Trains - USA: books - railways in the West region (2/2)

Railroads of Montana

The slogan 'The Last Best Place' certainly describes well the huge state of Montana, which stretches some 630 miles across and is located in the north-western United States. Three railroad main lines once spanned its width, but the unfortunate abandonment of the Milwaukee Road left only the Great Northern and Northern Pacific routes, now Burlington Northern, to move the tonnage.
Union Pacific also reached into the state from Utah in the southwest, the earliest line built into the territory by predecessors arriving in mineral-rich Butte in 1881.

Today, over 3,000 miles of track cross Montana through 'Big Sky Country', climbing magnificent mountain passes and sweeping across the great prairies that prevail in the eastern portion of the territory. Dynamic BNSF dominates the railroad scene, with remarkable Montana Rail Link providing an important link in Montana railroading. UP and several short line operators provide added colour to the trains in the 'Treasure State,' making the railroads of Montana a visual gem.

Eastern Oregon Shortline Railroads

Most of Oregon east of the Cascade Mountains is a raw and inhospitable land, largely the product of recent volcanic activity. Railroad builders constructed a couple mainlines skirting the edges of the region and some branch lines into agricultural communities, but found very little else to attract their interest.
Over time, however, a small collection of interesting shortline railroads built or bought rail lines, either in conjunction with the developing timber industry in the Blue, Ochoco, and Wallowa mountains or to connect a few existing communities with the mainline that bypassed the town.

This book tells the stories of these small railroads and the roles they played in the development and economies of the region; covered railroads includes the Big Creek & Telocaset; City of Prineville; Condon, Kinzua & Southern; Idaho, Northern & Pacific; Klamath Northern; Oregon & Northwestern; Oregon, California & Eastern; Oregon Eastern Division of the Wyoming/Colorado; Sumpter Valley; Union Railroad of Oregon; Wallowa Union; and others.

Washington State Railroad Depots - Photo Archive

This wonderful photographic record of railroad depots in Washington State is also a rich source of information on all known depots in the state. Rigorous and exhaustive research has brought together for the first time many of the known facts about Washington State's depots including size, construction date, materials used and significant changes including rebuilding and replacement.

Architectural, railroad and urban historians as well as railway enthusiasts and modelers will all find much to like in this volume. Regional historians will also find the book useful for researching information on local depots. A rewarding and enjoyable resource for all railfans.

Railroads of Wyoming

A new stunning collection of photographs documenting the railways of the picturesque state of Wyoming. Long before Wyoming was officially part of the union, the Wyoming Territory played a crucial role in westward expansion of the United States as the first transcontinental railroad was built into the area by Union Pacific in 1862, bound for a meeting with Central Pacific in Utah in 1869.

Modernised, this 'Overland Route' today bustles with traffic, as trains thunder across the state on main lines destined for California and Pacific Northwest. More recently, Wyoming's expansive Powder River Basin has provided gargantuan amounts of coal tonnage for both UP/Chicago & North Western and Burlington Northern/BNSF.

Even though it appears that this prodigious coal traffic has peaked, there is still plenty of trains to be seen moving out of the basin. Additionally, BNSF has a secondary main line that traverses through some extraordinary scenery as it heads north and west toward connections in Montana.
All in all, railroads crossing the wonderful Rocky Mountains and High Plains of the 'Cowboy State' are certainly a beholder's delight.

Northern Pacific Railway - Photo Archive

All aboard the streamlined, Vista-Dome North Coast Limited leaving on Track 1 for Minnesota's Lake Region, the vast prairies of North Dakota, Montana's magnificent Rockies, Idaho's lakes and forests, the Inland Empire of Spokane to Puget Sound country, and the great seaports of Seattle-Tacoma and Portland.
Always a progressive leader in railroading, Northern Pacific was the first to offer sleeping and dining car service from St. Paul to the Pacific Northwest.

Outstanding vintage photography, brochures, postcards, menus, timetables and advertisements tell the story of the Northern Pacific's glory years from the 1930s through the 1960s. Featured are the heavyweight North Coast Limited (the finest passenger train in North America), the faster Vista-Dome passenger trains, steam and diesel locomotives, freight cars, maintenance of way and cabooses.

Rio Grande Locomotives - Photo Archive

Founded in 1870, Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, also known as Rio Grande, operated narrow gauge, standard gauge and diesel locomotives in the spectacular Colorado Rockies. Their slogan was Through the Rockies, not Around Them.
Narrow gauge photos include 2-8-0 Consolidations and 2-8-2 Mikado's. Standard gauge 4-8-4 Baldwin built locomotives comprised the Class M-64 and M-68 Northerns but Rio Grande liked to call them Mountains. By 1956, Rio Grande entered the diesel era with Electro-Motive built passenger and freight locomotives FT, F3, F7, General Purpose and Special Duty series. Electro-Motive SD40T-2 Tunnel Motors, SD45 and SD50 locomotives are featured. Other photos include American Locomotive PA-PB and RS-3 series, Fairbanks-Morse H-15-44, and diesel-hydraulic ML-4 locomotives from German manufacturer Krauss-Maffei.
Featured is a special colour photo section of Denver & Rio Grande locomotives along the scenic Royal Gorge Route and the magnificent Moffat Tunnel Route. Other highlights include a system map, timetables and magazine advertising.

Rio Grande : Chasing the Narrow Gauge (Volume 2)

In this second volume of his narrow gauge chronicle, noted narrow gauge preservationist Robert Richardson takes a close look at the Rio Grande's Silverton and Farmington branches, the Third Division between Salida, Gunnison and Montrose, and the Valley Line between Mears Junction and Alamosa, Colorado.

With 50-year-old photographs and firsthand accounts, Richardson offers the most authoritative chronicle yet on this portion of the Denver & Rio Grande Western's Rocky Mountain narrow gauge railroad empire. In a landscape format that lends itself to large photographs, Bob shows the railroad, its operations and equipment in dramatic style.
This hardbound book features photos taken as far back as 1950.