A book cover may or may not tell a story - but the Footplate Padre’s 16 engine driver anecdotes books of railway stories do tell many stories
Titles
Driving Trains The Australian Way
Tales of the Footplate
Trains Driver’s Stories
Railway Drama
Driving Trains – Revised
Tales of the Footplate – Revised
All Night Sitter
Ripping Good Railway Yarns
Steam Stories
The Southern Aurora
From the Driver’s Seat
Australian Diesels
Grease Rag Yarns
Railway Chronicles
Australian Diesels
Railway Yarns of Old
Total 16
Book Covers
The covers of these books are a plethora of images of railway
operations. There are books with multiple photos, there are snow and fog scenes, trains in cuttings, photos from on top and behind, front on diesels and steam engines and others.
There are steam engines, diesels, rail motor express trains, wheels and motions, night scenes, early morning, full speed, struggling up a hill, on the flat.
They front cover photo scenes come from - Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria and the stories are told by locomotive crews from across Australia including Western Australia and South Australia. These book covers are indeed a story in themselves.
Selection
The selection of these covers came from a wide cross section of purpose and reason. The Railway Drama cover came from a friend who was a railway enthusiast. It is a photo of a NSW diesel coming through the snow and fog.
The Steam Stories cover photo came from a man who loved locomotives who rejoiced in having his photo utilised as a steam, engine on a book cover.
Yes, in the main, they were photos given to me for these train book covers and this worked well – win win for both the books and the photographer.
Book cover photo selections are very important.
This is not dissimilar, says the Footplate Padre to preachers selecting story illustrations in their messages - the hearers get gripped by the story and this allows the preacher to hone in on a great Christian truth.