In another discussion I mentioned the children's books by Bill Trombello covering railroad related subjects:

http://www.amazon.com/William-Trombello/e/B006BIME9U

They are published by:

Technical Training Consultants
801 Warrenville Road #222
Lisle, Illinois 60523

Please consider posting additional sources of children's books on railroad topics, beyond the obvious choice of Thomas the Tank Engine, if you would like to recommend them.

PC

Those are nice books! Here is another one I quite enjoy:

Locomotive by Brian Floca, which won a Caldecott Medal

It can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/Locomotive-Caldecott-Medal-Brian-Floca/dp/1416994157/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1465927327&sr=1-1&keywords=locomotive+brian+floca

Additional resources, including a curriculum guide, are available on Brian's website:
http://www.brianfloca.com/locomotive-classroom-resources.html

A great overview with links to other resources can be found here:
http://www.theclassroombookshelf.com/2013/09/locomotive.html

Stephen

"Ol' 556, Alaska's Mighty Steam Engine" features ARR 556 which has been on display in an Anchorage park for the last 50+ years and is the sister to ARR 557 that we are restoring.

I do most of outreach for the ARR 557 restoration at public events and it's surprising how many of the local kids have a copy of the book. Although it was written before the 557 restoration started and isn't related to the 557 project, it's proven to be invaluable in developing community support for the restoration of 557.

https://www.amazon.com/Ol-556-Shannon-C ... entries*=0

I will second Stephen's recommendation of Locomotive by Brian Floca. When I first encountered it maybe two years ago I was blown away by the quality of the illustrations and the level of historical and technical detail it includes (but not too much to overwhelm young readers). It's simply a wonderful book.

Another title I would recommend is The Railroad Book by E. Boyd Smith, first published in 1913. The illustrations are gorgeous. It was reprinted in 1983 and used copies of the reprint are readily available:

https://www.amazon.com/Railroad-Book-Story-Pictures/dp/0395348323/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465937911&sr=8-1&keywords=e+boyd+smith+railroad+book

-Philip Marshall

I'd recommend David Weitzman's "Superpower". The illustrations alone are worth the recommendation, and the story has heart.

I personally enjoyed the Freeman Hubbard books when little -- hard to believe that I got Phantom Brakeman when it first came out in bookstores! The Railroad Magazine style may not appeal to as many children 'nowadays' but it's a good introduction to some aspects of railroading...

I was surprised to see this one at one of the shows, and it gave me a really nice feeling to know that someone actually wrote a book like this aimed at kids.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/899947.Old_Penn_Station

"Train Talk" by Roger Yepsen was probably the first book that really got me interested in the nuts and bolts and history of railroading. All these years later, it still holds up well. The illustrations are great, the language doesn't talk down.

https://www.amazon.com/Train-Talk-Roger ... 0394957504


-otto-

The little yellow trolley. A true story

http://www.thelittleyellowtrolleycar.com

Great examples above, but my thought is that you have to get 'em started younger. Just ask Dave Wilkins about his experiences with his child or John Rimmasch and Mike Lewis (RRGraphixGuy) with their kids (Mike's daughter now learning to 'engineer' the company's 15" Crown and Cagney in Cheyenne while earning some summer money cleaning her dad's office down at the shop).

Our friend Thomas is a good start, but what about Bill Peet's Smokey or The Caboose Who Got Loose?

Though I'm sure Out of Print (OOP) there's George J Zaffo's The Big Book of Real Locomotives and The Big Book of Real Streamliners.

My interest in hand power led me to another OOP book for the slightly older reader (8-9 year olds) Handcar Joe.

What about the biographies of railroaders? There are children's authors that have retold the stories of Kate Shelley, Casey Jones, and others.

The books are great in starting them young, but don't forget the music of the rails. There are some great ballads out there. Check out Norm Cohen's Long Steel Rail: The Railroad in American Folksong and then find some of the old recordings.

Saturate the senses! Read the stories, watch the movies, listen to the music, visit the museums.

my two cents worth.

sc 'doc' lewis