An English Railfan in America: The Heritage Tour highlights with text and photographs the author’s journey to a wide variety of steam and heritage railway sites and museums throughout the western USA, from New Mexico, through Arizona, California, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and Washington state to the shores of Lake Superior. He also finds time to visit Connecticut in the east.
Published in June 2025 by Amberley Publishing and written by Dave Hewitt, this soft-cover book measures around 23.4 cm x 16.5 cm, has 96 pages and 180 illustrations.
It has a published price of £15.99, but at the time of writing, it can be purchased for £14.39 from Amberley Publishing and for £12.39 from Amazon.
With stunning photography and extensive descriptions, this book describes how Dave Hewitt fulfilled his dream trip of a lifetime.
He visits 17 railroads with names such as “The Skunk Train”, “The Roaring Camp & Big Trees Railroad”, and “The Golden Spike”, and many others that showcase remnants of America’s railroad history.
Written in a style that’s often amusing and always informative, and with stunning images and pin-sharp photography, the book is a gem among similar publications.
For an archetypal American railroad, one with a name like The Roaring Camp & Big Trees Railroad, as in the extract below, would be hard to beat.
However, the supporting introduction explains exactly why the owner chose the name and his mission in founding it. The locomotives seen below pay testament to the care lavished on the line.
An English Railfan in America, pages 10/11. // Credit: RailAdvent
The Essex Steam Railway sounds like it should be in the Home Counties, but it is the only entry in the book for the eastern USA.
The author’s search for the railway was rewarded with the fine photographs seen below. A mystery is why these engines were built in China and not the USA, unlike engines running on almost every other railroad in America.
An English Railfan in America, pages 48/49. // Credit: RailAdvent
To experience railway photography in locations such as these must surely be jaw-dropping. This is the Royal Gorge Railroad, and as explained in the introduction, its history has an air of the Wild West, when railway companies deployed armed guards during its construction.
Until 2001, the bridge seen at the top left was the highest in the world, being 955 feet above the river below.
An English Railfan in America, pages 60/61. // Credit: RailAdvent
Another set of awe-inspiring locations is the setting for these photos taken on the Georgetown Loop in Colorado.
Unfortunately, the penalty for having extensive introductions is less space for photographs, partially compensated by sometimes having three images per page. That is a small sacrifice when we get images such as these from a railway that is only 2 miles long, but because of the torturous terrain, passengers enjoy a 4-mile journey.
An English Railfan in America, pages 80/81. // Credit: RailAdvent
This review highlights just a small sample of the author’s stunning images, supported by an extensive and often humorous introduction to each line covered. This is not just a photographic exploration of American railways; it’s also very much a travelogue.
As a primer for railway enthusiasts planning a visit to the USA, it is highly recommended and will appeal to all those with an interest in heritage railways and the spectacular landscapes of North America.
There is no map, but much interest was taken in searching for the railways on Google Maps. This is a volume to be enjoyed many times, and it deserves a place on anyone’s bookshelf or coffee table. An English Railfan in America: The Heritage Tour by Dave Hewitt fully deserves a rating of 5/5.
The book is available to purchase from Amazon and from Amberley Publishing.
We would like to thank Amberley Publishing for providing us with a copy of the book for review.
