The world of railroading is fascinating, complex—and very well documented. For enthusiasts who want to broaden their understanding and enjoyment of railroading, there is a vast library of information available. Whether it's railroad history, technology, or operation that interests you, there's an extensive literature to choose from. We've winnowed through a lot of railroad-related material to offer the following recommendations.
John H. Armstrong, The Railroad—What It Is, What It Does. Omaha: Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corp., 1978.
Subtitled "The Introduction to Railroading," Armstrong's book is a bedrock text for anyone who wants a more comprehensive and detailed understanding of railroads and railroading. It provides a brief account of the evolution of railroad technology and rail networks, plus detailed chapters on track structure, locomotives, railcars, signals and communication, rail operations, maintenance, and organization. Diagrams, photos, and standard forms flesh out the reader's understanding of this complex and exacting world.
Brian Solomon, Working on the Railroad. St. Paul: Voyageur Press, 2006.
Brian Solomon focuses on the specific jobs that keep railroads running and their evolution over time. While he gives a generous and engaging nod to the bygone "glory days" of railroading, he notes that railroads "…changed the world in the nineteenth century, but in the twentieth century the world changed the railway," as the industry lost its preeminence and new technologies made time-honored crafts and practices obsolete. Solomon's primary focus is on what it takes to keep railroads operating in the twenty-first century, with detailed chapters on the roles of brakemen, conductors, engineers, firemen, operators, dispatchers, and maintenance crews.
John W. Orr, Set Up Running: The Life of a Pennsylvania Railroad Engineman, 1904-1949. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2001.
For many railfans, steam represents the pinnacle of railroading romance and excitement. In Set Up Running, John W. Orr documents in meticulous detail the 45-year career of his father, O. P. Orr, who operated steam locomotives for the Pennsylvania Railroad from 1904 to 1949. The book is not a romantic evocation of those long-gone days when steam ruled the rails but a richly detailed account of the realities behind the romance. O. P. Orr rose through the ranks of steam engineers the hard way, from the day he was "set up running" as a full-fledged engineer until he retired as the engineer with more seniority than any other. Along the way he handled every imaginable railroading situation of the steam era. The reality is more grueling than romantic, including the long hours, the noise, the smoke and grit, and the constant challenges and dangers of getting his passengers and freight to their destinations safe and on time. The whole story is presented in satisfying technical detail so that this important job from another era comes to life for the reader. Whether O. P. is learning an unfamiliar route, mastering newer and ever-larger locomotives and consists, or learning the bells, whistles, signals, and other complexities of railroad operation, all of it comes to life for readers who missed the steam railroading era and want to understand what it was really like.
"Coal Train" (from John McPhee, Uncommon Carriers. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2006).
John McPhee is a noted writer on a variety of subjects, including the many ways that freight of all kinds gets to its destination. In the chapter called "Coal Train," McPhee captures the experience of operating some of the world's longest, heaviest trains—the coal consists that feed fuel from the mines to gigantic power plants that run continuously, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Everything he describes is of staggering weight, mass, and force. He rides along with the two-man crew that runs a coal consist 1.5 miles long and weighing 19,000 tons. He notes that "nothing heavier rolls on rails," and this gigantic mass requires remarkable finesse to keep it in one piece and on schedule. It takes 65 of these monstrous trains a day to keep coal-fired American industries and plants operating. Along the way McPhee describes people he encounters en route and the railroads' concern about whether they are train buffs or terrorists. Some of them shoot video of endless, slow-moving trains for buffs who buy and absorb every detail of the resulting footage. Some are graffiti artists eager to put their creative mark on any rolling stock they can get near enough to decorate. He describes the Bailey railyard, the world's largest, which hosts a dozen coal consists at a time. He visits the nerve center of this vast operation, where dispatchers direct a mass of traffic that would daunt the most grizzled air traffic controller. McPhee brings it all to life for railroad enthusiasts who will never set foot on these largest of trains.