About This Index

     The Railroad History Index is divided up topically and users are advised first to note the various topics on page 3 [Table of Contents, on title page]. Issues numbered 1-20 date from the 1920s; 21-50 from the 30s; 51-78 from the 40s; 79-101 from the 50s; 102-121 from the 60s; 122-141 from the 70s; and 142-151 from the 80s. In each entry, the number before the slash is the number of the issue, while afterward are page numbers, first or inclusive. No matter how long a particular entry, and no matter the insertion of further specifics such as locos. or photos, page entries refer back to the issue number to the left of the slash until the appearance of a new number with a slash.

     Besides the series of numbered issues, 1-151 (1921 through 1984), there have been several non-numbered bulletins and these are identified by abbreviations SP (Southern Pacific), CNW (Chicago & North Western), Wis (Railroads of Wisconsin), VC (Vermont Central -- Central Vermont), Q1 and Q2 (Chicago, Burlington & Quincy), SF (Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe), Lit (Literature), and Dsl (Diesel) again followed by a slash. There are a number of abbreviations, most of which are self explanatory (loco., obit., and so on), though it might be noted that lbr., log., and tbr. stand for lumber, logging, and timber, and that ff means on pages following, though not necessarily on every page following.

     Complete or virtually complete runs of the R&LHS Bulletin/Railroad History (the change took place with No. 127 in 1972) are held by the following institutions: the Baker Library, Harvard Graduate School of Business; the California State Railroad Museum, Sacramento; the Division of Transportation, National Museum of American History; the Library of Congress; the Pennsylvania Railroad Museum, Strasburg; the Science Museum Library, South Kensington, London; the British Museum; and the National Railway Museum, York, England. There are partial runs in literally hundreds of other libraries. On the private side, Thomas T. Taber, our indexer, has a full run, and he suggests that there must be 20 or 30 others --- which we trust will ultimately go to public libraries. Facsimile copies are available from University Microfilms, whose address appears on page 176.

     Copies of The Railroad History Index are available from the R&LHS treasurer, H. Arnold Wilder, 56 Coldspring Road, Westford, MA 01886; more particulars appear on the back cover.[Web Editor's note:This publication is now available from Alden Dreyer. See the Back Issues Page.] Since a job of this magnitude is bound to be amenable to emendation, readers with comments or suggestions are invited to get in touch with Tom Taber, 504 South Main St., Muncy, PA 17756. George Jenks's biannual indexes will continue to appear, the next one being slated for Raiiroad History 154, though it should be emphasized that The Railroad History Index was compiled from a first-hand reading of each issue of the journal and is in no sense an amalgam of previous indexes -- the 50-year index by D.W. Yungmeyer was not comprehensive. This one is. One of the real delights of working with Tom Taber has been his unfailing humor. When he turned in the last of some 550 pages of manuscript, he suggested that in the editor's introduction say: "This index is probably the best we could hope to get, short of my doing it myself. It has many deficiencies when you get right down to the nitty-gritty as I did when going over it. But Taber did do it, and we never had to wait for manuscript...." Tom Taber is much too modest. The Railroad History Index is the most comprehensive and carefully wrought project of its kind that I know of. I think it is going to make a real difference, that "looking it up in Taber" will be standard procedure for many years to come.

Robert C. Post, Editor, Railroad History,

Acknowledgments

Books invariably include a lengthy list of thank-yous to everyone who assisted in their preparation, however remotely. Unfortunately, compiling this index was a one-person endeavor, so there can be no usual appreciations. But thanks are possible. I would like to express my thanks to my two index fingers, which responded without complaint, day after day for hundreds of hours all told, to the pounding of my typewriter. Also, to my Royal manual typewriter, which accepted this pounding to produce the 550 pages of manuscript without a single breakdown or delay of any kind. Finally, a word of thanks is due my phonograph, which broke up the monotony of sorting, checking, typing, and proofing. Without them all, this index would never have been completed. Unlike a long train trip, however, I am not sorry that it is over.

Thomas T. Taber III Muncy, Pennsylvania

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