Looking for a book

[Joe Freese]

What I am looking for is a book in English which has information about Japanese Locomotives. I have books about British Locomotives which list the locomotives in some order, such as by class number. The books have a photo or two; sometimes a drawing of the locomotive; and statistics, such as length, width, height, power, speed, date put into service, whether active or withdrawn, use, and a brief history. Usually only a few pages are devoted to each locomotive. I do not know if such a book exists, but it seems as though it should.

 

In early 1997 a friend showed me a copy of Australian Model Railway Magazine. I was fascinated, so I wrote to Tom's Discount Hobbies in New South Wales. In return I received a nice long letter and some catalogs. I have numerous models by Powerline, Austrains, Lima, and Trainorama. I also got a wonderful book entitled: Locomotives of Australia by Leon Oberg. What I want is a book about Japanese locomotives like the one I have on Australian locomotives.

 

best regards,

  Joe Freese

[bikkuri bahn]

As far as I know there is no English language book devoted exclusively to Japanese locomotives, presumably no publisher would touch such a topic (incredible as it seems, given the amount of junk you see at your neighborhood bookstore, but then again, there is low reader interest-  at least in N.A. people would rather read about massive diesel locomtives pulling mile long trains).  IIRC Yama-kei publishers issued some English translations of their popular color railway series from the late 70's and early 80's, I'm not sure of the titles.  If you don't mind world guidebooks with some Japanese locomotives entries, there is the now (long) outdated World Locomotives by Ken Harris:

http://www.transportstore.com/book.cfm/1615/1178/World_Electric_Locomotives_HARRIS_Ken

 

More recent, but with an emphasis on emu's is The Janes Train Recognition Guide (also with Ken Harris as author):

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Janes-Train-Recognition-Guide/dp/0007182260

 

Basically though, it's desperation time wrt to English language info in hard copy form about Japanese railway technical matters.

[Eisenbahn]

go to www.worldcat.org  and search there using various keywords.  I tried 'japanese locomotives' and came up with a couple of hits.

If you do find some book titles there, then I am sure other forum members would like to hear about them.

 

cheers...Eisenbahn

[marknewton]

G'day Joe,

 

As bikkuri bahn noted, there's not much available. But I have a few English language books which you might find worth looking for.

 

Japan - Electrics and Diesels Edited by Frank Stenvalls, Frank Stenvalls Vorlag 1982, ISBN 91-7266-055-4. This is an English translation of the Yamakei book originally published in 1979, and has photographic coverage of AC & DC electrics and diesels.

 

Steam Locomotives of Japan, by Naotoka Hirota, Kodansha International Limited 1972, ISBN 0-87011-185-x. This is a good overview of steam loco development in Japan, with some lovely photographs, an all-time roster and folio diagrams of important classes.

 

A History Of Japanese Railways 1872-1999, by Eiichi Aoki, Mitsuhide Imashiro, Shinichi Kato & Yasuo Wakuda, East Japan Railway Culture Foundation 2000, ISBN 4-87513-089-9. A book that is well worth having, it has overviews of loco development, as well as rollingstock, etc.

 

There are a few other English-language books I have that mention specific loco types or classes, but these three books offer the most comprehensive coverage.

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

[bill937ca]

Motor Books in the UK has several books on Japanese railways available.

 

http://www.motorbooks.co.uk/showsect.asp?id=161

[marknewton]

I have most of the books listed in the link in Bill's previous post. Dan Free's book Early Japanese Railways 1853-1914 is superb, and does have some coverage of early steam loco types. Japanese Railways in the Meiji Period 1868-1912 is also an interesting little book, and has a chapter on the Trevithicks. The Neko Mook Japanese Steam Locomotives in Artwork and Drawings 1872 1975 is full of beautifully-rendered 1/100th and 1/80th scale drawings of all 3'6" gauge Japanese locos, but has no English text whatsoever.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.