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Die Eisenbahn im Wilden Westen - Der Siegeszug des eisernen Pferds

Die Eisenbahn im sogenannten Wilden Westen zählt zu den grossen Faszinationsthemen der Geschichte des weltweiten Schienenverkehrs. Das überrascht nicht, denn bei der Besiedelung des Westens der USA spielte die Eisenbahn eine wichtige Rolle.
Ohne die eisernen Schienenwege wären die Siedler wahrscheinlich nicht so schnell in dem riesigen Gebiet vorgedrungen.

Dieses Buch von Kristiane Müller-Urban und Eberhard Urban beschreibt die Geschichte der Eisenbahn und ihre Bedeutung für die Entwicklung Amerikas auf anschauliche Weise und blickt dabei auch über die Grenzen in Nord und Süd nach Kanada und Mexiko.

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Southern California Railways

"Southern California Railways" looks at the operations of some of the many railroads that serve the southern half of the Golden State. These include the passenger operations of Amtrak, Metrolink and San Diego Coaster and the freight operations of the Union Pacific and BNSF Railway as well as some short-line operators. The book shows some of the huge variety of trains and locomotives that ply their trade in the area.

Author Richard Billingsley focuses on the area south of San Luis Obispo and Bakersfield, including Los Angeles and San Diego, as well as the Mojave Desert and Salton Sea and includes 180 stunning images documenting the railway scene.

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California's Lumber Shortline Railroads

California's sawmill and railroad industries grew up together, each at least partially depending upon the other for survival. However, not all of the Golden State's sawmills lay upon the routes of mainline railroads, resulting in the development of a number of shortline railroads connecting remote sawmills with the nation's rail network.

In addition to serving the lumber industry, these shortlines often became economic lifelines to other industries in rural parts of the state.
Many of these railroads also carried passengers, either as part of their common carrier service in the early years and/or as tourists in recent decades.

This book seeks to tell the stories of and relate the important historical roles these small carriers played, long lasting companies such as the Almanor, Amador Central, Arcata & Mad River, California Western, Camino Placerville & Lake Tahoe, McCloud River, Quincy, Sierra, and Yreka Western, along with younger start-ups such as the Eureka Southern, North Coast, Great Western, Modoc Northern, Lake County, Lake Railway, and others.

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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.

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Locomotives of the Western United States

The first transcontinental railroad in the USA was completed in 1869. In the following years, until the turn of the twentieth century, many more railroads were built by different companies.
Passenger trains declined from the 1950s and today there is only a minimal long-distance passenger service operated by Amtrak, leaving the railroads to concentrate on moving freight.

From the 1970s until the 1990s many railroads merged to give the two main railroads there are in the west today: Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Union Pacific. As well as the two mega railroads, there are many regional and shortline railroads to add diversity.

Locomotives in the USA today are mainly built by General Electric and Electro Motive Diesel. Modern diesels for long-distance mainline freight trains are up to 4,400 hp with six axles. These long-distance trains can weigh up to 20,000 tonnes and often have multiple locomotives that can be at the front, middle and rear. There are also many older diesels for local work, some dating from the 1950s.

This book features a selection of photos of mainline and branch-line trains with a wide selection of different locomotives and paint schemes across the western states.

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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.

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Pacific Coast Commuter Railroads: from San Diego to Anchorage

Pacific Coast Commuter Railroads is about the newest form of rail passenger services to be created in North America. From San Diego to Vancouver, British Columbia, and all the way to Anchorage, Alaska, these new systems offer a solution to pollution, congestion, and high gasoline prices.

Take a ride on the Coaster in San Diego, the MetroLink in Los Angeles, Amtrak's Surfliner Rail to Rail in Southern California, San Francisco's Caltrain, the Altamont Commuter Express between San Jose and Stockton, Amtrak's Capitol Corridor between San Jose and Sacramento, the Sounder in Seattle and the West Coast Express in Vancouver. Also read about the new Tri-Met service in Portland that started in September, 2008; and the anticipated service for Anchorage Alaska.

Includes maps, timetables, and passenger statistics, where available. Rail fans, modelers, transportation planners, and folks living in the new rail service areas will find this book useful for travel, transit planning, modeling, and new levels of knowledge about passenger rail service.

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Railroads of Colorado

At one time, it seemed as though every canyon and pass leading into Colorado's high country was a path laid with 3-foot gauge narrow gauge railroad. Dreams of tapping the riches of mining discoveries in mountain locations made this almost true. But mining can be a fleeting adventure, and as the state matured, so too did the railroads that crisscrossed it.

Many railways succumbed to disappearing tonnage, becoming trackless trails among the mountainsides. But on many routes, the railroads of Colorado have flourished and provide necessary transportation avenues for a modern economy. In addition, tucked away in several corners of the state are remnants of Colorado's narrow gauge past, still steam-powered and now lively to the tune of tourist dollars.
Popular state slogan 'Colorful Colorado' describes this incredible place well, and is assuredly most appropriate while viewing the wonders of railroading in the spectacular Rocky Mountains of the West.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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The California Zephyr - An Entertaining History of America’s Most Celebrated Train Route

America's most talked-about train, the California Zephyr was inaugurated March 20, 1949, book-ended by the world-class skylines of Chicago and San Francisco. Operated in partnership over three railroads - Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, Denver & Rio Grande, and Western Pacific - the train was designed in Art Deco style and built of shotwelded stainless-steel by the Budd Co.
The California Zephyr incorporated the best of the Zephyr fleet including Vista-Dome coaches and Vista-Dome observation cars. Powered by General Motors diesel locomotives, the western-themed "land-cruise" train traveled 2,532 miles on its journey from Chicago, traversing the spectacular Colorado Rockies via the 6.2-mile Moffat Tunnel and California's magnificent Feather River Canyon - by daylight in both directions.

Vintage equipment diagrams include California Zephyr baggage car, Vista-Dome coach, Vista-Dome buffet-dormitory car, dining car, bedroom-cabin car and Vista-Dome bedroom-buffet-lounge-observation car. Other highlights feature original trip reports by"Zephyrett" hostesses, travel brochures, timetables, dining car menus and full-color photo gallery of the stunning California Zephyr.

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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.

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