Several of my past reviews have remarked that I’ve gotten books with a laser focus on their subject: the history and sights on each milepost of a rail line; a book focusing entirely on the fate of locomotives lost in a flood; a huge illustrated history of a dead rail branch. With this latest book, Locomotive 315: The Lives, Times, and Rebirth of an 1895 Steam Engine by George Niederauer, I’m now convinced it’s not chance - it’s just something railfans do.

I will admit this up front: I have not finished this book. It would take be six months to fully read this 510-page tome. However, I have still read enough to tender a review, which is to say that this is an exceptionally well-crafted book. Its focus is on Denver & Rio Grande Western No. 315. The locomotive was built in 1895 for the Florence & Cripple Creek Railroad, purchased by Denver & Rio Grande in 1917, retired in 1949, and rehabilitated from 2001 to 2009.

The first part is the history, not just of the engine, but of everything relating to it: The F&CC, D&RG, the town of Durango, and even the movies the engine has starred in. This section - 143 pages worth - could easily have been a separate book, but here it’s just the establishing shot for the main event, which is part 2: Restoration. Every single aspect of the nine-year restoration process is documented and illustrated in more than 200 pages, with dozens of beautiful color photographs and lots of retrospectives from members of the restoration team.

The third part is the technology. A relatively shorter section at 80 pages, this explains the roots of steam engine technology, the refinement of items such as the boiler and gear, and an extremely detailed treatment of the technological specifications and revisions of 315. Due to its placement in the book, after the climax of 315’s return to service on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, it almost feels like a lengthy denouement, but it is definitely part of 315’s story and simply finishes out the entire work. And, thankfully, a large index and glossary are included, including - I wouldn’t expect any less from the book, at this point - very detailed diagrams of the engine, pointing out the parts and their names.

If there is any fact or piece of information about No. 315 that is not in this book, I would question if it even existed. The detail and exhaustive research that went into this book are almost shocking. I would recommend this book, of course for anyone interested in 315, but really anyone interested in Colorado rail and even anyone who likes trains in general would do well to pick up this book.

	This image of the High Line is featured in the book. Photo by Darel Crawford.
	Photo of the Lobato Trestle by Matthew Malkiewicz.

Locomotive 315: The Lives, Times, and Rebirth of an 1895 Steam Engine by George F. Niederauer (with the help of many contributors).

Size: 510 pages at 11.5 x 11.5 inches, color matte laminated hardcover, about 7.5 pounds.

Content: 230,000 words, almost 1100 images with more than 800 in color, 12 graphs, 20 maps, 52 tables, 61 Perspectives (sidebars), 180 references.

Published by the Durango Railroad Historical Society, 2010
$79.85 plus shipping.
www.drhs315.org