Bibliography

The A.R.P.A. recommends the following books. If these are unavailable at your local library, please ask them to purchase copies. Libraries are always looking for suggestions... and as rail advocates it is our duty to ensure that the library stacks include serious railroad books like these. Books we especially recommend are shown in bold.

America's Passenger Trains

• Mauris L. Emeka, AMTRAKing: A Guide to Enjoyable Train Travel. Port Orchard, Washington: Apollo Publishing, 1994. viii + 116pp. Illustrations. $11.95 (softback), ISBN: 0-9640125-0-2. Reviews at Amazon.com
• Gordon Gill, Amtrak's Long-Distance Service: Can It Be Made Viable? Dorrance Publishing Company, Pittsburgh, PA, October 1, 1998. Paperback - 184 pages () $14.00. Reviews at Amazon.com.
• Steven Goddard, Getting There: The Epic Struggle Between Road and Rail in the American Century. Harper-Collins, 1994. Reviews at Amazon.com
• Donald M. Itzkoff, Off the Track, The Decline of the Intercity Passenger Train in the United States, 1995.
• Jane Holtz Kay, Asphalt Nation: How the Automobile Took Over America and How We Can Take it Back. New York: Crown, 1997. xii + 418 pp. Illustrations and bibliographical references. $27.50 (cloth), ISBN 0-5175-8702-5. Reviews at Amazon.com
• Joseph Vranich, Derailed: What Went Wrong and What to Do About America's Passenger Trains. St. Martin's Press, 1997. 258 pp, 16 pages b&w photographs. $24.95 (hardcover), ISBN: 0-312-17182-X. Reviews at Amazon.com
• Joseph Vranich, Supertrains, Solutions to America's Transportation Gridlock. St. Martin's Press, New York, 1993; $15.95; 422 pages with photos throughout, ISBN: 0-312-09468-X. Reviews at Amazon.com
• Frank Wilner, The Amtrak Story, Simmons-Boardman Books, Inc., Omaha, 1995; $26.95.

Light Rail

• Michael Barry, Through The Cities. Dublin, Ireland: Colour Books, 1991. ISBN: 0-9510696-3-2.

Railroad Technology

• All About Railroading by William C. Vantuono. Simmons-Boardman Books, 2000. Billed as "The young adult's guide to today's railroad industry" written for age 12 and up. 100 pages, 150 color photographs and diagrams covering every aspect of North American railroading: freight operations, freight cars and locomotives, intercity and commuter rail, ligth rail, rapid transit, engineering and signaling and communications. With glossary.
• The Railroad: What it is, what it does by John H. Armstrong. Simmons-Boardman Books, 1990. ISBN: 0-911382-04-6. Covers railroad technology (tracks, locomotives, cars, and trains thereof), signals, operation, car types, railroad organization, passenger operation, and more. Many illustrations, tables and graphs. Also available on CD-ROM.

Arizona's Railroads

• David F. Myrick, Railroads of Arizona.
  • Volumes 1-3 published by Howell-North Books, San Diego, California, 1980. 385.09791 (Library of Congress: HE2771.A6M94; ISBN: 0-8310-7111-7 (v.I)).
  • Volumes 4-6 published by Signature Press, Berkeley, CA (510) 540-6538; fax, (510) 540-1937 -- Publishers of books on railroads and on Western history.
• Ride A Mile and Smile the While. [A history of the Phoenix Street Railway Co.]

Rail Stations

• Bibiliography for Phoenix Union Station

The above list is just a start. We welcome your suggestions.

Reviews

Asphalt Nation by Jane Holtz Kay

From time to time we as rail advocates have the need to write a letter to the editor of a publication or to a public official with appropriate documentation to substantiate our opinions.

A book recently released serves this purposes admirably. It is "Asphalt Nation," by Jane Holtz Kay, published by Crown Press, and available at most bookstores for around $27 and at many libraries.

It is an exhaustive review well documented of how the demise of public transportation did much to lower the standards of society as use of the automobile proliferated, subsidized greatly by the general taxpayer contrary to prevailing opinion which implies that user taxes cover it all.

She traces the record of the pollution contributions an automobile makes to the environment from the time it is built to the time it is junked. Surprisingly, one-third of the pollution occurs with the manufacture of the automobile before it ever leaves the factory and goes onto the streets.

Much good data for debate in this book. Recommended reading. — Dan Monaghan

Links:

• C-SPAN Booknotes interview (Air Date: May 25, 1997; Duration: one hour; Interviewer: Brian Lamb) [Requires RealAudio(tm)]
• Transcript of Brian Lamb's Interview of Jane Holtz Kay

AMTRAKing by Mauris Emeka

Train travel can be a wonderful experience or a trying one, says a veteran Amtrak train attendant. Mauris Emeka, trainman and author of the book AMTRAKing, says there are some things a person needs to know to truly enjoy train travel.

"I've drawn on my experiences to tell people how to get the most from train travel," says Emeka, whose uncle was a Pullman porter. Here are a few things he says the train traveler needs to know:

• Bring a blanket if you're traveling overnight by coach. These sometimes get chilly late at night.
• Make use of Amtrak's toll free number, 800/USA-RAIL. Use it to check if the train is leaving on time. Give it to those who will meet you at your destination.
• Stay comfortable by doing travelers' stretches. (Several pages of the book illustrate stretches which can be done while sitting.)
• The train can transport your bicycle, at a cost less than you think -- $5.00 as of this writing.
• When you book a room with a sleeping berth, meals in the dining car are included.
• Certain passengers can reserve lower level seating on Superliner cars. Elderly and mobility impaired passengers often find this helpful.
• If your destination is to a small town, it may be an unmanned station. If it is, don't check your luggage to that station. Instead, carry it on-board with you. Nothing is more disappointing than arriving at your destination without your luggage.
• To save money on certain types of fares, you must ask the agent about Amtrak's various discounted fare plans.

This book, full of tips for the traveler, includes a chapter with answers to questions that passengers ask. AMTRAKing (136 pages) is available from Apollo Publishing Co., P.O. Box 1397, Port Orchard, WA 98366, or call 800/308-5273.

Derailed by Joseph Vranich

Derailed: What Went Wrong and What to Do About America's Passenger Trains

Critical Review: by Dan Monaghan

Back to the ARPA Home Page