I've listed out here the books and other print resources I have on hand. These break down into a couple of areas, Reference and How-To.
Before I come across as some sort of technophobe, rambling on about these archaic heavy things called books, I should be clear. I do most of my research online, at sites found in my links section. There are numerous websites with varying degrees of helpful information and images, and I would never say that the internet today is less than indispensable as a research tool.
However, for a number of reasons I think a many of the books currently published have a place in any railfan's library, not the least of which is that they are enjoyable in and of themselves, as well as being helpful for railroad modeling. The internet, while tremendous, does not always have a lot of historical reference photos, and sometimes books are all you have for certain regions or eras. Photo quality in books tends to be uniformly high, and higher than what is often found online. Books often have photos of the broader scene (not just roster shots), which make a convenient resource for modeling (unless you are just modeling the equipment and not a layout). Finally, there is the targeted nature of books- you don't need to hunt much to find information about a particular topic- it's right there in the book.
In short, I'm pretty happy to have what I have, and get substantial enjoyment from those volumes.Back to home.