Several news items for you on current and future projects...

Speed Graphics and Steam 1958! vol. 2 production

This 192-page hardcover volume is in the hands of Ampersand Printing. I have reviewed the proofs and today we’ll schedule a press check for the very near future. The entire book will be printed in one day, after which it will go to the bindery. When we do the press check, I’ll send out an broadcast with pictures (to receive these, sign up to our email list on any page of this website).

We still expect to distribute Speed Graphics and Steam 1958! vol. 2 during the week of November 4. And, I’ll let you know (by email, if you're on our list) if we’re going to hold an informal launch event on November 3 (this depends on whether we have books in our hands or not).

Sneak preview of Speed Graphics and Steam 1958! vol. 2

If you’re keen to read the first 16 pages of this upcoming release, I’ve uploaded a PDF sample of the first “signature”. You can find that by navigating to the Speed Graphics and Steam 1958! vol. 2 webpage or by clicking on this link:

http://s3.amazonaws.com/hoth.bizango/assets/17450/SGS1958v2_excerpt.pdf

A couple of notes about the PDF. If it doesn’t pop up on your screen for you, check your downloads folder after clicking the link (either here or on the webpage). For viewing the PDF, make sure your page display is set to “two up” and that the cover page is shown separately. To set this view, navigate the Adobe Acrobat menu as follows:

View > Page Display (check “Two Page View” or “Two-Up” and “Show Cover Page in Two Page View” or “Show Cover Page in Two-Up”).

2020 Canadian Branchline calendar

I’ve added our upcoming wall calendar to our Canadian Branchline books page. You can find it and order it here:

http://ianwilsonauthor.com/canadianbranchline/calendar2020

The target date for printing the calendar is the week of November 17, with distribution to follow during the week of November 24.

Our new brochure

With the 2020 Canadian Branchline calendar announcement, we’ve produced a new brochure. Two personalized copies of this will be distributed with every copy of Speed Graphics and Steam 1958! vol. 2 shipped in a couple of weeks. As well, we will mail two personalized copies of the brochure to all recent buyers who did not pre-order Speed Graphics and Steam 1958! vol. 2 (watch for those in early November).

If you’d like to download and print the brochure yourself, click on this link:

http://s3.amazonaws.com/hoth.bizango/assets/17449/2020_calendar_brochure_low.pdf

New—quantity discounts!

With the 2020 Canadian Branchline calendar publication, we’re introducing quantity discounts (20% and 40%) to all readers. To keep things simple, these discounts will apply to your total purchases, not just calendars. The discounts kick in at $200 and $400 respectively.

For instance, say you order three calendars and a couple of hardcover books:

Three calendars @ $24.95 + two hardcovers @ $69.95 = $214.75. That would generate a 20% discount ($42.95), reducing your total before tax (if applicable) and shipping to $171.80.

For the larger discount, suppose you order six calendars (or softcovers) @ $24.95 and four hardcovers @ $69.95 for a total of $429.50. You would receive a 40% discount ($171.80), reducing your purchase to $257.70 before tax and shipping.

To receive the discounts by mail order, do the math in the boxes provided on the brochure. To receive the discounts online, email me at ian@canadianbranchline.com describing your order and we’ll create a custom invoice for you.

New—pricing in Canadian dollars only

We’ve recently changed our website to show book and merchandise prices in Canadian dollars only. Fear not, U.S. and overseas readers, we’ll still accept payments in equivalent U.S. currency for mail orders (on our current brochure, we’re asking you to divide the CAD total by 1.28 to arrive at a total in USD). If you order online, all of this is taken care of (and I think PayPal shows you equivalent amounts in your home currency as you proceed through the purchasing process).

If necessary, we’ll add a shipping surcharge to U.S. or overseas orders for purchases made online. For mail order purchases, we’re offering flat shipping rates as presented on the new brochure.

Märklin pre-war train set and accessories

A relative of my wife Mary-Jo has left me his pre-war Märklin train set. I would like to sell this equipment at a fair price to someone who has an interest in it. Although I can certainly offer the items for sale on eBay, I wanted to check with the list first to see if anyone is interested. A quick perusal of some of the pieces (I looked at one locomotive, a couple of cars, an accessory and some track) shows that the items are in good condition. Vintage appears to be around 1936-40. In the next few days, I will be inventorying and photographing the pieces. If you are interested, please email me at ian@canadianbranchline.com. Or share this blog post with someone who may be.

Video preparation

Lastly, we’ll set up the viewing link for the Palmerston 1956-57 video soon. This is available exclusively to purchasers of Speed Graphics and Steam 1958! vol. 2.

Will return with another blog post when more news is available.

Sincerely,

P.S. Please share this blog post with (a) anyone you know who may wish to pick up one of the few extra copies of Speed Graphics and Steam 1958! vol. 2 after the press run OR (b) whoever would like a high-quality Canadian steam railway wall calendar for 2020 OR (c) anyone you know who is interested in pre-war Märklin trains.