The problem with too many RR books

[Erik W]

I have quite an extensive library of Rio Grande books, 73 at this point, plus tons of magazine articles, every issue of The Prospector (the historical society publication) and a bunch of DVDs.  The problem is trying to find something I knew was in one of those books, but couldn't remember which one.  I did spend an enjoyable evening looking at D&RGW goodness though. 

Anyone else out there enjoy collecting research material on their favorite road(s)?  Do tell.

Erik

[Iain]

Besides both books on the old NS, I have drawings, operator's manuals (a couple of which I've sent to George Elwood for scanning and can be accessed at rr-fallenflags.org).  I also have paper copies of a bunch of Sanborn maps as well as other such research data.

[Chris333]

I have everything I can find on the Erie, and that is sadly not 73 books. I only wish there was that much crap out there for me to find. 

[mecgp7]

While this won't help you find anything now, I tend to put a bookmark or post-it note in the books when I find anything unusual. At least when I go look for it again, I only have a thousand pages instead of ten thousand to look through!!

[randgust]

As a Santa Fe guy, yes, and with the same problem.   Lots and lots of books, you know you've seen it somewhere, where is it?  I've got every book of Santa Fe in Arizona, and lots of others; pretty much two entire bookshelves dedicated to that.  Plus my own photo collection on several trips, prints, slides, and now digital, with a date range of 1972 to 2010.

The challenge last night was a picture of a Cushman cart on an ATSF station platform.  Yeah, I know I've seen one somewhere, but where?

Or maybe it was a McMillan calendar.   Or maybe a slide...   Or maybe in one of my friends books I borrowed (yes, there are two of us, in the same town and the same office even, with a MAJOR Santa Fe library of stuff).

On my little six-mile logging railroad/shortline it's a little easier.  One book, I helped write it, and I've pretty much cornered the surviving market on information, but you can still spend an awful lot of time 're-indexing' the brain to what you have....somewhere....

Last week's challenge was to identify the board and batten spacing on an ATSF structure I'm scratchbuilding, only to discover that there WAS no company standard, you can find just about anything, and then a slide surfaced on Ebay of the exact building I'm looking for that is now gone, one more piece added to a very unruly collection.

[Virginia Atlantic]

2 books on Conrail.
2 books on Penn Central.
2 Books of the RF&P
2 Books on Chessie System.

Makes life easy, if my collection less extensive.

I am eyeing a few of the Morning Sun "Penn Central Power in Color" books, Vol. 1 thru 4.  $200+ is alot to invest in what is, for me, just something to look at once in a while and have on my shelf.

[sirenwerks]

I'm an info junkie.  I have nine shelves of GN, NP, SP&S, Burlington, Milwaukee, early BN, Chicago area interurban and shortline, western miscellaneous (esp. WP), rolling stock, and lumber line books - I'd estimate the collection at over 350 publications organized by road/author alpha/pub date.  A specific photo or tidbit of info?  I just dive in until I find it.  And the library's still growing, but slowing as I catch up on OOP books I seek. 

Magazines - I am scanning articles I want for reference and slowly organizing for keyword search (my library's on-call, y'all).  Kalmbach's magazine digital DVDs are a god-send and I wish RMC and the historical societies would do the same. 

I've moved this collection across country four times and intra-apartment too many times to count.  Last time I finally broke down and hired a moving service to haul everything up to a third floor walk-up - it was worth the money for my library alone, as my 'other' library of books and DVDs is at least three times the size of my RR library.  I so need to get an insurance rider on it all (working on an inventory), and finally buy a house and settle.

[VonRyan]

Pennsy Power 1 & 2
And I also have this obscure book called "Pennsylvania Railroad Heavyweight Passenger Equipment Plan and Photo Book" picked it up for $5 at a Greenberg show.

[babbo_enzo]

Espee books here, alway in search of some out of print titles!
Indexing contents is impossible and I can't understand how peoples can remember "where" they see a picture of ...
Anyway, we're lucky as SPH&TS ( well , some good volunters! ) have indexed the Trainline by article subject and picture title...
you will find it on the Society site.
At least a little part of my library is searcheable

[JMaurer1]

Another info junkie here. I've got dozens of SP books (downstairs in the library), hundreds of SP negatives and photos (upstairs in my office), and thousands of model and non model RR magazines (on three shelving units in the garage). Our living room is actually called the 'library' since that's were all of the books are (two 7 foot bookcases  and a 4 foot bookcase of railroad and other California related history books). Same problem of trying to find the info so I started scanning important info so I would have it easier to find via a search...only in searching I run across trying to remember if I had scanned that info or not...maybe I should just go look for the book...or was it an article. Sometimes it takes more time to find out the info than to do the project associated with it...and usually in the search, I discover three or four other projects that I wanted to do but forgot about...maybe I'll work on one of those instead, except I need to find that one little piece of data that should be in this book...or was it a magazine article...and so it continues.

One of my favorite RR related cartoons was a drawing of a collapsed building with a plaque stating 'Only Building in Colorado Not Currently Available in HO Scale'. I think I have that magazine right here...no I probably scanned it. Give me a minute and I'll get it for you...

[wazzou]

It kind of takes my breath away to estimate the cost of the books I have amassed over the years.   
It hasn't reached the same level as the models though.   

[pedro]

The problem with too many RR books:

Moving!

Do it yourself and you curse yourself for being a "collector". Hire movers and they will hate you. I just did the latter and could read the defeat and hatred in their body language when they saw my book boxes. Magazines are almost worst. I lost "almost complete" collections of MR and many others in a flood - and was glad to be rid of them. The books are enough!

Currently drawing plans for floor-to-ceiling library shelves for the new house. I would give up the models before I gave up the books, if I had to choose between the two.

[JMaurer1]

That's why I never plan on moving again.

[Erik W]

Sounds like my RR book library is pretty small compared to some of you guys!  I also have a bunch of MP and Milwaukee Road (western portion) books, a few SP, a couple RF&P, a couple Conrail, an NS, FEC, SR&RL.

Erik

[CBQ Fan]

I love my CB&Q book collection.  Even when I can't find what I am looking for so many other things to get lost in.