A New Bible

Last week I received my copy of Robert Sloan's "A CENTURY + TEN OF D&RGW NARROW GAUGE FREIGHT CARS".
In my opinion, this is masterful work, and a "must have" for anyone interested in the D&RGW NG, or about turn of the century freight car construction in general. It's destined to become and remain a standard reference for many years to come. I would place it almost on the same par as John White's volumes.
It is in soft cover with a spiral binding, which makes it easy to lay the multitude of photographs and drawings flat for easy copying. The author even provides a neat little table showing how much a particular plan has to be enlarged or reduced to change to another scale. A great help.
Beyond that, Bob has gone to great lengths to divide the various types of cars into various categories or "Classes". According to the author, there were 22 different permutations of gondolas over the years!
The book is liberally laced with prototype photographs as well as plans by various well known people. Sloan also included many D&RGW folio sheets and erection drawings.
And even if you are not a D&RGW fan, the book is still very useful as most of the Rio Grande's rolling stock was built by various builders -- such as American Car and Foundry -- and similar cars would be expected to be found on other railroads.
Whether you are a foamer, serious historian, or modeler, $30 spent on this book will be one of your best investments. I'll guarantee that the book will not stray too far from your elbow.