For me, a coffee table book should be interesting enough to have even the most non-railfan want to thumb through it. I like the idea of the "West" being West of the Rocky mountains. Maybe it should include parts of the East approaches if need be.

The variety of basic visuals should be there. Paint schemes and motive power at the forefront, and maybe the scenery and lighting being secondary. You could even reverse these essentials in the format if you choose.

My sister has a Three Rivers Gorge Dam book on her coffee table. Now, I for one don't marvel at the engineering, cost, and politics of a dam built in China. I do however enjoy looking at this particular book for the basic narritive and beautiful pictures placed throughout.
A friend of mine bought a book about the Grand Canyon when he and his family went on a road trip last spring. Again, I didn't pay too much attention to it in the beginning, wondering aloud how to justify a 250 page book showing something that can be easily identified in a single photo? (I had called it the Grand Can-Yawn for lack of interest)

The fact is that both these books have interested me to a point of having thumbed through all the pages, and actually wanting to learn more about subjects that before would only get my glance. The same could be said about railroads to non-railfans, and looking at it as a project that can gain intrest to a novus, and still garner the same to the hardcore, you will know you've succeded.

Good luck, and remember to include the most dramatic and unique photos, even if they don't include a locomotive's headlights in the frame.

almo