Large Scale Central

Guide to North America's Tourist Railways and Museums

408 pages…2015 Wide Eye Productions, Winston Salem, NC 4th edition

I acquired this thru Rhode Island Public Television (401)-222-3636 x 204 or ([email protected]), it did not appear to be offered on Boston PBS - Assumably it is available from some other PBS stations as well as a C/D entitled Trains Around North America ( 17 Rail Journeys ) which I’ll review after viewing if there is interest.

After several pages of color adds for various famous venues such as the B&O Museum, Strasburg, PA; Chama, NM Colorado Railroad Museum, etc.) and a few of which I wasn’t aware of) the guide is laid out logically with a seven page table of contents by state followed by one page for Canada. Apparently Mexico has no venues, or is part of Central America? The table of contents lists the venue for that state and the page number for each venue. Following the table of contents each state has a section with the state map showing where the venues are located and the major cities. Each venue is then described with a short history, schedules and fares, and an equipment roster followed by contact information and parking and credit card information. Not all Tourist railways are listed - I immediately noticed that as the Massachusetts listings omitted Edavile, USA (narrow gauge), however they do have it covered! After the Canadian sections there is a section entitled “List of other railway-related sites and attractions” with 14 or so pages of these omitted attractions which include state parks such as museums, zoos, etc. most of which appeared to have has some RR connection. These pages should not be overlooked as they are not listed in Index at the end of the volume!

This appears to be a well thought-out guide, logically laid out, with a multitude of small black and white photos showing an attraction at each venue reviewed, and in a few instances a local map.

As this is the 4th edition, I’d assume that at least a few members here are in a position to comment on the accuracy of the information provided…