Publishers Announce Books About Amtrak

Two publishers have announced the coming release of books tied to the 50^th anniversary of Amtrak.

White River Productions said Fifty Years of Amtrak Trains will be a detailed summary of every route operated by Amtrak.

Authored by Bruce Goldberg and David Warner, the book will have 256 pages and numerous color and black and white photographs.

It is priced at $79.95 but is available for $70 at the publisher’s website through May 31.

A promotion for the book on the publisher’s website said many of the photographs have never been published.

Other illustrations will include route maps and illustrations of brochure art. The contents also include detailed tables showing train schedules and station stops at 10-year intervals.

Goldberg and Warner have written about Amtrak in previous works.

Warner was the co-auithor with Elbert L. Simon of Amtrak by the Numbers, a review of the passenger carrier’s locomotive and rolling stock rosters.

That book was published by White River in 2011.

Goldberg and Warner were co-author of The Metroliners, which was published by White River in 2016. He also authored a long out of press book titled Amtrak: The First Decade.

Ordering information about Fifty Years of Amtrak is available athttps://shop.whiteriverproductions.com/products/am50

Indiana University Press plans to release in October Amtrak, America’s Railroad: Transportation’s Orphan and Its Struggle for Survival, by Geoffrey Doughty, Jeffrey Darbee and Eugene Harmon.

A publisher’s summary said the book explores how Amtrak’s has been a company hindered by its flawed origin and unequal quality of leadership, subjected to political gamesmanship and favoritism, and mired in a perpetual philosophical debate about whether it is a business or a public service.

The authors interviewed former Amtrak presidents and explore the current problems and issues facing the passenger carrier while offering proposed solutions.

The book concludes that Amtrak was created in the absence of a comprehensive national transportation policy but managed to survive its inherent flaws due to the public’s persistent loyalty.

The book has 264 pages and 42 color illustrations. It is priced at $40. The cover has yet to be displayed on the publisher’s website.

Ordering information is available at https://iupress.org/9780253060631/amtrak-americas-railroad

Tags: Amtrak, books about Amtrak, Indiana University Press, Railroad books, White River Productions