by Ken Kobus and Jack Consoli Published by the Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society, 1996

A fantastic look at the PRR's operations in the Pittsburgh area. There are a great many photos showing the "Steel City" in its industrial heyday, with a myriad of Pennsy lines and facilities that kept people, raw materials, and freight moving.

Some highlights:

The second and third Union Stations, and the construction and interior of the fourth and final iteration of the facility.

The Produce Terminal, including an interior shot during the March 1936 flood.

An aerial view of the 28th Street Roundhouse, with Baldwin Centipedes.

An almost brand new T1 at Homewood.

An E8 passing the Edgar Thompson Works.

The old station at Sewickley, with the original main line that ran where Rt. 65 is now. To a present day native of the area, this looks both familiar and odd at the same time. There are also two shots of the station being moved, including one showing the building on flatcars.

The Leetsdale tower and crossing shanty, now long gone.

The massive yard at Conway, a common spot for train watching in my youth. Includes several roundhouse/turntable photos.

Lots and lots of structure photos - an absolute must for PRR modelers and those interested in the history of railroads in western Pennsylvania.

First turned out in the fall of 1963, the GP35 replaced the GP30 in the EMD catalog, and introduced a new angular cab design that would be standard on La Grange diesels for decades. The GP35 had the 567D3A prime mover rated at 2,500hp, and would be the last new-build Geep powered by a 567 variant.

US railroads bought 1,251 GP35s, while 83 other locomotives were built for Canadian and Mexican roads. Virtually all GP35s were built with low short hoods, but the Southern, Norfolk & Western, and NdeM bought high-nose units.

EMD also offered a non-turbocharged version, the GP28, in 1964-66. Only 31 examples were built, and 15 of those were for export to Mexico and Peru. Illinois Central was the major domestic customer, buying a dozen engines. Although GP28 sales were poor, many standard GP35s were later de-turbocharged to save on maintenance costs.

John Bull 1830s steam locomotive.

Prints at: https://fineartamerica.com/featured/john-bull-steam-locomotive-christopher-reed.html

Delaware Lackawanna & Western caboose 889, built in 1952 by the railroad using the frame from a scrapped steam locomotive tender. Acrylic/watercolor/gouache over ink. Prints at: https://fineartamerica.com/featured/old-railroad-caboose-christopher-reed.html

Snow Flanger No. 36037 on display in the Steamtown Yard.

A train-watcher's collection of B&W railroad photography concentrating on the Pittsburgh area, and spanning an era stretching from the later days of steam to the Penn Central - there's even a little bit of early Conrail! Pittsburgh was home to many railroad operations in its industrial heyday, and in this book we are treated to steam and diesel action from the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie, Union Railroad, Baltimore & Ohio, and the New York Central. Residents of the "Burgh" will no doubt be interested in many of the scenes from Pittsburgh's past that are no more. And there is coverage of areas that, although not in the immediate Pittsburgh vicinity, are certain to be familiar to any Eastern railfan, such as Horseshoe Curve, electric action in the east, the East Broad Top, and the Strasburg RR.

Superior Publishing Company 192 pages hardcover

by John F. White, Jr. ISBN 0-8018-5714-7

An extremely thorough technical look at the engineering history of locomotives at the dawn of railroading. There are an immense number of highly detailed reproduction drawings that will be of certain use for the modeler, supplemented period photographs and illustrations. Much attention is paid to the oft-neglected materials and components that made up a steam locomotive.

Notable representative locomotives covered include:

The Stourbridge Lion, including a photo of the derived Agenoria.

The John Bull

Baldwin's Lancaster

The Norris Brothers' 4-4-0 Copiapo of 1850; included is a photo of the similar Beaver for the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago.

The Philadelphia and Reading's camelback Susquehanna.

William Mason's Phantom for the Toledo and Illinois Railroad.