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10/30/22

American Car & Foundry Box Cars 1960-1981

"American Car & Foundry Box Cars 1960-1981"
By Edward S. Kaminski
The last period of AC&F manufacturing of box cars was the years 1960–1981, and this volume provides both the history and extensive color photography, along with details of car design and construction in this period. Many colorful paint schemes were in use by railroads and lessors, large and small, and they are shown here, including many Incentive Per Diem schemes. A complete production roster of the box cars built is also provided. Coverage includes 40-foot as well as 50-foot inside-post cars, 50-foot outside-post cars, and 60-foot inside- and outside-post cars. Many of these 60-foot cars were built for auto parts service. Author Kaminski is an acknowledged authority on freight car history and has extensively researched AC&F records to write this account. Any modeler of the 1960s and ’70s, or freight car fan, will want this book. 256 pages, 466 Photos, 41 Drawings and Graphics, Roster, Index, Hardcover.

Sigp

$75.00

$29.55

10/30/22

American Refrigerator Transit

"American Refrigerator Transit"
By Stuart T. Maher, G.J. Michels, Jr and Gene Semon
Among America’s largest operators of refrigerator cars was American Refrigerator Transit. The ART was founded by Jay Gould in 1881 to serve all his railroads of that day, including the Wabash, Missouri Kansas and Texas, and particularly Missouri Pacific and subsidiaries. After 1925, Denver & Rio Grande Western was added. Primary business in the early years was meat transportation, but this gradually shifted to perishables, particularly from Texas and Colorado. Change came in the 1960s. Norfolk & Western took over Wabash in 1964 and in 1969, D&RGW moved its perishable business from ART to Fruit Growers Express. In 1973, Norfolk & Western pulled out of ART, and with the acquisition of Missouri Pacific by Union Pacific in 1983, all remaining ART properties then disappeared into UP.  This large book contains not only a complete history of ART but extensive and thoroughly illustrated information about the refrigerator cars of ART. Rail historians as well as enthusiasts of the Missouri Pacific and Wabash will be fascinated by this book. Contents, Index, Bibliography, Hardcover.

Sigp

$75.00

$29.55

10/30/22

Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Equipment, 1883-2004

"Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Equipment, 1883-2004"
By Daniel P. Holbrook
As with any railroad, the freight and passenger equipment of the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range was the lifeblood of its work. The railroad is famous for its traffic in iron ore, but there were other major parts to its traffic also, such as pulpwood. The fleet of cars of the company, its operations, and the history behind it, are the focus of this book. But the car fleet only makes sense in terms of the industries the railroad served, and a rich trove of information on that subject is here too. The author presents more than 350 photos and graphics, most never before published, to show the appearance of a wide variety of these cars. The company traffic information also fills a gap in our knowledge of railroad history, having no prior presentation at this level of detail.  320 pages, 350 Photos, Maps, Drawings & Graphics, Hardcover.

Sigp

$80.00

$31.50

11/20/22

Merchants Despatch

"Merchants Despatch, Its History and Equipment"
By Roger C. Hinman
Merchants Despatch traced its origins to a railroad express service begun in 1855, with a connection to the American Express Company. From its earliest years it operated over the lines of the New York Central, and by 1871 its stock was owned by Vanderbilt Lines railroads. However, it was an independent part of the New York Central family. As such, it outlived the Central, and this book carries its history to the year 2000. Initially the rolling stock of Merchants Despatch was box cars to carry railroad "fast freight," but by 1878 refrigerator cars were included. With the passage of years, the MDT fleet would become almost entirely refrigerator cars, maintained and many first built at the sprawling Despatch Shops in East Rochester, New York. Through much of its history, MDT leased cars to railroads other than New York Central, and to a variety of private shippers, as well as managing its own fleet of thousands of cars. By the 1950s the fleet included bunkerless cars (insulated box cars) and would subsequently include auto-rack cars, a category of rolling stock which enabled MDT to survive the Penn Central and Conrail mergers. But once Conrail went to CSX and Norfolk Southern in 1998, MDT reached the end of its line in 2000. Some 298 photographs, most previously unpublished, enrich this book, in addition to 44 drawings. More than 50 period documents and graphics enliven the text, accompanied by extensive rosters and tables of both car data and company information. Thoroughly researched in company records, this is an authoritative, well illustrated and complete history of Merchants Despatch. It presents both the long and complex corporate history, and also much information and many details about the design, construction, maintenance and operation of the vast car fleet. Author Roger Hinman has published over 20 articles in model railroad and historical society publications, and is a railfan of many years standing. This is his first book. The book will appeal to those interested in the New York Central and in freight cars, as well as to enthusiasts of railroad history. Anyone interested in North American freight railroading from 1870 to 2000 will find it a valuable addition to their library.

Sigp

$65.00

$26.95

10/30/22

Southern Pacific Freight Cars. V. 1 Gondolas and Stock Cars

"Southern Pacific Freight Cars. V. 1 Gondolas and Stock Cars"
By Anthony W. Thompson
This is the first volume in a planned series on Southern Pacific freight cars. It covers gondolas and stock cars, and the era is approximately 1900-1960, though with some coverage before and after those years. The book contains an extensive array of rosters, photos and, where possible, drawings of the major car classes, along with other material as available, such as construction photos, publicity photos, lettering drawings, and so forth. Survival of the cars over the years is presented, as are numerous photos of the cars in service. Included are not only work (ballast) gondolas, but such signature cars of the SP as the 1920s GS gondolas from Enterprise (often called "Ulrich" cars), the 1940s GS gondolas, including a chapter on side extensions for wood chip, sugar beet, and other services, 1950s solid-bottom cars, and ore cars. Stock cars, from the CS-11 cars of the 1890s, through the standard Harriman cars, to the various late conversions of other cars to stock cars, are also given a full treatment.  Freight car history has a number of dimensions. Built dates, car numbers, car characteristics are only the bare bones. A complete history would also include reasons for construction of a particular car class and exploration of its design heritage; indications of the service to shippers to which a car class was assigned; and indications of the longevity of the class, culminating in rebuilding or scrapping. Though it is not possible to provide all this detail on every car class, this book does offer much of this type of history. The large number of photographs, particularly in-service images showing the cars at various times in their lives, make this a truly comprehensive volume. Complete roster information, including car specialties such as trucks and hand brakes, are presented in a nod to the modeling community. A few color photos are included among the 537 total tally of photographs, to show the appearance of these car types, though SP freight cars such as gondolas and stock cars were overwhelmingly painted boxcar red throughout the period covered. 320 pages, 537 Photos (8 in Color), 30 Drawings, Bibliography, Index, Hardcover.

Sigp

$65.00

$43.99

11/2/22

Southern Pacific Freight Cars V. 4; Box Cars

"Southern Pacific Freight Cars V. 4; Box Cars"
By Anthony W. Thompson
This is the fourth volume in a series on Southern Pacific freight cars. It covers box cars, the most numerous type in the SP fleet. The era is roughly from 1865 to 1965. The book contains an extensive array of rosters, photos and, where possible, drawings of the major car classes, along with other material as available, such as construction photos, publicity photos, lettering drawings, and so forth. Survival of the cars over the years is presented, as are numerous photos of the cars in service. The first section of the book contains an introductory section of background information, then covers the early box and combination cars, along with fruit, ventilated and refrigerator cars, and presents the important Huntington-era standard cars. The coverage then turns to the Harriman and post-Harriman designs, and to the World War I era, with several design differences, including USRA cars. The very numerous cars of the 1920s, followed by the all-steel standard designs built before and after World War II are presented in additional chapters. Separate chapters describe modifications to the various classes, the first of the specially-equipped cars, the last of the 50-ton box cars, and finally the box cars of the 1960s. Box cars, of course, make up an essential part of the history of any railroad. The book's 846 photos (36 in color), most from company and museum archives and never before published, together with 92 drawings, extensive rosters, and bibliography, make it unusually complete and authoritative. This book provides a coverage that every railroad enthusiast, and of course Southern PaciÞc fans in particular, will enjoy. 496 pages, 846 Photos, 92 Maps and Drawings, Rosters, Bibliography, Index, Hardcover.

Sigp

$70.00

$29.95

10/30/22

Southern Pacific Lines Standard Design Depots

"Southern Pacific Lines Standard Design Depots"
By Henry E. Bender, Jr
The railroad depot was once a vital part of local communities as well as essential to railroad operations. And particularly in the West, depots were often landmark structures. Southern Pacific and its predecessor railroads constructed and maintained depots throughout their territory. Between 1877 and 1894 a series of 26 numbered standard plans for depots was developed, and each plan was successively in use for a few years. By the beginning of the 20th century, there were more than 600 SP depots and telegraph offices. By then, many older depots, as well as most new ones at that time, had been or would be built to these standards. This book describes those depots. The story of depots in SP’s far-flung territory is an interesting one: when they were built, what they looked like, and when they were destroyed or were saved. Particularly for smaller communities, the depot was once an integral part of local life, so the life stories of these depots are an integral part of town history. 320 pages, 437 Photos, 46 Drawings, Bibliography, Index, Hardcover.

Sigp

$70.00

$29.95

10/30/22

Southern Pacific Ten-Coupled Locomotives

"Southern Pacific Ten-Coupled Locomotives"
By Robert J. Church
This book presents the complete history of all Southern Pacific locomotives with ten drivers, the heavy duty workhorse engines found on the railroad’s entire far-flung “Golden Empire.” They were assigned to districts where there were heavy grades, on both the “Pacific Lines” from El Paso to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Ogden and Portland, and the subsidiary Texas & New Orleans “Atlantic Lines” from El Paso to San Antonio and New Orleans. Coverage includes all classes of these engines, from the 1884 El Gobernador 4-10-0, the T&NO Decapod 2-10-0s, and the F class 2-10-2s, to the SP class Gresley valve-geared three-cylinder 4-10-2s. Introductory chapters follow the development of the early locomotives that opened the West, the small engines of the Central Pacific, and turn of the century designs of compound engines, including the early cab-forwards, which are briefly described. There are detailed descriptions of the 2-10-2 and the 4-10-2 locomotives, each class having separate chapters. Much material has never before been published in book form. Each chapter provides full details of individual class specifications, parts and appliances, including the single F-6 class engine that tested systems of steam admission. 532 pages, 795 Photos, 107 Drawings, Roster, Bibliography, Index, Hardcover.

Sigp

$85.00

$32.95

11/2/22

Southern Pacifics Salt Lake Division

"Southern Pacific’s Salt Lake Division"
By John R. Signor
More than 500 miles from Ogden, Utah to Reno, Nevada, at the eastern foot of the Sierra Nevada, comprised SPÕs Salt Lake Division. Although it was a vital and historic part of the Southern Pacific, from the building of the Central Pacific until the end of the SP in 1996, its day-to-day history and operation, with the difficulties of weather, scant water, and steep grades, has remained in relative obscurity. This is largely due to its remoteness. The Salt Lake Division, located in a sparsely populated interior basin and range country characterized by vast depressions or desert sinks, and the furrowing of innumerable north-south mountain ranges, is one of the least populated regions in the continental United States. West of the Pequops Range, much of the line is located along the Humboldt River which, from northeastern Nevada, runs west and southwest before finally disappearing into the ground in the Humboldt Sink. And though many improvements have been made to the alignment of the railroad over the years, much of this country even today is much as the pioneers saw it. An important part of this railroad is the Great Salt Lake crossing, which was built during the Harriman era. 480 pages, 682 Photos (77 in Color), 68 Maps and Graphics, Stations List, Bibliography, Index, Hardcover.

Sigp

$75.00

$31.50

10/30/22

Southern Pacifics Western Division

"Southern Pacific’s Western Division"
By John R. Signor
The Oakland Pier, hub of the Western Division, was among the most recognizable Southern Pacific locations, and activities across the Division were directed from headquarters at the Pier. This book by noted SP historian John Signor describes the construction, history, and operation of this vital part of the SP. With lines connecting Oakland with Sacramento by way of both the Carquinez Strait via Martinez, and Altamont Pass via Tracy, and lines radiating to the Napa Valley, San Jose, and Fresno, as well as branch lines like the Kentucky House, Winters, and San Ramon branches, this was a highly varied and extremely busy division. Passenger trains arrived from and departed to such varied destinations as Portland, Chicago, and Los Angeles and beyond, all with ferryboat connections to San Francisco. The freight business was intense, with profuse local industry both shipping and receiving enormous numbers of carloads. Local passenger trains, and local freight switching, handled a great volume of business. From its beginnings in 1869, through the Oakland "waterfront wars" at the turn of the century, the struggle in the Suisun Sinks, activities of the vast West Oakland yard and terminal facilities, as well as passenger operations on the Oakland Mole (as the Pier was often called), and construction of the magnificent Carquinez Straits bridge, to the final demolition of the Pier facilities in 1960 and to the recent revival of the Western Division with the schedules of Amtrak California, this book covers it all. 414 pages, 711 Photos (84 in Color), 23 Maps, Station List, Bibliography, Index, Hardcover.

Sigp

$70.00

$46.99

10/30/22

Steam Days in Dunsmuir

"Steam Days in Dunsmuir"
By Robert J. Church
This book features fascinating personal stories by Southern Pacific railroaders who worked out of Dunsmuir, California in the heyday of big-time steam railroading. The unique mountain railroad town, established in 1886, was the headquarters for Southern Pacific's Shasta Division and a helper point where locomotives were added to assist trains in the climb out of the canyon of the Sacramento River. 

Three sections of the book contain stories written by railroaders that reveal just how it was to work in engine and train crew service. The first is a complete reprint of SP engineer Dick Murdock's 1986 book, Smoke in the Canyon, that recalls his years of working on the SP and living in Dunsmuir. The second is by Don Olsen, who worked two years out of Dunsmuir before steam operations ended. The third, "Incident at Morley," written by conductor Bill Reid, a brakeman at the time, explains train operating and track occupancy rules and recounts a tragic accident that was a result of rules not strictly followed. Shasta Division history and sections written from interviews of Dunsmuir crewmen by Bob Church complete the book. 264 pages, 418 Photos, Appendices, Bibliography, Index, Hardcover.

Sigp

$60.00

$24.95

10/30/22

The Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway

"The Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway"
By Patrick C. Dorin
The Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway was well described by its slogan, "Around -- Not Thru Chicago." For most of a century, it was owned by United States Steel, and was a critical freight conduit for both U.S. Steel's Gary Works and its South Chicago Works, but also served many other shippers along its 130-mile line. In addition, it interchanged with fully 35 railroads around Chicago, carriers from the north, west, east and south, making it a busy interchange and transfer road also. The focal points of operations on this 130-mile railroad were the two major yards at East Joliet and Gary (Kirk Yard). Locomotive servicing as well as heavy freight switching typified these facilities, and both local freight service and inter-road transfer runs operated from these yards. Along with a complete railroad history, the steam locomotive roster is illustrated and presented in this book, along with the same information for the diesel era. Probably the most distinctive "signature" motive power of the EJ&E was its Baldwin center-cab transfer diesels, of which they owned 27 units, more than all other railroads combined. 176 pages; 230 Photos (93 in color), Appendices, Bibliography, Index, Hardcover.

Sigp

$60.00

$40.99

11/20/22

The Magor Car Corporation

"The Magor Car Corporation"
By Edward S. Kaminski
The Magor Car Corporation, located in northern New Jersey at Clifton, was a significant railcar builder throughout much of the twentieth century. It had its origins in a partnership founded in 1899 by Basil Magor and Robert Wonham, which led in 1902 to a manufacturing operation called the Wonham-Magor Engineering Works. In the first part of the century, Magor concentrated on export railcars, aided by its proximity to the port of New York. Basil's brother, Robert Magor, also became associated with the company, and in 1910 it became the Magor Car Company. It was incorporated in 1917 as the Magor Car Corporation; among its major stockholders was J.P. Morgan. In 1914, Magor's first freight cars for revenue use on an American railroad were built, and such sales grew steadily thereafter, though export cars continued as the company's mainstay for some years. In 1918, Magor was among the many firms which built cars for the United States Railroad Administration as part of its effort to construct 100,000 standard freight cars.  During World Wars I and II as well as during the Korean conflict, Magor was called on for thousands of export cars for military needs, and was also a principal builder of cars for Europe under the Marshall Plan. In 1959, Magor built its first aluminum-bodied covered hopper cars, which were also the first to be placed in U.S. revenue service, and went on to build more than 5000 aluminum cars. Magor's sale in 1964 to Fruehauf Corporation marked many changes in its activities, among which was the dissolution of the joint sales operation with National Steel Car Corp. of Canada, an arrangement in effect since Basil Magor founded that firm in 1911. Declining railcar sales during the 1960s led to Magor's closure in 1973. Magor was an important builder of American freight cars, though not one of the larger builders. Its history is a significant part of United States railroad history.  Car builder historian Ed Kaminski, author of  American Car & Foundry Company, has assembled a broad and intriguing perspective on this New Jersey company's history, spanning its lifetime,1899-1973. In addition to several hundred photographs, nearly all of them never before published, advertising materials and catalog information make this a fascinating presentation. 200 pages, Photos, Extensive Catalog Pages, Drawings & Graphics, Hardcover.

Sigp

$55.00

$23.00

10/30/22

The Visalia Electric Railroad Southern Pacific’s Orange Grove Route

"The Visalia Electric Railroad Southern Pacific’s Orange Grove Route"
By Phil C. Kauke
From its beginnings in 1904 until abandonment of most trackage in 1992, the Visalia Electric Railroad had a fascinating history. Built as an electric line which pioneered 15-cycle alternating current in the United States, it operated orange interurban cars along its 30-mile route until 1924. Serving the Sierra Nevada foothill region of eastern Tulare County, the VE became a local fixture as towns and agriculture developed. From the outset in 1904, the Visalia Electric Railroad had all its stock owned by the Southern Pacific. Primarily serving the growing areas east of Exeter, branches extended eastward toward Sequoia National Park, and southward to Strathmore. After passenger service ended in 1924, electric freight operations continued until 1944. Thereafter, diesels provided service, from GE 44-tonners to handed-down SP Alco and EMD switchers. Loss of perishable traffic finally doomed the line, and the last significant trackage was abandoned in 1992. In its heyday, the VE carried out a variety of operations, all described in this volume, from passenger excursions and commuting, to electric and gas-electric freight service to numerous packing sheds along the line. Though owned by Southern Pacific, many aspects of operations were locally controlled until 1964. Ownership of locomotives, motor cars, cabooses, and other rolling stock is all presented here, in photographs and rosters. Some 249 photographs, most previously unpublished, and 15 maps, enrich the book. 168 pages, 240 Photos, 21 Maps & Drawings, Rosters, Bibliography and Index, Hardcover.

Sigp

$55.00

$37.99

10/30/22

Union Pacific in The Los Angeles Basin

"Union Pacific in The Los Angeles Basin"
By Jeff S. Asay
Southern California was only one corner of the Union Pacific system, but the story of the railroad in that area is fascinating and surprisingly complex. It began in the 1880s with the predecessors of the Los Angeles Terminal Railway, extended through the San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad, begun under the ownership of Senator W.A. Clark and then jointly owned with Union Pacific under E.H. Harriman, continued under the name Los Angeles & Salt Lake, until eventual absorption into Union Pacific system. The story extends through the 20th century to the Southern Pacific merger of 1996, with some details, such as the Alameda Corridor, down to the present day.

Part of this fascinating story is the relationships with the other three major railroads in the Los Angeles area, Southern Pacific, Santa Fe and Pacific Electric. Those relations varied between cooperation and vigorous hostility, with each of the railroads taking turns at the opposite extreme from the others at different times.

An important part of the story is Union Pacific’s tenancy of Terminal Island, initially to serve the traffic of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and later to benefit from the vast Wilmington Oil Field, something unimagined when the Los Angeles Terminal Railway was acquiring title to the property in 1890. 496 pages, 562 Photos, 100 Graphics, 60 Maps, Bibliography, Index, Hardcover.

Sigp

$80.00

$31.50


 

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