Reply To: Missouri-Illinois Book information and reservations

[Charles Duckworth]

I should receive the first printed proof of the book today. Last week I got an electronic version and forwarded to a couple of individuals that helped with the history and the locomotives and rolling stock for review and to come back with additional information or corrections. The book is at 384 pages. The editor asked to get the changes back to her by June 12 so they could make the July print date. This was originally planned back before RPM was canceled in Collinsville. I’ve since told her we don’t need the books until October for the Missouri Pacific Historical Society annual meet so I and others now have more time to proofread and take more time with decided what photos to keep and enlarge and ones to delete. I purposely included different views of the same subject and those to be dropped are badly focused or redundant. I also want to avoid postage stamp images. I don’t know if you ever bought a railroad history book and had photos that had the locomotives cropped to where the tender or pilot were cut off. This has been the case in several photos and I’m having these changed back to the whole image again. Once I submit the changes I get a second proof for review to ensure all has been properly done and the index will have page numbers.