Coal Cars: The First Three Hundred Years
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Coal Cars is the comprehensive study of the freight cars that conveyed coal across broad swaths of land that had been impassible before the invention of the steam engine. This groundbreaking volume traces the history and evolution of coal cars from their earliest use in England to the construction of major railways for the purpose of coal hauling and the end of the steam era on American railroads. In addition to contextualizing coal cars in the annals of industrial history, the book features extensive design specifications and drawings as well as a complete history of the various safety and mechanical innovations employed on these freight cars. It concludes with a photographic essay illustrating the development of the coal car over its first 300 years of use.
Crucial to any understanding of American and European history, Coal Cars will be the definitive book on a fascinating chapter of railroad life.
Customer Review: Comprehensive History, Technology. VG Photo Survey
This is a fun book, if you enjoy learning about narrow subjects in great depth. The history of coal cars is covered comprehensively, as are the technology and rationale for their evolution. In many respects, this exposition gives insight into the technical evolution of all car types. The writing is well done and accessible. The rather vast number of photos included are generally very well produced, with enough angle coverage of "types" to illuminate the message of the text very well. Although the history starts with English practice, the book very quickly focuses in on US practice, and then remains there almost exclusively.
I bought the book in hopes that it would have specific coverage of the Virginian battleship gons. No luck there, but a photo (not one of the better ones, alas) was provided of the N&W battleship gons. I am not versed enough to detect other possible lapses, but believe that this must be one of the few.
I have enjoyed this book greatly. The production values are very high and the editing is well done. The index is very useful, covering photos as well as text, making this a quick (but very heavy) reference for modeling projects and car spotting.
The fifth star would have been a slam dunk with even a single photo of the Vgn battleship-- and I admit I'm picking a nit.