Published in June 2021 by Amberley Publishing and written by Richard Billingsley, this soft cover book measures around 23.4 cm x 16.5 cm, and has 96 pages and 180 illustrations. It has a published price of £15.99 although Amberley Publishing currently has it on offer at £14.39, and at the time of writing it can be purchased from Amazon for around £16

When I first opened this book, I thought there must be some mistake, as CSX is an American railroad which would seem to limit its attractiveness to UK audiences. However, the author, Richard Billingsley, is British and has been interested in railways since 1975. His connection with American railroads stems from a family holiday to Florida in 2008, and he has previously written books on the BNSF, Southern California railways, and the Union Pacific. This book is his appreciation of the CSX Transportation railroad.

Although CSX Transportation operates over 21,000 route miles in 24 US states and two Canadian provinces, the book concentrates on the part of the system that lies in the southeastern USA.

As there are great but subtle differences in terminology between British and US practice, and the main market for this book is likely to be in the USA, the author has sensibly chosen to use US terminology such as grade crossings for level crossings, and auto-racks for car transporters. Another good touch is his explanation of designations for the company’s different types of locomotives.

Given the enormous extent of the CSX system, the author has done well to include a good range of photographs illustrating the company’s operations. These feature all types of freight operations, along with areas where CSX has rights over other companies’ tracks, minor railroads fed by the CSX system and Amtrak, and commuter rail operations that use CSX tracks and assets.

The book is purely a photograph album without chapters. However, the captions are extremely informative and usually include the type of trains and their locations. The author’s efforts are rewarded by the standard of photographic reproduction.

Given that the majority of locations will be unfamiliar to British readers, it would have been useful to include an outline map of the system and an index detailing the photo locations by state.

It is immediately obvious that this couldn’t be anywhere but the USA. The lack of fencing or level crossing gates, a freight train of enormous length being triple-headed, and the enormous size of the freight wagons. An interesting touch is the photo at the bottom right, which shows a now-disused coaling tower straddling the main line that allowed steam locos to be refuelled en route.

Compared with the utilitarian bus stop-type shelters that often serve for stations in the UK, how different the station at the top-left below looks with its hanging baskets and immaculate trackwork. Even more startling is that no train has called there since the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Rather different from Selby swing bridge or the bridges on the Norfolk Broads are the ones seen below, where the whole bridge sections are raised to allow shipping to pass beneath.

A common bond with UK freights are the Maersk containers in the trains below. There the similarity ends, as the US loading gauge allows them to be stacked one on top of another. The photo top-right also shows something alien to UK eyes in the form of a loco mid-train acting as a “helper” due to the train’s length and weight (although of course there have been some trains in the UK where this now occurs).

In magnificent mountain scenery, we see CSX locos working in tandem with locos from other railroads.

In summary, any British rail enthusiast who has never experienced US railroads will have their eyes opened by this book. The obvious ease of photography is in stark contrast to the Health and Safety restricting metal palisades so often seen in the UK. It is surprising how many of the photos were taken with easy reach of the vacation centres of Florida, which may serve to encourage more British exploration of US railroads. Well recommended.

The book is available to purchase from Amazon and from Amberley Publishing.

RailAdvent would like to thank Amberley Publishing for providing RailAdvent with a copy of the book for review.