Nostalgia & History > SP Oregon Division Book

It recently came to my attention that the SP Oregon Division Book by Brian Jennison can be found new for as little as $16 on Amazon. It's a awesome book for that price, and well worth having. I bought my copy when it was new, but for a lot more than that.

http://www.amazon.com/Southern-Pacific-Oregon-Division-Jennison/dp/0945434286/ref=sr_1_1?

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

funnelfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It recently came to my attention that the SP
> Oregon Division Book by Brian Jennison can be
> found new for as little as $16 on Amazon. It's a
> awesome book for that price, and well worth
> having. I bought my copy when it was new, but for
> a lot more than that.

Actually, my impression is that this seems to be the general case for rail books that do not fall into the "rare" category - if you don't mind buying a good used one. Should you get away from the "fan" picture books and into a more academic genre, the price point is even more remarkable - there's a lot of solid, painstaking research out there going for less than $5 on Amazon. I'm curious about why all of this is, although I have some solid suspicions.

EO

hogheaded Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> funnelfan Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > It recently came to my attention that the SP
> > Oregon Division Book by Brian Jennison can be
> > found new for as little as $16 on Amazon. It's
> a
> > awesome book for that price, and well worth
> > having. I bought my copy when it was new, but
> for
> > a lot more than that.
>
> Actually, my impression is that this seems to be
> the general case for rail books that do not fall
> into the "rare" category - if you don't mind
> buying a good used one. Should you get away from
> the "fan" picture books and into a more academic
> genre, the price point is even more remarkable -
> there's a lot of solid, painstaking research out
> there going for less than $5 on Amazon. I'm
> curious about why all of this is, although I have
> some solid suspicions.
>
> EO

Big press runs, need to sell books. Amazon is like the Publishers Clearing House of the 70s

Ted, many thanks for the tip. Went to your link immediately upon reading your post and got a nice copy for under ten dollars. I reside in Oregon, bought the book from a dealer in Oregon, and of course the book is about the SP Oregon Division, so I guess it was meant to be. Thanks again.

Rich

Yes, you can often get out of print books for a reasonable price on Amazon. But not always. I'd love to get the book "El Dorado Narrow Gauge" by Mallory Hope Ferrell about the Diamond and Caldor logging railroad, but there's just one and it's $265. Too much for my tastes.

Stan

Looks good to me. I know Hundman was trying to move all their stuff into cash a few years ago, maybe the prices reflect that. Although the other books are still at a close to retail price.

A lot, likely all, of Hundman's back stock was purchased by a remainder house, who in turn sold them to bookstores / Amazon. This is a natural part of the life span of most titles. I work for Powell's books, which has Southern Pacific Oregon Division at $19.98. Milwaukee Electrics at $29.98, Northwest Passage: Twenty-Five Years of the Burlington Northern in the Pacific Northwest at $19.98, Northern Pacific (by Dale Sanders) at $24.98 and others. It is a buyers market for some very good titles at the moment...