Sunday, February 23, 2014

BOOK REVIEW - PENNSYLVANIA SHORT LINES IN COLOR VOL 1 By Gary R. Carlson

I found this 2003 Morning Sun publication at the LHS - Sattlers Trains - this weekend.   It's an interesting volume with plenty of steel and heavy industry related subjects.   This book, Volume 1, covers Pennsylvania short lines in alphabetical order - from Aliquippa & Southern to Maryland and Pennsylvania.   Plenty of loco shots, but also plenty with the camera pulled back a bit with plenty of background images included.   Good coverage of both the J&L Aliquippa plant (Aliquippa & Southern) and Bethlehem Steel in Johnstown (Conemaugh & Black Lick)    Some other minor steel operations and short lines.  Also some non-steel heavy industry -  the cement industry in the Lehigh Valley (Ironton RR), and my favorite, NJ Zinc operations in the Lehigh Valley (Chestnut Ridge Railway)   Also mining - coal and limestone.   Some interesting text concerning the industrial operations .  Plenty of interesting rolling stock back to the 40s and early 50's.   A 1950s photo of Bethlehem's facility in Johnstown answered a longtime question for me - When did steel plants start using safety yellow on handrails,,etc.   I, and several others had posted this on the Steel Yahoo Group several times over the last 8 years of so with no answers ever given.  I gleamed a slight clue with a photo in one of the Steel Mill Books that showed orange railings in the 50's at the J&L Pittsburgh Plant, but no yellow.   This book shows yellow railings on the blast furnace and associated stoves.     The book was well worth the money and I've just ordered Volume 2