Thomas W Dixon

Primarily intended as a reference for model railroaders; I bought this book because the agency I worked for was probably going to buy at least one and possibly two old railroad yards as part of our transit expansion program and I wanted to be prepared to deal with whatever we found.


Coaling stations were often impressive reinforced concrete structures that took coal by conveyor from hopper cars, stored it overhead, and dropped it through chutes into locomotive tenders. Some could store 2000 tons of coal, and they often incorporated water towers, sand dumps, and ash handling stations – a “one stop” service lane. Because they were so massive, some rail yards still have them – the coal and ash handling equipment long since removed but the sand equipment still present and the tower still there because it’s too expensive to demolish.


Might be interesting if you’re a model railroader or just want to see yet another fascinating piece of obsolete railroad infrastructure. As far as my environmental concerns go, maybe some heavy metals in the ash pits, possibly PCBs in the heavy electrical equipment for conveyors, and, as always, asbestos all over. I don’t think there are any coaling stations still standing at the yards, but I want to look at the places where they used to be and see if there’s anything interesting.… (meer)

This book is an account of Chessie the Railroad Cat, an advertising icon of the Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Railroad that hit its hey-day in the 1930s and 40s. I picked it up because of a conversation I had with someone who had a trivet of Chessie the Railroad Cat and in telling me the story of how he acquired it, he seemed to expect I would know who Chessie was -- and I didn't. I chose this book to fill in that information gap. Overall, it was very helpful in doing so. I learned a lot about railroads in pre-WW2 times and the advertising using Chessie (if I ever see the calendars from the '30s and '40s at a tag sale, I now know to pick them up). The typos and profusion of exclamation points were frustrating, but it was a quick read and fit the bill in giving me the information I sought.… (meer)