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ETTER COLLECTION
This is the
extensive collection of railroad books, memorabilia and photographs
amassed by Mr. Donald Etter. Mr. Etter's father, Simon Lee Etter,
was a locomotive engineer and the family lived adjacent to the railroad
tracks in Clio, Michigan. Donald grew up fascinated by the trains
and worked in the field, becoming an engineer himself for a short time.
He spent all of his adult life making friends in the field of steam
propulsion around the world, and collecting. He also took over
5,000 photos of railroad rolling stock and even purchased parts of
locomotives from railroad graveyards. Many of his photos form
complete "cradle-to-grave" records of individual locomotives.
To our great benefit, the entire collection was donated to the Saginaw
Valley Railroad Historical Society by the Etter family. Mr. Etter
had three sisters: Mary, Mildred, and Edith, and also left behind two
sons: Lee and Steven, and two daughters: Beth and Dorothy and his
wife Mary. We thank them all for the opportunity to have the
collection available for research by the public.
The Museum will present reviews of some of the over 900 books in the
collection from time to time.
CURRENT PICK
"Rails
across the Midlands" by Richard J. Cook (Golden West Books c.1946)
Reviewed by Herb McCullagh
This is one of
those rare books where the pictures do all the talking, and pictures
there are! I have seen many train pictures but the images depicted
in this book draw the viewer right into the action. Hard-working
steam locomotives of the major midwestern roads (PRR, NYC, NKP, B&O,
C&O) and some of the shorter lines (W&LE, P&LE, AC&Y)
are featured. There is some text, but it is mainly incorporated
into the picture captions. There is a strong, romantic
sentimentality projected from this book, of the period right after World
War II. Readers with graying heads will surely enjoy this dated
but still vbrant volume.
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