New Book: "Pig & Whistle: The Story of the P&W&

http://www.cera-chicago.org/books/book_catalog.htm

From the late author Ronald DeGraw who wrote the Red Arrow books of the 70's.

My father just received the book and I was able to look over it and ordered a copy for myself. Lots of informaton and pictures. I did not know they ran former New York elevated steam locos for construction of the line.

Sarge, I don't think this board has a large enough typeface for my THANK YOU. I was honored to know Ron for many years and to be the beneficiary of his advice and counsel.

On one of the last times I heard from him, he said that he had plans to update Pig and Whistle. So sad that we'll never know what he had in mind.

the sarge wrote:http://www.cera-chicago.org/books/book_catalog.htm

From the late author Ronald DeGraw who wrote the Red Arrow books of the 70's. ...

Sorry to hear that. I have his 'Red Arrow - the 1st 100 Years' book. Was there ever a follow-up book (covering 1949-1968)?

You might not know this, but there is a Ronald DeGraw-authored book which preceded yours and it covers that time period you asked about. I speak of the original Red Arrow book ( "The Red Arrow: A history of one of the most successful suburban transit companies in the world" ) published in 1972 by Haverford Press. Its coverage goes right up to PST's purchase by SEPTA. It is now quite hard to find for sale, even at any price.

The one in your possession was the 1985 book printed by Interurban Press which clarified and expanded somewhat upon Red Arrow's first century. Looks as if one needs all three volumes to get what Ron thought of as "the big picture". I can't help but wonder how much of the P&W book's manuscript was written by Ron himself and how much was tidied up/filled in/guesstimated by others after his death. We may never know his intentions or his whole plan for this long-awaited book. That makes me feel melancholy.

You can find "The Red Arrow: A history of one of the most successful suburban transit companies in the world" used at amazon from a vendor for $214.99. Also, you can get the first 100 years book for $20 at amazon.

Thank you, sarge. With regard to the 1972 volume, I am surprised...the Amazon price is indeed a discount. I've seen prices at train memorabilia shows of $275. I paid slightly more than half of the current Amazon price for a used copy ten years ago. I wasn't happy then but I am now!

WRT the new P&W book, can any of you early purchasers out there confirm if it includes a color photo section? A book of this importance should have had several photos of the Brill Bullet cars with their brilliant and clean livery from the 1940s.

Franklin Gowen wrote:WRT the new P&W book, can any of you early purchasers out there confirm if it includes a color photo section? A book of this importance should have had several photos of the Brill Bullet cars with their brilliant and clean livery from the 1940s.

Just got mine today. There are just a handful of color photos. Nearly all the photos (and there are a lot!) are black and white. I don't see any color shots of the Brills before the 1960s, but I may have missed one in my glance through the book.

Franklin Gowen wrote:Thank you, sarge. With regard to the 1972 volume, I am surprised...the Amazon price is indeed a discount. I've seen prices at train memorabilia shows of $275. I paid slightly more than half of the current Amazon price for a used copy ten years ago. I wasn't happy then but I am now!

Keep hunting and you may get lucky. I got my copy via eBay of all places for $80 a few years ago. My copy of "The First Hundred Years" was purchased at Todd's Hobby Shop; where else?

Franklin Gowen wrote:You might not know this, but there is a Ronald DeGraw-authored book which preceded yours and it covers that time period you asked about. I speak of the original Red Arrow book ( "The Red Arrow: A history of one of the most successful suburban transit companies in the world" ) published in 1972 by Haverford Press. Its coverage goes right up to PST's purchase by SEPTA. It is now quite hard to find for sale, even at any price.

Yes, I was aware of this book. (In fact, I saw a copy at Todd's Hobby Shop in 69th Street in the late 1970s, and have been kicking myself ever since for not buying it.) I assumed the later book(s) updated and expanded on that 1972 book. I just didn't know if DeGraw ever continued on with a sequel to the 1848-1948 book.

So, I will take The Sarge's advice and visit Amazon.com!

Yes. This is a great book on the history of the P&W line. The book is also
available at Septa's museum store for $65.00. I purchased the book there.

I got the P&W book at Cera.com for $60 (no tax, no shipping). I also nabbed one of the 1972 Red Arrow books on Amazon (finally).

Now, I have a lot of reading to do.