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This is a comprehensive, illustrated account of the growth and decline of American narrow gauge railroading. It documents a long-gone era, bringing to life ancient steam locomotives, railroads and rolling stock that have mostly disappeared without trace. The basic facts and information on the subject are heavily illustrated with photographs, drawings and maps, presented in an encyclopedia format.
The narrow gauge railroad arrived in the United States in the late nineteenth century. Based on the Welsh two-foot gauge, the American narrow gauge was expanded by railroad engineers to a three-foot gauge that became the standard track width for narrow gauge railroads in the United States. Maine, however, adopted the two-foot gauge that was developed by George E. Mansfield in Massachusetts. The narrow track width was ideally suited to the mountainous terrain, and the maneuverability of the trains proved highly beneficial to companies and passengers traveling to remote locations. The narrow gauge railroad served Maine for over fifty years until the early 1940s. Maine Narrow Gauge Railroads is a comprehensive pictorial record of the history of the narrow gauge railroad in Maine. From the one-hundred-twelve-mile Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad to the five-mile Kennebec Central, Maine Narrow Gauge Railroads features the toylike miniature trains of Maine as they appeared at different stages in their history. The Bridgton and Harrison Railroad, the Monson Railroad, and the Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway lines are documented within, as well as the current restoration projects that are under way.
Take a nostalgic 100 year Journey through the Rocky Mountains aboard the narrow gauge railways that snaked through them.
This book provides an entry point for any modeler interested in building a narrow gauge layout. Narrow gauge railroads remain popular among railfans and modelers due to the spectacular mountain scenery in which many operated. Although narrow gauge layouts have a passionate niche following, there are very few books on this subject. • The book is an overview of prototype narrow gauge railroading as well as available models. • This is a one-stop book for introducing modelers to the subject of narrow gauge railroading. • It explains why and where narrow gauge railroads were built, how they operated, what their equipment was like, and why they were abandoned.
A full color 120 page hardback photographic album by renowned photographer James Waite of the narrow gauge railway lines of the American continents in the 21st century. The reader is taken on an illustrated journey across North America from New England in the east to the West Coast, and then south through Central America and on into South America; journey's end being in Patagonia, at the southern tip of Argentina. Features many lesser-known lines, as well as the popular Cumbres & Toltec and Durango & Silverton operations.
This long-awaited study, the magnum opus of a leading railroad historian, describes the conception, construction, and early operation of the first narrow gauge railroads in northern California. It is lavishly illustrated by some 600 photographs and drawings, almost three-quarters of which have never before been published. The topic is approached through an unusual lens: the history of the relatively small but extraordinarily inventive contracting and engineering firm of the brothers Thomas and Martin Carter. The Carters were able to reduce the cost and complexity of light railroad construction to the point where local narrow gauge lines could initially compete with the state’s notorious railroad monopolies. Pioneering a mobile manufacturing operation that could supply locally funded short lines with rolling stock (which traditionally came from East Coast manufacturers), the Carter Brothers began with a line to serve Salinas Valley wheat farmers, desperate to achieve an independent means for conveying their crops to the wharf in Monterey. The narrow gauge railroad that resulted was an act of political and economic defiance, but ultimately a hopeless assault on the "Octopus"—the Central Pacific and Southern Pacific Railroads. Rallying around the example set in Monterey, a narrow gauge movement in California flourished in the mid-1870s, with the rapid launching of five more companies—the North Pacific Coast, the Santa Cruz Railroad, the Santa Cruz & Felton, the Nevada County Narrow Gauge, and the South Pacific Coast—all of which drew on the Carter Brothers for manufacturing and engineering. Soon, Thomas and Martin Carter were not only selling railroad supplies and engineering to all six short lines, but had won management positions with the strongest, the South Pacific Coast. Until personal and financial disaster overtook them in 1880, the Carters were at the forefront of not just a new business, but a new technology.
This book picks up where the previous two Classic American titles left off, focusing on the golden age of American railroading from 1945 to the early 1970s. It extends to the present day where applicable, providing a colorful look at locomotives, passenger and freight operations, development, and, in some cases, demise. Full color.
This deluxe narrow gauge volume traces the amazing story of this three-foot-gauge railroad that ran through the heart of the great American Basin. Built to carry the commerce of rich silver and gold strikes, the Nevada Central struggled against tremendous odds for six decades. Often called “a line in the sand,” the 93-mile-long rail route ran between Battle Mountain, where it connected with the Central Pacific, in a southwesterly direction to Austin, Nevada. Most of the rail was 35# iron; the struggling railroad line crossed 66 timber trestles between its end points. The railroad began construction in 1879 to help open up the vast and virtually unpopulated area of the Silver State. Running through some of the most barren and remote high desert sagebrush and mountain country in the West, the Nevada Central rolled down through the years with much of its original equipment, mainly because it could never afford to purchase anything newer. The line was finally abandoned in December of 1937 and was sold for scrap the next year. The narrow gauge equipment that forms a major part of the California State Railroad Museum collection came from the Nevada Central. In 1938, the late Disney artist Ward Kimball purchased the Nevada Central’s 1881-built #2 Mogul for $400. The former Sidney Dillon was transported to the orange grove where Ward and his wife, Betty, were building a new home. The locomotive joined a former Carson & Colorado coach, and Ward’s railroad collection started to grow. For author Ferrell, a former combat fighter pilot, this is his 20th book about railroads. He has been called the best-loved narrow gauge railroad author in the United States. The Virginia native has authored hundreds of railroad articles and won dozens of awards with his exquisite models. Ferrell’s picture collections of railroads and the Old West number well over 150,000 prints. Ferrell says his research on his latest book included “mixing with cowboys, sheepmen, ranchers and thirsty miners at Austin’s (Nevada) Golden Club Saloon, and listening to their stories of the real Old West.”