New Book on the Way

Here is the date on the new A&A Arcadia Publishing Picture book availability!

http://www.arcadiapublishing.com/mm5/me ... ange_high=


It will available at Arcadia's website and through the A&A gift shop once it is printed.

Pat,
That is great. But who is the author? Here is the excerpt about him from the website:

Author Bio: Kenneth C. Springirth, author of Greater Erie Trolleys, Johnstown Trolleys and Incline, Pittsburgh Streamlined Trolleys, Suburban Philadelphia Trolleys, East Broad Top Railroad, Southeastern Pennsylvania Trolleys, and Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad, has a vested interest in rail history, as his father was a trolley car motorman in Philadelphia, and his grandfather was a motorman in Washington, D.C. A transportation historian, he has been documenting and chronicling the history of the Arcade and Attica Railroad since 1962.

I was under the impression that you were writing it.

These little books are great; this publisher specializes in printing books about local history and the history of local landmarks. They have tons of titles available about locales and landmarks within New York State, alone, and it's marvelous to see that they will be including the Arcade & Attica Railroad in their selection. All of their (many) titles concerning Western New York are regularly stocked at Borders and Barnes & Noble stores in this area and are very popular...as this one will surely be.

This is a very good thing for the Arcade & Attica Railroad, actually. Readers who love history or who are simply fans of these books but have no particular interest in railroads will read all about it, now, and a local treasure that they may not even be aware of will now be revealed to them.

I'm really looking forward to seeing this book.

The book is officially available on November 2nd. They can be ordered directly from Arcadia and their website. I've received the first copy of it and it came together very nicely!

The A&A is taking orders for them as well. There will be a book signing at Arcade in later November (the 21st I believe), but I need to verify the date. All of the books sold through the A&A directly benefit them as they can realize some income on each copy sold, whereas those bought through Arcadia benefits the publisher. Anyone interested in seeing the book, or ordering one from the Railroad can see it at their souvenir stand, or call the railroad directly (585)492-3100. Not that I am pushing people away from Arcadia direct, but local sales of the book will go towards helping the railroad out as well and stay right here in Western New York! Arrangements can be made to have any purchased through the railroad signed by the Author as well.

That is great news. Can you share how it is different from the Ed Lewis book? I don't mean little details, but instead the general focus of the new book? Does it feature modern history (post 1970s)? Does it include maps showing track arangements for places like Arcade and Curriers? Are there any "rare" pictures/slides that alone make it worthwhile to purchase it?

Obviously, I am getting a copy no matter what is in it!

Ben:

I briefly flipped through the copy that the gift shop has on display and, although I didn't examine it closely enough to answer most of your questions, I can confidently predict that you (and any other A&A devotee) will thoroughly enjoy the book. It's chock full of images, and many are pictures I've never seen before.

Arcadia books tend to focus on the "olden days" as opposed to recent history, but it seems they managed to bend the rules because there were a number of more contemporary images and references. I know the author of one of the many, many Arcadia books out there, and they did a great job with her book, "Kiddie Parks of the Adirondacks". These books are a lot smaller than Ed Lewis' book, which was gargantuan.

If you go to just about any bookstore you'll find these Arcadia books on the shelves dealing with any number of topics pertaining to local history. They're all pretty similar to one another, so if you want to get an idea of what the A&A book is like, take a look at a couple. Or if you decide to ride the rails one last time before the season ends, check out the copy they have in the depot.

At any rate, the A&A book will be available in November, as Pat points out, so you'll soon see for yourself, once they hit the stores. Too bad they couldn't defer the release until the beginning of the next season, though. Nothing goes on at the A&A in November and it'll be a challenge to convince people to come out just to buy a copy rather than buy it online or head to Barnes & Noble.

Now, were they to offer a book signing excursion of some sort...

As James stated, this is a classic book like all the others that Arcadia publishes. It is mainly a picture book with little "new" facts in it. It is a brief overview of the A&A history. Due to the lack of space for lengthy text, it is only an overview of what was covered in the Lewis Book. It briefly touches on important dates of earlier railroad companies, but covers mainly the A&A itself. (This is one problem I have with all Arcadia books is the lack of text content, but they are intended to be more of a picture story of historic things. I know...pictures are worth a thousand words, so if the quality of the pictures is good enough, then it appeals to many people.)

I don't think you will be disappointed in the picture content. There are many unpublished photos that cover early history right up to today. For the excursion fans, Ken Springrith has been chasing the A&A since 1962. He has great pictures of early excursions, including several pages on Loco #14 alone! There are a few timetables from early operations, including the TV&C, A&A, PRR and Erie. There is only one map showing the current configuration of the A&A. A few of the pictures were printed a little dark in my early copy. There are over 200 views and there should be something to please everyone.

This book does cover the current story of the A&A, including return to steam, the Extreme Makeover exposure, The Friends Display and even the "secret" freight run at the end of last season!

Unfortunately, with 18 awaiting repairs, we can't sneak another freight special in this season....

BSOR Patarak wrote:Unfortunately, with 18 awaiting repairs, we can't sneak another freight special in this season....

You know, Pat, that if you TOLD us that there was going to be a freight special this year then it wouldn't be sneaky?

Hear - hear.

I'd be interested in getting an author signed copy, since I think it's fun to have them. Bonus for supporting the A&A as well.

But assuming that I can't get down there on the book signing date, any suggestions on how to proceed?

I know that at some book signings, there is an additional stock (and sometimes "large pile!") of books that are signed which are then sold afterwards. The local Barnes and Noble branch does this. Depending on the amount of inventory that the A&A Shop is planning to carry, this might be an idea.

OT: I once called down to a bookshop in NJ to have a book signed for me by an author. I gave them my credit card information and the book arrived about a week after signing with a personal inscription (to me).

Call Trudy at the A & A. She can get one signed by the author for you and will mail it to you upon her receipt of your payment. She agreed to do this for me.

I will also get signed copies if anyone needs. I intend to be at the WNY Show on the 21/22 at Hamburg and they will be available there. Just let me know if you want one reserved.

Pat

Since there hasn't been a lot of talk lately on the forum and by now everyone has had time to read and digest the information in the new Arcadia book, any additional thoughts? Anyone care to provide an example of something in the new book that they didn't know about the A&A?

I've got my book anyone else?

It went on my Christmas list.... so I don't want to purchase it in case my wife got me a copy of it. Having two copies isn't bad (I have two copies of the other books), but it would probably hurt her feelings. So, I am playing the waiting game.