There are a few newsworthy items here I thought you would be interested in.
Book orders
If you are interested in stocking up on titles as gifts for friends or family members—or as leisurely reading for yourself as winter approaches, please purchase them now on our book pages!
Upcoming article in CN Lines
For about a decade, starting in 1996, I contributed regular feature-length articles to CN Lines (the publication of the Canadian National Railways Historical Association, known as the CN Lines Special Interest Group prior to 2010). Indeed, through principals Stafford Swain, Al Lill and Ian Cranstone I began my publishing career in the pages of CN Lines.
Now I’m happy to announce that I’ve arranged with Al Lill and editor Kevin Holland to supply an article for this autumn’s issue of CN Lines. Many thanks to Al, a longtime reader and friend, for opening this door for me. And to Kevin, with whom I spoke today to arrange logistics. The article will be an introduction to the epic July 1957 journey of photographers John Rehor and Don Wood to photograph steam locomotives in Ontario.
Pre-publication offer and release date for next hardcover
We are now planning on an April 30, 2018 release of that hardcover volume chronicling John Rehor’s and Don Wood’s trek to Ontario in 1957. Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be producing a flyer. One or more copies of the flyer will be sent to everyone on our postal mailing list. You will have the opportunity to pre-order (at a significant discount) one or more copies of the book by December 31, 2017.
Who else doesn’t care for e-commerce?
Over the past several book releases, we’ve fielded a lot of complaints from readers concerning PayPal. Frankly, I too have had enough of the complications associated with processing digital orders. But I’d like to know what you readers think. How important is it for you to click-to-pay online, as opposed to mailing us a cheque/check? Would the ability to pay online mean that you wouldn’t order a book?
Regardless of payment preferences, we are NOT able to take pre-publication orders through PayPal or other similar e-commerce systems (there is a built-in requirement to ship the merchandise within a tight timeframe). So, the entire pre-ordering process for the new book will be handled by cheques/checks anyway, until publication at the end of April 2018.
From the Mail Bag—Ted Benson weighs in
Noted railroad photographer and author Ted Benson sent me a note this week:
Hello, Ian
Regarding the Rehor-Wood Ontario branch lines book, all I can say is "WOW!" Having multiple copies of their TRAINS Magazine feature from 1958, and having seen way more of their Canadian work over the years, this is exciting news.
Please keep me posted--I'll definitely be signing up for a copy of this one!
While I'm more of a CPR fan (which likely sounds strange coming from a lifelong Californian), there are two copies of your excellent Steam series on the shelf here--the London and Stratford books--and they are wonderfully done. Something tells me there will likely be a lot more of the Branchline series keeping these two company in the future.
All the best,
Ted Benson
Who is interested in one of a very-few copies of the Niagara book?
We have on hand here some 13 bound copies of Steam to the Niagara Frontier. They had been “overs” from the bindery which we’ve stored for the past several years since the book has been out of print. In order to put these books on the market, we will have to do a special run on dust jackets. I’ll take the first 13 names to speak for a copy (please, no more than one each) at the original shelf price of $69.95 Canadian plus GST and shipping charges. Just send an email for now; we’ll work out details later. If we receive 13 requests, we’ll prepare the books for their new homes.
P.S.
Many thanks to all list members who linked to this blog post, sharing it with friends interested in 1950s steam railway operations. Please, share the link to this post too! It will help us expand our reach among steam enthusiasts, no matter what their favourite railroad! Thank you in advance!
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