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My favorites:
26 books on the Southern Railway, 3 on the Clinchfield, 2 on the N&W, 1 each on the Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast Line, Louisville & Nashville and Union Pacific.
Favorites are the Richard Prince original books on the Southern, N&W, ACL, L&N and Seaboard mostly purchased at a used book loft on 46th St in Manhattan back in the 1970s. Clinchfield books from back in the day by the road's Chief Engineer, Jim Goforth, are favorites as well as "Southern Steam Power" by Rank & Lowe.
Just from memory: The Bantam Book of Model Railroading - 6th Edition
the Greenberg and K-Line repair manuals
Carstairs Layout Plans
OGR's bio of Frank Pettit
Lionel's Parts & Service Manual (modern era)
Lionel's Model Railroading (from the 90's)
TM's Lionel books - vol. 1-6
MTH's History
Encyclopedia of American Steam Engines
DVD's - TM's Great Layouts 1-6
OGR magazine from #86-today
CTT complete
And a few other magazine-sized books by various publishers.
My top reference books:
Iron Horses of the Santa Fe Trail by Worley
Steam Locomotives of the Burlington Route by Corbin and Kerka
New Haven Power by Swanberg
Model Railroader Cyclopedia: Steam Locomotive Vol 1 by Wescott /Vol2 Diesel Locomotive by Hayden
The Movie Railroads by Jensen
Plus a flotilla of various "In Color" and "Trackside" books and other books too numerous to mention.
Rusty
As you might imagine, by virtue of my involvement in the publishing end of this hobby, I have a good number of train-related books related to both prototype and model railroading. Those that I have in bookcases number over 300, with probably another 200 or so stored in boxes because I don't have the shelf space for them at the present time.
Supplementing the books are another 150 or so train related DVDs.
It would be hard for me to single out any special favorites, but I suppose I refer to my Greenberg and TM books more than most any other, particularly when I'm trying to research something for my column or for the magazine in general.
I love books, and have many that I haven't even managed to read yet. I'm stockpiling those for my retirement years and as insurance against the possibility that one day everything will be digital--that's a way of leisurely reading that I don't find particularly enjoyable.
I have dozens of books covering all aspects of railways that I have collected over the years. But the book that has been my 'bible' and most treasured book for the past 50 years is 'All About Railways' by F.S. Hartnell. Truly,
I believe this to be the best railway book ever published.
I've got a lot of books of all kinds (just ask my wife) though lately I have been picking up cheap used but good condition copies of British origin, both prototype and model railroads.
Three 3 ft. bookshelves of books and pamphlets on railroad prototypes and structures..:
Colorado Railroads...lots..steam, standard gauge, narrow gauge, etc. etc.
Book on C&O steam
Book on Southern RR steam
Book on the Ma and Pa..
Books on gas electrics and doodle bugs..
Books on cabooses including the thick MoPac one full of combine, side door, and drover cabooses, and others addressing those types of cabooses....
Beebe and Clegg books, including, as most important..."Mixed Train Daily"
Book on billboard reefers
Some of the Kalmbach photo books from 1940, including the Colorado one..
Structure books:
Books on RR stations
Books on ghost towns
Books on water mills
Books on covered bridges...
But, only one book I can think of, which is for Indiana ones, on grain elevators,
my favorite track side structure..there must be more in print...you'd think there'd
be a big one on Kansas..
It behooves any model railroader to establish his own library of books. They do become you're most valuable resource.
If you see a book you're interested in, buy it. It may not be reprinted for many years, if at all.
And, amazing as it might seem, the internet doesn't have all the answers.
Rusty
The one I don't have! Evening Before the Diesel, plagerized or not, missed it when first published, now it goes for $125 or more 
Actually I don't have any. If I can't download them to my iPad then I don't have it. Even my magazines are all digital. Besides most of my train info comes from magazines like Ogr, Ctt, trains, etc. books are just too bulky to have and to store and if needed to move. All the books I did have the last time I moved, we're trashed.
A picture is worth 1000 words...
There are over 150 years worth of various magazines including OGR. About 50 hardcover and another 50+ softcover books. That's what happens over 40 years time.
Well I hope the reprinted version costs $80; otherwise I'm going to feel silly about buying that library grade copy at York now....
I'd definitely be interested to hear more about that foot of PC. Didn't think there was enough on the subject to occupy that much space.
A lot of books I'll never get to.
Alan
I have a few books on the Maryland & Pennsylvania, Monongahela, and Washington, Baltimore & and Annapolis. I borrowed from the library a book about the Canton Railroad. It was published on the Canton's 90th anniversary(about 1995). Wouldn't mind seeing an updated edition of this book.
A good book is the best value in our hobby. The advice to not delay purchasing a title of interest is wise. Current press runs seem to be in far fewer numbers and titles will sometimes sell out quickly with little or no warning. Even Morning Sun books, many of which in earlier days seemed to be available forever, are now selling out at a faster pace. Many items no longer available at the publisher are more recent titles due to the lower production numbers. "Erie Lackawanna Through Passnger Service Volume 1" was the most recent casualty. Fortunately, I was able to secure the last copy one of my preferred dealers had in stock.
I really enjoy my books and return to them constantly. I used to do a lot of selling and trading of titles. I no longer do that. I keep everything I buy.
Bob
Way too many to list. A picture was a great idea. Here goes:
Peter
The Milwaukee Road by Jim Scribbins, The Hiawatha Story by Jim Scribbins, The Milwaukee Road Diesel Power, The Milwaukee Road Steam Locomotives Vol. 2,3,4,5 & 8, Steam Locomotives by Kalmbach, The Cars of Pullman Hendrickson and Kaminski, Pullman-Standard Freight Cars 1900-1960, Billboard Refrigeration Cars by Ed Kaminski, Model Railroader's Guide to Diesel Locomotives by Jeff Wilson, Lionel-A Century of Timeless Toy Trains, OGR magazines, CTT magazines and just ordered: The DCS O Gauge Companion 2nd Edition by Barry Broskowitz (O Gauge Forum Member)
My favorite book, "The Rainbow Route", by Sloan and Skowronski, is out of date.
(Otto Mears' railroads is SW Colorado)
In a convention I saw copies of photos of a lot of stuff that should have been in
that book. Somebody needs to write one, but they will have to pry a lot of info
from people who have it squirreled away. I was unable to obtain copies from that
source, and it contained photos of many angles of a structure that have never, to my
knowledge, been published, and that is just one example. I just hope these sources
don't kick the bucket and heirs toss it all.
I have many now, but the first two I bought in the mid-60's remain among my favorites: Al Staufer's "C&O Power" and John Armstrong's "Track Planning for Realistic Operation."
A lot of coffee-table train picture books, mostly ST and UP.
I only have five railroad books that are rare or particularly noteworthy:
While I have about a dozen books on prototype railroads and trains, I don't think I've looked at them in over twenty years.
The majority of my library consists of books and old magazines about toy and model trains. The books include the six volume set of TM books (hardcover), and many of the full sized Greenburg price guides for Lionel, American Flyer, and Ives. I've kept all the old editions because some of them have articles that are not reprinted in later versions. In fact, when I see an old edition that I do not have, I will pick it up as long as the price is reasonable.
I also have all three of the books that were put out by Project Roar Publishing.
The book I use most frequently is my Aurotech reprint of the Lionel factory service manual.
Volume four of the TM books covers Lionel Modern Era production from 1970 to 1980. It has alot of information on the how and why's of train production during that period. It's a great book for those of us who are interested in that sort of information.
Another favorite is the Project Roar Publishing book: "Authoritative Guide to Lionel's Promotional Outfits 1960 - 1969 (Limited Edition Hard Cover)"
This thread is making me want to buy some more books. 
I have some precious magazines on collecting Hornby, British railway modeling, and Lionel's Model Builder from the 1940s. I also have a host of prototype books of the Southern (in England) and other pre-Grouping roads, as well as big compendiums of toy trains and topic books on the caboose, MOW equipment, 'electrics', etc. My favorite book is Great Days of the Country Railway by Patrick Whitehouse and David St. John Thomas which is a look at rural branch lines in the UK.
I have almost every photo book ever published on the Milwaukee Road. The ones I refer to the most are the Morning Sun color guides to rolling stock. The various magazine-format books published by the Milwaukee Road Historical Society are also quite valuable, as are The Milwaukee Road 1928-1985 and The Hiawatha Story, both by Jim Scribbins, and Milwaukee Road Steam Power by John Tigges. Finally, Steam Beneath the Red Star by Ron Ziel is a fascinating read, with superlative photos, tons of information, and lots of good stories about steam railroading in Eastern Europe.
The top 5 as far as usage, eh? That would have to be these:
1-Greenberg's Guide to Marx Trains, Vol II
2-Greenberg's Guide to Lionel Trains, 1945-1969
3-5 would be the 3 Greenberg's pocket guides to American Flyer, Marx & Lionel
For a good read, a non-reference type book, try The White Cascade by Gary Krist, a riveting account of a GN passenger train trapped by a blizzard in the Cascade Mountains in 1910. Publisher Henry Holt.
Way WAY too many books in our "train bookcases"!
Mostly books published by Signature Press within the last 10 years or so having to do with the Southern Pacific RR. Also have a nice collection on the Norfolk & Western Railway from various publishers including the Norfolk & Western Historical Society.
The book I've read a number of times is "Travel By Pullman" by Welsh and Howes.
"All Aboard" the story of Lionel by Hollander, is another great choice, IMO.
Many of my RR and automobile (and other) books were gotten "used" on Amazon. All have arrived in better than described condition, $3.99 shipping, and prices are usually quite reasonable. Currently "All Aboard" is listed for 65 cents.
I have like 4 floor to ceiling bookcases full of books. Regarding the railroading books, I have I think almost every book ever written on the B&O Railroad, including early (1927) ones. Many of Civil War Railroads. Now I've been getting train books since I was 5, so I have a lot of old old books that my parents gave me for Christmas, like Don Ball's "Colorful American Railroads" and an original printing of "Vintage Train Wrecks". I took meticulous care of them, and they are in very good-great shape. A number of model railroading "how to" books, although none by Barry Borskowitz and it's going to stay that way.
I love books. A person's library can tell you a lot about the person and their interests. For example I knew I was in trouble when I saw "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People" in our new crappy supervisor's bookcase.
Does anybody have "The Cars of Pullman" by Joe Welsh, Bill Howes, and Kevin J. Holland?
I spotted it for the Kindle the other day for $19.99, 1/2 price of the paper copy. They also have "Central of Georgia Railway" for $9.99.
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