Bill Petitjean's great new book about how the finest in modern US steam was forced off the mainline is done and ready to be shipped. It is a fine book and, while not as big as the Chapeleon and Wardale works, it is wonderful and I think every serious steam student needs it in the library. Sorry for the commercial, but this is a serious steam technical work.

Follow the link below-

We are down to 20 copies of the three-volume steam locomotive home study course. If you want a set, get it. They will no longer be available in the three volume set when these are gone. Also follow the link if you are interested.

Ken Riddle

Steam tech books
ken290@hiwaay.net

How about a bit more on the book at the website? How many pages? Softcover or hardback? Illustrations? Size?

lner4472@bcpl.net

> How about a bit more on the book at the
> website? How many pages? Softcover or
> hardback? Illustrations? Size?

The book is about 68 pages long. It is a softcover with lots of graphs and tables, but only two illustrations in the Introduction and on the cover. It is 5 1/2" x 8" I believe. It also has a pretty complete glossary in the back that defines most of the technical terms. Finally, it has a selected reading list in the back too.

I originally wrote this as a serial magazine article about 10 years ago, but no one would touch it except Mark Smith at Locomotive & Railway Preservation. He changed things around quite a bit, so this book is the full, unabridged manuscript that he started with.

Interestingly, I just finished reading Eric Hirsimaki's "BLACK GOLD, BLACK DIAMONDS", Volume 1. This book is about the Pennsylvania Railroad and dieselization and is an excellent work. This book was published in 1997 and says about the same things I say in my little book. The only difference is he uses historical documents and records to tell how and why dieselization happened. Several years earlier, I used thermodynamic models and selected example locomotives to show how and why dieselization was inevitable after about 1930. The similarities in the two independent works is a bit uncanny.

This little book owes a debt to the late David P. Morgan. I grew up reading all the pro steam articles he published for 30 years. He never gave up on steam. I researched and wrote this book to put the Great Steam Diesel Debate to bed for once and for all. It is kind of an Epiphany, but it has done just that for me and allowed me to move on into the post steam conservation and restoration era. I hope it is that enlightening to those who obtain a copy and read it.

Thanks to Ken Riddle for recognizing the work that went into it and publishing it for Little River Locomotive. If anyone who reads it has any questions email me and I will try to answer them.

Bill Petitjean

petitinc@nwlink.com