As Burlington fans we sure are lucky! However before I say more about Bill's
4th book on CB&Q passenger cars, I should make a little disclaimer. Bill &
Lorraine (there is a patient wife behind every railfan?) and Ginny & I have
been friends since 1976 when we met @ the NMRA National Convention in Chicago.
Out of that chance meeting, CB&Q His. Soc. was born with the assist of 4 other
'charter' mbrs. Out of CB&Q H.S., BRHS evolved and those of us who met in "76
have been part of it since then (Dennis Popish being one the real sparkplugs
along the way). Bill is the consumate Q fan: he comes from a Missouri Q family
(a locomotive engineer in the family tree), is a fantastic modeler,
accomplished author but more importantly, like Al Holck & the late Dick Overton
(also CB&Q H.S. mbrs) he does his research painstakingly AND is overly modest.
I know first-hand how many trips he makes to museums, how many photos he buys,
how many sources he checks to get his drawings and data done right. He is also
very patient in helping others who love heavyweight equipment & attends most of
our BRHS meets despite living in California. (and hosts 'West Coast Q' meets!)
Since his 1st volume in 1986, he has now supplied Q fans more accurate proto
AND modeling info on heavyweights than any other RR group an boast of. The
Business Car book (V. 4) brings to life a category of cars often overlooked.
If you are a modeler, Business cars could be found prototypically at the end of
nearly any passenger train or set out on a depot siding in all sorts of
Burlington towns. A few ended up in MOW service so there is plenty to model.
(and Bill provides the drawings!)
One aspect makes Bill's books unique is his desire to obtain data & photos to
draw (he is a superb draftsman) BOTH sides of ea car. Prototypically most
passenger cars were NOT mirror images or either side.
Another unique feature of Bill's books is that he provides update with each
ensuing volume. Thus this Vol. 4 on Business cars provides drawings & data of
20 here-to-fore unknown heavyweights. And you can be sure if he unearths more
info, he will do his best to share them with you. THANKS Bill!
Which brings me to the real purpose of this Post. Bill's books are a labor of
love - his hours & hours of research, travel, drawing, etc are NOT paid for by
the income of self-published book sales. The published price (with a nice
discount to BRHS mbrs) barely covers printing costs and the materials purchased
to provide the data. (thanks for understanding Lorraine!)
Since he has had 1 or more of these books available now for 23 years (boy, do I
feel old!)
how in Sam Hill can we still have Q fans asking questions about heavyweight
equipment who have not yet purchased one volume? Admittedly the books go to a
niche audience - those Q fans who model or are interested in heavyweight
passenger equipment. (although remember hwts ran on the Q up to BN time and
many were in MOW service well into BN)
So why not buy your Christmas gift now and order 1, 2, 3 or all 4? (there are
also literally 3 or 4 VERY limited copies of an HO scale drwgs book version of
Vol. 4 for $60 - I would hope after this Post there will be zero left)
If YOU expect fellow Q fans to do books that go to a group of less than 1500
mbrs, then we need some orders now to encourage others to do books on other Q
subjects. I know several fellow mbrs who are considering doing books but when
they see how few of Bill's outstanding books have sold, they reconsider whether
they should invest hundreds of hours & hundreds of $$$ to lose same to a small
tight-fisted market.
IF you already own any or all, you know every word I hav just written about the
quality is 100% true. I have talked several of you into buying copies and to a
man, they all have been very happy they did so. Also, if you are an owner of
Bill's books, ask your area Hobby Shop to stock a few (Bill offers a good deal
to stores).
Thanks fellow Q fans & thanks Bill!
Gerald
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