New book “Selected Photographs from the Missouri Pacific Historical Society Archives

[peggyrothschild]

Part of the collection are photographs that Wayne Leeman took. Wayne was a Post-Dispatch photographer and railfan so his newspaper credentials got him several rides on the MP. 1943 Kirkwood hill helpers, Pinckneyville local with a 2-8-2, Sikeston local switching a large mill and cab ride in a PA. All in the book.

[peggyrothschild]

@jmbraddock wrote:

Count me in, too. Maybe you can add a pre-order item to the store.

It’s a manual process to keep track of pre-orders. It’s was necessary with the M-I book as we needed to determine the print run and with the Rapido locomotives as we took a deposit. Just watch this site and the Eagle magazine for when we have them available for purchase.

[Bud Moss]

Joe Collias didn’t hate diesels. They were not his favorite, steam being his real love. However, he did photograph them. He even photographed all the way to the end of the MoPac. As he said; ‘there wasn’t anything else to take pictures of.’ Jerry Michels

[peggyrothschild]

I recall he seldom (never) used the word ‘diesels’ but called the ‘dismals’. As Jerry noted after the MP dieselized Joe still photographed his favorite roads. In the diesel chapters (passenger and freight) I only have two images I believe he took of two GP7’s just delivered and a Baldwin Babyface trio at Jefferson City. The rest are Leeman’s and company photos. Leeman composition, to me, ranks up there with Phillip Hastings photos. Being a newspaper photographer and writer his photos all tell a story which I grouped together in the book.

[Bud Moss]

It must have been depressing to see steam passing and the diesels taking over. I cannot imagine having known a time when steam ruled 100% of the railroads and then watch it go away. The loss of pageantry must have been hard to bear. Jerry

[peggyrothschild]

Besides the Mopac, there’s quite a bit of Texas & Pacific coverage in the book plus a little I-GN and SAU&G. Joe had several negatives from R. S. Plummer in his collection. Here’s a shot at Texarkana as an example.

Tom Stamey has been helping with all the T&P captions which is resulting in some great detailed information.

[attachment=0:cmbvgjau]39A20B4A-B4E8-43FC-9228-2D48C219145F.jpeg[/attachment:cmbvgjau]

[peggyrothschild]

The book is at the publisher and the editor asked last week about the cover, paper, etc. It will have the same type of hardbound cover as the M-I book and a semi-gloss finish to the pages to better pull out the details in the images. This book will be landscape to better display the photos. Initially we’d hope the book would be ready by Christmas but COVID has affected the paper supply as it’s done with other products and it looks like a January or February printing. As with the M-I book the pre-payments will be shipped directly from the publisher. Here’s three images from the book. [attachment=2:208y3vb4]2D45EE3C-BD15-44C1-8204-52585B40B039.jpeg[/attachment:208y3vb4][attachment=1:208y3vb4]2A29A497-6432-41DD-9905-34B92FBA3D69.jpeg[/attachment:208y3vb4][attachment=0:208y3vb4]72DD4864-22C8-4D21-823F-90148564B94D.jpeg[/attachment:208y3vb4]

[bargetanika]

1. That’s really flat country for a coal mine. Great news for those of us who’d like one who don’t want mountains on our layout.

2. What is the outside braced hopper last in line? One of those “war emergency” cars?

[peggyrothschild]

Yes, the hopper with the bracing was built in 1943 with wood sides. Martin Lofton did an article in RMC were he converted a C&O brass hopper to a MP version. While the two bay war emergency hoppers were done by Proto 2000 the three bays weren’t.

[Bud Moss]

Overland produced an N&W hopper that is a dead ringer for these 3-bay hoppers. Jerry Michels

[Brian Flynn]

I am interested. Is there an actual prepayment signup somewhere?

Thankx.

Cliff Kierstead

[peggyrothschild]

Not yet since the book won’t be available until early 2022.

[lenaculbert50]

Charlie, I’ll have to get a copy of this book for the Sikeston images alone. I talked to Joe a few times at St. Louis swap meets but never discussed how many times he had been to Sikeston. I should have known since he had picture credits in the 1990 Mainline Modeler article on the Sikeston depot.

[peggyrothschild]

The images at Sikeston were taken by Wayne Leeman, a Post-Dispatch reporter/photographer. I used several of Wayne’s images in the book besides the Sikeston series. He rode a transfer run across MacArthur Bridge, shot helper service from 23rd Street yard to Valley Park in the 1940’s, documented the coal fields and local on the Mount Vernon Branch plus other great scenes. After Wayne retired he gave his railroad negatives to Joe.

[margaretaparrish64]

Charlie’s latest book, “Selected Photographs from the Missouri Pacific Historical Society Archives” is now available for purchase. We are offering a pre-publication discount. The book should be printed and in the mail during the second half of February 2022. The cutoff date for the discount has been extended to January 31, 2022.

Member Pricing for the Book (which includes media shipping) is $55 and Non-Member price is $59. After January 31, 2022, Member Pricing (which includes media shipping) is $58 and Non-Member price is $63. An order form was included with the Winter 2022 issue of “The Eagle” magazine which is being delivered, now. The URL for purchase from our website is:

http://www.mopac.org/store/books-books-books/item/631-selected-photographs-from-the-missouri-pacific-historical-society-archives

The 160-page Publication Features over 170 High Quality Photographs from the Collections of Joe Collias, Wayne Leeman, R.S. Plummer, and others.

This is a limited edition item. There will be no reprints. Get your copy before they are all gone.

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