Anyone looking for a RR steam engineer bio book ?

JimDep

Well-known member
I just saw one of my favorite all time books on EBAY.
It's called " Clear the Tracks" by engineer Joe Bromley, written in 1943, when he was in his late 70's.
about RR life in Central New York from the late 1800's / early 1900's.

It's on EBAY right now for $ 14.98 , Buy it now...and it has the dust jacket. Pretty hard to find that cheap, even without the dust jacket. There's a lot of humor, tragedies and a few pranks. Not really big on technical information and not an instructional book. What I love is that it's very descriptive of the environment and era related social life. This will appeal to all your senses and puts you right in the cab of an old steamer.
Maybe you've read it already..... but if you have any interest of RR from that era, it's a fun read.

Disclosure: I have no connection with the seller. Never had any contact with this person. I bought my copy years ago at a flea market.
 
Sounds a lot like a book I bought maybe 15 years ago called "Set Up Running". A bio of a PRR engineman, Oscar Orr, written by his son. Orr operated steam locos hauling freight and passenger trains for the Pennsy from 1904 to 1949, mostly working out of Williamsport in central PA.

Thanks for the info, I might take a look.

Bob Pearson
 
Thanks for info on the "Set Up Running " book. I'll try and find a copy. I'm a fan of the PRR too. I follow the tracks when taking a drive down to Bradford , PA.

Clear the Tracks is mostly about his years with the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western as a fireman and then engineer ( coal, freight, milk and Passenger) on the DL&W's Utica / Richfield Springs Division,
 
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Sounds a lot like a book I bought maybe 15 years ago called "Set Up Running". A bio of a PRR engineman, Oscar Orr, written by his son. Orr operated steam locos hauling freight and passenger trains for the Pennsy from 1904 to 1949, mostly working out of Williamsport in central PA.

Thanks for the info, I might take a look.

Bob Pearson

I just put in an offer on EBAY for "Set up Running" . Hope it's accepted. I read the description and I know I'm going to like it. That northern part of PA and South Central NY state, I'm pretty familiar with. I love the area and its history. Since it's written by his son, I'm guessing it's based on all the info and stories his dad shared with him. The Clear the Tracks book begins in December of 1880 in Central NY state. The Set up Running book begins in the early 1900's, so the era it covers overlaps and then continues on after where "Clear the Tracks" ends.

What was really interesting and useful to me was finding the Sanborn Fire Insurance maps on the LIBRARY OF CONGRESS website for the towns that are mentioned in these RR books (and all over the US). You can find a map close the year / era you are reading about. The map will feature just about every structure...depot, water towers, engine sheds , ect , commercial properties and residences , including where they were located and even what materials they were made of ! These maps have been a huge asset for helping me put together my routes, to make them as accurate as possible. Thanks for the referral and looking for forward to getting the book.
 
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Just an update. I decided to make an offer on a different copy of "Clear the Tracks" on EBY. A 1943 2nd printing but in a little better condition. I've had it on a watch list for awhile and the seller made me an offer that expired before I opened it (2 days is nothing, I sometimes go a week or more without checking my email). So I put in an offer I think we can both live with.

The time covered is a bit earlier than I'm interested in but I think there's enough overlap. Should be a good read in any case.

Thanks,

Bob Pearson

PS. On its way. :cool:
 
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Glad to hear you got it. I looked up several people and structure addresses mentioned in the book , using old Utica phone books on-line and the Sanborn Fire Insurance maps from 1884. Sure enough, they were there. Back then, phone books didn't only include names and addresses, but included their occupations too.

My offer for " Set up and Running" was refused and it got sold to somebody else. The other copies I'm seeing are pretty expensive, so I saved it on the EBAY SEARCH watching for a cheaper copy to come along. ( I should have paid the full price on the 1st one I saw. I didn't know it was a bargain until I compared it to the others I'm seeing now)
Clear the Tracks has been my favorite " feel good" book for the last decade and I've re-read it several time. No matter how I'm feeling on a given day, when I pick it up and start reading again, it takes me right back to the tracks and puts my mind in a good space.
 
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Sounds a lot like a book I bought maybe 15 years ago called "Set Up Running". A bio of a PRR engineman, Oscar Orr, written by his son. Orr operated steam locos hauling freight and passenger trains for the Pennsy from 1904 to 1949, mostly working out of Williamsport in central PA.

Thanks for the info, I might take a look.

Bob Pearson

I finally found the Set up and Running book on line at a reasonable price. I got it last week and about 3/4 of the way through. Very enjoyable with good steam loco info. I got on the satellite view for the Elimira branch hoping to follow the tracks and couldn't find any ...not even in small towns like Ralston and Trout Run, PA , sandwiched between the hills. I looked up the town of Ralston and discovered that since the Penn Central took over, they shut down the whole branch back in 1972 due to extensive flood damage and pulled out all the track and structures, leaving few traces that there was ever a branch line through there. Oscar Orr was certainly a role model for engineers back in his day.
Thanks for this book suggestion.
 
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I finally found the Set up and Running book on line at a reasonable price. I got it last week and about 3/4 of the way through. Very enjoyable with good steam loco info. I got on the satellite view for the El Mira branch hoping to follow the tracks and couldn't find any ...not even in small towns like Ralston and Trout Run, PA , sandwiched between the hills. I looked up the town of Ralston and discovered that since the Penn Central took over, they shut down the whole branch back in 1972 due to extensive flood damage and pulled out all the track and structures, leaving few traces that there was ever a branch line through there. Oscar Orr was certainly a role model for engineers back in his day.
Thanks for this book suggestion.

I found the route on abandonedrails.com. It's listed as 'Williamsport, PA to Elmira, NY'. Here's a link to that section of the website about the route: http://www.abandonedrails.com/williamsport-to-elmira. Also, John Orr, the grandson of Oscar Orr, and whose father (John Orr's father that is) was the writer of Set Up and Running made a comment on March 1st, 2014 about riding a E-unit A-B-B-A helper unit pushing a coal train up the grade from the longest siding on the line at Ralston, PA to Sodus Point, NY and the deadheading back to the siding.
 
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Thanks for the link.
Interesting reading about that one run they did, getting orders to plow through piles of packed snow on a mountain pass without even a snow plow attached. They beat the heck out of that engine but finally broke through.
 
Jim excuse the delay but I put Trainz on the back burner for a time and my visits didn't make it to this forum. Glad you finally got a copy - at a reasonable price.

Bob Pearson
 
Jim excuse the delay but I put Trainz on the back burner for a time and my visits didn't make it to this forum. Glad you finally got a copy - at a reasonable price.

Bob Pearson
Hey, no problem Bob. I really like "Set up Running". Reading it a 2nd time.
Did you ever get " Clear the Tracks" ? If not, as of a few days ago there was a couple copies on EBAY pretty cheap.
 
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