For a few decades in the early twentieth century, the transportation method of the future unquestionably appeared to be the electric interurban railway-a rail system that used electric-powered, trolley-like cars to operate between distant population centers.

But the great trend of history was against the Interurbans. The automobile and truck appeared about the same time as electric railroads. What traffic wasn't taken away by the truck and auto was destroyed by The Great Depression. The history of the Arkansas Valley Interurban closely follows that of interurban railroads in general. It began with great optimism and the brightest prospects, serving three of the largest cities in Kansas. The Arkansas Valley Interurban unsuccessfully struggled against the truck and the automobile.

South Platte Press, soft cover, 60 pages, 8.5 x 11 x .25 in., b&w photographs and illustrations. SPP101
Price: 15.95 USD

Heartland Traction: The Interurban Lines of Kansas City

For almost half a century, a web of electric interurban trolleys radiated from the two Kansas Cities in every direction except east and southeast. The big cars of five interurban lines sped along to the nearby towns of Olathe, East Zarah, Lawrence, Leavenworth, St. Joseph and Excelsior Springs. Ranging from one so impoverished all of its life that it could only afford second-hand cars to a superbly built system that was the equal of any steam road, the lines were built during a time of incredible optimism in the future of electrified transit throughout the country, where virtually every city and town would someday be linked together with a pair of rails and a trolley wire.

Some builders were local businessmen who spent up to two decades raising modest sums of money to build their lines, and then continued to operate them despite years of losses. Others were wealthy Eastern investors who quickly built their lines, and just as quickly abandoned them when they began to lose riders. Above all it is the story of realistic entrepreneurs and impractical visionaries who wanted to share in the riches and success of Americas transformation into the worlds undisputed commercial and industrial colossus.

In Heartland Traction you will learn:
• Which line was featured in several promotional motion pictures.
• Which line hauled bodies for burial at $2 a ride.
• Why the US Supreme Court got involved in the meaning of a red line.
• Which line suggested streetcars that could climb and descend Mount Oread in Lawrence, Kansas using underground buckets of water as counterweights.
• Which interurban was built one hundred years ago to service a small planned suburban community that grew to become the second largest municipality in the metro area.

Heartland Rails Publishing, soft cover, 240 pages, 8.5 x 11 x .75 in., b&w photographs and illustrations. HR513
Price: 33.95 USD

Don Ball Curve, Lawrence, Kansas Union Pacific Railroad, 1948-2007.

Robert Olmsted, well-known railroad photographer and prolific publisher of railroad books, has teamed up with South Platte Press to publish a pictorial about Don Ball Curve, located in Roberts hometown of Lawrence, Kansas.

Informally named for another master of railroad photography and book publishing, the curve is located along the Kansas City-Denver main line of the Union Pacific. Using Roberts own excellent black & white photography, the book is devoted to the Union Pacific and Rock Island trains (the latter using trackage rights) that have rolled through Don Ball Curve between 1948 and 2007. It can also serve as a guide for railfans interested in visiting Lawrence and the Curve with its current high volume of train traffic.

Most photographs are from the 1950s and 60s. There is as much Rock Island as Union Pacific subjects in the selection of photographs-especially a number of RI 4-8-4s. Plus see Wabash Es on The City of St. Louis, detouring Burlington Es, and the last page is the observation car of RIs Texas Rocket in 1948.

South Platte Press, soft cover, 48 pages., 8.5 x 11 x .25 in., b&w photographs with captions. SPP145
Price: 16.95 USD

INCLUDES DELORME PUBLISHING'S JACKET-STYLE VINYL COVER.

Ships in a non-bending mailer, not an envelope, plus sealed in plastic.

The DeLorme Publishing Atlas and Gazetteer provides a wealth of information for trip planning and back country access. Each volume contains topographic maps with unbeatable detail plus gazetteer information on great places to go and things to do. Detail includes railroads, back roads, dirt roads, elevation contours, remote lakes & streams, boat ramps, public lands for recreation, land use (forests, wetlands, agriculture), trailheads, campgrounds, and hunting and fishing spots.

Gazetteer information includes information on hiking, bicycling, museums and historic sites, campgrounds, scenic drives, unique natural features and state and national parks.

DeLorme Publishing, soft cover, 80 pages, 11 x 15.5 x .25 in., color maps. DLKSC
Price: 16.95 USD

Kansas Train Tales: A Collection of Railroad History

This book is for anyone interested in the history of Kansas and its railroads.

In a series of 15 articles, the author tells of Kansas rail oddities such as a train robbery on the Frisco Railway in Andover, the construction of a nationally famous Rock Island Line bridge near Liberal, and the tragedy behind a grave site for six Kansas Pacific track workers near Victoria.

There are stories of short lines and ghost railroads like the Scott City Northern, the St. Joseph & Topeka, and the Marion Belt & Chingawassa Springs. There's also a bibliography of the central Kansas railroad builder who became an amateur historian.

This book by Kansas railroad historian Robert Collins was made available to South Platte Press for distribution. It includes four b&w photographs, nine maps, and an extensive bibliography.

Robert Collins (South Platte Press), soft cover, 132 pages, b&w photographs and maps. SPP153
Price: 8.95 USD

Missouri Pacific Northwest: A History of the Kansas City Northwestern Railroad.

Still in the printer's plastic!

A history of a Kansas short line running from Kansas City to Beatrice, Nebraska later acquired by the Missouri Pacific Railroad.

Contents:
Preface, Acknowledgments, pp. 6-10;
Organizing the Dream, pp. 11-22;
Building to Seneca, pp. 23-40;
Completing the Railroad to Beatrice, pp. 41-62;
The Northwestern in Receivership, pp. 63-74;
The Missouri Pacific Years, pp. 75-94;
An Independent Kansas City Northwestern, pp. 95-104;
Attempts at Revival, pp. 105-116;
Post Script, pg. 117;
Roster of Locomotives, pg. 118;
Endnotes, pp. 119-130;
Bibliography, pp. 130-132;
Index, pp. 133-136.

South Platte Press, soft cover, 136 pages, b&w photographs, illustrations, maps. SPP308
Price: 39.95 USD

Rock Island Westward Vol. 1: Memories of the High Line

The Clay Center Line extended northwest from McFarland, Kansas, on the Golden State Route, to Belleville, Kansas, on the Rocky Mountain Line. Very little has been written about this important Kansas subdivision which the railroaders called the High Line. The author lived next to the Clay Center Line for 25 years.

This book is the result of several years research and numerous interviews to supplement his own extensive photo collection, records, and memories of the line. Detailed narration of train operations and motive power assignments enhance the 396 photographs which show all aspects of the line, including floods and wrecks. From the Colorado Flyer, streamlined Rockets and local passenger trains to the Red Ball freights powered by 4-8-4s in both 5000 and 5100 series or diesels of all types, the full story is told from construction in 1887 to shutdown in 1980 of this portion of the Rock Island's history.

T. Lee Publications, hard cover with jacket, 8.5 x 11 x 1 in., 256 pages, 396 photographs (35 in color), with timetables and detailed text. TLP030
Price: 46.95 USD

Bill Gibson, a lifelong Santa Fe employee, began taking color slides of his company in 1955. Bills photographs chronicle the last of steam and the transition from first-generation to second-generation diesels. While his photographic work covered most of the vast Santa Fe system, his principle efforts were in his home state of Kansas.

Morning Sun Books, hard cover with jacket, 128 pages, 8.5 x 11 x .5 in., all color photographs with captions. MSB1139
Price: 42.95 USD

SPV's Comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America: Prairies West USA

Covers the states of Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma after the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe and Union Pacific-Southern Pacific mergers.

Includes detail maps of the following locations:
Kansas: Kansas City, Leavenworth and Pittsburg
Missouri: Joplin-Carthage
Nebraska: Lincoln, Omaha Terminal and North Platte (Union Pacific's Bailey Yard)
Oklahoma: Lawton, Mineral Belt, Muskogee, Oklahoma City and Tulsa-Sapulpa
Texas: Denison

This atlas is designed to provide a single source of reference to the North American rail network, past and present in greater detail than has readily available until now. Each sheet is drawn to a constant scale of 8 miles to 1 inch for easy distance comparisons with 2 miles to 1 inch enlargements of complex areas.

All extant rail lines are shown together with stations, junctions, yards, principal bridges and tunnels. Former lines, now abandoned, are also shown. Ownership, current and past, and trackage rights are shown. An index of stations is included.

Steam Powered Video, soft cover, 88 pages, 8.25 x 11.75 x .25 in., printed on heavy enameled paper. SPVAPRW
Price: 22.95 USD

The Santa Fe Railway and the Lost Locomotives of Topeka.

On July 13, 1951, two spans of the large Santa Fe Railway bridge at Topeka, Kansas, collapsed into the Kaw River at the height of the worst flood to devastate the state of Kansas. Also sinking into the rushing waters were three of ten old Santa Fe steam locomotives which had been placed on the bridge in an effort to stabilize it. In the years since, the story of the lost locomotives of Topeka have greatly intrigued railroad enthusiasts and history detectives alike. This book, filled with rare photographs, examines in detail the mystery and lore surrounding this dramatic incident from the Great Kansas Flood of '51.

South Platte Press, soft cover, 56 pages, b&w photographs. SPP147
Price: 16.95 USD