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Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable Read
Review: As a retired licensed mechanical engineer, who grew up in the hey-day of steam locomotives,I found this book a very enjoyable read. This is not a text on how to design a steam locomotive, but rather an in-depth description of the various components and systems that were utilized during the steam locomotive era. Aside from an occasional typo that detracts somewhat from the technical discussions, the authors have presented a wealth of information in an interesting fashion based on their first hand experience. After reading this book, I came away with a greater appreciation for the skill required to efficiently operate a steam locomotive and also an understanding of why the steam locomotive was totally replaced by the diesel locomotive over such a short time.
Rating:
Summary: Definitely worth reading if you're an enthusiast
Review: Fascinating read, although not a particularly easy one. Very dense, technical writing, but very much worth the effort to read because there's a wealth of detail with solid explanations of the basic systems on locomotives. North American readers may find the British writing style a bit of a struggle.
Rating: 
Summary: Bad Writing
Review: I do not have this book, but I did read a few of the sample
pages and found typos and poor writing.
Rating:
Summary: Train Wreck
Review: I understand how locomotives work and this book confused me. Don't waste your money.
Rating: 
Summary: a strange mix of good and awful...
Review: If you already know everything about Steam, then you'll probably find this good in places and boring in most others.
If you DON'T know your steam inside-out, then you may be left utterly flumoxed as the authors leap from idiot-guide to super-in-depth in a single paragraph and back again. You'll be left asking What The Hey Are They Talking About?
Parts were fascinating - but generally a book written by experts who've forgotten (or never knew) how to write for The Rest Of Us.
Rating: 
Summary: The title says it all
Review: If you want to know how a steam locomotive really work buy this book, if you are looking for anecdotes, beautifull pictures curious details etc. don't!. I am not a trains fan but I have an interest in the history of technology and I bought this book because I wanted to know how a steam locomotive works. I liked this book a lot because it delivers exactly as promised. The text is technical because the subject is technical and you need a spat of phisics to understand it all. The book explains in detail how the different parts and systems of a steam loco work and how the whole comes together as well as the whys and hows of some operational and maintenace practices. You can also see that steam is not a friendly technology and that steam locos are, by their own nature, difficult to operate and maintain and you get some idea of the amount of labor and skill needed to do it. The fundamental limitations of the technology are also shown and you understand why in certain aspects the last steam locos were so similar to the earliest ones, why some designs were on the tracks for decades and finally why they have become museum objects rather that daily used machines. After reading this book I appreciate steam locos a lot more than I did before.
Rating:
Summary: Otherwise Known As!! "How to get the facts wrong"
Review: It's impossible to review this book! it's just dire!!I bought it via the web... Never again do I buy a technical book without taking a look at it first! Full of facts that aren't fact, this book should be well avoided!! A total waste of hard earned cash! The publisher should be ashamed of themselves for even accepting this rubbish!
Rating:
Summary: A Treasure Chest of Information on Steam Locomotives
Review: This book is nothing less than a "Classic" in the best sense of the word. It offers comprehensive coverage of the design evolution of steam locomotives and the issues that shaped its development until overtaken by diesel traction. The explanations are thorough without significanr recourse to mathemetics. Anyone with a keen interest in the history of technology or the era of steam powered rail transport will find this well written book a treasure.
Rating:
Summary: A Treasure Chest of Information on Steam Locomotives
Review: This book is nothing less than a "Classic" in the best sense of the word. It offers comprehensive coverage of the design evolution of steam locomotives and the issues that shaped its development until overtaken by diesel traction. The explanations are thorough without significanr recourse to mathemetics. Anyone with a keen interest in the history of technology or the era of steam powered rail transport will find this well written book a treasure.
Rating: 
Summary: Hmmmmmm...
Review: This book was so so. I got it at the library. My fav part about it was that there was a very good pictorial description of how the baker valve gear works. The rest was sort of boring and extremely technical. On the other hand, if you like technical books, this is for you. There are lots of graphs and equations and the like.
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