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The Great Yellow Fleet

Schuyler G Larrabee <SGL2@...>
 

Hey Tony Thompson

I printed out an email you sent out last week (Friday) about this book,
which recited some information you have posted before about the reliability
of the information contained therein. I wanted to put it in the book so
that I'd have some idea of what the "problem" with the book is when I look
to it for reference, rather than as is usually the case, remembering that
there was "something not right" about it, but not recalling what it was . .
.

I looked over the book a bit. In the Acknowledgements, it gives credit to
Donald Duke for the last chapter, which leads me to think that Jack White
did the rest. Sounded like DD said he knew the subject matter for that last
chapter, number 6, regarding PFE and SFRD, and he'd do that chapter. Now,
do you know that there are parts of the preceding chapters that are suspect
as to veracity? Or is there a reason to put a big yellow sheet in the book
at page 149, that says, like on the ancient maps, "Beyond here lie dragons .
. . "

How did it come to pass that JW didn't do the whole book? Seems unlike him,
at least by what I see in his other books, and from what I hear of him
personally.

Or is this too messy a story for mixed company?

SGL
raildata@...
 

Schuyler G Larrabee <SGL2@...>
 

Did you intend to say something here . .. ???

SGL

----- Original Message -----
From: <raildata@aol.com>
To: <STMFC@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, May 28, 2002 10:53 AM
Subject: Re: [STMFC] The Great Yellow Fleet





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thompson@...
 

Schuyler Larrabee writes:
I looked over the book a bit. In the Acknowledgements, it gives credit to
Donald Duke for the last chapter, which leads me to think that Jack White
did the rest. Sounded like DD said he knew the subject matter for that last
chapter, number 6, regarding PFE and SFRD, and he'd do that chapter. Now,
do you know that there are parts of the preceding chapters that are suspect
as to veracity?
Jack White has said that Duke added much modern material as well as
"improving" the photo content from his (Duke's) own collection.
Unfortunately, Duke also did those captions. He may even have written or
rewritten captions for Jack's photos.

How did it come to pass that JW didn't do the whole book? Seems unlike him,
at least by what I see in his other books, and from what I hear of him
personally.
As Jack once said in public, among the bigger mistakes of his life.
Here's how Jack says it happened: Jack had written a piece about the 19th
century cars (as usual for him), fading out after 1900 and with really
nothing past 1920. Duke wanted to publish it but felt it had to be thicker
and have mid-century material to sell adequately. So Duke added same (NOT
only the PFE/SFRD chapters): text, photos, captions.
Richard, in a book review for the Santa Fe society, and I, in a book
review for the UP Streamliner, detailed the errors we found on the SFRD and
PFE parts only, but a knowledgeable person on reefers can find many other
errors. It is really a shame in many ways (including the lame knock-offs of
Champ decal diagrams), particularly since the printing and book production
quality is high as in other Golden West books.

Tony Thompson Editor, Signature Press, Berkeley, CA
2942 Linden Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705 http://www.signaturepress.com
(510) 540-6538; fax, (510) 540-1937; e-mail, thompson@signaturepress.com
Publishers of books on railroads and on Western history
Schuyler G Larrabee <SGL2@...>
 

Thanks for the clarification.

SGL

----- Original Message -----
From: <thompson@signaturepress.com>
To: <STMFC@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, May 28, 2002 9:25 PM
Subject: Re: [STMFC] The Great Yellow Fleet


Schuyler Larrabee writes:
I looked over the book a bit. In the Acknowledgements, it gives credit
to
Donald Duke for the last chapter, which leads me to think that Jack White
did the rest. Sounded like DD said he knew the subject matter for that
last
chapter, number 6, regarding PFE and SFRD, and he'd do that chapter.
Now,
do you know that there are parts of the preceding chapters that are
suspect
as to veracity?
Jack White has said that Duke added much modern material as well as
"improving" the photo content from his (Duke's) own collection.
Unfortunately, Duke also did those captions. He may even have written or
rewritten captions for Jack's photos.

How did it come to pass that JW didn't do the whole book? Seems unlike
him,
at least by what I see in his other books, and from what I hear of him
personally.
As Jack once said in public, among the bigger mistakes of his life.
Here's how Jack says it happened: Jack had written a piece about the 19th
century cars (as usual for him), fading out after 1900 and with really
nothing past 1920. Duke wanted to publish it but felt it had to be thicker
and have mid-century material to sell adequately. So Duke added same (NOT
only the PFE/SFRD chapters): text, photos, captions.
Richard, in a book review for the Santa Fe society, and I, in a book
review for the UP Streamliner, detailed the errors we found on the SFRD
and
PFE parts only, but a knowledgeable person on reefers can find many other
errors. It is really a shame in many ways (including the lame knock-offs
of
Champ decal diagrams), particularly since the printing and book production
quality is high as in other Golden West books.

Tony Thompson Editor, Signature Press, Berkeley, CA
2942 Linden Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705 http://www.signaturepress.com
(510) 540-6538; fax, (510) 540-1937; e-mail, thompson@signaturepress.com
Publishers of books on railroads and on Western history




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