Books - Reviews by WPLives

Books - Reviews by WPLives

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Member	Item		Review/Comment
WPLives 26th Jun 2021		Book John R. Signor - Southern Pacific's Coast Line Pictorial (2000)	Review This new book is a wonderful addition to the history of the line, in that it fleshes out the visual coverage, and adds small pieces of history unable to be fit into the previous book. One of the best aspects of this new book is the many pictures reproduced from the camera of Richard Steinheimer. There are 85 such photos in the book, almost 15% of the total...As with all of John Signor's other works, it is a very well done piece of railroad history; and Thompson's historical touch adds measurably to it as well. -- Jeff Saxton, in Model Railroad News, March 2000 ✔︎ Helpful Review?
WPLives 26th Jun 2021		Book John R. Signor - Southern Pacific's Coast Line Pictorial (2000)	Review The book is a treasure trove. Other railroad publications seldom even come close to providing such detailed and comprehensive photo coverage of a single rail line, the territory it served, and the trains that ran there. -- Richard Hendrickson, in Railroad Model Craftsman magazine, June, 2000 ✔︎ Helpful Review?
WPLives 26th Jun 2021		Book John R. Signor - Southern Pacific's Coast Line (1995)	Review Signor has previously authored six highly regarded books...his latest effort is the best of the lot. -- Richard Hendrickson, Railroad Model Craftsman magazine ✔︎ Helpful Review?
WPLives 25th Jun 2021		Book Lance Mindheim - 8 Realistic Track Plans For A Spare Room (2009)	Review Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2015 Jeffery G. Smith There wasn't a great deal of depth to how the author designed the ... The book was ok. There wasn't a great deal of depth to how the author designed the layouts and why certain choices were made. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
WPLives 25th Jun 2021		Book Lance Mindheim - 8 Realistic Track Plans For A Spare Room (2009)	Review Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2013 Time Bandit100 Excellent, simple, realistic track plans Found a very practical, versatile plan adapted to my space in this book. Very good book. Excellent presentation. Recommend it highly ✔︎ Helpful Review?
WPLives 25th Jun 2021		Book Lance Mindheim - 8 Realistic Track Plans For A Spare Room (2009)	Review Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2020 Bill Not worth the money. All the plans are for the same 11' x 12' room. Only one plan allows constant running. All the plans are variations the same theme. Noth9ing really innovative or clever. Not worth $20. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
WPLives 25th Jun 2021		Book Lance Mindheim - 8 Realistic Track Plans For A Spare Room (2009)	Review Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2011 R. Lee More great ideas from a master builder... Another in the series of books from Lance Mindheim. I found the perfect layout here after searching for quite a while in other books and plans. The plans here are unique in that they capture the era and location along with the operational reasons for the railroads existance. This gives you a head start on planning the correct buildings, rolling stock and and industries to model to make the layout come alive. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
WPLives 25th Jun 2021		Book Lance Mindheim - 8 Realistic Track Plans For A Spare Room (2009)	Review Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2012 Mase Mindheim Book Review - 2 The book is well written and illustrated with photographs that are representative of the geographic areas described in the particular track plan designs. The plans allow for realistic and efficient service to the various industries represented on each track layout. All this is done with the minimum of track necessary to carry out the various switching duties. I would certainly recommend this book for the model railroader looking for a great switching layout in a small spare room. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
WPLives 25th Jun 2021		Book Lance Mindheim - 8 Realistic Track Plans For A Spare Room (2009)	Review Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2009 Fredrick C. G. Scheer 8 Realistic Track Plans for a Spare Room by Lance Mindheim Represents remarkable value. Mr. Mindheim gives you a rich palette of construction-ready, operations-ready layouts to choose from, using crystal clear graphics and augmented with straightforward, high-quality guidance without excess drivel, just what you need to get it started, built, and running. These railroads are for modelers looking for advanced design and yet are "doable" in every way, even for a novice. Part of doing a layout instead of just dreaming about one is getting in touch with what is reasonably possible in your modest space. Accordingly, Mindheim shares his discipline: (1) to put aside childish notions of huge empires in your crawl space or laundry room, and (2) to get yourself focused on what you can do to achieve a state-of-the-art rail operations platform. Having said that, any of these layouts could become a branch within a larger model railroad system. The plans are complete (with an inventory of track and switches you'll need, and showing principal structures you'll want), operationally elegant, and sophisticated, doing railroading patterned on the real thing, no silly switching puzzles and other toy train stuff in here. This is the best layout book I've seen in four decades of model railroading. You'll be pleased. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
WPLives 25th Jun 2021		Book Lance Mindheim - 8 Realistic Track Plans For A Spare Room (2009)	Review Reviewed in the United States on November 15, 2009 Paul Boehlert Layout Design For the Real World It's tempting to think of Lance Mindheim's book "8 Realistic Track Plans For a Spare Room" as strictly appealing to the small-layout fans among us, but I think it's got a lot to say to every student of model railroad design. The railroads in this book are modest and attainable, firmly based in the prototype,operationally interesting and refreshingly free from the gimmicks and gadgets that seem to teem in other current trackplans. The book itself is a simple soft-cover of 56 pages which includes 22 color photos and 12 diagrams, both trackplans and construction diagrams. One minor but much appreciated feature; smooth-finish uncoated page stock is used, making it easy to write notes and marginalia. A yellow data block accompanies each plan, with dimensions, curve radii and other vital info. Pretty standard, but appreciated nonetheless. My one gripe is with the perfect binding--opening the book flat on the workbench (it is essentially a workbook, after all) will likely result in damage to the spine and possible loss of pages. Perhaps the greatest value of this book is the support and validation it provides to the 'average model railroader'. The model press features large, elaborate layouts, as it should; such endeavors are inspiring and contain lots of great ideas. But most of us are far more humble in our vision, and Lance's books and articles serve as a continuing reminder that small and relatively uncomplicated layouts can be just as absorbing and fulfilling as the gymnasium-sized railroads. I'm considering two of the trackplans in this book for my next layout project. There's no higher accolade a planbook can receive than that. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
WPLives 25th Jun 2021		Book Lance Mindheim - 8 Realistic Track Plans For A Spare Room (2009)	Review Reviewed in the United States on August 22, 2014 J. Scofield Book for prototype modeling Great book if you are into running a railroad with lots of switching like the prototype. Lance Mindheim is the king of formulating plans for room size small model railroads with lots of prototypical switching action. His model railroads are made to operate like the real thing and not just run around in circles. If you like railroad action on your model railroad this is the book for you, or any of his other books for that matter. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
WPLives 25th Jun 2021		Book Lance Mindheim - 8 Realistic Track Plans For A Spare Room (2009)	Review Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2014 FredB Should be in a modeler's library. Lance Mindheim's books should be on every modeler's "to read" list. His writing is concise, down-to earth, and always helpful in some way, even if one is a veteran modeler. There's always something to be learned about the hobby, even if it's just a little, less time-consuming way to do something, or maybe something that's been troublesome that you've overlooked, and found the answer in one of his books or magazine articles. Lance was kind enough to take the time to answer an e-mail I sent him once, (as a total stranger!) asking for some advice about DCC. Later, I was fortunate to meet him in person at a train show, and a conversation with him in person is like his books; down-to-earth, personable and helpful. Any book by him is worthwhile to have and to read! ✔︎ Helpful Review?
WPLives 25th Jun 2021		Book Lance Mindheim - 8 Realistic Track Plans For A Spare Room (2009)	Review Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2011 Philanthropic Pundit Apartment switching at its best... If space is tight, there are enough ideas in this book to help you create a believable small layout, be it a shelf or small room sized layout. Construction methods are glossed over as there are enough books on the relevant subject matter (bench-work, scenery, wiring, operation etc) that deal with them exclusively if you require more reading. One suggestion would be Lance Mindheim's book How To Build A Switching Layout However, the plans are some of the most adaptable I have seen in many years. For example, two notable plans stand out (to me anyway.) The Appalachian Coal Branch Line and The Milwaukee Branch Line. The former provides for some continuous running whilst switching can be done in two towns and the loading tipple... very reminiscent of the Clinchfeild. The Milwaukee Branch is a wonderful example of a prototype that is selectively compressed and an actual timetable provides an idea on how to operate this type of layout. Colour pictures abound and provide examples of the types of scenes and details to aid in successfully producing a satisfactory outcome. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
WPLives 25th Jun 2021		Book Lance Mindheim - 8 Realistic Track Plans For A Spare Room (2009)	Review Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2021 RichfromRoch Another Gem Lance Mindheim has been supplying model railroaders for many years with solid tips on layout design, operations, scenery and just about every other aspect of the hobby. This book is no different. The title says 8 track plans, but he threw in a ninth as a bonus. Plus he added tips on benchwork, sub-roadbed, roadbed and liftout bridges (usually necessary for spare-room layouts). Most of these layouts are big, but would easily fit in a basement, too. The bonus layout is a shelf only 80" long and could occupy a wall in just about any spare room, providing lots of switching action. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
WPLives 20th Jun 2021		Book Raphael Long - Red Car Era: An Album (2010)	Review Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2010 Excellent and Enjoyable This book is a real treat for any PE fan and history buff. The author shares his personal experiences as if he were sitting across the table with a cup of coffee. Very personable and even humorous at times. I found his interests to mirror my own and was delighted to find references to the minor details that are often undiscussed and left in the background. As an example there are two photos and personal informative text about the ACME traffic signals that were once unique to Los Angeles. Not a PE subject matter, but just as much a part of the times and places as the PE. Most of the photos were new to me as well as much of the information. The four elevation views of Oneonta Park Station and descriptive text are worth the price of the book themselves as are other detailed views, in this fan's opinion. Now the bad part. The printing of the photos is a bit too light as is the weight of the paper. But then the price is right, I guess, in today's market. It is because of these two detractions that the book gets 4 stars from me. I heartily suggest it. Thanks, Mr.Long. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
WPLives 20th Jun 2021		Book Raphael Long - Red Car Era: An Album (2010)	Review Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2014 Good memories and information, poor photos Great source for information not found elsewhere. The author relates his personal experiences, including the photographic. It's refreshing to have an opinionated author, even if you don't agree with all his opinions. He tries a dig at public ownership when telling of the yellow cars demise, by saying they were clean and free of dirt under private ownership. They were just as clean under public ownership, and it was not "politicians" who did-in the cars, but a pro-bus management crew. It's odd that he has coverage of the yellow cars until the end, his red car coverage stops in 1953 when a notorious private bus-loving owner (Metropolitan Coach Lines, owned by Jesse Haugh) bought them, and let them get filthy and rundown. A minor error is that April 8, 1961 is given as the date of the last red train to Long Beach, when actually it was the early morning of April 9. A major drawback is that most of the photos are of terrible quality. They are washed out and grey, as if taken through a thick fog. I'd love to see this book in an edition with high quality photos. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
WPLives 19th Jun 2021		Book Jim Fredrickson - Steam To Diesel (2001)	Review "The book's...photos and personal anecdotes will fascinate fans of the NP." ✔︎ Helpful Review?
WPLives 17th Jun 2021		Book Angelo Figone - The Northwestern Pacific Railroad (2018)	Review AgHauler Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2019 GREAT NWPRR book Well researched, with many photos, especially some that bring back personal memories of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad! Wonder book with a lot of information. 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
WPLives 25th May 2021		Book Rudolph Daniels - Trains Across The Continent (2000)	Review "Trains Across the Continent is everything you need to know about railroad history―both educational and enjoyable reading." ―Dean Bruce, President, Railroad Education Training Association "Trains Across the Continent should be in every public school library in the country. Quickly and concisely Dr. Daniels leads you through the maze of building, merging, and a myriad of other details necessary to understand modern railroading. Steam, diesel, passenger, and freight are all carefully explained on a national scale rather than railroad specific, making this book even more of a useful tool for the student." ―Donald D. Snoddy, Historian, Union Pacific Railroad "Trains Across the Continent" is a truly comprehensive account of how railroads helped shape, and are continuing to shape, the history of North America." ―Jonathan B. Hanna, Historian, Canadian Pacific Railway "Nothing but positive comments about it from faculty and students alike. . . . The industry bible in this area." ―Phillip B. Cypret, Sacramento City College "Professor Daniels displays both passion and scholarship in this nicely arranged buffet of subjects both large and minute, important and interesting, serious and fun, to present a delicious overview of railroad history." ―James D. Porterfield, author of Dining by Rail "Daniels manages to make brief mention of all major points of North American railroad history . . . from the workings of a steam locomotive to the dawn of the railroad mega-merger, nearly every conceivable aspect of railroading receives attention. . . . This volume is a must for those wishing to broaden or hone their knowledge of the birth and evolution of the railroad industry in North America." ―Rail News ✔︎ Helpful Review?
WPLives 31st Mar 2021		Book Graham Goodchild - Building A Folding Model Railway Layout (2016)	Review J. Bennett Great book for minature railroaders. Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2017 Wonderful book, purchased for our adult son for Christmas. He really likes the book, many pages of ideas. Would buy again. Roy G Haag Five Stars Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2018 Written in British style of language but has some great ideas even if not building this particular layout. Phil Baines the book covers the subject well Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 9, 2019 This book lives up to it’s expectations, the pictures were clear and so was the text not to technical, enjoyed the book, well worth adding to your library. Stuart Tingle worth it Reviewed in Canada on February 26, 2020 Comprehensive beyond just making a folding layout. It covers nearly the complete build of his layout over the years it took him to build this very densely populated layout. Very worth the price. Ricky Good instructions Reviewed in Canada on February 15, 2020 Small space? Great ideas Terry Hill Three Stars Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 21, 2016 Had better. ✔︎ Helpful Review?

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