David Plowden

A Time of Trains is a collection of black and white photographs taken by the author in the last days of steam. The photographs were taken in the U.S. and in Canada and they span the usual range of subject matter (locomotives in action, railroad personalities, railroad yards, stations, track patterns, etc.) and weather. The pictures are well executed and well presented – one picture per page complete with a caption. What makes this book stand out from the pack of books of railroad photography is the text which occupies the first 24 pages of the book. In those pages the author/photographer provides insight into his interest in railroading and railroad photography and he provides one of the finest first person descriptions of working on the railroad that I have ever read: his ride in the cab of #2505, the head end power for The Fast Mail on the Great Northern Railway on Christmas Eve 1955. I’ve reviewed the pictures in A Time of Trains several times since I first purchased the book, however, I can’t even estimate the number of times I’ve read and re-read the opening pages and the story of the run of #2505. (Text Length - 25 pages, Total Length - 160 pages. Includes glossary) (Book Dimensions inches LxWxH - 10 x .75 x 11.25)… (mer)