Random House New Releases - Crafts & Hobbies - Model Railroading

British Railways in the 1970s and 80s by Greg Morse

2013-08-20T00:30:00-05:00

British Railways in the 1970s and 80s
Written by Greg Morse

Trade Paperback, 4000 pages | Shire | Transportation - Railroads - History; History - Great Britain; Crafts & Hobbies - Model Railroading | $12.95 | 978-0-7478-1251-7 (0-7478-1251-9)

For British Rail, the 1970s was a time of contrasts, when bad jokes about sandwiches and pork pies often veiled real achievement, like increasing computerisation and the arrival of the high-speed Inter-City 125s. But while television advertisements told of an 'Age of the Train', Monday morning misery remained for many, the commuter experience steadily worsening as rolling stock aged and grew ever more uncomfortable. Yet when BR launched new electrification schemes and introduced new suburban trains in the 80s, focus fell on the problems that beset the Advanced Passenger Train, whose ignominious end came under the full media glare. In British Rail in the 1970s and '80s, Greg Morse takes us through a world of Traveller's Fare, concrete concourses and peak-capped porters, a difficult period, which began with the aftershock of Beeching and ended with BR becoming the first nationalized passenger network in the world to make a profit.

Playing with Trains by Sam Posey

2007-12-18T00:30:00-05:00

Playing with Trains A Passion Beyond Scale
Written by Sam Posey

eBook, 240 pages | Random House | Biography & Autobiography; Crafts & Hobbies - Model Railroading | $9.99 | 978-0-307-43161-5 (0-307-43161-4)

Why do grown men play with trains? Is it a primal attachment to childhood, nostalgia for the lost age of rail travel, or the stuff of flat-out obsession? In this delightful and unprecedented book, Grand Prix legend Sam Posey tracks those who share his “passion beyond scale” and discovers a wonderfully strange and vital culture.

Posey’s first layout, wired by his mother in the years just after the Second World War, was, as he writes in his Introduction, “a miniature universe which I could operate on my own. Speed and control: I was fascinated by both, as well as by the way they were inextricably bound together.” Eventually, when Posey’s son was born, he was convinced that building him a basement layout would be the highest expression of fatherhood. Sixteen years and thousands of hours later, this project, “the outgrowth of chance meetings, unexpected friendships, mistakes, illness, latent ambitions, and sheer luck” was completed. But for Posey, the creation of his HO-scale masterpiece based on the historic Colorado Midland, was just the beginning.

In Playing with Trains, Sam Posey ventures well beyond the borders of his layout in northwestern Connecticut, to find out what makes the top modelers tick. He expects to find men “engaged in a genial hobby, happy to spend a few hours a week escaping the pressures of contemporary life.” Instead he uncovers a world of extremes–extreme commitment, extreme passion, and extreme differences of approach. For instance, Malcolm Furlow, holed up on his ranch in the wilderness of New Mexico, insists that model railroading is defined by scenery and artistic self-expression. On the other hand, Tony Koester, a New Jersey modeler, believes his “mission” is to replicate, with fanatical precision and authenticity, the way a real railroad operates. Going to extremes himself, Posey actually “test drives” a real steam engine in Strasburg, Pennsylvania, in an attempt to understand the great machines that inspired the models and connect us to a time when “the railroad was inventing America.” Timeless and original, Playing with Trains reveals a classic, questing American world.

From the Hardcover edition.

Playing with Trains by Sam Posey

2005-11-08T00:30:00-05:00

Playing with Trains A Passion Beyond Scale
Written by Sam Posey

Trade Paperback, 240 pages | Random House Trade Paperbacks | Biography & Autobiography; Crafts & Hobbies - Model Railroading | $13.95 | 978-0-8129-7126-2 (0-8129-7126-4)

Random House New Releases - Crafts & Hobbies - Model Railroading

British Railways in the 1970s and 80s by Greg Morse

British Railways in the 1970s and 80s Written by Greg Morse

Playing with Trains by Sam Posey

Playing with Trains A Passion Beyond ScaleWritten by Sam Posey

Playing with Trains by Sam Posey

Playing with Trains A Passion Beyond ScaleWritten by Sam Posey

British Railways in the 1970s and 80s
Written by Greg Morse

Playing with Trains A Passion Beyond Scale
Written by Sam Posey

Playing with Trains A Passion Beyond Scale
Written by Sam Posey