A reflection of the effects of highways--and their hugely subsidized trucks--upon railroads, and of the incompetence of the Southern Pacific. The trucks took much rail freight on the coast, the SP--partly through government rules & inertia--failed to meet the competition; many lines were closed, most of the rest were sold to small, hungry, competent firms. This is the story. It is well told in a style familiar to rail fans: lists of stations, engine rosters, control blocks. Abundant photos, a few in color. Current through the visit of the X2000 in mid-1993. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.

This edition lists nearly 600 shortline and regional railroads in the United States and Canada. Includes the history, radio frequency, locomotive roster and other information for each line as well as diesel profiles and a listing of past shortlines.

This book picks up where the previous two Classic American titles left off, focusing on the golden age of American railroading from 1945 to the early 1970s. It extends to the present day where applicable, providing a colorful look at locomotives, passenger and freight operations, development, and, in some cases, demise. Full color.

There was a point in American history when every town was connected by a rails. Whether it was a small electric line winding along city streets or a multi-track mainline separating the business district from the residential areas, every community had a hometown railroad that it relied on for commerce, transportation, and identity.Accomplished railroad author Frank Kyper spent many of his formative years in towns and cities like this throughout Vermont and New Hampshire, spending the 1940s through the 1970s moving around the area with his family. His free time was spent exploring local railroads like the Springfield Terminal, Claremont & Concord, Montpelier & Barre, Clarendon & Pittsford, and even the Mount Washington Cog Railroad. His travels and interests in the region also put him in contact with the Rutland and the various branch lines of the Boston & Maine, and placed him front and center for the early formation of Steamtown and the Conway Scenic Railroad. His personal contacts with several railroad officials at the time, including the president of the Rutland, gave him access to information as events unfolded that would drastically alter the landscape of New England railroading.This book is a firsthand account of a historian whose presence-of-mind to record events in real-time has created a virtual time capsule over 172 pages of text. A mix of over 160 color and black and white photos, many taken by Kyper himself, illustrate the stories that are woven together to paint a picture of Vermont and New Hampshire railroading in its classic era. This title is Frank Kyper's seventh book on railroading in the northeast.

The Connecticut Valley Railroad once carried both passengers and freight along the west bank of the Connecticut River between Hartford and Old Saybrook. Completed in 1871, today the railroad is known throughout New England for the nostalgic steam-powered excursion trains that run on a portion of the line between Essex and Chester. Until now the history of this popular tourist attraction has been the stuff of local lore and legend. This book, written by railroad historian and former vice president and director of Valley Railroad, Max R. Miller, provides the first comprehensive history of the Connecticut Valley Railroad through maps, ephemera, and archival photographs of the trains, bridges, and scenery surrounding the line. Offering tales of train wrecks, ghost sightings, booms and busts, Along the Valley Line will be treasured by railroad enthusiasts and historians alike.

The Pere Marquette Railroad has not one but two histories--one for the twentieth century and one for the nineteenth. While the twentieth-century record of the Pere Marquette Railroad has been well studied and preserved, the nineteenth century has not been so well served. This volume aims to correct that oversight by focusing on the nineteenth-century part of the company's past, including the men who formed and directed these early roads, and the development of the system. The Pere Marquette Railroad was formed in 1900 by a merger of three Michigan railroad companies and lasted forty-seven years, disappearing in June 1947 by merger into the maw of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad. Prior to the 1900 merger, the Pere Marquette Railroad's predecessors made up a motley collection of disconnected and unaffiliated short, local rail lines. After the financial panic of 1893, and with some commonality of ownership, the companies worked together more closely. Before the end of the decade, the three main railroads--the Flint & Pere Marquette; the Detroit, Lansing & Northern; and the Chicago & West Michigan--had decided that the only way to maintain solvency was to merge. Using a plethora of primary sources including railway timetables and maps, this work lends insight into the little-known corporate business history of the Pere Marquette Railroad.