I review books and videos and provide my honest opinion of them. This is where they are collected.
Terry Gainer has done it again with another great story of trains in British Columbia. This time he focused on southeastern BC and the fight between CP and the Great Northern Railway for control of the area. British Columbia always felt isolated at the west end of the continent as a colony of the Empire. … Read more
I really enjoy reading the Railroad Heritage magazine from the Center for Railroad Photography & Art. This quarterly magazine is top quality and features many thought-provoking articles and lots of good information. The spring 2022 edition featured a tribute to photographer David Plowden, along with an interview with him. I admit that I had no … Read more
I stumbled across the Great Canadian Railway Stories series of soft cover books at my local hobby store, Ware House Hobbies. They had quite a collection of used train books on consignment and I opened my wallet! I’d never heard of this series before, but $10 for 4 books was a steal. I took them … Read more
The book “The Victoria and Sidney Railway” is an affectionate look at a small, almost unknown railway that struggled for survival for 27 years on Vancouver Island.
This is a review of the new book, “Northern Alberta Railways Diesels: 1952-1980” by Leslie S. Kozma. This is an exhaustively researched, well told book on the short history of diesel locomotives with the Northern Alberta Railways (NAR) between the end of steam and the absorption of the NAR by CN. Author Kozma has clearly … Read more
When Canadian Pacific Railway unveiled their five commemorative locomotives on November 11, 2019, they were met with universal admiration for the great tribute to Canadian and United States armed forces. I am pleased to say that the book “Proud Colours” by Adam Meeks represents them well. This book tells the story of Canadian Pacific’s long … Read more
This is a review of the book “Railway Nation: Tales of Canadian Pacific – The World’s Greatest Travel System” by David Laurence Jones. I should disclose that I was given this book for free as a review copy, so consider that while reading this review. I would’ve bought this book anyway, and in fact I … Read more
Eric Gagnon’s latest book, “Smoke on the Waterfront”, is a deep dive into the history of Kingston’s waterfront, and its not terribly successful relationship with Lake Ontario. Readers looking for VIA Rail or detailed train content are advised to look to Eric’s other books like “Trains and Grains” or his “Trackside With VIA” series. This … Read more
Steam Echoes of Hamilton is a nostalgic look at mid-1950s railway action in and around Hamilton, Ontario. I have been aware of author Ian Wilson’s “Steam” series of books for some time. People have spoken very highly of his books, known as the Canadian Branchline series, but until now I haven’t read a single one. … Read more
I picked up “In The Shadow of Giants” by Norman Helm as part of a lot of train books I bought. I’d heard of the Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo Railway, of course, but I didn’t know a lot about it other than it served those three cities and was eventually absorbed into the Canadian Pacific … Read more