1989-1999 Volume 1: Maine, New Hampshire & Vermont
Review by Otto M. Vondrak

	New England Central train 324 storms through Berlin, Vermont, October 1995. Photo by Mike Confalone.
	Aroostock Valley 44-tonner number 10 switches the Skyway Industrial Park at Presque Isle, Maine, September 28, 1990. Photo by Pete Peverett.
	After having crossed the St. John River to interchange with CN at St. Leonard, New Brunswick, BAR’s Madawaska Local is seen west of Van Buren heading back to Madawaska September 23, 1992. Photo by Allan Bradbury.
	CP MLW RS-18’s 1801 and 1866 pose at Newport, Vermont following the Blizzard of ’93, March 15, 1993. Photo by Steve Carlson.
	Eastbound CP train 280 crosses the Mattawamkeag River as it works the Guilford interchange at Mattawamkeag behind a quartet of big MLW’s on a clear day in March, 1989. Photo by Tom Carver.
	CV train 444 is lead by six GP38AC’s over the Lamoille River on the Georgia High Bridge in March, 1992. Photo by Marc Ginter.
	With white flags flying, the Green Mountain Flyer races across Brockways Mills Gorge on October 13, 1995 pulling a fleet of beautifully restored Rutland coaches. Photo by Doug Lezette.
	Twin State local with RS-11 3608 notches up at the Whitefield ball signal, June 1993. Photo by Mike Confalone.

The railroad scene is constantly changing as the large railroads get larger, short lines grow and retreat, and the national rail map continues to be redrawn. Nowhere has this been truer than in New England. As manufacturing in New England relocated to friendlier climates, rail traffic levels continued to drop off. The dawn of the 1980s brought drastic change as Maine Central, Boston & Maine, and Delaware & Hudson were brought under the umbrella of Guilford Industries. Overnight, traditional routings changed and affected many smaller roads that depended on connecting carloads. Busy junctions fell silent and former mainlines were abandoned. Branch lines withered and died, though some were reborn with the help of state government. Scott Hartley’s excellent book, Guilford: Five Years of Change, effectively documented the tumultuous New England rail scene during the first few years of Guilford reign.

As we approached the end of the millennium, even more change was on the horizon. Bankrupt Delaware & Hudson had been cast off by Guilford and acquired by Canadian Pacific in 1991. Canadian National and CP scaled back their northern New England operations. In 1995, CN completed its sale of Central Vermont Railway to RailTex. Battle-weary Bangor & Aroostock was sold off to private investors. The 1990’s would see familiar shortlines and regionals fade away, while new ones took root.

Rails Across New England is a new book by Mike Confalone and Joe Posik, publishers of the popular Railroad Explorer quarterly magazine. This latest work carries on their tradition of excellent color photography and reproduction. This volume documents the action in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont from the point of view of a variety of photographers. The photos displayed show true creativity — if you’re expecting page after page of three-quarter “wedgie” shots down by the depot, look elsewhere. Not being very familiar with many of the northern locations shown, the selected images gave me a good idea of what the local rail scene was all about.

Turning the pages, it’s hard to believe that ten or more years have passed since many of the images were recorded. Some of the railroads featured are no longer operating. Weren’t we watching green and gold Central Vermont units pound the rails along the Connecticut River just the other day? Can it be that the scrappy Lamoille Valley is slowly giving way to a recreational trail? Some may say that it’s too soon to document and look back; I say, why wait? Better to look back now with a keen eye than let twenty or thirty years obscure our memories.

With so many trackside photographers, the publishers had many quality submissions to consider for this latest volume. As I paged through the book, I observed as the face of New England railroad changed through the decade. Some of the scenes may now be gone, but we can still enjoy them through the excellent photography presented in Rails Across New England.

The book is laid out in an attractive horizontal format, allowing the photos maximum area on a page. The text is laid out neatly, and the captions are short and to the point (the photos are telling most of the story here). Particularly enjoyable was the short introductory text to each railroad. A clean regional map on the inside front cover provides a handy reference for the lines covered. The book is grouped roughly by geography, starting our tour in Maine, progressing through to the railroads of New Hampshire, and finally, Vermont. Railroads that ran in multiple territories are displayed multiple times-- Guilford, for instance, appears in all three sections.

Be forewarned, not every photo in this book was taken on a bright and sunny day in June. However, when you consider that railroading in the northeast occurs in all kinds of weather conditions, this is a minor quibble. I did notice a few images reproduced darker than normal, but that appears to be a discrepancy with the printer, not with the photographers. There were some sections that I wished were longer or featured more photos. Each railroad is given good coverage, yet I’m sure you could easily make a 128-page book for each railroad featured in Rails Across New England.

Fans will have a hard time putting this book down — the excellent photos invite you to keep turning pages. While not a complete history of each road and operation, the text makes this book a valuable reference for anyone curious about New England railroading of the 1990s. In all, I found Rails Across New England to be a very good addition to my library. Whether you live in the area, or you’re just a casual fan, Rails Across New England serves as the perfect scorecard to a game where the players are constantly changing.

Rails Across New England: 1989-1999 Volume 1: Maine, New Hampshire & Vermont By Mike Confalone and Joe Posik $39.95 list price Softbound, all-color, 128 pages. 11x8.5 http://www.railsacrossnewengland.com/order.htm