This isn't an attempt to hijack this thread, but top point out the two DSP&P books were part of four substantive railroad histories published by the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club.
1949 - Poor: Denver South Park & Pacific.
1955 - Cafky: Rails Around Gold Hill
1959 - Kindig, Haley & Poor: Pictorial Supplement to Denver South Park & Pacific.
1965 - Cafky: Colorado Midland.
Reprints:
1976 - Memorial Edition of Denver South Park & Pacific.
All of the above published by the Rocky Mountain R Club, printed by World Press, Denver, Colorado.
1986 - Abridged Edition of Pictorial Supplement to Denver South Park & Pacific, published by Jim Trobridge, with permission.
All of the World Press printings are hard bound, on coated paper. The Trobridge edition of of the Supplement is on uncoated paper, and is, as noted in the title, an abridgment of the original. I would say that if your choice is the Abridged edition or no copy, go for it. If you can locate it, and can afford it, the original 1959 edition is the better value. However, you would have the substantive informational content if you only owned both the 1976 Memorial Edition of DSP&P and the 1986 Abridged Pictorial Supplement.
These are all quality books, and well worth having in your library if you are a Colorado railroad enthusiast. Even if your primary thing, like mine, is narrow gauges, Colorado Midland may be worth adding to your collection. I am pleased to have it in my library.
A lot of thanks is owed to the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club for their work in preserving the region's railroad history in a variety of ways - published histories, collections of photographs and motion pictures, preserved rolling stock and artifacts - a VERY impressive amount of work.
Charlie Mutschler
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