Forthcoming Books

Merchants Despatch

Roger C. Hinman

Merchants Despatch or, to give its full name, Merchants Despatch Transportation or MDT, was one of the largest owners and operators of refrigerator cars in the United States. Though owned by New York Central, it was independently operated from headquarters in Chicago and operated a major shop at East Rochester, New York. Over the years, not only refrigerator cars for MDT and it subsidiaries such as Northern Refrigerator Line, but many freight cars for New York Central, were built at Despatch Shops.

This company, with origins with the American Express company in 1849, eventually was incorporated in its own right and survived beyond the Penn Central merger into the Conrail era. This book describes that 150-year history in some detail, emphasizing the construction and operation of refrigerator and other freight cars. It contains a great wealth of photo illustrations, the majority never before published. It will provide freight car enthusiasts as well as New York Central fans with much interesting and valuable history and information.

The cover emphasizes the primary work of MDT, its refrigerator cars. Publication date expected to be about November 1, 2011.

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.

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