Glad I piqued someone's interest Charlie! When Dick wrote BR, the final
manuscript, prior to editing into the book form we are all familiar with
(whether original hardbound or paperback reprint), was THREE (3) times
longer! Newberry has copy as do 1 or 2 other libraries that Dick was
associated with academically. Have often thought there would be a market
for the entire book but getting the libraries in question to allow it is the
big battle. More unfortunately, Dick's heirs were not in love with RRing as
he was; they even sold off his home movies that included 30's & 40's views
of Q passenger trains in the Chicago & Aurora areas! (got to view them once
- inc. a Mountain leading a long passenger into Aurora).
PS - might have been an even longer draft except CB&Q really put pressure on
Dick to get it into print as had been a long project & Q was very PR
conscious at the time (witness all the gratis copies of Diesels West handed
out by Murphy & associates a couple yrs before). Like all good academic
types Dick hung tough til book was where he thought it should be BUT if it
had been written under other auspices it might very well have gone even
longer. That's part of the reason he did the Perkins- Budd book; beyond
being a bio of both men it expands upon material he used in "BR" as well as
new insights gathered in the years following. I strongly recommend it to
all Q fans as you will learn more than just what type of men & mgrs Charles
& Ralph were but also more about how & why the Q did as it did in those
important eras of becoming a Hill Road and becoming the Way of the Zephyrs.
Speaking of which:
This month's quiz question - beyond the more familiar slogans of
"Everywhere West" and "Way of the Zephyrs" (which replaced "The National
Park Line") what was the next most common slogan used by the Q on its public
timetables over the years? (clue - think about the just issued BB).
Gerald A. Edgar
230 W. 5th St.
Garner, IA 50438-1404
(641) 923-2573
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