Railroad Forums 

  • A Lucius Beebe Book ?

  • Discussion related to railroads/trains that show up in TV shows, commercials, movies, literature (books, poems and more), songs, the Internet, and more... Also includes discussion of well-known figures in the railroad industry or the rail enthusiast hobby.
Discussion related to railroads/trains that show up in TV shows, commercials, movies, literature (books, poems and more), songs, the Internet, and more... Also includes discussion of well-known figures in the railroad industry or the rail enthusiast hobby.

Moderator: Aa3rt

 #743225  by calaisbranch
 
Not too long ago, I got what I thought was a pretty sweet deal on an old Lucius Beebe book. It's called " HIGHBALL: A Pageant of Trains." This particular one was printed in 1945 by BONANZA/Crown Publisher's Inc. out of NY, NY. It cost me a whole $4.50 in 2000. The back of the dust cover has advertisements for four other Bonanza books at the time. Overall, the jacket is in so-so condition, but I'd consider the book, itself, to be in good condition. I think of how many self-appointed professional rail photographers tell us what they think, but this seemed to be a pioneer prototype for today's books on trains.
 #743272  by Marty Feldner
 
Actually, your Bonanza edition is a reprint (form the late 50's, early 60's, as I remember). The original 1945 edition was published by D. Appleton-Century Company of New York and London. Photo reproduction compared to the original is not great; grainy, excessive contrast, loss of detail. I have both, and the difference is striking.

Back before WWII, and into the early postwar period, the Lucius Beebe/Charles M. Clegg books were pretty much the gold standard of railroad-oriented books- featuring Beebe's flowery prose, and Clegg's photography.

My father had all of them (they are mine now), and I grew up reading and re-reading them in the fifties.
 #750180  by Otto Vondrak
 
Beebe's books were the first mass-market railroad books ever put into circulation. They were cheaply made, cheaply produced, and suffered from photo reproduction issues. Not to mention the market is flooded with them.

However, they are a great insight into the railroad world of Lucius Beebe, and opened the gateway for other railroad books to follow after him.

-=otto-