Steam Locomotives: Illustrated Books - Technology and Operation (1/2)

How Steam Locomotives Really Work

The authors, both railway experts, cover the design of locomotives, the many processes in the conversion of fuel to tractive effort, the dynamic characteristics of the locomotive as a vehicle, the braking equipment, and a host of other systems, major and minor, that make up a working locomotive. They also explain the reasons for running and maintenance practices.

Product details

Author:	A.J. Goldfinch, P.W.B. Semmens
Details:	354 pages, 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.71 in (19.5 x 13 x 1.8 cm), paperback
Illustrations:	120 b&w photos, 70 drawings
Language:	English
Publisher:	Oxford University Press (GB, 2004)
ISBN:	9780198607823

Modern Locomotive Construction - The legendary Bible of Locomotive Building from 1892

Created in 1892 by J.G.A. Meyer, the former chief draftsman at the Grant Locomotive Works, "Modern Locomotive Construction" is one of the most in-depth documents to emerge from the age of steam. Regarded as "the Bible" of steam engines, it is replete with information about every aspect of locomotive building and maintenance.

This text can educate even the most learned railroader and answer questions you never even knew you had. Running over 660 pages, this book is an encyclopedic discussion of operating components including but not limited to cylinders, valve gears, frames, pistons, driving axles, main rods, throttle pipes and gear, spring gear, boilers, smoke stacks, sand boxes, trucks, tenders, and more.

Exceptionally well-written and richly illustrated, this book educated a generation of engineers and draftsman. Regarded as exceptionally rare, it's never been easy to lay your hands on this wonderful book, until now!
This paperback edition represents the first time Modern Locomotive Construction has been available in over 100 years.

Product details

Author:	J.G.A. Meyer
Details:	672 pages, 10 x 8.1 x 1.42 in (25.5 x 20.5 x 3.6 cm), paperback
Illustrations:	many photos and drawings
Language:	English
Publisher:	Periscope Film (USA, 2010)
ISBN:	9781935700203

Locomotive Building - Construction of a Steam Engine for Railway Use

Originally created in 1911, "Locomotive Building" is the definitive text concerning the construction of steam engines for railroad use. Chapters include descriptions of all locomotive systems and their functions, including side rods, boiler, wheels, axle and diving boxes, frames and cylinders, valve motion, shop practice and more.
Profusely illustrated with diagrams and rare photos, this reprint has been slightly reformatted. Care has been taken however to preserve the integrity of the text.

Product details

Author:	Ralph E. Flanders
Details:	245 pages, 10 x 8.1 x 0.43 in (25.5 x 20.5 x 1.1 cm), paperback
Illustrations:	many photos and drawings
Language:	English
Publisher:	Periscope Film (USA, 2010)
ISBN:	9781935327899

The Locomotive Engineman's Manual - The Classic Locomotive Text from 1919

Originally printed in 1919, "The Engineman's Manual" was intended to be used in the instruction of locomotive engineers, firemen, and railroad mechanics. It features dozens of chapters concerning every aspect of the steam locomotive power plant and control systems, including the air brakes.

Complete with detailed examination questions and answers, "The Engineman's Manual" remains one of the most complete books ever written about the working components of the railroad steam engine.
This high quality reprint includes all of the original text, nearly 500 pages worth, in an easy-to-read 8.5x11 format.

Product details

Author:	W. P. James
Details:	472 pages, 10 x 8.1 x 0.94 in (25.5 x 20.5 x 2.4 cm), paperback
Illustrations:	many photos and drawings
Language:	English
Publisher:	Periscope Film (USA, 2009)
ISBN:	9781935327820

The Locomotive Up To Date - The Classic Encyclopedic Reference for Steam Locomotive Engineers and Firemen

When it was originally published in 1899, "The Locomotive Up to Date" was hailed as "the most definitive work ever published concerning the mechanism that has transformed the American nation: the steam locomotive."

Filled with over 700 pages of text, diagrams and photos, this remains one of the most important railroading books ever written. From steam valves to sanders, trucks to side rods, it's a treasure trove of information, explaining in easy-to-understand language how the most sophisticated machines of the 19th Century were operated and maintained.

This new edition is an exact duplicate of the original. Reformatted as an easy-to-read 8.5x11 volume, it's delightful for railroad enthusiasts of all ages.

Product details

Author:	Charles McShane
Details:	721 pages, 10 x 8.1 x 1.5 in (25.5 x 20.5 x 3.8 cm), paperback
Illustrations:	many b&w photos
Language:	English
Publisher:	Periscope Film (USA, 2010)
ISBN:	9781935700210

The Steam Locomotive - An Engineering History

Books on railway history invariably start with the Stephenson's or with Richard Trevithick's locomotive of 1804, but the story begins much earlier with the development of steam engines for pumping out deep mines.

Ken Gibbs, a retired engineer who served his apprenticeship in the Swindon Works of British Railways, takes a more practical approach to railway history, using its engineering developments to tell the story of the railways. From the first ideas to the development of better metals, manufacturing, technology in wheel casting, improved boilers and valve gears, his book is a refreshingly different approach to the plethora of picture books showing branch lines in days past.

Ken's engineering background and love of railway technology gives us a book suited to the layman and engineer alike, explaining how each development made the railways better, faster or safer.
It took over 150 years to develop the steam locomotive from a basic boiler on wheels weighing a couple of tons to the magnificent express passenger and freight locomotives weighing in excess of 100 tons and capable of speeds over 120mph. Read how the steam locomotive developed from those early days to the last days of steam.

Product details

Author:	Ken Gibbs
Details:	256 pages, 9.7 x 6.7 x 0.63 in (24.5 x 17 x 1.6 cm), paperback
Illustrations:	307 photos and drawings
Language:	English
Publisher:	Amberley Publishing (GB, 2012)
ISBN:	9781445609188

La machine locomotive

Originally intended "For the use of mechanics and drivers", this practical manual is a reference on the subject, a fascinating and very technical work.
This edition is the fifth, the first dating from 1894. Édouard Sauvage leaves a major treatise on the locomotive by detailing the boilers, the mechanisms, the chassis and suspensions, the tenders, the different types of locomotives, the brakes and the driving of these machines; abundantly illustrated with more than three hundred engravings and photographs, nothing is left to chance.

Enthusiasts will find here an extremely precise and detailed manual, history enthusiasts the methodical study of steam engines as well as photos of old locomotives, the modeler engravings and dimensioned diagrams.
One can only be impressed by the extent of Édouard Sauvage's knowledge and admiring in front of this monument dedicated to trains and their maintenance.

A true reissue. This book is not a facsimile.

Product details

Author:	Édouard Sauvage
Details:	416 pages, 8.7 x 6.7 x 1.14 in (22 x 17 x 2.9 cm), paperback
Illustrations:	300+ photos and drawings
Language:	French
Publisher:	Editions Decoopman (F, 2012)
ISBN:	9782917254509

La Locomotive (réédition de l'édition originale de 1920)

The Boiler, the Engine, the Vehicle and finally the Tender make up the four parts of this book. Ulysse Lamalle and Fernand Legein know what they are talking about: the first was a Civil Engineer of Mines, the second, a Civil Engineer mechanic and both spent their lives in trains, studying them to improve them constantly. Although technical, this book is accessible to all.

More than 320 engravings, diagrams and plans illustrate this text and improve its understanding. Here, all the technical parts and the various elements of the locomotive first, then of the tender are dissected and analyzed. The reversal of the direction of travel is described at length, supported by engravings, as are the brakes, essential organs which have largely contributed to making the railway one of the safest means of transport in the modern world.

This book is also illustrated with many magnificent black and white photographs of locomotives and drivers in action that the Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Belges and enthusiasts have kindly made available to us for this reissue and which will allow the "Old-timers" to rediscover the very special atmosphere of this universe.

A very beautiful book on the steam locomotive that is becoming more and more distant...
A genuine reissue. This book is not a facsimile.

Product details

Author:	Ulysse Lamalle, Fernand Legein
Details:	433 pages, 9.25 x 6.1 x 0.98 in (23.5 x 15.5 x 2.5 cm), paperback
Illustrations:	many photos and drawings
Language:	French
Publisher:	Editions Decoopman (F, 2013)
ISBN:	9782917254981

Dampflok - Technik und Funktion

Steam locomotives have lost none of their fascination to this day. Wherever one of these steel giants appears, it attracts many people. This is not surprising: no other vehicle converts the three elements of fire, water and coal into power and movement so impressively.

Pages of the book "Dampflok - Technik und Funktion"

But how does the steam locomotive actually work? Dirk Endisch answers this question in his book. The author explains the technology of the steam locomotives step by step in a competent and understandable way.
This book therefore offers in-depth knowledge for anyone who is interested in the technology and function of these fascinating vehicles.

Product details

Author:	Dirk Endisch
Details:	160 pages, 10.4 x 9.1 in (26.5 x 23 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	130 b&w and color photos, drawings
Language:	German
Publisher:	Transpress (D, 2018)
ISBN:	9783613715721

Die Dampflok im Bahnbetriebswerk

The steam locomotive depot still holds a special attraction for all steam locomotive enthusiasts. Nowhere else can you get so close to the steam locomotive and smell the unmistakable smell of coal, soot and hot oil.

Pages of the book "Die Dampflok im Bahnbetriebswerk"

Professional railway workers had a much less romantic experience of the railway depot: for them it meant primarily hard work. Here the machines were supplied with water and coal, the boiler was washed out, the smoke chamber was cleaned and the engine was oiled. Repairs were just as much a part of everyday life as work to deadlines.
This book describes everyday life in the steam locomotive railway depot in detail.

Product details

Author:	Dirk Endisch, Michael U. Kratzsch-Leichsenring
Details:	144 pages, 10.4 x 9.1 in (26.5 x 23 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	88 b&w and 74 color photos, 18 drawings
Language:	German
Publisher:	Transpress (D, 2017)
ISBN:	9783613715523

Schäden und Störungen beim Betrieb der Dampflok

The motto is: "Transport faster, safer and more cost-effectively." But how can this be achieved? This book is dedicated to the precise description and repair of minor damage to a wide variety of steam locomotives, ideally to prevent larger problems.

Should a fault nevertheless occur, the staff will find the appropriate measures to resolve it quickly. Regardless of whether the steam locomotive is used in regular operation or in a museum setting, everyone will find the appropriate solution here.

Product details

Author:	Max Wilke
Details:	192 pages, 9 x 6.7 in (24 x 17 cm), paperback
Illustrations:	120 b&w photos
Language:	German
Publisher:	Transpress (D, 2023)
ISBN:	9783613717008