Kelly Anderson posted:Abebooks.com shows a pretty good spread for "One Man's Locomotives".
I would just like to recommend this book to any Forumite who has any interest in the inside stories of railroad locomotive ownership, design, or construction. Vernon Smith worked for an Iron Range railroad as a Fireman, and later was a Sales Engineer for Fanklin (poppet valve gear for steam locomotives), worked in the Santa Fe Mechanical Department (including riding on the first trip of an Alco PA-1 passenger diesel), and was the head of the Mechanical Department of the Belt Railway of Chicago.
This book is a good read.