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 the Gary Works and the 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 west, east and south, making it a busy interchange and transfer road also.
Pat Dorin, a well-known rail historian, worked for the EJ&E at one time, and has drawn on company records and employee interviews for this history of the road. In addition to operational details, complete descriptions of both steam and diesel motive power, and of the freight car fleet, are included. The dust jacket watercolor is based on a photograph by Russ Porter. Publication is expected in 2010.
We will begin takin pre-orders in late February 2010.
The Northwestern Pacific Railroad
Fred A. Stindt
The Northwestern Pacific was one of California's most distinctive railroads, connecting the northwest corner of the state at Eureka with the San Francisco Bay Area. Its primary business was lumber, largely interchanged with Southern Pacific. Over the years, passenger and general freight services were also an important part of operations, as were passenger ferryboats and electrified commuter services. The NWP was founded in 1907 as a joint property of SP and Santa Fe, to combine several existing railroads; in 1929, SP took over sole ownership.
Fred Stindt, longtime historian and enthusiast of the NWP, originally published two volumes on this topic, and said on many occasions that he wished he had gotten around to combining them. This book is that combined edition, with all the material of the two volumes Fred produced, and some additional information. It contains a great wealth of photo illustrations, along with timetable, map, and advertising materials.
Artist John Signor has created the cover painting based on a historic NWP passenger train photograph. Publication date TBA.
The sixth volume in this distinguished series of books describes Arizona's Northern Roads, the railroads in the northern part of the state. The major roads among these were the mining roads of Jerome and the coal roads of later years; there were also lumber roads and the tourist lines such as the Grand Canyon Railway.
David F. Myrick, distinguished railroad historian and an unparalleled expert on Arizona railroad history, published the first five volumes of this series from 1975 to 2001.
Artist Ernie Towler painted the cover illustration based on a historic photograph of articulated locomotive 500 of the Verde Tunnel & Smelter Railway with a typically short train of ore cars. Publication date TBA.
