MILW Read any good books about the Milwaukee lately?

So, what good books about the Milwaukee are out there? I am interested in knowing what's worth reading about the Milwaukee.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Milwaukee Road West, by Charles and Dorothy Wood

The Milwaukee Road Revisited, by Stanley Johnson (really cool story about the author and his stepfather, who was a Milwaukee Road passenger conductor, and the influence the stepfather had on the author's life, as well as the author's revisiting the places he remembered from his youth.)

The Guide to the Milwaukee Road in Montana, published by the Montana Historical Society (out of print, found several copies on eBay a while back, got to pay through the nose (some of the minimum bids were around $40)to buy a copy on eBay!:cry2eh: Can't afford it right now, that's one of the frustrations of being unemployed!) I bought a copy for my dad and gave it to him for a Christmas present in 1992 or 1993, I've forgotten which year. I felt like I could not afford to buy myself a copy at the time, but I wish I had bought myself a copy then.

Anyway, that's a list of my favorite books about the Milwaukee. I have also read
The Nation Pays Again, by Alfred Plotz (I think that's his name, though I'm not totally sure. Can anyone clarify that for me?) But I definitely cannot say I cared for that book.:wilted_rose:

So, let's hear what books other Milwaukee fans have read!

 

I have heard of The Nation Pays Again,it's by Thomas Ploss,I have read the Milwaukee Road in Color by William Strauss and they are good books,Robert Olmestead,Milwaukee Rails,No More Mountains To Cross,Fred Hyde The Milwaukee Road,all of these books are great to read and have plenty of information in them.Have you joined the Milwaukee groups in Yahoo?they have plenty of information on the Milwaukee Road and modeling groups.What era.area and scale are you modeling? I model in HO Scale from 1979-1985 from Perry,Iowa to Savanna,Illinois as if the Milwaukee rebuilt the entire Iowa Division mainline to 132 pound rail and was well off money wise. Steve Church Milwaukee Road Iowa Division

 

Those books sound quite fascinating. One of these days I must be sure to check them out.

This forum is the first forum of its kind that I've ever joined, so, no, I have not joined any groups in Yahoo. We have MSN here, so I generally do not use Yahoo.
I have been a member of the Great Northern Historical Society and the Friends of the Burlington Northern, and I might rejoin them someday, as well as possibly the Milwaukee Road Historical Society.

Also, I am not a modeler. I was going to have a model railroad at one time, but it has never materialized and probably never will. Quite a while ago, while I was standing outside the west portal of the Cascade Tunnel on Stevens Pass, northeast of Seattle, watching a westbound intermodal, I came to the conclusion that, while model railroads are cool and interesting, I find the real thing far more interesting and fascinating than models. So, for me, my true railfan passion is full size real trains. If I do have a model railroad someday, I would like to have a live steam railroad that I can ride on, possibly based on the BN or the GN on Stevens or Marias Pass, with
SD-45s.

Besides the Milwaukee, I am also a fan of the BN (prior to the merger with the SF), the GN, and the Montana Rail Link.

Thank you, too, for clarifying that the author of The Nation Pays Again was Thomas Ploss. I must file that away for future reference. I guess that I wasn't too far wrong on the name.

 

Ah, yes, I forgot about Steinheimer's book. My dad has a copy of that book, and I've looked through it, though not really read it, except for little snippets here and there. I would like to have copies of both the Montana and Idaho Milwaukee Road guides, someday when I have a bit more money.

 

Not so much a book, but the quarterly "The Milwaukee Railroader" published by the Milw Road Historical society are a wealth of information and pictures. I recently purchased 3, one from 1999, 2000 and 2006 because they had information pertaining to the NMD. GREAT pictures and stories, as well many overhead pictures of yards and such.

 

This is maybe only tangentially related, but since I was still relatively young when the Milwaukee Road finally went belly up I was just SHOCKED to see how extensive their network was in the Pacific Northwest. As someone just on the other side of the Columbia from where I am, I think you might find the SPV Railroad Atlas of North America, Pacific Northwest edition to be very interesting. It shows pretty much all the lines that existed or ever did exist up until it was published in about 1998, and it will show, in parentheses, what roads used to operate over many of the lines. 'MILW' was just about EVERYWHERE.

These books seem out of print, but I know that if you search through abebooks, alibris, or ebay you should be able to find one. I got a new one still in shrink wrap for about $25 including postage.

 

Here's a listing of some Milw Rd books:

Karen's Books

Karen's Books

Erik

 

I enjoyed reading most of the books mentioned and also, Rails Through the Grass, by Rick A. VanZee. About the Milw. Rd. in South Dakota.

 

Noel Holley's Milwaukee Road Electrics is great as well. The second edition was lightly revised from the first. Either one is just fine.

 

Hey Ken,
Been here and there. I try to get back every night but I don't post much. The layout is going fine, I am currently building part of the town and the yard in Tomah. I am not sure if my modeling is quite up to snuff with the other ones on here so I haven't posted much.

 

ok, I GOTTA learn to check my facts before doing this....maybe someday I will...what was the name of the publishing company we were all talking about 2 years ago?...Sun Publishing? I remember they had some GREAT hardback titles that covered the Milwaukee in detail. We were talking about a certain auther/photographer, too..no idea what the name was. Sorry, I know I just sound retarded when I do this sort of thing.

 

I bought Ken's copy of The Guide to the Milwaukee Road in Montana. Good book! Essential, I think, for anyone trying to find old MILW grades and relics in Montana.

I have been very much enjoying my two volumes of the Milwaukee Road Color Guide to Freight & Passenger Equipment by Nighswonger and Stauss.

If anyone has any suggestions for good books on passenger service, especially anything having to do with the trains that came West, I would be interested to hear them.

 

The subject is still relevant even if the thread hasn't been posted on in a few years: As mentioned elsewhere, I finally managed to find affordable priced (used) copy of the Frederick Hyde Milwaukee Road book. It's incredible to think that the book itself is now more than 20 years old... It's been published for two-thirds the length of the time lines west has been abandoned.

I can't stop picking it up to browse through, but every time I do it sends my thoughts in a new direction. Initially, I was amazed because of the pictures, and because I had never really read anything about the Midwest lines, focusing only on the electrified sections. Eventually I just started getting depressed and it was just devastating to see those decrepit branch lines, but now whenever I pick up the book, especially seeing the last few freights on the Coast Division, I actually start to get really (and I mean really) angry about the whole thing.

If I had the billions, I'd purchase up all the rights of way, and rebuild the whole railway with modern rail and equipment.