C&O for Progress: The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway at Mid-Century.

This book is a comprehensive look at the Chesapeake & Ohio during its years of growth and modernization from the period just after WWII to the Baltimore & Ohio affiliation. It is based on the 1954 issue of Modern Railroads magazine and features a chapter on each significant area of the railroad: freight, passenger, coal, the transition to diesels, shops, yards, leadership, even the advent of computers. This book will become a standard for the study of the C&O in the modern era.

Contents:
Introduction, Foreword, pp. 5-12;
C&O For Progress-What Did It Mean', pp. 9-12;
Background on the C&O, pp. 13-20;
The Pere Marquette Region/Northern Region, pp. 21-24;
Leadership-The Men at the Top, pp. 25-34;
Employees, pp. 35-40;
Public Relations, Advertising and Chessie, pp. 41-49;
Passenger Service, pp. 49-68;
The Greenbrier, pp. 69-72;
Merchandise Freight Operations, 73-86;
Coal Operations, pp.87-96;
The C&O's Big Terminals, pp. 97-104;
Motive Power, pp. 105-120;
Freight Cars, pp. 121-142;
Shops, pp. 143-152;
Post-War Roadway Upgrade, pp. 153-158;
Maintenance of Way, Signals and Communications, pp. 159-168;
Research & Development, Test Labs and Innovation, pp. 169-174;
The End of an Era, the C&O/B&O Merger, pp. 175-176.

C&O Historical Society, laminated hard cover, 176 pages, 8.5 x 11 x .75 in., 299 b&w photographs, illustrations and ephemera. cohs882 
Price: 22.95 USD

C&O's subsidiary Pere Marquette Railway was used by C&O's pro-passenger Chairman, Robert R. Young, as a test bed for his ideas on how to cure the passenger train problem in America. He ordered two diesel-powered 7 car lightweight trains that went into service in mid-1946 on the Detroit-Grand Rapids corridor. Over the next year they reversed the passenger losses on this line and actually built up traffic.

The trains were the first to emerge all-new from the clogged car builders shops after WWII. The new trains were of latest design and the on-board services were superb for a coach operation with hostesses, on-board passenger representatives, tickets delivered on the train, credit cards, no-tipping, etc. Many of these things were later tried on C&O's main line trains, and the equipment showed the way for the huge re-equipping of the name trains on the old C&O in 1950.

Eventually affected by the continued erosion of passenger traffic, the trains experienced a slow decline, but lasted as a shadow of themselves down to Amtrak on May 1, 1971. The story is told in great detail from original documents and illustrated with great photographs, many of them from C&O official files.

Contents:
Ch. 1: Rolling Through Michigan, Getting Ready, Motive Power, Waitresses, Public Relations, Newspaper Trip and Christening, pp. 1-13;
Ch. 2: Regular Trains, 1946-1948, pp. 14-17;
Ch. 3: To Chicago and Trouble, pp. 18-21;
Ch. 4: Decline, 1950-1971, pp. 22-29;
Cars, Motive Power, Rolling Through Michigan, Color Album, Grand Rapids Station, Detroit's Fort Street Union Depot, Amtrak, pp. 30-92.

TLC Publishing, soft cover, 92 pages, 8.5 x 11 x .25 in., b&w and color photographs (16 pages), car diagrams, C&O publicity photographs and ephemera. tlc887 
Price: 19.95 USD

Lima Super Power Steam Locomotives.

The purpose of this book is to give an overview of the modern steam locomotives built by the Lima Locomotive Works of Lima, Ohio. Super Power or Superpower is an appelation generally given to steam locomotives built after 1925 that have a firebox significantly larger than generally used prior to that time, usually located entirely behind the driving wheels and supported by a four-wheel (and in one case, a six-wheel) trailing truck. This allowed for the creation of furnaces and boilers that could supply a large volume of steam that could not be exhausted by use in the cylinders during sustained operation at high speed. The phrase Super Power was coined by Lima as part of its advertising campaign for this advanced design.

The book begins with the origin of the design and moves on to a railroad-by-railroad summary, roster and photographs of each Super Power class.

Contents:
Super Power's Genesis, pp. 5-27;
Texas & Pacific, pp. 28-33;
Boston & Albany, pp. 34-40;
Illinois Central, pp. 41-44;
Boston & Maine, pp. 45-48;
Missouri Pacific, pp.49-51;
Chicago Great Western, pp. 52-53;
Detroit, Toledo & Ironton, pp. 54-57;
The Advisory Mechanical Committee (AMC), pp. 58-59;
Erie, pp. 60-66;
Chesapeake & Ohio, pp. 67-87;
Nickel Plate, pp. 88-97;
Pere Marquette, pp. 98-103;
Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac, pp. 104-107;
Virginian, pp. 108-113;
Louisville & Nashville, pp. 114-118;
Southern Pacific, pp. 119-130;
Kansas City Southern, pp. 131-132;
Wisconsin Central (Soo Line), pp. 133-135;
Grand Trunk Western, pp. 136-137;
Western Pacific, pp. 138-139;
Central of Georgia, pp. 140-142;
Bibliography, pp. 143-144.

TLC Publishing, laminated hard cover, 144 pages, 8.5 x 11 x .5 in., b&w photographs, rosters. tlc967 
Price: 29.95 USD

A book about roundhouses, engine houses, water service, cinder and coal service, ready tracks, sanding, etc. This book is a follow-up to the Coaling Stations book released by TLC previously. Facilities from many railroads are presented but the most common herein are from the Norfolk & Western.

Contents:
Engine Houses and Environs, pp. 6-37;
Ready Tracks, pp. 38-44;
Coaling Stations, pp. 45-50;
Coaling Stations, pp. 45-50;
Sanding Facilities, pp. 51-52;
Cinder Conveyors, pp. 53-58;
Water Service, pp. 59-64;
Train Washers, pg. 65;
Diesel Servicing, pp. 66-69;
Norfolk & Western's Ultra-Modern Steam Terminals, pp. 70-80.

TLC Publishing, soft cover, 80 pages, 8.5 x 11 x .25 in., b&w photographs and illustrations with captions. tlc214 
Price: 19.95 USD

History of the development of the famous yellow/orange/vermilion Chessie System paint scheme and its use on locomotives and cars on Chesapeake & Ohio, Baltimore & Ohio and Western Maryland. 140 great photographs from across the system with one-third of them in full color. tlc104 
Price: 14.95 USD

West Virginia Railroads: Railroading in the Mountain State

The purpose of this book is to give the general reader an illustrated overview of the railroads serving the state of West Virginia, including maps and photographs, with emphasis on the period from 1940 into the 1960s. This was a period when the railroads were replacing steam locomotives with diesel-electric locomotives and faced increased competition from highways, airlines and waterways. West Virginia as a scenic, mountain state has much to offer the railroad enthusiast's interest in main line, short line, mining and lumber-hauling railroading.

Contents:
Foreword and Introduction, pp. 4-17;
Ch. 1: Baltimore & Ohio, pp. 18-39;
Ch. 2: Chesapeake & Ohio, pp. 40-59;
Ch. 3: Norfolk & Western, pp. 60-81;
Ch. 4: Virginian, pp. 82-97;
Ch. 5: Western Maryland, pp 98-107;
Ch. 6: New York Central (Kanawha & Michigan), pp. 108-111;
Ch. 7: Railroads in the northern Panhandle, pp. 112-113;
Ch. 8: Short Lines, pp. 114-117;
Ch. 9: Logging Railroads, pp. 118-128.

TLC Publishing, soft cover, 128 pages, 8.5 x 11 x .25 in., b&w photographs and illustrations. tlc936 
Price: 24.95 USD