Customer Reviews

Modern Diesel Locomotives (Enthusiast Color Series)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I thought the text was well written and informative and the pictures were wonderful but there was absolutely no link between the two. Text sections about the EMD had pictures of unrelated locos. It was frustrating to read about a certain locomotive and then have to search the entire book to try and find a picture of it. It was like the text was written, then they bought the nicest stock pictures of locos they could find and pasted them into the text wherever the art director wanted them, without ever reading the text. I was also hoping for more description of how a GP7 was different from an SD40 and such. Still looking for a book with that info.

As books about US Railroads are hard to get in Europe (albeit amazon.de is very helpful in providing them), I was looking for a very "basic" work on modern US diesels, describing what makes the engines roll in words and pictures. I think that Hans Halberstadt did a good job there, yet some chapters seem a little short and do noe quite entirely cover the respective topic. Short eyewitness reports lighten up the reading. Nice book; I caught myself every now and then checking certain things on my HO models, to see if they were there, too. This book is also highly recommendable for everyone who wants to spend his spare time browsing around in his/her spare time now and then. It helped me explain certain things about railroad equipment to some of my "uninitiated" friends.

This book basically takes up where Mike Schafer's "Vintage Diesel Locomotives" leaves off, but with a much different feel. Rather than a chronological history of each diesel builder and their models (with only a passing mention of Alco/MLW/Bombardier), it concentrates on recent developments in diesel-electric technology, with a number of photos on the inner workings of locomotives and inside the cabs. The narrative is much more anecdotal than straight historical. Interestingly, the photos of diesels are biased toward western/midwestern railroads. At press time, two major mergers were in the works, so there are many photos of Santa Fe, Southern Pacific, Union Pacific, and Burlington Northern diesels, with a few of Amtrak and others thrown in for good measure. Probably the most interesting part is the new AC motors and how they differ from DC motors.

For a nice look at newer diesel locomotives at a nice price, this book is sure to please. --- Paul H!

If National Geographic were ever to devote an entire issue of their magazine to diesel locomotives, I doubt they could do as good a job as Hans Halberstadt has done with this nifty little volume. The photography is first-rate, and Mr. Halberstadt not only fills his book with wonderful pictures of the most modern offerings from General Electric and General Motors, but has many illustrations of rarely seen views, such as a shop filled with rebuilt traction motors and men busily at work repairing various locomotives. There is even a close-up of a broken crankshaft! The book has a wonderfully light, refreshing text that nicely compliments the beautiful photos. The author makes good use of various anecdotes from several railroad engineers about such diverse topics as grade crossing mishaps to their favorite engines. I know of no other book where one can find out why Santa Fe engineers love the EMD GP60's, but loath the very similar GP60M's. Also you'll find out why a Soo Line engineer's favorite diesel is the rather mundane SD35. I highly recommend this book to all persons who are as fascinated as I am by today's modern diesel locomotives. And yes, the EMD SD90MAC and GE AC6000CW are covered as well. Excellent quality work. My one gripe: I wish it were longer than its too-short 96 pages

This book has a lot of really nice pictures of the latest locomotives, but is seriously short on text. It's written in a disjointed style - that is, some of the information is repeated multiple times in the same chapter. It also seems to be written for younger readers.

Book was in perfect shape, came in just a few days. Was exactly what was described. When I ordered was a bit skeptical but took a chance and was very happy with the result.

Great, easily understood text with tons of close-up color photos. Covers topics ranging from the return to traditional cabs, Amtrak, yard switchers and the latest AC motive power from GE & EMD to the anatomy of a locomotive and how they work. Too bad it reads so quickly and is so short!

This book has everything I ever wanted to know about trains, the difference between AC and DC motors, how the modern locos operate and too much more to type!

Very nice photography, I love it yeah, yeah, yeah, I love it yeah, yeah, yeah, I love it yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. As usual with Hans Halberstat, the text isn't great, but it passes the F test. He talks of the early geeps and the latest MACs, and the full body locos (F-units). He also interviews engineers, and they give him the goods and the bads of driving trains. Personally, I am a fan of GM's locos much more than GE's, and now that I have read this book, it seems that many engineers agree with me.
Trevor