In 1961 Jerry Pinkepank founded Extra 2200 South (the name comes from Jerry’s street address, according to Don Dover, who succeeded Pinkepank as editor.) It was dedicated to covering current locomotive news. Seven years later, Don Dover, his wife Dottie, and their son Dan took over. The Dovers ran Extra 2200 South out of their house in Cincinnati.
The Dovers’ first issue was dated January 1968 and featured an N&W roster by 14-year-old Dan Dover. Their last issue was produced
in 1990 and featured a Wabash roster compiled by Dan. In between, Dan compiled hundreds of rosters and summaries.
Extra 2200 South was without a doubt Dan’s proudest achievement. In the 1970s and 1980s, roster fans, locomotive enthusiasts, and many
other railfans eagerly awaited the next issue of Extra 2200 South. Don, Dan, and the magazine’s many contributors aimed to create accurate and comprehensive locomotive news and rosters. Issues of the magazine are still useful for researching locomotive history.
Dan was also an avid roster photographer and slide collector.
After 1990 Dan pursued other interests, but he had again become active as a railfan in recent years. He had been showing slides at various venues in the midwest and dabbling in model railroading.
He is survived by his mother, Dottie. Don Dover passed away in 2006. — Bill Peterson
I was a regular consumer-reader seems somehow inadequate to describe how one approached X2200 South-of the magazine from the late 70’s up til it stopped publishing. I was always in awe of the detail and research that went into compiling rosters and other info, especially in that pre internet age when an overwhelming amount of research had to be “in the field” with observations, or reported by reliable sources. I’m sure it was a labor of love for the Dovers, and greatly appreciated by any serious railfan or modeler. Like the other posters, I also have a good stack of X2200’s, which occasionally are helpful in searching out some obscure detail on a locomotive, or roster. I especially appreciated the RFL section, which was a summary of engine facilities, listing the approximate number of units one might find, as well as access points and other pertinent info. I went to a number of places using that info. I miss X2200, along with Rails Northeast, another magazine put out by Bob Reid in Pittsburgh.
RIP Dan Dover. You did a great service to rail enthusiasts, rivet counters or not.
Best train magazine ever, no ads. I have all the issues. Miss it. RIP Mr. Dover.
I still have almost all of the issues from the 1970’s and 80’s. I eagerly awaited each one as a teenager growing up in Manhattan and purchasing X2200S at the Roundhouse, upstairs on West 45th Street. While DIESEL ERA does a fine job today, the almost “fanzine” like nature (to use a punk rock term…) of X2200S had and still carries a certain enthusiasts charm that modern mass produced magazines lack today. The back issues still serve as an invaluable reference and I have been filling out my collection as I come across missing issues at train shows.
I am 58 and never realized Dan was so young. RIP and thank you for your scholarly commitment to detail and excellence.
I met the Dovers in 1977. They were friendly generous people who believed in what they were doing and put more effort into the magazine than the sales revenue could ever justify. Publishing was much more difficult before the current digital era when changes and corrections were harder to make.
I think I have every issue of X2200S from the Dover era to the end of publishing by Doug Cummings in Canada.
I still refer to the magazine. I think it was X2200S that introduced the term “phase” to describe running changes in production locomotives.
We still have “Diesel Era” which does a similar job today, but things have changed since the 1970s and much more information is “out there”, including of course Kalmbach’s annual “Locomotive” issue with its production list.
I’m sorry for Dot. It is very sad to outlive a child. I haven’t been in touch for years, but I remember Dan as a friend and I’ll miss him.