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New Book: Field Guide to Trains, Locomotives and Rolling Stock.

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This afternoon (June 6, 2016) received my author’s advance copy of Field Guide to Trains, Locomotives and Rolling Stock published by Voyageur Press.

The book will be soon available from the publisher, as well as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, among other select bookstores and vendors.

In this compact 208-page soft-cover volume, I’ve covered a lot of ground by including not just modern mainline freight and passenger locomotives, but also historic engines, railroad rolling stock, as well as a sampling of light rail and heavy rail rapid transit cars.

Breda Light Rail cars glide along on a former Santa Fe Railway right of way in Los Angeles, California. This is the opening spread to the section on Rail Transit that covers chapters on Light Rail Vehicles and Heavy Rail Rapid Transit cars. I exposed this view in 2008 using my Canon EOS 3 and Fujichrome slide film. Many of the most recent images in the book were made digitally.
Breda Light Rail cars glide along on a former Santa Fe Railway right of way in Los Angeles, California. This photo is the opening spread for the section on Rail Transit that covers chapters on Light Rail Vehicles and Heavy Rail Rapid Transit cars. I exposed this image in Spring  2008 using my Canon EOS 3 and Fujichrome slide film. Many of the most recent images in the book were made digitally.

The high-quality photo reproduction impressed me.

I’ve dedicated the book to my friends Dan and Mary Howard.

In addition to my own photos, and those of my father’s and Dan’s, I’ve also included the work of contributing photographers including: Timothy Doherty, Chris Guss, Scott Lothes, Jack May, Tom Kline, Jim Shaughnessy, Patrick Yough, and Walter E. Zullig. The cover photo was supplied by Shutterstock.

This is the title page of my new book. My father exposed this classic view of Alco Road Switchers near 16th Street in Chicago on a trip there in June 1961. While most of the photos in the book are contemporary color views, I thought I'd spice up the content with a handful of historic photos. This one was made using a Rolleiflex Model T on black & white negative film. I've always like the semaphores at the far left.
This is the title page of my new book. My father, Richard Jay Solomon, exposed this classic view of Alco Road Switchers near 16th Street in Chicago on a trip there in June 1961. While most of the photos in the book are contemporary color views, I thought I’d spice up the content with a handful of historic photos. This one was made using a Rolleiflex Model T on black & white negative film. I’ve always like the semaphores at the far left. (Pardon the fold, I’ve scanned this directly from the book.)

In addition to basic technical descriptions, in my writing I’ve tried to put the different types of equipment in historical and developmental context, while illustrating the subjects using a variety of photographic styles. Many of the images are contemporary, but I’ve also included a few oldies from my father’s collection.

Thanks to everyone at Voyageur Press for their help in producing this fine looking book including my editor Todd Berger, project manager Alyssa Bluhm, art director James Kegley, and layout artist Amy Sly.

Special thanks to Steve Roth for helping to promote this book and for sending me my author’s advance copy!

Brian Solomon’s Tracking the Light is updated Every Day.