J. David: Any chance of seeing a second edition--and updated version--of The Steam Locomotive Directory of North America anytime in the near future? I know there was some talk of this in the mid-90's.

Just curious!

K.R. Bell

Dear Kurt:
I continue to work on a Second Edition. That being said, it is slow going. When I did "The Book" I was working only 9 months a year or so, indeed, I took off nearly 6 months to finish it. A number of folks have been supplying me with fresh data, but getting all of that sorted out, reconcilled, and into my data base can be very time consuming. A couple of years ago, Jamie Fay Fenton scanned the entire thing for me and provided a good program with which I can manipulate the data, but the data still must be entered. Be patient, it will happen eventually.
You'll know when I'm at work on it when I start posting questions about obscure saddletankers.
Thanks for the encouragement!
J.David

Please let us all know when you're taking orders; I'll send a check in a heartbeat. The two volumes are among the most-used books in my library.

> Dear Kurt:
> I continue to work on a Second Edition. That
> being said, it is slow going. When I did
> "The Book" I was working only 9
> months a year or so, indeed, I took off
> nearly 6 months to finish it. A number of
> folks have been supplying me with fresh
> data, but getting all of that sorted out,
> reconcilled, and into my data base can be
> very time consuming. A couple of years ago,
> Jamie Fay Fenton scanned the entire thing
> for me and provided a good program with
> which I can manipulate the data, but the
> data still must be entered. Be patient, it
> will happen eventually.
> You'll know when I'm at work on it when I
> start posting questions about obscure
> saddletankers.
> Thanks for the encouragement!
> J.David


Kevinmccabe@avenew.com

While many of the locations for the locomotives have changed since the first edition was written, Dave's book is still the most detailed and accurate for all the other information. Remember too, that this was all done in the days of snail mail and the telephone. When writing, I even use my volumes to determine whether the company names end in "Railroad" or "Railway".



bobyar2001@yahoo.com

Dear Dave,

There are many immitators, but your work in my opinion is a timeless classic. It is one of the most often-used "reference" books in the RR Museum of PA Library. You have done a great service to the railway preservation community, and looking forward to your revised edition in the future!

Best regards,
Kurt Bell
RR Museum of PA

> Dear Kurt:
> I continue to work on a Second Edition. That
> being said, it is slow going. When I did
> "The Book" I was working only 9
> months a year or so, indeed, I took off
> nearly 6 months to finish it. A number of
> folks have been supplying me with fresh
> data, but getting all of that sorted out,
> reconcilled, and into my data base can be
> very time consuming. A couple of years ago,
> Jamie Fay Fenton scanned the entire thing
> for me and provided a good program with
> which I can manipulate the data, but the
> data still must be entered. Be patient, it
> will happen eventually.
> You'll know when I'm at work on it when I
> start posting questions about obscure
> saddletankers.
> Thanks for the encouragement!
> J.David

If another edition is offered, please think about offering it in CD form that can be updated easily as engines are moved.

eburger1@san.rr.com

> If another edition is offered, please think
> about offering it in CD form that can be
> updated easily as engines are moved.

Sounds like a great idea! Who will help?

http://www.trainweb.org/oldtimetrains
oldtimetrains@rrmail.com

> Sounds like a great idea! Who will help?

"Surviving World Steam Locomotives" is already on CD-ROM. No, it doesn't have all of the details on each engine that the Steam Locomotive Directory has. But, it also covers the entire world, not just North America.

I am working on wrapping up the November update as I write this. It looks like there are only 34 engines in the Directory that I have not matched to my list yet. But, I have identified an equal number of newly discovered engines, 150 Amusement Park engine and homebuilt engines, 49 sunk, seven buried, and several engines that have since been imported.

You can update the entries yourself, or you can purchase the updates I send out twice a year. You can sort by most of the fields, and search for a string of text.

I currently have 321 photographs or North American locomotives included on the CD-ROM, and will probably add more to this month's update. You can also add your own pictures through the Windows clipboard, and each update contains 200 pictures as well.

It will work on any Windows PC; although anything slower than about 200MHz would take too long to search for some people. (I carry it around on a 66MHz notebook computer that I don't mind leaving trackside for recording sound clips.)

I have worked with Wes Barris and Kelly Iverson, as well as boards such as this one to keep it as current as I can. I have had people carry portions of it to Russia and throughout Europe, and even showed it to shed bosses in China to verify it is as accurate as possible.

-James Hefner
Hebrews 10:20a

Surviving World Steam Locomotives

james1@pernet.net