Home Page Forums Missouri Pacific Historical Society Company Store New book for com store MISSOURI PACIFIC THROUGH PASSENGER SERVICE In Color by Greg Stout MP C&EI

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  • #6001
    mopac
    Keymaster

    MISSOURI PACIFIC THROUGH PASSENGER SERVICE In Color by Greg Stout MP C&EI

    I want to purchase this book. Will be be selling any of these through the MPHS ? If not I will look else where.

    thanks

    Bill Basden Delta Models http://www.deltamodelsusa.com

    #8516
    clemmie_doris12
    Participant

    Bill, these books are on order. There is a listing on the website. It will be updated to allow for ordering once they are in stock.

    http://www.mopac.org/store/books-books-books/item/520-missouri-pacific-through-passenger-service-in-color

    Thanks for considering the MPHS for your purchase.

    #8519
    mopac
    Keymaster

    Kevin thanks for reply. Currently they are being sold on E bay, don’t know iif the actually have them or not.

    Bill

    #8520
    clemmie_doris12
    Participant

    They are currently available from the publisher. Unfortunately, our order has not arrived, yet.

    #8521
    mopac
    Keymaster

    thanks I will wait for the MPHS announcement.

    bill

    #8572
    benjamintickell53
    Participant

    After reading the new book, Missouri Pacific Through Passenger Service, I can offer several thoughts to those who might be considering a purchase. The book is well done from a production standpoint, at least in terms of the quality of the images, and most photos are sharp and with the MP blue properly depicted in color tone (a sometimes difficult achievement). It includes many excellent photographs, most of which have never been published. Most photos depict MP passenger service in the 1950s and 1960s, with a preponderance of coverage in the late 1960s. From the standpoint of photographic coverage, the book belongs in the library of anyone interested in Missouri Pacific or passenger service. The book can generally be divided into three sections, the first 104 pages dealing with MP passenger service, followed by 4 pages of Amtrak service on the MP and 19 pages on C&EI passenger service.

    The book does have what I consider some shortcomings. The photo layout is very random, with no discernible order either chronologically or geographically. There is no index, either by location, subject or equipment number, so if trying to find a photo that you want to revisit, its necessary to thumb through the book to locate it. The Amtrak section is mercifully short, and the photos here cover only the St. Louis – Kansas City line with the exception of one photo of the Texas Eagle on the former GM&O. There are numerous photos available of Amtrak trains on the former Missouri Pacific with iconic MP structures in the background, such as the clock tower at Little Rock, the T&P station at Marshall or MP/T&P depots along the line. Using those to illustrate the Amtrak section would perhaps have made the Amtrak section more relevant to Missouri Pacific historians, offering a “then and now” perspective.

    The photo captions are a challenge for anyone desiring accurate, detailed information. There are a number of historical errors and other places where generic captions were written when the space could have been better used to provide a historical context to the photograph. There is also a lot of repetition of information in captions, some of which may occur because of the random placement of photos. The author obviously spent a lot of time gathering photographs and information, but it appears that the publisher rushed the material into production with little regard for an orderly presentation of the material and less regard for a pre-publication review of the material by editors who were conversant with the subject matter. The attached PDF file provides some correction or clarification on some of the captions.

    Anyone who has published a book or an article in a historical or academic journal is well aware how gremlins creep into the process despite best efforts. Author Stout is to be commended for gathering a nice selection of MP passenger photos. Buy the book… you will enjoy the photographs, and where the captions don’t seem just right, it provides the reader with the challenge of going to dig out information themselves to clarify details.

    Bill Pollard

    [attachment=0:2dxw153z]Stout-Book-review-12-2017.pdf[/attachment:2dxw153z]

    #8573
    peggyrothschild
    Participant

    Bill
    Thanks for the review on Greg’s book and the PDF on the captions. I’ve already printed it off and placed it inside the front cover for future reference. Early on Greg contacted a few of us for information on at least one caption but the full manuscript was never sent out for review. I don’t know if Greg was rushed by Morning Sun to make a deadline or why he decided not to but it’s unfortunate given the errors and details he missed. I know I made the offer to review the final draft but never saw it.

    Like you stated, many photos I’ve not seen before and having read through it several times I’d still buy it. Again – thanks for the PDF for us that enjoy reading “the rest of the story”.

    Charlie

    #8583
    princessclyne69
    Participant

    I’ll second the comments on this book. It has many photos I had never seen before, and especially important coverage on the Texas service. I’ll agree that the term ‘THROUGH’ in the title is somewhat misleading in the context in which railroaders use it, meaning a train or car that passes from one line to another. Nevertheless, I’m happy to have it and will undoubtedly be referring to it at times in the future.

    Not answering any questions posed here, but I will note I saw the CEI 934B, 935B and 936B over a period of a month or so in Oct. 71, one at a time, in Wichita in freight service, all still having the steam boilers but all freshly painted.

    RG7

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