Freight Cars of the '40s and '50s (Model Railroader Books)

Much more informative than I was expecting. The author details the history, design and usage of each type of railroad freight cars of the period. It also includes discussion of the standards and operational aspects of freight traffic. There are some references on using the information in your model railroad design and planning, but this book is much more that just another guide for model railroaders. It is a great reference for the railfan as well. Includes photos with detailed captions. The book is published by a magazine publisher so it has somewhat the feel of a magazine but with a thicker soft cover and no ads. But still I would recommend it for any railfan.

I model the trains of this era, hence my interest. I found that this work contained quite detailed information considering the primarily pictorial format. The information was not simply generic background, but traced the provenance of particular car types. Additionally, a good deal of expanded "sidebar" data was provided. Needless to say, the volume was very well illustrated, as expected, but also contained a welcome number of rarely seen, less commonplace photos. Fun and informative to be sure, but to a modeler, such as I, an extremely useful reference work.

This is a great compendium to, "Modeling the '50s: The Glory Years of Rail (Model Railroading)" by Jeff Wilson. The author covers a lot of specific information and car types. For a modeler in any scale, it will be a good 'Go To' resource book before starting on a modeling project. I highly recommend it as an addition to your modeling resource library.

This is a very well written book. For me it will be the bible of freight cars of this time period. It's loaded with pictures that you can use as reference.The bibliography is extensive for further research if you so desire. I learned more than one thing new reading this book. For instance, I didn't know that there were aluminium box cars. I am glad to see that Jeff Wilson has spent the time to put this information together for us train freaks.

I've been toying with the idea of building a transition layout but needed some information about the rolling stock of that era. This book provides that info and also describes the construction of the cars and why in some cases they were built the way that they were. A good read and good reference material for later use.

There is just a lot of great information presented in this book and it makes the hobby all the more enjoyable to know more about all the different kinds of cars you are operating on your layout. Well done and well worth the price. .

Typical Kalmbach/Model Railroader book. Good general info on freight cars of the era for the railfan or model railroader. Needs a better proof reader though. Can you find the error on page 90-91. Last time I checked freight cars did not have have 5'6" or 6' "diameter" wheels! Other wise it is an excellent book.

Great book with tons of information on each type of freight car and its variations used during this time period. It is very helpful for anyone wanting to build prototypical model freight cars of this era.

Perfecty satisfied with the book. It is however a mystery to me why it took 11 days between date of order receipt and mail delivery to me. Both the UK and The Netherlands are EG countries and thus not subject to delaying import bureaucracy. And it is not as if both countries are on seperate halves of the world wirh corresponding extended shipping times between them.

Excellent reference book of 'Transition Era' rolling stock for those interested in the period from 1950 - 65 on American railroads. Recommended.

Excellent book

The book supplies a comprehensive review of the freight cars from that period. It is good source for modelers. Jeff Wilson did a very good job with the bibliography, a feature which is seldom found and which is of great help for further studies.

An Excellent little book! In the era of the internet with thousands of sources of reference you might question the need for a book like this? However what Jeff Wilson has done here bring all the relevant issues together and produced a first class reference volume which is well laid out, has good structure and attention to detail. The reproduction of the photographs, colour and Black and White, is very good too. Why only 4 stars? Well the one thing that would elevate this to THE volume on Freight Cars would be a few scale drawings. That may only have appeal to modellers? but much of the detail photographed in this volume is obviously aimed at them anyway. Add to that a section devoted purely to Freight Car Slogans, which may be of wider historical interest, and it would be pretty much THE master reference volume on the subject? I do hope there will be volumes on the 20's and 30's, 60's and 70's, 80's and 90's etc. They'll be on my wish list