Eastern Railroad Discussion > No More Newer Additions Of SPV Railroad Atlases

A recent email from a friend yielded the following. The "chintziness" of us Americans has now brought on the following . . .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A couple of days ago I heard from Mike Walker in the UK after offering to explore the Seattle area for updates to his northwest rail volume and he wrote:

Thanks for the offer but the bad news is that we've decided not to produce further updates of the atlases.

The main reason for this is that those that have been reissued with new editions simply haven't sold causing the publisher a big loss. This is despite publicising when new editions become available in all the usual outlets. But still we get complaints from those who have old editions that they are not up to date when new editions are available. When you point this out the complainers still seem unwilling to buy new copies as they've already bought one!

This is in total contrast to here in the UK where our national equivalent is reissued every 2-3 years and sells out each time. Not everybody buys every issue, I do about every other, but the market is big enough to justify the investment. As far as the North American market is concerned the market is simply not big enough to justify my effort and the cost of printing and then being left with large, unsold stocks.

That said, thanks for all your contributions which did much to ensure the accuracy of the maps.

We shall of course keep in touch.

So, no more rail map atlas updates!

SPV should try a online atlas map program. Railfans can pay a yearly charge like DeLorme does for map use and print out any maps that they need. Maybe even partner with Google or Bing to make a interactive map for computer or tablets/I-phones. I love the atlases.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/20/14 11:45 by ep75.

CA_Sou_MA_Agent Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A recent email from a friend yielded the
> following. The "chintziness" of us Americans has
> now brought on the following . . .
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> A couple of days ago I heard from Mike Walker in
> the UK after offering to explore the Seattle area
> for updates to his northwest rail volume and he
> wrote:
SNIP:

> Thanks for the offer but the bad news is that
> we've decided not to produce further updates of
> the atlases.>
> That said, thanks for all your contributions which
> did much to ensure the accuracy of the maps.
>
> So, no more rail map atlas updates!

Mind the Brits are dedicated trainspotters far more perhaps than any country in the world.

Perhaps the best example would be a now abandoned former GWR branch line service of ten miles in length.
To date there would be four or five one inch thick books on the locomotives used on the lines including interviews with former drivers and operating personnel, along with a myriad of photos; another three or four similar books on the rolling stock with photos and descriptions. Finally a few more books on track diagrams, way stations, track side structures as well as who owns the right of way today and if there are or have been any attempts at preservation of said branch line (in detail including government reports and similar) and as well more thoughts of what was said branch line including pensioners and the like.

Residents of the United States and to a certain extent elsewhere do the photography and then bugger off to another location to get yet another image of said train to add to their superior feeling of oneupmanship over somebody else; and then they post the image somewhere on the Internet.

At one time people stopped and looked and observed and wrote lengthy descriptions.
Digital imagery availability now means what were standard cameras of the past with the ability to take one good properly exposed image
versus the digital madness in vogue to take numerous images of the same subject by holding down the shutter and exposing the recording chip to numerous similar but not the same images has to be utter madness.

Bryce Lee
Burlington, Ontario
Canada, eh?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/20/14 19:02 by Thumper.

Bryce, what an analogy. Can't say that I disagree.

I bought one.... I recall it was rather expensive at first glance, but the paper and printing were good quality. It had several major errors in the area where I live, so this made me wonder about accuracy in other areas.

The track plans were somewhat valuable, but one had to transfer them to other map books which showed roadways to get needed value from them.

If this product showed the information I needed - roads and rail - I would have bought more to cover each area in which I travel.

Cheap railfans? Somewhat, but I expect value for my money. This product did not have it. You are welcome to pass this along to the publisher.

Michael

emd_mrs1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I bought one.... I recall it was rather expensive
> at first glance, but the paper and printing were
> good quality. It had several major errors in the
> area where I live, so this made me wonder about
> accuracy in other areas.
>
> The track plans were somewhat valuable, but one
> had to transfer them to other map books which
> showed roadways to get needed value from them.
>
> If this product showed the information I needed -
> roads and rail - I would have bought more to cover
> each area in which I travel.
>
> Cheap railfans? Somewhat, but I expect value for
> my money. This product did not have it. You are
> welcome to pass this along to the publisher.
>
> Michael

If the rail atlases had roads on them, you could not find anything amid the clutter. All you need is a road atlas and, of course, the ability to read a map. I have many of these atlases, and they are well worth the money especially if your railfanning interests extend beyond 3/4 diesel pictures. The later additions with the traction routes are especially useful for identifying abandoned right-of-ways one comes across when out and about. This a very sad occurrence.

milfordgap Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> (snip)
>
> If the rail atlases had roads on them, you could
> not find anything amid the clutter. All you need
> is a road atlas and, of course, the ability to
> read a map. I have many of these atlases, and they
> are well worth the money especially if your
> railfanning interests extend beyond 3/4 diesel
> pictures. The later additions with the traction
> routes are especially useful for identifying
> abandoned right-of-ways one comes across when out
> and about. This a very sad occurrence.

I'd agree it's sad, but it's also somewhat inevitable.

Many mapping systems now allow you to overlay roads or rails on a terrain map. If you want the roads (only) you temporarily delete the rails. Or vice versa. That's an advantage of digital media, available in many areas on phone, or by download.

The same thing is happening with tour books. Instead of carrying a five pound guide to Venice, you can download and carry a detailed guide on your phone. That you snap on, and it tells you what's in this church, that neighborhood, etc. Highly detailed media, and you don't have to be in reach of a wifi etc signal.