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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 388.460657471
EAN num: 9780760326855
ISBN number: 0760326851
Label: Voyageur Press
Manufacturer: Voyageur Press
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 160
Printing Date: June 15, 2007
Publishing house: Voyageur Press
Sale Popularity Level: 206972
Studio: Voyageur Press
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
The illustrated history of the oldest American railway operating under its original name and the busiest commuter railroad on the continent.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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Having been raised on Long Island, I have been waiting for a good illustrated history of the Long Island Rail Road. After reading this book I am still waiting for one.
The book provides a poorly balanced and integrated view of the LIRR. The text and illustrations appear to have been assembled and laid out by different people, and the organization of the book does not result in continuous and reasonably complete coverage of the material. There is a heavy treatment of the LIRR in Brooklyn and New York City with an overemphasis on the multiple unit trains to the detriment of major aspects of the remainder of the railroad. There is very little coverage of the transition from steam to diesel, when the LIRR fielded a facinating variety of locimotives from different manufacturers. Almost nothing of the stations found throughout Long Island, which were known for their architecture, is seen, and nothing about freight operations, which formed a small but interesting part of LIRR operations can be found. Large aspects of the LIRR in Nassau and Suffolk counties is not covered well, if at all. Instead, one finds pages wasted with entire chapters on the Atlantic Avenue tunnel, disasters, and Pennsylvania Station along with two pages dedicated to "Mile-a-Minute Murphy" and his bucyle race with a train.
The selection of illustrations is at times random with poor linkage to the immediate text. Pictures of time tables and tickets are inserted in a way that makes them appear as filler, and no maps showing the evolution of the rail road are provided to support the text.
The fact that the author is from Brooklyn and apparently has a strong interest in subways, appears to have biased the contents of the book. I do not recommend this book.
Rated by buyers 
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Great book. Stan Fischler is a great storyteller to begin with (his "Confessions of a Brooklyn Trolley Dodger" are a grat personal reminiscence of his childhood growing up in Brookly as well as of the trolleys of the area). The LIRR was a essential element to the growth of Long Island and even the acceleration of its population right after WWII. Great photos and story of the struggles and the sometimes "love-hate" relationships between the Long Island RR and its customers and the Pennsy (which held control till the early 50s). Brings the story of the Railroad closer to the present. Is of the same quality of the other MBI Railroad Books.
Rated by buyers -
The MBI Railroad Colour History series has provided concise histories of selected railroads and a nice selection of photographs, mostly in color. This book on the LIRR is disappointing. The majority of photographs are grey & white, although this is not a drawback as the 19th century b&w photos presented are nicely reproduced in a size and quality not previously seen. The history, on the other hand, is disjointed and woefully incomplete. The author spends far too much time on sidebars and anecdotes (although warning that historians have refuted the stories that he is about to relate, he then goes on to include them anyway). A section of photographs on the 1950 wrecks is much too long and includes a completely unnecessary graphic photo of bodies inside a wrecked car. The only maps are on the endpapers and are very nice, but depict the 19th Century system (one is undated, the other is about 10 years off), with no additional maps showing the railroad as it matured. In conclusion, the reasonable price justifies buying the book for the early photographs alone, but don't expect any kind of cogent history of the LIRR.
Rated by buyers -
The LIRR is here because they have always been here, not because they deserve it. If you have a romantic attachment to trains, this book is OK. For any other reason skip it.
Books like this are great at telling only one side of the story, the LIRR's spin side. Not told here are the years of ridership losses, how the LIRR is fast becoming the 2nd busiest RR "on the continent" and all the corruption that takes place on every major project.
Any LIRR commuter has a vastly different perspective on the LIRR and that story seems to never be told.
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