Lackawanna Volume III - by Canfield

Can anyone give feedback / review of the new Morning Sun color book by John Canfield ?

I enjoyed it. The photography is excellent, as to be expected of an MSB release. It is a bit of a departure from the previous EL books in that it is not arranged geographically but chronologically from the time of the merger.

It was interesting to hear an employee's take of how things were run within the company. I think most railfans are not aware of what goes on in the offices, so his views were most interesting. After all, most railfan publications only focus on the trains and the physical plant, not the behind-the-scenes operations. What one needs to remember is that these are his views and opinions.

Knowing that the Erie was the surviving company it comes as no surprise that right after the merger Erie personnel, routes, promotions, etc would take priority over those from the DLW. What was an eye-opener for me was reading the section of the book relating to when William White and Gregory Maxwell took control of the EL in the late 60's. Mr. Canfield stated that a Lackawanna man was promoted to assist a manager and that a former Erie employee made a comment that the decision to put a DLW man in that position should be rethought. That struck me as ironic if only because the Erie went through numerous bankruptcies right from the beginning whereas the DLW was always a moneymaker up until Hurricane Diane in 1955.

I digress....it is a good book and a great addition to the EL series.

Joe P

My father just got the book, I'm reading it now...

A good share of the pics are post WWII color steam pictures, many of them good quality. There are even some color steam action on the B&P branch, a month before diesel took over.