I don't know if there's much interest here in this sort of thing, but I thought I'd tell you about a book I thoroughly enjoyed: West Virginia Narrow Gauge - Mann's Creek Railway, by Ron Lane and Ted Schnepf. It's well written and has great photos and maps as well as drawings of most of the major structures. Best of all, it gave me any number of modeling ideas for my Osage Valley Tie & Lumber operation!
In many respects it's the story of the "perfect" small railroad to model because it's the story of a narrow gauge short line (20 miles total) that had it all: balloon-stacked Shays, lumbering, coal mining, coke ovens, mountainous terrain, a large sawmill, shared dual gauge at the junction, and interchange with a Class 1 carrier (the C&O).
Divided into 11 chapters, the book covers every phase of the railroad's history and operation. It begins with a brief history of the road's post-Civil War formation and ends with the years following its demise in 1955.
All in all, some really fascinating reading. I highly recommend this book. I ordered mine from Ron's Books (online) and had it 6 days later.
Hardbound, 200 pages, 200+ B/W photos, some color photos. $29.95 + 4.00 S/H
Available from TLC Publishing, Dept. NG, 1387 Winding Creek Lane, Lynchburg, VA 24503-3776 OR...
Ron's Books, P.O. Box 714N, Harrison, NY 10528
914-967-7541 (PRICE AS OF 5/15/02: $26.00)
www.ronsbooks.com
In many respects it's the story of the "perfect" small railroad to model because it's the story of a narrow gauge short line (20 miles total) that had it all: balloon-stacked Shays, lumbering, coal mining, coke ovens, mountainous terrain, a large sawmill, shared dual gauge at the junction, and interchange with a Class 1 carrier (the C&O).
Divided into 11 chapters, the book covers every phase of the railroad's history and operation. It begins with a brief history of the road's post-Civil War formation and ends with the years following its demise in 1955.
All in all, some really fascinating reading. I highly recommend this book. I ordered mine from Ron's Books (online) and had it 6 days later.
Hardbound, 200 pages, 200+ B/W photos, some color photos. $29.95 + 4.00 S/H
Available from TLC Publishing, Dept. NG, 1387 Winding Creek Lane, Lynchburg, VA 24503-3776 OR...
Ron's Books, P.O. Box 714N, Harrison, NY 10528
914-967-7541 (PRICE AS OF 5/15/02: $26.00)
www.ronsbooks.com