Railways of Southern California written by Colin J. Marsden and published
by Key Publishing - £30.00 - Hardback - Pages 160
Passing through some of the most picturesque scenery in the world, several main
routes traverse Southern California. Most are freight corridors, but there are a handful
of long-distance passenger services, primarily worked by Amtrak. Some of the long-
distance and heavy freight services can be powered by up to ten locomotives, equating
to around 50,000hp. One of the most scenic routes is on the Union Pacific-owned track
between Mojave and Bakersfield, which climbs over the Tehachapi Mountains, reaching
a height of over 4,000ft above sea level, requiring locos to work hard on the climb either
side of the line’s summit. The route over Cajon, one of the busiest freight routes in the
world, is also covered, as well as the routes between Barstow and Needles, the central
California line, and the highly photogenic Pacific “Surfliner” route between Los Angeles
and San Diego. Lavishly illustrated with 200 images, this book is divided into the main
routes in the area, showing the diversity in scenery and train types found. With informative
captions explaining the locos, their routes, and the best places for rail enthusiasts to
see these trains for themselves, this is the ultimate guide to the railways of Southern
California.
I jumped at the chance of reading and reviewing this book mainly because I love anything American, trains and landscape photography and this book combines all of those. The sight of American trains moving along against the back drop of the American wilderness just in my opinion looks glorious and picturesque. This book look at all different kinds of rail transport from freight to Amtrak passenger train transport to industrial rail transport working in industry. So the book has around 200 photos with an image of a train in movement with the backdrop of the train going through a town, landscape or working in an industrial scene. So you have the beautiful picture but there is a couple of paragraphs accompanying each picture usually setting the scene or a few details about the locomotive in the picture. But what I enjoy is the fact that there isn’t too much info, the balance has been struck with picture and info, so it doesn’t get too technical. A thoroughly good, interesting and beautiful book, most definitely a book to recommend to others, ideal for the model maker, photographer or train fan.