Magnetic North: Canadian Steam in Twilight

A.A. den Otter is a professor of history at Memorial University of
Newfoundland and the author of The Philosophy of Railways.

In many ways, Magnetic North is like other lavishly illustrated
coffee-table books on the steam train era. There is the inevitable
nostalgia about the supposedly romantic steam locomotive; the careful
attention to the configuration of driving, pilot, and trailing wheels;
and the verbal recreation of the sounds of hissing steam and clanging
metal. Present also are the numerous photographs of various locomotives,
at rest or in motion, but always taken at the most photogenic angles. In
short, Magnetic North is typical of the genre.

But this book is also different from all the others. It originated more
than 40 years ago when two young men—Roger Cook and Karl Zimmermann,
then 15 and 16 years old, respectively—made a pilgrimage to Montreal
to see steam locomotives in action. Subsequently, Cook and Zimmermann
made trips to other locations. In effect, the text of Magnetic North is
a memoir of these journeys.

Well-written and lovingly detailed, the text is captivating. But the
photographs, as is often the case in these books, steal the show. Most
of them are originals, taken by Cook and Zimmermann, and they are
excellent in quality and composition.