Steel Across the Plains

For all of the steam and diesel locomotives you can't see in person, or the ones you want to remember in all of their larger-than-life glory, this is the book to buy. From the steam age to the modern diesel era, locomotives are marvels of engineering and industrial design, brimming with power, movement, and man's ingenuity even when sitting still. Photographer Ken Boyd's approach to the locomotive is unlike that of any other photographer. Every aspect of his photographs, from bolts and conduits to sheet metal and windows is painstakingly evaluated and then digitally edited until it glows with clarity and brilliance. The results are images of locomotives bristling with details not visible in conventional locomotive photography. The Art of the Locomotive features 150 large-format plates depicting locomotives ranging from the diminutive steam engines of the middle nineteenth century to the steam and diesel behemoths that followed. Each plate is accompanied by a detailed caption describing the locomotive's history and technology. The machines included represent railroads from all over the United States and Canada, from the Great Lakes region to the Gulf of Mexico, from the east Coast to the West Coast. In addition, Boyd offers an appendix describing his photographic process, shedding light, as it were, on the method behind his fantastic imagery. Boyd's images are so incredibly sharp and breathtakingly rich, they have to be seen to be believed.