Trains Editor David P. Morgan was so impressed with Pennsy Power, which Staufer co-authored with Bert Pennypacker, that he devoted six pages of excerpts from the book in the October 1962 issue, before the volume was published. Pennsy Power eventually expanded to three volumes, covering both steam and diesel power until the Pennsylvania’s 1968 merger with New York Central.
The NYC was also a popular subject for Staufer. He wrote two volumes on the Central’s motive power from 1831 to 1968, then tackled one of the most popular steam locomotives ever, the Central’s 4-6-4 Hudson’s, in a 336-page work titled Thoroughbreds (1974) with Edward L. May. Staufer eventually wrote 11 books mainly on New York Central and PRR, but that also included Baltimore & Ohio (B&O Power, 1964), Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O Power, 1965, with Phillip Shuster), and the Erie (Erie Power, 1970, co-authored with Fred Westing).
In addition to writing, Staufer was a talented artist. His famous pen and ink drawings resembling steam-era builders photos included such subjects as the NYC Hudson, Pennsylvania’s GG-1 electric, Southern’s PS-4 Pacific, Southern Pacific’s Daylight 4-8-4, and Union Pacific’s 4-6-6-4 Challenger. Each drawing also included technical data about the locomotive. His paintings also reproduced Pennsy calendar art from the steam era, and he painted the motive power scenes used on the dust jackets of his books.
Staufer served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He is survived by his wife and four children.
