Customer Reviews

Starlight on the Rails

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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.

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.