Oh, so many to choose from! Have to be biased from my Northwest position and put Steinheimer's "Electric Way Across the Mountains" right up there. But his "Western Trains" is a sweet essay book, too, among several others.

"Mohawk that Refused to Abdicate" is terrific. Lucius Beebe/Charles Clegg - just about any of them. Those were the ones I grew up on, in my father's library.

But I can get just as much (well almost) enjoyment out of spending an evening with one of the Western RR Encyclopedia books, or Jim Frederickson's NP books.

-dmg