Plowden, David. A Time of Trains by David Plowden.

W.W. Norton, 1987. 1st edition. One of numerous photo books by David Plowden, this one features black-and-white photographs of steam trains, railway stations, and related scenes depicting the end of the steam train era, presumably in the 1950s as the photos are undated. Ex-library with usual evidence, otherwise very good in protected dust jacket without spine labels.  Summary:

A Time of Trains (published by W. W. Norton & Company in 1987) is a seminal 160-page photographic monograph by acclaimed documentary photographer and author David Plowden. Featuring over 130 rich duotone plates alongside ten pages of evocative prose, the volume functions as a sweeping, elegiac retrospective documenting the final years of the steam railroading era in North America before the widespread transition to diesel power.

Core Content & Visual Framework

1. The Twilight of Steam Technology

The book focuses heavily on the late 1950s, a critical transitional period in American industrial history. The visual narrative captures the raw, mechanical majesty of massive steam locomotives, focusing on the textures of iron, smoke, and steel. Rather than presenting sterile equipment catalogs, the compositions emphasize the sheer power, kinetic energy, and physical presence of these vanishing machines, transforming heavy industry into a subject of deep romance and artistic reflection.

2. The Landscape of the Railroad Network

Beyond the engines themselves, the publication provides a comprehensive visual survey of the expansive infrastructure that supported the rail network. The plates chronicle the vast, quiet landscapes surrounding the tracks, including small-town passenger stations, towering wooden grain elevators, complex right-of-way junctions, and urban roundhouses. These environments are framed as a distinct, unified architecture of mid-century American life that was shifting alongside the technology itself.

3. Human Geography and Industrial Archeology

A vital element of the volume is its attention to the people who kept the network running. The imagery captures candid portraits and environmental studies of the engineers, firemen, track workers, and station agents whose lives and labor were intimately intertwined with the steam engine. The accompanying text provides essential narrative depth, combining autobiographical recollections of a lifelong obsession with trains with historical analysis of how the railroad reshaped the economy, geography, and cultural identity of the continent.

A Time of Trains stands as a masterpiece of American industrial archeology and documentary arts. Drawing on the ability to capture the "vanishing point" of the built environment, the monograph preserves a definitive, museum-grade visual record of a foundational technological era, immortalizing the sights, scale, and atmosphere of a transient chapter in transportation history.