Name: Alaska's Tanana Valley Railroads
Brand: Daniel L. Osborne
SKU: 9780738596679
Price: 24.99 USD
Availability: InStock

Alaska's Tanana Valley Railroads

9780738596679

$24.99

In a region desperate for transportation to rich, gold-bearing creeks, the narrow-gauge Tanana Mines Railroad was built over permafrost, bogs, and hills to carry miners and supplies in 1905. Reorganized as the Tanana Valley Railroad, this little line promised the survival of both gold mining and Fairbanks until Fairbanks's economic base broadened. The railroad, built with Klondike Gold Rush earnings, prospered for only a few years and was acquired by the Alaska Railroad. The narrow-gauge survived 25 years, serving as the terminus for the Alaska Railroad and ensuring the development of Interior Alaska.

Grand Rapids, Grand Haven, and Muskegon Railway

9781467113595

$24.99

This book traces the history of the electric interurban in West Michigan, telling the story of the growth, operation, and demise of an electric railway.

The Grand Rapids, Grand Haven & Muskegon (GREG H&M) Railway was part of a network of electric railroads that spread across southern Michigan in the early part of the 20th century. For nearly 30 years, the railway connected Grand Rapids with Muskegon and Grand Haven on the Lake Michigan shore. The fast and frequent service it offered transformed life in Coopersville, Nunica, Berlin (now Marne), Fruitport, and other smaller communities along the way. In addition, the railway and the boats of the Goodrich and Crosby steamship lines provided an overnight connection with Chicago and Milwaukee. Moving both people and freight, this interurban had an important impact on both local and regional economies. Images of Rail: The Grand Rapids, Grand Haven & Muskegon Railway traces the history of the electric interurban in West Michigan, telling the story of the growth, operation, and eventual demise of an important electric railway in the region.

Grand Rapids, Grand Haven, and Muskegon Railway

Scranton Railroads

9780738565187

$24.99

The coal industry and the railroad industry both played an important part in the development of Scranton and the railroad cemented its place in history.

Founded as a small iron-making community, Scranton gained prominence as the ""anthracite capital of the world"" for the rich deposits of hard coal surrounding the city. Five railroads eventually served Scranton, attracted by the lucrative anthracite trade. The viability of these lines became directly linked to the coal industry, and the decline of this traffic in the 1950s had a devastating impact on the railroad industry in the northeastern United States. Following decades of decline, abandonments, and mergers, an unparalleled resurgence of freight traffic coupled with the development of ""heritage railroading"" has transformed Scranton into a destination for tourists and rail historians alike.

Virginia & Truckee Railroad

9781467107419

$23.99

The Virginia & Truckee (V&T) was once the richest and most famous short line railroad in America. Created in 1869 to provide transportation for the Comstock Lode, the V&T transported gold and silver ore to the quartz reduction mills. On the return trip, it brought back cordwood for fuel, timbers for mining, lumber for building communities, and all the goods needed by the area's nearly 40,000 inhabitants. The V&T also supported passenger transportation between Virginia City, Gold Hill, Carson City, and Reno. At its peak, this "bonanza railroad" ran 50 trains per day and paid stockholders more than $130,000 in monthly dividends. Over the next 80 years, operations dwindled to a trickle, and the last train ran in May 1950. Today, the V&T is immortalized in motion pictures, its locomotives and cars are exhibited in museums, and 14 miles of the V&T have been returned to operation.

Railroads of Placer County

9781467127646

$24.99

Though small in geographic size, Placer County is large in its rich history of railroading in California. This book covers 14 different railroads that did or still do exist in some association with Placer County. There were narrow-gauge and standard-gauge, long transcontinental, and short point-to-point railroads. Some railroads were fully contained within the county, and others just touched the county. Some railroads were short-lived operations, while others operated for decades. One railroad still functions today, undiminished after 150 years in service. This book is more than just a collection of photographs of locomotives; it provides the reader with a visual history of various aspects of the many railroads operating in Placer County over the years.

Railroading in Conneaut

9780738523460

$24.99

Conneaut, Ohio, a major Lake Erie harbor town, fortified the industrial and economic growth of the Great Lakes area during the "Golden Age" of railroading. Three major railroads, the Nickel Plate Road, the New York Central, and the Bessemer & Lake Erie hauled people, iron ore, and coal in and out of Conneaut. Written in cooperation with the Conneaut Historical Railroad Museum and the Conneaut Area Historical Society, this book preserves Conneaut's rich rail and shipping history in vintage photographs. The town itself is beautifully captured in images of lighthouses, buildings, festivals, and people.

Railroad Depots of Northern Indiana

9780738541310

$24.99

Take a historic excursion across a state that is often mistaken as the home of grain and corn production, and little more.

Countless manufacturing centers in northern Indiana strengthened the economic fabric of Hoosier land. The railroads that criss-crossed northern Indiana were instrumental in populating the small towns and larger cities by employing thousands over the course of many years. Through photographs of depots, freight houses, and other railroad structures, long demolished yet an integral part of community development, Railroad Depots of Northern Indiana reviews the history of the cities and towns that used the rail to transport raw materials and finished manufactured products across the state to markets such as Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, and Cincinnati. This book also tells the story of a short line railroad and the commodities it has transported for the past century, as well as the longest-existing interurban, still operating just south of Lake Michigan, the resilient South Shore Line.

Ulster County Railroads

9780738575940

$24.99

Five railroads once passed through Ulster County, with Kingston being the main hub. These railroads--the Central New England Railway, the West Shore Railroad, the New York, Ontario & Western Railway, the Wallkill Valley Railroad, and the Ulster & Delaware Railroad--provided a means to transport produce and products from New York State's emerging frontier to New York City, some 70 miles south of Ulster County. Ulster County Railroads provides a glimpse into the lives of the people who worked on the railroad and those who depended on it for transport of goods and personal transportation.

The Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway

9781467108010

$23.99

The Toledo, Peoria & Western (TP&W) Railway has made a big impact on Illinois and railroading for over 150 years.

Originally chartered in 1849 as the Peoria & Oquawka, the TP&W provided an important bypass for trains to avoid the often congested rail network in Chicago. Train wrecks on the TP&W over the years resulted in improved and safer technology that is still in use today nationally. Conflicts between the railroad’s management and employees led to the creation and development of national railroad labor unions. On a local level, the TP&W served many local businesses and made an effort to establish positive relationships with communities that it passed through. At one time, Toledo, Peoria & Western was a name known in virtually every household in the area. The TP&W is still operating today and serves many businesses along its route, including grain elevators and factories, and interchanges freight cars with other railroads in the area for transportation around the country.

Author Thomas Dyrek is president of the Toledo, Peoria & Western Historical Society. Photographs and information from his collection as well as several other TP&W fans and historians have been assembled to tell the story of this unique railroad company.

Akron Railroads

9780738541419

$24.99

The self-described "rubber capital of the world," Akron was the home of numerous rubber factories that made tires for America's burgeoning automobile industry. Many of the raw materials needed to create rubber arrived by rail, and the finished products moved to market in freight cars. The city's major railroads included the Baltimore and Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Erie Railroads, but three regional carriers, the Akron, Canton and Youngstown, the Wheeling and Lake Erie, and the Akron and Barberton Belt, also served Akron-area industries. Written in cooperation with the Akron Railroad Club, this book chronicles the ever-changing Akron railroad scene since the club's founding in 1936.

Cleveland Mainline Railroads

9781467111379

$24.99

In the 1800s, railroad development was instrumental in enabling Cleveland to become an industrial center. By 1920, Cleveland was the nation's fifth-largest city, with an economy dependent on the iron and steel, petroleum-refining, automotive, and chemical industries. It was second only to Detroit among American cities in the percentage of the population employed by industry. Railroads brought raw materials needed for manufacturing and carried the finished products to markets everywhere. The mainline railroads serving Cleveland included the Baltimore & Ohio, the Erie, the New York Central, the Nickel Plate Road, the Pennsylvania, and the Wheeling & Lake Erie. Images of Rail: Cleveland Mainline Railroads describes how these six railroads developed and what freight and passenger markets they served through the 1960s, a period during which railroads were the primary carriers of goods and passengers to Cleveland. Industry changed following World War II, leading to the consolidation and abandonment of railroad routes in northeast Ohio.

The Virginian Railway

9780738552743

$24.99

The Virginian Railway existed as a separate entity for only a half century, but that period of American history witnessed two world wars and the emergence of the United States as a global superpower. Henry Huddleston Rogers, who marshaled the development of the U.S. oil industry through his leadership of Standard Oil, invested $30 million of his personal wealth into the making of the Virginian. He speculated that south-central West Virginia coal would fuel America's Industrial Revolution. Although Rogers died before his railroading dream could realize its full potential, the Virginian Railway
continued on from 1909 until its merger in 1959 with the Norfolk and Western Railway (now Norfolk Southern). During that time, the Virginian grew to a point that it was originating from 1,200 to 1,500
hundred-ton carloads of coal per day and serving 60 active coal mines. It earned a reputation for power, service, and efficiency that placed it among the great railroads of America.

Along the Mount Beacon Incline Railway

9781467123297

$24.99

Situated on scenic Mount Beacon in New York State's Hudson River Valley is a great American achievement and engineering marvel almost lost to history. Opened in 1902, the Mount Beacon Incline Railway served locals, revelers, sightseers, and vacationers for nearly 100 years, riding them to the pinnacle of Mount Beacon for a 75-mile panoramic view, among other attractions. The incline was constructed when trains were king, and undeniably it emerged as a grand tourist destination; its notoriety was widespread, even earning the prized position as background of the majestic Empire State flag, as seen today. Eventually, the railway ceased operation and was shuttered. Today, with the planned restorative work of the Mount Beacon Incline Railway Restoration Society (MBIRRS), the prospect of reinstallation remains high. Along the Mount Beacon Incline Railway is a record to the celebrated history, preservation, and future of the railway in its natural setting.

Historic Railroads of Nebraska

9780738520353

$24.99

The advance of Union Pacific Railroad tracklayers across Nebraska was part of America's great adventure of the 19th century. It marked the beginning of the era of the "iron horse" in Nebraska-a time when the whistle of an approaching train became synonymous with prosperity and contact with the outside world. Historic Railroads of Nebraska takes a photographic journey down the tracks of the five major railroads and various short lines that helped Nebraska progress into a national center of agriculture and business. The trip begins with the formative years of Nebraska towns that were established along railroad lines in the 19th century. It then travels through the 20th century and documents the major changes and challenges that the railroad industry faced. Through over 200 photographs, this book chronicles the era of streamlined passenger trains, rustic steam locomotives, and a bustling Omaha Union Station. The journey makes stops at railroad landmarks, significant cities, the state's only railroad tunnel, and the legendary North Platte Canteen.

Cover image for Historic Railroads of Nebraska, isbn: 9780738520353

Norfolk and Western Railway Stations and Depots

9780738566696

$24.99

The tracks of the Norfolk and Western Railway snaked through Virginia's Shenandoah Valley and the coalfields of West Virginia. For nearly 100 years, the Norfolk and Western brought freight, passengers, and economic vitality to large cities and rural mining towns. At each stop was the depot or station; some stations were large, architecturally ornate structures that represented the muscular energy and romantic era of this great steam railway with its famed J-class engines. In other places there were small wooden depots that depicted the hard-scrabble life of the mining communities, tucked amid steep mountain valleys that were indelibly shaped by the railway's presence. Today some of those structures remain, while many disappeared when the railway ceased passenger or other service. The Norfolk and Western eventually merged with the Southern Railway, and though the trains of the Norfolk Southern still run along those same lines, they simply pass by where they used to stop many years ago.

Norfolk and Western Railway Stations and Depots

Nevada Northern Railway

9780738574752

$24.99

The Nevada Northern Railway is the sole survivor from a grand era when railroads served mines throughout the state. Built in 1905-1906 to develop the incredible copper deposits of the Nevada Consolidated Copper Company in White Pine County, it was--and still is--a workaday railroad. Although its primary purpose was to haul ore, it eventually served the community with a daily passenger train between East Ely and Cobre until 1941. Over 4.5 million people rode the trains, and a mountain of copper ore was moved. In 1983, the Nevada Northern Railway ceased operating, and two years later the entire ore line, including the railroad's yard and shop facilities in East Ely, was donated to the White Pine Historical Railroad Foundation that now operates the railway as a museum. Instead of relics in glass cases or repainted old equipment on static display, the museum preserves a working steam railroad, delighting train enthusiasts year-round with passenger service and special seasonal excursions.

San Diego Trolleys

9781467126649

$24.99

Starting with the first horse-drawn trolleys introduced by the San Diego Streetcar Company in 1886, San Diego's history included the growth and decline of several trolley systems. After electricity arrived, San Diego was the site of early experimentation for electric trolleys on the West Coast and home to a short-lived cable car system. In the 1890s, sugar baron John D. Spreckels purchased these failed lines and consolidated them into the San Diego Electric Railway. This railway expanded rapidly, leading to the development of new trolley suburbs at the turn of the century, including North Park, Normal Heights, and Mission Beach. Ridership waned with the Depression and the introduction of autobuses, and though it temporarily rose during the war years, this decline led to the dismantling of the trolley system in April 1949.

Hartford County Trolleys

9780738539300

$24.99

During the golden age of the trolley, Hartford County was crisscrossed with over 200 miles of trolley lines, reaching to all major cities and towns in the county. Only 8 out of the 29 cities and towns in the county were without some type of public transit. A busy and prosperous area, Hartford County played a major role in banking, insurance, and manufacturing during the trolley era in Connecticut.

Rails in and around Saratoga Springs

9781467127097

$24.99

Saratoga Springs is special. Its reputation goes back to 1767 when Native Americans brought Sir William Johnson to the area for the healing powers of the High Rock Spring. From this humble beginning, the popularity of Saratoga Springs and its many mineral water springs grew from the 19th century to the mid-20th century. Railroads played a key role in that growth. The first train entered Saratoga Springs in 1832. Regularly scheduled passenger trains made Saratoga Springs more accessible, and as a result, it grew by leaps and bounds. Beautiful train stations welcomed visitors, the Saratoga Race Course opened, large bathhouses were constructed, the Grand Union and other luxurious hotels awaited overnight guests, and many people from all walks of life visited the casino in historic Congress Park. Visits to historic locations such as Mount McGregor and North Creek were made easier by train. Along with the railroads in and around Saratoga Springs, this book also includes historic highlights of those locations.

Rail Depots of Eastern North Carolina

9781467126229

$24.99

Railroads have been an integral part of North Carolina since the 1850s, allowing goods and people to travel across the state or to other areas of the country. For many years, the main focus of small towns and large cities in the state was the railroad depots. Residents could purchase train tickets, businesses sought to ship or receive goods for market, and kids loved to visit and wave to the passing train crews. During the Christmas season, presents ordered from catalogs would arrive by Railway Express and were delivered to homes across the area. Mail was also delivered by rail to the depots, even if the train did not stop at a particular community. This book hopes to provide rail enthusiasts, local and economic historians, and history lovers in general a look back at the heyday of railroads and how much they affected daily life in North Carolina.

Treasure Valley's Electric Railway

9780738596334

$24.99

Idaho's Treasure Valley, named for the gold and silver once mined in the area, encompasses Ada and Canyon Counties in the southwest corner of the state. Boise City was founded in 1863 when the US Army built a fort at the crossroads of the Oregon Trail and the road to the Boise Basin gold mines. Boise soon became the major distribution center for supplies and fresh food for miners. By 1890, with the development of agriculture and the expansion of the railroad, towns stretched west along the Boise River to the Oregon border. A boom in the early 20th century was due in part to the electric railway, a modern transportation system linking Boise to the communities of Meridian, Eagle, Nampa, Caldwell, and Middleton. The electric railway era lasted from 1891 to 1928 and supported the growth of neighborhoods and communities, inspired the creation of local parks, and provided recreation and entertainment opportunities to rural and urban residents.

Spokane International Railway

9781467102995

$24.99

The last half of the 19th century was typified by tycoons and shrewd railroad barons. A key figure in the development of the Spokane International Railway was James Jerome Hill, or simply Jim Hill. Spokane businessmen regarded Hill as a tyrant and considered his Great Northern and Northern Pacific railroads unwelcome monopolies in Northeast Washington and the Idaho Panhandle. In 1905, Daniel Chase "D.C." Corbin broke the Hill lines' stronghold by forming the Spokane International Railway as a 140-mile rail line from Spokane, Washington, to Eastport, Idaho, to interchange traffic from the Canadian border to the Pacific. Today, the route continues to be profitable under Union Pacific Railroad ownership with commodities shipped to Western markets via the Canadian Pacific Railway. This book shares the story of the Spokane International Railway and traces its international and local connections with every major railroad in the Pacific Northwest.

Cover image for Spokane International Railway, isbn: 9781467102995

Boston's Blue Line

9780738535760

$24.99

Boston's rapid-transit Blue Line covers a distance of 5.94 miles, a twenty-three-minute commute that begins at Bowdoin station in downtown Boston, travels under the harbor, passes Revere Beach, and stops at Wonderland. Today's commuters might be surprised to learn that the line they are riding was once operated by trolley cars and narrow-gauge steam-powered commuter trains, for it was not until 1904 that the East Boston Tunnel under the harbor was completed. By 1917, the number of people riding the Blue Line had climbed to twenty-five thousand a day. Although significant advances had been made to accommodate high-volume commuter traffic, rush-hour congestion at downtown stations remained a problem. In the 1920s, with ridership exceeding forty-two thousand people a day, the Boston Elevated Railway and the Boston Transit Commission agreed to convert the tunnel to a rapid-transit operation with a transfer station at Maverick Square. Further expansion occurred in the 1950s, when the Blue Line was extended to Orient Heights, Suffolk Downs, and Revere Beach.

Tooele Valley Railroad

9781467130264

$24.99

Shortly after the International Smelter offered economic salvation to Tooele's struggling desert community, the Tooele Valley Railroad became the town artery. Though originally built in 1908 to connect the smelter to the Union Pacific and Western Pacific lines west of town, the railroad became central to daily life. Hundreds of local workers rode it to and from work each day. As technology continued to change Tooele, the Tooele Valley Railroad shared Vine Street with the first automobiles--safety precautions required that the caboose, with a horn mounted to warn motorists, lead the oncoming train. However, the smelter's decades of prosperity proved short-lived, and by the 1930s, the town had fallen on difficult times once again. The railroad outlived the smelter, but operations ceased in the early 1980s, and the city had the abandoned tracks removed.

Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Revisited

9781467116381

$24.99

Explore the geography of Rosslyn, Great Falls, Leesburg and Purcelville along the Washington & Old Dominion Railroad.

Washington & Old Dominion Railroad covered the railroad's corporate history, construction, and operation. The images within offer a look at the railroad's feed and grain business, railfan-type views of equipment and a visual record of methods used to maintain the right-of-way and place equipment back on the tracks. Additionally, this work offers a history of the conversion of the right-of-way into thevery popular Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park.

Learn about the history of mills and their place in the local economy. See how the Burro crane was a jack of all trades. Look under the hood and inside the cab to imagine what it was like to be an engineer on one of the railroad's Baldwin-Westinghouse electric freight locomotives.

Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Revisited

Boston & Maine in the 20th Century

9780738505473

$24.99

The history of railroads in America is not complete without a pictorial history of the Boston & Maine.

As the twentieth century dawned, the Boston & Maine Railroad Company controlled virtually all of the rail lines in New Hampshire, as well as much of the service in Maine and Massachusetts. Ultimately, the company operated more than 2,000 stations in northern New England. The train was the most important mode of travel, and the stations were the center of the community. Boston & Maine in the 20th Century continues the first pictorial history of the railroad company, entitled Boston & Maine in the 19th Century. With more than 200 rare images and historical narrative, the book details the trains and their destinations: the terminals, stations, depots, and whistle stops to which they sped. Times changed, and the railroad was passed by; however, its legacy lives on.

Richmond Railroads

9780738566481

$24.99

During the second half of the 20th century, the railroads that operated in the Mid-Atlantic region offered a wide variety of subject matter for railroad enthusiasts and photographers to marvel at. A prime location to witness this activity was in Richmond--a railroad melting pot. As with any major city, the railroads played a significant role in Richmond's growth and development. As a result of being served by five different railroads, a labyrinth of railroad infrastructure emerged, including the Triple Crossing, a world-renowned landmark. Millions of travelers have passed through Broad Street and Main Street Stations on famous streamliner passenger trains such as the Silver Meteor and the George Washington. Images of Rail: Richmond Railroads documents the past 60 years of railroading in the Capital City, which has seen drastic changes as a result of corporate mergers, urban development, and technological advances.

Illinois Central Railroad

9781467115995

$24.99

With roots dating back to 1851, the Illinois Central Railroad (IC) transported millions of passengers and countless tons of freight. Most trips were completed without incident. However, there were occasional mishaps, including derailments and collisions with other trains or highway vehicles. Most accidents were minor, while others made the national news, such as the October 30, 1972, collision of two commuter trains in Chicago that killed 45 passengers. The IC frequently had to deal with flooding, for the railroad ran in close proximity to several major rivers. In January and February 1937, much of the southern half of the railroad was shut down because of flooding on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. This book depicts many of the accidents that have taken place along the Illinois Central through the years. The photographs are drawn from numerous sources, including the railroad's own photographers, amateur photographers, and photography studios.

Florida Railroads in the 1920's

9780738542324

$24.99

Florida's railroads emerged in the 1830s amid Native American upheaval and territorial colonization. Many periods of development marked this fascinating heritage, but one era towers above the rest: the 1920s. It was then that Florida experienced a colossal land boom, one of the greatest migration and building stories in American history. People poured into the state as never before, real estate traded hands at breakneck speed, and the landscape added countless new homes, hotels, apartments, and commercial buildings. Florida's biggest railroads--the Atlantic Coast Line, Seaboard Air Line, and Florida East Coast--were unprepared for the tidal wave of traffic. Thus, the "Big Three" had to rapidly expand and increase capacity. Dozens of projects unfolded at great cost, by one estimate over $100 million. When the building frenzy ended, the railway map of the state stood at its greatest extent--some 5,700 miles. Further, the frequency of railway service within and to the Sunshine State reached an unprecedented level, never again to be repeated.

Boston & Maine in the 19th Century

9780738505466

$24.99

All the romance of early railroading in northern New England pervades Boston & Maine in the 19th Century. This fascinating journey begins in the 1830s with an 8-mile line that just kept growing. By the end of the century, Boston & Maine was traveling over 2,324 miles of track. This first pictorial history of the Boston & Maine explores the heyday of an enterprising railroad. Using spectacular images, most of which have never before been published, the book takes us along scenic stretches of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine.

The North Shore Line

9781467108966

$23.99

As late as 1963, it was possible to board high-speed electric trains on Chicago's famous Loop "L" that ran 90 miles north to Milwaukee. This was the Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee Railroad, commonly known as the North Shore Line. It rose from humble origins in the 1890s as a local streetcar line in Waukegan to eventually become America's fastest interurban under the visionary management of Midwest utilities tycoon Samuel Insull. The North Shore Line, under Insull, became a worthy competitor to the established steam railroads. Hobbled by the Great Depression, the road fought back in 1941 with two streamlined, air-conditioned, articulated trains called Electroliners, which included dining service. It regained its popularity during World War II, when gasoline and tires were rationed, but eventually, it fell victim to highways and the automobile. The North Shore Line had intercity rail, commuter rail, electric freight, city streetcars, and even buses. It has been gone for nearly 60 years, but it will always remain the Road of Service.

Western Connecticut Trolleys

9780738549699

$24.99

Throughout history, Americans have embraced technology with a special enthusiasm, and the innovation of the trolley car is no exception. This industry fueled the growth of many towns and cities in Connecticut, and Western Connecticut was able to keep pace with other parts of the state because of it. Although short lived, the trolley changed the landscape of the state and spurred progress in ways never imagined just a few years before. Marking an important milestone in the documentation of Connecticut's street railway heritage, Western Connecticut Trolleys is the sixth Arcadia Publishing book chronicling the history of all the streetcar lines and companies in the state.

Montgomery County Trolleys

9781467128766

$24.99

Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, was once served by 140 miles of trolley lines. In the first half of the 20th century, a wide array of trolley cars rolled over Montgomery County's rails, from quaint open streetcars rumbling through borough streets to sleek 80-mile-an-hour trolleys sailing across open fields in Upper Gwynedd and Hatfield Townships. The cars had zero emissions, and some lines were powered by renewable hydroelectric power. Taking the trolley was a convenient, affordable option for those travelling and commuting in Montgomery County, nearby Philadelphia, and points beyond. Freight was also carried on board trolleys, with prompt parcel delivery service. Fortunately, many years ago, dedicated trolley fans had the foresight to aim their cameras at these unique vehicles, providing rare glimpses not just of the trolleys but also of Montgomery County's rapidly changing landscapes.

Steam Railroads of Northern Iowa and Southern Minnesota

9781467102889

$24.99

Steam railroading became an integral part of the communities in northern Iowa and southern Minnesota in the late 1800s. The railroad provided hundreds of jobs and the ability to transport both goods and passengers across the Midwest. The Chicago & North Western Railway, the Chicago Great Western Railroad, the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railway, the Chicago, Rock Island, & Pacific Railroad, and the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad (called the Milwaukee Road by employees) served five principal gateways, which included Chicago, Illinois; Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota; Omaha, Nebraska; and Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri. Operating steam engines required tremendous manpower, and by the 1920s, some steam passenger trains were replaced by more efficient motor cars, fueled by oil-powered engines. Steam engines could no longer compete with the reduced operating costs, smaller crew requirements, and time savings provided by diesel, which ultimately led to the fall of steam in 1955.

Cover image for Steam Railroads of Northern Iowa and Southern Minnesota, isbn: 9781467102889

Arcade and Attica Railroad

9780738572055

$24.99

In 1881, a narrow-gauge railroad was built in southwestern New York, from Attica to Arcade. It was later rebuilt to standard gauge to connect with what became the Pennsylvania Railroad. Concerned that the line would be abandoned, local farmers, merchants, and others raised money to purchase the railroad and formed the Arcade and Attica Railroad. Through vintage photographs, Arcade and Attica Railroad highlights the history of a railroad that, faced with declining revenues, launched steam-powered passenger service in 1962. With a dedicated management team that has taken the time and effort to face obstacles, the pride of loyal employees, and a supportive community, the railroad has endured a variety of herculean challenges to continue passenger and freight service in Wyoming County, New York.