The biggest change to the railroad book business at Powell's is the lack of big collections becoming available. The space for railroad books has shrunk, but what it has lost is room for face-outs and expansion. If a big collection came in, we would still go for it. That said, yes, there has been better times.

Way back in the pre-internet 1990s, I got wind of a large collection of railroad books in Gold Beach Oregon. From the list, I knew it was good and I begged the store manager to let me go down there and get them. She agreed. Within days I was unpacking them at a railroad swap meet- I wanted to prove their viability. We sold nearly half of them in one day (I watched a copy of the Electric Way Across the Mountain disappear in seconds priced at a $100.00). The Beaverton railroad section was born.

There were great highlights- The release of Walt Grande's first book, the release of the Southern Pacific in Oregon Pictorial, both of which we had the first in town. Two huge slide show events and being allowed a window display in mourning of the passing of the Southern Pacific. Most of all though, it was the acquiring of large collections that was really exciting. There were at least fifteen big ones and three truly huge ones- with moments of discovery that left me feeling like I was Howard Carter walking into King Tuts tomb.

The internet made things better and worse- niche books sold faster, which was good, but it also made it harder to keep the section up to the standards I aspired for it. In my perfect world things would sell down just as something else was coming on the horizon. That was not always the case. Used books are unpredictable. Of course one had much more control of inventory with new books, but they were expensive, with less discount, and were sold elsewhere as well. New books were always just the tip of the iceberg. It was used, out of print stuff that made things interesting.

Over the past few years, big collections becoming available have dropped off quite a bit. The last one was four or so months ago. It was sad, because it was the books of a deceased long time customer. It was also very interesting, because I saw samples from many of the large libraries I had bought over the years, including the first one from Gold Beach.

I now work part time so I can watch my two year old son during the day. Technically I no longer run the railroad book section, but as I am one of the senior used book buyers, anything coming in used would likely eventually pass under my watch. I buy, but do not shelve- its sort of like being a Professor Emeritus. This is a good thing- it was galling to put so much work into something and then see some, and it was just some, make a real mess of it.

Books still sell, the question we have to deal with is what books. My best guess is that the market will split two ways, books as cheap entertainment and books as boutique items. The later along the lines of vinyl lps, which are making a healthy but limited come back. Railroad books have potential to be part of that, especially with lower and lower prices to do publishing on demand, which allows more and more niche items. In the mean time, there seems to be a need for the communal experience a bookstore brings- people like to hang out in them and attendance at author events is good- but how many of those attendees already own the book electronically? It is interesting times, but as the Chinese know, that can be a curse. Rest assured though, if a large railroad collection were offered to us, I would do my best to land it.

-Dan