Sara, There is no shortage of reading material concerning the history of railroading. I have a few suggestions for you, please excuse the length. A History of the American Locomotive Its development: 1830-1880 by John H. White, Jr. The American Steam Locomotive by Brian Solomon The Engine Driver's Manual How to Prepare for and Drive a Steam Locomotive by Brian Topping The American Diesel Locomotive by Brian Solomon (Oceola, WI:MBI Publishing Company, 2000) [a really well written and easy to understand book] Modern Diesel Locomotives by Hans Halberstadt (Oceola, WI: Motorbooks International, 1996) Modern Locomotives by Brian Hollingsworth and Arthur Cook (Edison, NJ: Chartwell Books Inc., 2000) The American Railroad Freight Car by John H. White, Jr. [a really great book about the development of freight cars] "Here She Comes: Acela Express is Prepping for a Summer Debut" Railway Age, May 2000. "Innovation by Design: The Next Generation of Freight Cars Takes Shape." Railway Age, September 2000. "Super Power Steam" [ a two part series] Trains May and June, 2000 Trains special issue "Across the Century: 100 Years of Railroading" January, 2000. Trains, September 1999. [Issue devoted to the history of General Electric Locomotives both electric and diesel electric. There was also an issue for Electromotive Divison of General Motors (EMD) but I do not remember which issue.] "Positive Train Control" Trains. January, 2001; 68. Railway Age is the rail magazine for professional railroaders and focuses heavily on finance and new technologies. I came back to school and lost my free copy so I do not know what they have covered in the past year. There is an early version of the Aceala in Chattanooga at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. The train is called the ACT 1. It was a DOT project in the late 1970's or early 1980's. You could also contact Gordon Belt director of the Kalmbach Memorial Library. The library is a railroad research library located at the National Model Railway Association Headquarters in Chattanooga. Their address is 4121 Cromwell Road Chattanooga, TN 37421 (423) 894-8144 These guys are really helpful bunch and have some great information available. I have worked with and for them in the past. Again soory this is so long but this is just a little of what is available. Hope it helps, Van Zbinden Public History Program Middle Tennessee State University _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).