These are my favorite books about trains. Most of them relate directly to travel by Amtrak or the history of passenger rail travel in America. Click on the name of the book for more information about that book. In most cases, you will be given the opportunity to order the book right on-line if you wish!

CLICK HERE for a list of my favorite rail travel books!

Everyone serious about exploring America by rail should obtain these books:

• All Aboard! The Complete North American Train Travel Guide by Jim Loomis
• Rail Ventures, The Comprehensive Guide to Train Travel in North America by Jack W. Swanson (Editor)
• USA By Rail by John Pitt

This is my complete list of rail travel books worth consideration:


• 
  All Aboard! The Complete North American Train Travel Guide.
  
  
• 
  Great American Rail Journeys by John Grant
  The Companion to the Public Television Programs.
  
  
• 
  Heart & Soul of the Train - Personal travel notes from an Amtrak attendant.
  
  
• 
  Railfan Guides By George Drury - George Drury has been traveling by train on his own and as a group tour leader throughout North America and Europe since 1961. He has written rail travel articles for Trains, Vintage Rails, International Railway Traveler, and Rail Travel Newsletter. During his tenure as librarian of Kalmbach Publishing Co., publisher of Trains and Model Railroader, he compiled or edited most of the books in Kalmbach’s Railroad Reference Series.
  
  
• 
  USA by Rail Practical information needed to make reservations, purchase tickets and find your way about train stations.
  
  
• The American Railroad Passenger Car by John H. White, Jr.
• The Amtrak Story
• Amtrak - The History & Politics of a National Railroad by David C. Nice
• AMTRAKing - A Guide to Enjoyable Train Travel
• Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.
• Booked On The Morning Train
• California by Train, Bus & Ferry
• The Canadian Rail Passenger Yearbook 1996-1997 edition.
• The Compendium of American Railroad Radio Frequencies
• A Complete Guide To The Los Angeles Metrolink Commuter Train System
• Eight Great American Rail Journeys: A Travel Guide; Karen Ivory; Paperback

• Getting There, The Epic Struggle Between Road And Rail In The American Century
  by Stephen B. Goddard
• A Long Hard Journey, The Story of the Pullman Porters by Patricia McKissack.
• Making Tracks
• Metrolink Guide Books
• Night Trains, The Pullman System in the Golden Years of American Rail Travel by Peter Maiken.
• Rail-Trail Guide to California, Recreational Trails on Railroad Grades, by Fred Wert.
• Rail Ventures, The Comprehensive Guide to Train Travel in North America by Jack W. Swanson (Editor)
• Railfan Guides by George Drury: Europe, Austria & Switzerland.
• Railroad Radio by Vincent Reh.
• Steel, Smoke & Steam, A Guide To America's Scenic Railroads by Margery Read
• Super Trains, Solutions To America's Transportation Gridlock, by Joseph Vranich (1991)
• USA By Rail by John Pitt
• U.S. RailRoad Traffic Atlas
• Zephyr, Tracking a Dream Across America, by Henry Kisor (1994)