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Any one have the english book, Bullet Trains?


NozomiFan

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So I've had this book for quite a while. I think it was produced in 2002-2003 area. Shows detailed info on Japanese, European, American bullet trains.

The cover shows a series O (0?) coming out of a tunnel. I can post scans if anyone wants.

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I was so frustrated to find nothing in english that I bought a japanese book about Shinkansen. Of course I don't get most of it but it provides a lot of schematics (really well done) and most of technical informations are in katakana, so it's really easy to get.

 

If you have good references (ISBN number or a shop that sells english books about Jtrains) or of course scans, I would be interested!

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You should check out the thread on book collections from earlier this year, particularly this post on High Speed in Japan, which is a pretty good survey of the Shinkansen history (I picked up a copy after it was recommended on that thread).  You'd have to find a used copy, and they're presently pretty expensive on Amazon  (I didn't pay that much).

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I was so frustrated to find nothing in english that I bought a japanese book about Shinkansen. Of course I don't get most of it but it provides a lot of schematics (really well done) and most of technical informations are in katakana, so it's really easy to get.

 

If you have good references (ISBN number or a shop that sells english books about Jtrains) or of course scans, I would be interested!

I found it on Amazon here-http://www.amazon.com/Bullet-Trains-Enthusiast-Color-Solomon/dp/0760307687
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I was so frustrated to find nothing in english that I bought a japanese book about Shinkansen. Of course I don't get most of it but it provides a lot of schematics (really well done) and most of technical informations are in katakana, so it's really easy to get.

 

If you have good references (ISBN number or a shop that sells english books about Jtrains) or of course scans, I would be interested!

I found it on Amazon here-http://www.amazon.com/Bullet-Trains-Enthusiast-Color-Solomon/dp/0760307687

 

I've had a copy of it for years. It's ok I guess, but it is a bit darted.

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I've had a copy of it for years. It's ok I guess, but it is a bit dated.

 

Which begs the question, how come there are not more recent, authoritative, works on high speed rail in English?  A quick search of Amazon turns up some recent (published within last 5 years) books, but the problem is, they're children's books.  I go to my local bookstore here in Sapporo, and there are at least ten (adult audience) books covering shinkansen on the shelf, some including detailed comparisons with other high speed rail systems (I guess the fan of modern railways is spoiled here- where else in the world can you find at least 5 books at a general bookstore just covering railway operating schedule diagram planning?, or a book only covering catenary?).  Does the English language railfan press really need another book on the products of EMD and GE ("massive" diesels "hustle muscle" etc.) or another profile of a Great Western branchline??

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It is surprising that there's nothing recent in English, given all the hype in the U.S. over the last two years about High Speed Rail.

 

The HSRiJ book is a bit dated: it was written in 1997, and much of its data ends around 1991, with only cursory coverage of the early 90's. It's also short, at around 100 pages, many of which are largely photos and tables of numbers. But much of its focus is on the development of the Shinkansen network, and for that it's pretty good, although with only 61 pages before the "other developments" it's necessarily a fairly high-level summary.

 

Still, if you don't already know much about Shinkansen, which was my case, it's a very good starting point, if you can find a copy at a reasonable price.

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Does the English language railfan press really need another book on the products of EMD and GE ("massive" diesels "hustle muscle" etc.) or another profile of a Great Western branchline??

 

LOL! Couldn't agree more, BB!  :laugh:

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

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