Railfan Technology > SPV Atlases

I placed an order for an atlas from Steam Powered Video in early November and have heard nothing from them. At least they did not charge my credit card.

Anyone know what's up with this outfit? I ordered from them several years ago and there was no problem.

colehour Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I placed an order for an atlas from Steam Powered
> Video in early November and have heard nothing
> from them. At least they did not charge my credit
> card.
>
> Anyone know what's up with this outfit? I ordered
> from them several years ago and there was no
> problem.

I don't think they are in business any longer. The atlases have become a collector's item.

TAW

I wish for a UK version of these ..... good luck to me.

Bill Miller
Galt, ON

TAW Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> colehour Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I placed an order for an atlas from Steam
> Powered
> > Video in early November and have heard nothing
> > from them. At least they did not charge my
> credit
> > card.
> >
> > Anyone know what's up with this outfit? I
> ordered
> > from them several years ago and there was no
> > problem.
>
> I don't think they are in business any longer. The
> atlases have become a collector's item.

Thanks for the information. Unfortunately, the website still functions and, when you place an order, you get a confirmation. As I said, at least I didn't get charged for anything. 

The abandonedrails.com site is very useful and has more information, but I like having a paper atlas. 
 

CCMF Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I wish for a UK version of these ..... good luck
> to me.

CCMF Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I wish for a UK version of these ..... good luck
> to me.

What is ironic is the company is (or now was) a UK company.

I ordered from them just last year and got what I wanted. Note that when I ordered i got a confirmation it would ship from 
a US location.
ALSO,  I just ordered a book from Kalmbach and I saw they had a bunch of the Steam Powered Atlas books.  Maybe
take a look there for the one you want.
 

inyosub Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I ordered from them just last year and got what I
> wanted. Note that when I ordered i got a
> confirmation it would ship from 
> a US location.
> ALSO,  I just ordered a book from Kalmbach and I
> saw they had a bunch of the Steam Powered Atlas
> books.  Maybe
> take a look there for the one you want.
>  
Thanks for the info on Kalmbach. They did have what I wanted and I'ved ordered a copy. 

It's too bad SPV is apparently not producing these atlases. They were a handy resource, although I found some errors (mainly spelling) that made me wonder about the overal accuracy of the maps. 

colehour Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> inyosub Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I ordered from them just last year and got what
> I
> > wanted. Note that when I ordered i got a
> > confirmation it would ship from 
> > a US location.
> > ALSO,  I just ordered a book from Kalmbach and
> I
> > saw they had a bunch of the Steam Powered Atlas
> > books.  Maybe
> > take a look there for the one you want.
> >  
> Thanks for the info on Kalmbach. They did have
> what I wanted and I'ved ordered a copy. 
>
> It's too bad SPV is apparently not producing these
> atlases. They were a handy resource, although I
> found some errors (mainly spelling) that made me
> wonder about the overal accuracy of the maps. 

They are the most accurate source I have found.

I checked abandonedrails.com against what I know about Washington. It isn't even close to accurate, or let's say, what is depicted is accurate, but there is more missing than depicted.



TAW

TAW Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>>colehour Wrote:
> > It's too bad SPV is apparently not producing
> these
> > atlases. They were a handy resource, although I
> > found some errors (mainly spelling) that made
> me
> > wonder about the overall accuracy of the maps. 

>
> They are the most accurate source I have found.
>
> I checked abandonedrails.com against what I know
> about Washington. It isn't even close to accurate,
> or let's say, what is depicted is accurate, but
> there is more missing than depicted.

I agree with your assessment of abandonedrails.com. Good information (text, photos, comments from users) but it does not appear to show all abandoned lines. Also, I once had a copy of the Rand McNally Handy Railroad Atlas of the USA. Not as much detail, but  fun to browse through. It is no longer in print, I believe. 

CCMF Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I wish for a UK version of these ..... good luck
> to me.

https://www.trackmaps.co.uk/
Oddly some of the links seem to be broken on the (mobile) home page but the burger menu links work.

Yes they are out of print or just hard to find. Carstens publications was the distributor in the USA at one time. They are now owned by White River Publishing. A few years ago they were going to reprint a few editions with no updates or corrections. Each new or updated edition hand many improvements but the publisher never listed the updated editions clearly.

Posted from Android



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/02/23 20:51 by usmc1401.

usmc1401 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes they are out of print or just hard to find.
> Carstens publications was the distributor in the
> USA at one time. They are now owned by White River
> Publishing. A few years ago they were going to
> reprint a few editions with no updates or
> corrections. Each new or updated edition hand many
> improvements but the publisher never listed the
> updated editions clearly.

Thanks to the info provided by a TO member, I discovered that at least some of the atlases are available from Kalmbach. I just ordered one a few days ago, and it's on its way. Still only $25 plus shipping. 
 

The fine folks at Railfan Depot (www.railfandepot.com) starting publishing new, updated (at least I think they were updated, let me know if they weren't) versions of them but stopped after four editions and threw in the towel.  I think there just wasn't the demand to make producing them viable.  The have since sold out of two of the four, but the California & Nevada along with the Appalachia and Piedmont versions are still available as of right now.

The last California Nevada edition from SPV was in 2009. The ones being sold by Railfan Depot are reprints with probably no updates.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/16/23 08:30 by usmc1401.