in Blauvelt, a village in Rockland County, NY, not far from the Tappan Zee. He moved down to Georgia in the 1980s, and passed away in 2003.

By the way, if you read the dedication page to his book, THE IRON HORSE, you'll see he names his four grandsons. I was (and am) one of those named.

On behalf of my family, especially my mother, Grandpa Hank's daughter, I would like to express our gratitude that his work as writer, editor, and illustrator still draws admirers.

I just saw your request for more information on Henry B. Comstock. I am his son and might be able to supply more information if you are still interested. I have a DVD showing an interview of him by the daughter of a rail enthusiast (a high school project!). It's not all about trains but, at least to me, very interesting and entertaining. Dad was 88 at the time but still had a great memory and many tales to tell. You can reach me at comstockeng@verizon.net if you wish.

Best Wishes,
Bob Comstock

Some time back, J3a-614 put a note about these two gentlemen in the Classifieds section of RyPN, although I'm not quite sure why he did that rather than posting it here on Interchange. Anyway, I found it quite interesting that a son and a grandson of Mr. Comstock replied, both with their first posts on RyPN. This points out I think, that this website is obviously read by a lot of folks who don't post here! Which I think is terrific!

Les

Les, thank you for posting this here. As I recall, and looking up my original post, the original location was in Interchange, but I have no idea of how this wound up in the Classifieds! I never check that section of RyPN (nothing to sell, and "I am a man of constant sorrow, my wife spends all my pay". . .don't tell her I said that).

Anyway, the posts from the two relatives do sound interesting, and I may follow up on them. Both of these gentlemen from Railroad had to have interesting stories to tell, and hopefully some of that might be shared here, if the appropriate parties are agreeable.

J3a-614:

Hope you are successful. I, for one, would certainly find that enjoyable.


Les

"Iron Horse" is among my top five favorites in my collection of slightly over 100 railroad books. I consider him a first ballot hall of famer in the hobby.