Starlight On the Rails [Hardcover]

Jeff Brouws (Author), Ed Delvers (Author), Richard Steinheimer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2003

The years between the end of World War II and the mid-1960s saw a marvellous flowering of railroad photography in America. Photographers vied with one another to record the passing scene. The most demanding technical efforts - often involving heroic set-ups of complex flash equipment - were devoted to capturing railroad operation at night. "Starlight on the Rails" is a contribution to a specific photographic history, a continuation of the story that fascinates so many readers of O. Winston Link's books. Here are many more styles, including experiments capturing the feeling of moving trains. This volume of photographs taken between the end of World War II and the mid-1960s offers a poetic glimpse of silent railroad stations, lonely motormen and the last great American steam engines.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jeff Brouws grew up around the San Francisco Bay area, simultaneously discovering trains, photography, and the writings of Jack Kerouac (who was a brakeman for the Southern Pacific in the early 1950s) at the age of thirteen. His photographic work has been published in several books, including Railroading West (1976) and Highway: America's Endless Dream (1997). Edward Delvers grew up in Japan at a time when steam was still king. After his family returned to the United States, he traveled the country photographing trains through the late 1960s, then studied photographic science at MIT under the tutelage of Dr. Harold Edgerton. He has made a career in numerous fields, ranging from energy research to satellite communications to aviation, meanwhile maintaining photography as a passion.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 136 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams (March 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810982307
• ISBN-13: 978-0810982307
• Product Dimensions: 11.7 x 10.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,648,399 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars superbly produced, beautiful photographs, November 29, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Starlight on the Rails (Hardcover)

There are two types of books concerned with railway photographs. The first consists of photographs of trains taken by enthusiasts, for enthusiasts. These generally have little aesthetic value, and consequently a low shelf life.

The second type is concerned with the context and atmosphere of the railway scene, and reaches its most supreme expression with scenes taken in rain, snow, fog, and after dark. This splendidly produced and presented (and most reasonably priced) book falls into this category most firmly. The range of images are stunning, as is the quality of reproduction. Particularly noteworthy are the inclusion of (far too few) photographs from Japan, to compliment the broadly American coverage.

My personal view is that some of the over descriptive captions could have been edited - the photographs speak for themselves quite easily. Also, Brouws' turgid and portentous prose really does take up too much space, I would happily forsake this in favour of having some of the postage stamp sized images reproduced at a decent size.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Night-time motives, May 17, 2009

By 

Robin Benson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Starlight On the Rails (Hardcover)

I'm surprised that there haven't been more reviews of this beautiful book, especially as the paperback edition has been available for some time and it can be picked up quite cheaply if you look around the net. The comments by `A customer' are spot on when referring to the majority of transport books always looking rather bland because they are produced for enthusiasts rather than readers who want something more challenging.

Brouws and Delvers have edited what is probably the best book about night-time railroading after Winston Link's extraordinary `Steam steel & stars' and oddly there are no Link photos in Starlight, though they are well known I would have expected to see at least one included.

The ninety duotones (in 175 screen) present a fascinating cross-section of night action concentrating on gritty freights (steamers and diesel) rather than passengers' trains. The six chapters start at sunset and follow the hours through to daybreak with the majority of photos taken in the US with one color exception taken at Tokyo Central Station in 1982. Fortunately the photos are not static on the page but show how railroads work at night with interesting captions and there several atmosphere shots to help the flow of images over the pages.

Overall, a perfect book of railroad photos. You can't really go wrong when creative folk like Boyd, Benson (no relation) Gruber, Shaughnessy or Steinheimer (who wrote the book's excellent introduction) are included and in particular Mel Patrick who has several included which are my favorites.

***SEE SOME INSIDE PAGES by clicking 'customer images' under the cover.