The Oneonta Roundhouse provides the definitive account of the birth, life, and death of the world's largest railroad roundhouse, built in the early 1900s in Oneonta, New York. Jim Loudon, a founding member of the Leatherstocking Railway Historical Society, describes in detail the earlier roundhouses built on the site by the Delaware &amp; Hudson Railroad, and how the company's rapid growth led to the turntable's expansion. He provides specific information about the background politics and the construction of the primary roundhouse, and the improvements made to the monumental building over the years. The book is heavily illustrated, with 122 photos and 53 maps and diagrams, including full schematics for the roundhouse, turntable, and adjacent buildings. Other chapters focus on the D&amp;H's Challenger locomotives, and the coal pocket fire of 1946 that ultimately ended in tragedy. The book's epilogue chapter includes Loudon's photographs of the building's twilight, taken only months before the remaining structure was dismantled. 
 First published in 1993 by the Leatherstocking Railway Historical Association, The Oneonta Roundhouse went out-of-print after the original printing plates were lost. The book has since been digitally recreated and reprinted by Square Circle Press on behalf of the LRHS.

The Oneonta Roundhouse

Engineering & Transportation

Jim Loudon

Transportation

Leatherstocking Railway Historical Society

Leatherstocking Rails is a detailed book about every railroad and trolley line that was ever built -- or planned to be built -- in Otsego County. Jim Loudon devotes one or more chapters to the following actual railroads: the Albany and Susquehanna; the Delaware and Hudson; the Cooperstown and Charlotte Valley; the Oneonta, Cooperstown and Richfield Springs trolley line; the Cherry Valley, Sharon and Albany; the Ulster and Delaware; and the Utica, Chenango and Susquehanna Valley, which became part of the Erie-Lackawanna. For each railroad, the author offers a chapter with a historical outline, followed by maps and photographs of each station stop and photographs of locomotives an rolling stock. He notes those station buildings still standing and those that are gone. In addition to pioneer and horse-powered railroads, he also devotes a chapter each to the Catskill, Middleburgh and Cooperstown and the Catskill Mountain and Mohawk Valley railroads that were planned but never built. The author of The Oneonta Roundhouse, Loudon also tells how Oneonta was the birthplace of the railroad union movement. Lavishly illustrated with over 600 photographs, maps, drawings and documents.

Leatherstocking Rails: A History of Railroading Along the Upper Susquehanna

"Read the untold story of what might have been - a scenic railroad nestled in the hills along the west side of Otsego Lake, offering vistas of Mount Wellington and Glimmerglass - when it connected with the Fort Plain &amp; Richfield Springs it would have opened up a major trunk line between the Susquehanna and Mohawk Valleys. The C&amp;N promoters, the Smith family of Springfield Center, had a grand vision but found themselves at odds with Cooperstown's most prominent citizens who did not want to engage the village in another railroad experiment after enduring the famous "Railroad War" of the 1890s. Includes a map of sections that were completed and photos of existing remains, plus the complete history of the Fort Plain &amp; Richfield Springs. 8 ½ X 11, 58 pages.

The COOPERSTOWN AND NORTHERN – Otsego's Forgotten Railroad

DEPOT PRESS

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Jim Loudon. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Jim Loudon

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Jim Loudon. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Oneonta Roundhouse

Leatherstocking Rails: A History of Railroading Along the Upper Susquehanna

The COOPERSTOWN AND NORTHERN – Otsego's Forgotten Railroad