Favorite NYS&W books?

I know there are quite a few and most of them are all very informative.

While I like all of them, I would say the one from Walter Arndt Lucas for the history from the beginning. There's also Bob Mohowski great book for more recent times and the book by John Krause/Ed Crist is also a good one.

Ken Karlewicz and Scott Hartley's Susquehanna from Shortlines to Stackpacks (1987) is a great complement to the original Krause / Crist book, and Paul Tupaczewski's Susquehanna in Color is excellent as well. Bob Mohowski's history is probably the most thorough, but the photo collections are wonderful from the first two books. All titles make a great library.

RichM wrote:Ken Karlewicz and Scott Hartley's Susquehanna from Shortlines to Stackpacks (1987) is a great complement to the original Krause / Crist book, and Paul Tupaczewski's Susquehanna in Color is excellent as well. Bob Mohowski's history is probably the most thorough, but the photo collections are wonderful from the first two books. All titles make a great library.

I believe I have those two as well. I just haven't been able to get to them as of yet. I'm on Bob's book now and that looks like it will take some time to get through.

I did, however, look through those books and did like the pictures. I'm sure the information will be just as good.

Ken

The Krause / Crist book (from Carstens, I believe) is a good book. It would be better with detailed maps of locations like old Green Pond Jct, the old Little Ferry yard, etc.

It's amazing how some locations have changed. Crystal Lake was a country road and a forested area in 1955, it's now a superhighway interchange with I-287 and NJ 208 intersecting almost overhead.

Lackawanna484 wrote:The Krause / Crist book (from Carstens, I believe) is a good book. It would be better with detailed maps of locations like old Green Pond Jct, the old Little Ferry yard, etc.

It's amazing how some locations have changed. Crystal Lake was a country road and a forested area in 1955, it's now a superhighway interchange with I-287 and NJ 208 intersecting almost overhead.

What does Excelsior Mills look like today? I'm going to explore around the Green Pond Jct area once it gets a little bit warmer.

I would also suggest The Next Station Will Be... books. Volume 1 covers Jersey City to Beaver Lake and the Edgewater, Lodi, Passaic, and Hanford Branches. Volume 5 covers Beaver Lake to Stroudsburg and the entire Wilkes Barre & Eastern. Volume 5 is long out of print, Volume 1 can be bought at amazon.com

Absolutely, a classic. Any word on how the second edition is selling, and further reprints? I see the last several volumes for the Erie stations in the Midwest still around, but I'd like to get a copy of the out of print volume 5, as well as the Northern RR.

Thanks for the recommendations. I guess there's always eBay or some train show for those out-of-prints. That's how I found some of those hard to finds.

Ken

NJ Vike,

Excelsior Mills doesn't look that much different today than it did back when the pictures in the Krause/Crist book were taken. Actually most of the NYS&W from Butler west looks pretty much the same as it did 20-30 years ago.

I'm an absolute bookworm and have a HUGE railroad library, including all the NYS&W books listed here but one. Bob Mohowski did a Susie-Q book? If it's anything like his NYO&W book, it must be pretty good. How new (or old) is it? And is it still in print?

Joe P

jmp883 wrote:NJ Vike,

Excelsior Mills doesn't look that much different today than it did back when the pictures in the Krause/Crist book were taken. Actually most of the NYS&W from Butler west looks pretty much the same as it did 20-30 years ago.

I'm an absolute bookworm and have a HUGE railroad library, including all the NYS&W books listed here but one. Bob Mohowski did a Susie-Q book? If it's anything like his NYO&W book, it must be pretty good. How new (or old) is it? And is it still in print?

Joe P

Joe,

Thanks for the info. Yes, Bob did a book more than several years ago on the NYS&W. Here's the link to AMAZON.COM where you can get a good idea of what's in it:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... ce&s=books

NJ Vike,

Thanks for the info....have to get a copy to add to my library.

Thanks,

Joe P

Surprised Bob Pennisi didn't do a softcover on the "Q".

yes the book by Krause/Crist is good but could be revised with good detailed maps.

speaking of the WB&E does any of the ROW exist as rail-trails today ?

bringing this back from the dead. where can i get the from shortlines to stacktrains book? i won the one in the link and an older one with a steam engine on it on ebay. but cannot find the other.

Railpace originally published it, my copy doesn't have an ISBN number on it, only a Library of Congress Catalog Number, 87-20698.

You might try some of the bookstores that advertise in the print media, or hit a trainshow and find a bookseller there.

Problem with most of these publications is by their nature, there aren't many copies printed, and reprints and second editions are rare. Other issue is that most of us on these forums would never part with these things!

But this is a pretty pleasant community, if you have no luck finding it, maybe someone out here can locate one.

Original cover price was $23.95, I'm not sure if that means anything anymore.

i'll keep searching. hopefully i'll be able to find one. i'll check a few stores. if you google it, nothing even comes up.