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7788 E. Whileaway Pl.
Tucson, AZ 85750
friendlysp@comcast.net
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Book Review - September 2010 - Railroad Model Craftsman Magazine
In the September 2010 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman Magazine, Don Spiro wrote a wonderful review of Steel Trails - Chasing Arizona Trains in the 1950s.
...Period photos of favorite places I frequent today on the Sunset–Dragoon, Mescal, Benson, Cienega Creek, through the old warehouse district or past the restored Espee depot in downtown Tucson– seemed few and far between. So I was surprised when, leaving a local hobby shop, I chanced upon a photo book on a spinner usually reserved for monographs on realistic operation, how-to scenery, your first train set, etc. The book was Steel Trails; Chasing Arizona Trains in the 1950’s, by J.R. Knoll. I’d never heard of J.R. Knoll, but my initial leaf through immediately told me this was a genuine discovery; an unknown photographer, a Tucsonian, with a gifted eye commensurate with other top shooters of the era.
Go here to read the entire article.
Copies of Steel Trails - Chasing Arizona Trains in the 1950s are still available.
Order your copy today from www.friendlysp.com
John R. Knoll
7788 E. Whileaway Place
Tucson, AZ 85750
friendlysp@comcast.net
About the Photographer
John R. Knoll (1935-2009)
J.R “Bob” Knoll was born in Michigan in 1935 and moved to Germany in 1936 with his mother following his parent's divorce. He returned to the United States in time for his eleventh birthday in 1946 and five years later moved with his mother to Tucson, Arizona. Bob graduated from Tucson High in 1953 and with a degree in Economics from Arizona State University in 1959. Although he maintained a life-long interest in railroads and transportation in general the pictures and recollection in Steel Trails Chasing Arizona Trains in the 1950s date from about 1951 to 1961. Many of Knoll's photos appeared in railroad books & magazines. In 2005, Knoll's first book Bob Knoll’s Southern Pacific: the Southern Pacific Railroad Photos of J.R. Knoll was published by the Southern Pacific Historical Society.