Canadian Railway Reference books

[BR60103]

I'm going to make a list of the most useful/informative books for modelling Canadian railways. These will be the ones in my library, mostly.

I suggest that others list them for their own specialties.

(Having said that, I won't be listing any until tomorrow.)

[PaulRhB]

Nicholas Morant's Canadian Pacific

Author: J F Garden

Picked this up just last week and it's a superb collection of Nick Morants photos and the story behind his job with CP. Cost £60 but a very good book containing a wide selection of his publicity photos.

[AndrewC]

Nicholas Morant's Canadian Pacific

Author: J F Garden

Picked this up just last week and it's a superb collection of Nick Morants photos and the story behind his job with CP. Cost £60 but a very good book containing a wide selection of his publicity photos.

An excellent photographic reference. Did you get both volumes or just the single one? Mine came as a 2 book set with Nicholas Morant's Canada.

 

To add to the list, just about anything and everything done by BRMNA books over the past 33 years is worth searching for. http://www.brmna.com/ I've got about half a dozen of these and they are excellent references.

[PaulRhB]

Just the one so far

[davknigh]

A good source for books on Canadian railways can be found here; http://www.railfare.net/index.html a bit of a limited selection now but they have produced some fine volumes in the past.

Anything by Omer Lavallee is good but in particular Canadian Pacific Steam, and Narrow Gauge Railways of Canada. Canadian National Steam Power by Clegg and Corley is a must have and for the more exotic, In the Shadow of Giants by Norman Helm tells the story of the Toronto Hamilton & Buffalo Railway.

 

HTH

 

David

[shortliner]

Not the cheapest with international shipping, but usually a very good selection http://www,Railpub.com

[EddieB]

For the sheer amount of information condensed into a thick paperback, annual editions of the Canadian Trackside Guide are indispensable.

[steve1]

Signatures In Steel by Greg McDonnell

 

Really useful picture book.

 

steve

[Adrian Wintle]

Here are a few:

 

Turbotrain: A Journey (the book on the CN/VIA Turbo by Jason Schron of Rapido trains)

 

RailCanada volumes (painting/lettering diagrams, primarily locos)

 

National Passenger Chronicle volumes (CN and predecessor passenger stock/history - somewhat disjointed but lots of information)

 

Adrian

[BR60103]

You guys couldn't wait for me?

 

General

 

Lines of Country / An Atlas of Railway and Waterway History in Canada -- Christopher Andreae, Boston Mills Press, 1997

Maps showing the rail and canal lines in Canada, giving the years built and abandoned and the ownerships. Usually 3 different dates for a region, plus detailed maps for cities. Also text and photographs. Comes in a nice cloth bag with handles.

 

Canadian National

 

Canadian National Passenger Car Equipment -- joint effort of Canadian National and Upper Canada Railway Society, 1967

A 3" looseleaf binder giving car diagrams and details for all CN's passenger equipment, with updates to 1971. This was used by CN employees for whatever purpose. The diagrams aren't good enough to build models but show interior layouts and detail things like electrical equipment and trucks, dates of building and the numbers of the cars that were in service. The book was supposed to be updated by discarding and replacing pages so copies may not be complete. Otherwise, you get a picture of the CN fleet from Centennial year to VIA. The time period includes the Turbo and Tempo trains and a cafe car with coal-burning stove.

[BR60103]

Canadian Pacific

Van Horne's Road -- Omer Lavallee, Railfare 1974

The building of the Canadian Pacific railway. Seen from more of a Railroader's perspective than Pierre Berton's more political books. The first book you should buy on CPR history. Ithink it's still in print but by a different publisher.

 

Canadian Pacific Steam Locomotives -- Omer Lavallee, Railfare, 1985. (mentioned before) The best reference work on CP steam power. Shows every class that a phoot exists of and includes the renumberings and reclassifications. (Lavallee was CPR's official archivist)

 

Canadian Pacific Railway Diagrams and Data -- Omer Lavallee, Railfare, 1985. A reproduction of the 1945 official book from CPR. Diagrams giving main dimensions and roster lists.

 

Nicholas Morant's Canadian Pacific -- J.F. Garden, Footprint Publishing, 1992. Large format pictures by CPR's official photographer.

 

Canadian Pacific in the Rockies Vol 1-9 -- BRMNA Calgary Group. Large format pictures with detailed captions. The first few volumes are Morant's pictures. Many more in the series on CP elsewhere, CN, other railways.

[BR60103]

Toronto Transit

Fifty Years of Progressive Transit -- John F Bromley and Jack May, Electric Railroaders Assn, 1973.
A review of the first 50 years of the Toronto Transportation/Transit Commission. Covers the period from the takeover by the city to publication. Rosters, maps and route diagrams at various dates. A railfan's view.

TTC '28 -- John F Bromley, UCRS, 1968. A snapshot of the TTC system at its streetcar zenith. Includes track diagrams.

Street Railways of Toronto 1861-1921 Louis H Pursley, Interurbans Special, 1958
Toronto Trolley Car Story 1921-1961 Louis H Pursley, Interurbans Special, 1961 (?)
Hard to get (I don't have copies), 2 volumes chronicling the Toronto Street car systems before and after the city bought them. Author worked for TTC. For ages these were the only railfan books on the system.

I found copies at a small museum in California.

[tpm1ca]

Canadian National in Ontario - 1950s

 

Nobody has mentioned the excellent series of books by author Ian Wilson on the Canadian National Railway's operations in Ontario in the 1950s. More information can be found on Ian's website.

 

Each offers track maps for an entire division - from major yards and terminals to small towns with only a few track switches. Each is full of inspiration for those looking to model - accurately - a Canadian steam-era railway.

 

I have the set - and it was "Steam Echoes of Hamilton" that inspired me to choose the branch line terminal at Port Rowan as the focus of my home layout.

 

Cheers!

 

- Trevor

[dibber25]

Signatures In Steel by Greg McDonnell

 

Really useful picture book.

 

steve

This is a truly FABULOUS book! Its coverage is country-wide and from 1950s, right through. There's a couple of shots of steam-hauled local on some weed-grown branch in Ontario (I think) taken by R. Sandusky, whose pictures are superb. My copy was a Christmas gift from Mrs. Leigh.

CHRIS LEIGH

[Adrian Wintle]

Last Trains From Lindsay by Keith Hansen - a wonderful look at a selection (mostly CN) of the secondary lines of south-central Ontario. Lots of colour photos and sketch maps. Unfortunately quite expensive these days.

 

VIA in Color - The First 25 Years by Kevin J Holland. A new book from Morning Sun with lovely colour coverage of VIA across the country. http://www.morningsunbooks.com/new.html

 

If you are interested in passenger train formations, Eric Gagnon's Trackside with VIA books are a good reference (but don't have much in the way of photos).

 

Adrian

[Mike Boucher]

Ian Wilson's books are PHENOMENAL!  Some of the best railroad books I've ever seen.  Great photos, Wonderful writing, track diagrams, etc.

http://www.canadianbranchline.com/books.htm

 

If you're at all interested in Canadian steam during the 40s and 50s, you need these books in your collection.  I can't recommend them highly enough.

[steve1]

Mentioned in the latest Model Railroad Craftsman is "The Canadian Pacific's Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway. The CPR Steam Years 1905-1949" by Robert D Turner and Donald F MacLachlan, pub. Sono Nis Press at $49.95

 

A history of Vancouver Island railways and by the look of it, essential for anyone interested in the subject (ie me!). Vol 2 also promised too I believe.

 

Might be of interest to certain Mr Leigh too.

 

steve

[Northpoint]

Signatures In Steel by Greg McDonnell

 

Really useful picture book.

 

steve

 

Plus McDonnell's other two:

 

Passing Trains, (The Boston Mills Press, ISBN 1-55046-183-4)

 

Canadian Pacific - Stand fast, Craigellachie! (The Boston Mills Press, ISBN 1-55046-402-7)

 

Another one I picked up when I was there a few years ago is Rusty Rails by John R Hardy, ISBN 0-9684993-0-9. It chronicles in pictures the last years of many of the branch lines in Midwestern Ontario. A good reference book with mainly B/W photos (a few in clour) but the photos aren't reproduced to the quality one might expect today.